Two women from Albany and Warnbro celebrate bucket list achievement, finishing the Bibbulman Track

Two women are nursing stiff joints this week as they recover from ticking off a major item on their bucket list — walking the Bibbulman Track from end to end.

The popular walking trail typically takes six to eight weeks with only the boldest tackling the nearly 1000km length from Kalamunda to Albany.

Albany’s Lexy Adamson and her friend Michelle Nelson, who lives in Warnbro, decided to take on the challenge together, despite initially wanting to go it alone.

“It’s always been on my bucket list to do it and I always thought I would like to do it solo but as a woman, I had my reservations about being out there that long on my own,” Ms Adamson said.

“Michelle, she’s walked it end-to-end with her husband in 2016, she always thought that she would do it solo so we decided to do our two solo walks together.

“Safety in numbers”.

The pair arrived in Albany at midday on September 29, 53 days after their departure from the Northern terminus on August 7 and a day ahead of schedule.

Ms Adamson credited the success of their expedition to “meticulous planning on Michelle’s part” but said she was unprepared for the prospect of wading through thigh-high water in the Pingrup Plains that was “so black you can’t see the bottom”.

Her account of the trip’s highlights speaks to the extraordinary variety of landscapes found in Western Australia, from the hills and valleys of the Donelly River through to the tingle forest in Walpole and the coastal section from Peaceful Bay all the way to Albany.

And the 55-year-old’s advice for anyone looking to attempt a similar feat? “Preparation, preparation, preparation.”