- Name: Pilbara Bushwalk
- Location: Pilbara, Western Australia
- Type: Exploring the red desert outback
- Distance: 70km
- Days: 7 (including 1 rest day)
You always remember your first long-distance walk with great fondness, and I'm no exception. My first proper trek was this seven-day hike through the outback of Western Australia in the company of Scott, a park ranger and a perfect companion for my first walk. I had a fantastic time; it's probably fair to blame Scott for getting me into long-distance walking in the first place.
I bumped into Scott in Nambung, a small park just north of Perth, and he suggested we meet up in the Millstream-Chichester area in northern Western Australia for a trek through the outback. I readily agreed and a few weeks later we set off into the Chichester Ranges in the north of the remote Millstream-Chichester National Park.
We didn't follow any established routes; there aren't any in this part of the world. Instead we took a photocopy of the park map and decided on a circular route along river beds and over the top of the rolling Chichester Ranges, a route that took us miles away from the nearest civilisation and (for the most part) out of radio contact. We slept on the ground, which was a sensible move as it cut down the weight of our packs; the Pilbara is an incredibly dry part of the world, so bush camping is normally fine. Of course it rained for the first two days and soaked us to the skin, but at least this had the pleasant side-effect of making the rivers flow.
As a first long-distance walk, it doesn't get much more thrilling than this. What an introduction!
