In 2024 PBW introduced First Wednesday Walks (1WW) to cater for those members who:
- had ‘retired’ from walking due to age or reduced capacity;
- were recovering from injury or illness;
- were wanting to increase fitness gradually; or
- preferred on-track walks.
Coincidentally, Hikewest introduced a program of Seniors’ Walks to encourage Seniors to undertake healthy outdoor activity. The 1WW program fitted this need and arrangements were made for seniors to attend some of these walks. The response was positive.
From 2025 we are calling these ‘Light Walks'. They are on-track, around 10km, with gentler hills, and are taken at a gentler pace.
In 2025, PBW have increased the number of ‘Light Walks" to 2 per month (1st and 3rd Wednesdays) during our Winter walks season. The first walk will be on Wednesday 2nd April and currently we are opening these to 5 visitors for each walk. There will likely be up to 12 ‘Light Walks" offered on Wednesdays during our Winter season, plus additional ‘Light Walks" may be offered on Sundays (leader dependent). Light walks are added to the Upcoming Activities calendar about 3 weeks in advance. Then members can register.
Visitors do not need to be sponsored by a member to attend a ‘Light Walk'.
Visitors are those who:
- may be new to bushwalking/hiking and would like to try it out
- would like to meet people and walk safely with an experienced leader
- may be ‘Seniors’ who are looking for an enjoyable recreational activity
- may be recovering from injury or illness and want to ease back into hiking
- prefer shorter walks, on track at a gentle pace with few steep hills
- would like to increase fitness gradually with a view to progressing to more
challenging walking
These walks are all in the bush, i.e in the Darling Range for the most part, so not in the Perth metro area.
- They do involve a little travel to a meeting point from where walkers will car-pool to the start of the walk. These are usually on the outskirts of Perth. Meeting times are early, around 7.30am, to get ahead of the traffic. If car-pooling is required, a $5 donation to the driver is expected.
- Distance: usually ~10km
- Time: about 4 hours’ walking. Where possible, people may convene for coffee afterwards.
- Gear: you will need good walking shoes/sneakers, back pack, 2 litres of water, rain jacket / or umbrella (for wet weather), a substantial morning tea, a simple 1st Aid kit for your own needs, any medications required, light ’layered’ clothing, walking poles if you have them, hat, sunscreen. A whistle could be handy.
- It is suggested that walkers bring morning tea and lunch and expect to be out until early afternoon.
If you are not a member, (i.e. a visitor) but are interested in doing one or more ‘Light Walks", you can participate by first creating an account and then purchasing a Visitor voucher. This will be valid for 3 light walks. Purchasing a Visitor's Voucher also means you are covered by our Public Liability, Personal Accident and Associations Liability Insurance. Visitors can purchase additional vouchers if they wish to do more ‘Light Walks", so potentially visitors could do as many ‘Light Walks" as they want, dependent on what is offered.
Once you have purchased a visitors voucher you should then contact our walks coordinator at pbwwalkscoord@gmail.com, including your name and the date(s) of the ‘Light Walk(s)" that you would like to attend. The Walks coordinator will then enrol you in the walk, and send you the details of the walk, e.g. meeting place, time etc. Please also read our Walk Guidelines.
If you wish to do additional ‘Light Walks" on the same visitor voucher (up to 3 walks/voucher), simply contact the Walks Coordinator again, with your details and the intended 'Light Walk(s)'.
If you have any questions regarding our ‘Light Walks', you can also email the walks coordinator at pbwwalkscoord@gmail.com
Once a visitor has completed a few liight they may then decide to do an Intro walk and hence join the club as a member.
The list of ‘Light Walks" for 2025 is shown below.
2025 Wednesday "Light Walks" schedule
|
Days |
DESCRIPTION |
Walk km |
Up-hill (m) |
Off track % |
Travel km from Perth
|
km gravel (by car) |
|
2/4 |
Armadale Settlers Common (A) |
~11 |
150 |
0 |
42 |
0 |
|
16/4 |
Lake Leschenaultia (M) |
~10 |
50 |
0 |
50 |
0 |
|
7/5 |
Munday Brook (S) |
9.9 |
100 |
0 |
25 |
0 |
|
21/5 |
Bibb: Mundaring to Manns Gully rtn (S) |
10 |
180 |
0 |
41 |
0 |
|
4/6 |
WalkGPS B06 Bells Rapids/Walyunga/Mt Mambup alt (M) |
11 |
180 |
10 |
33 |
0 |
|
18/6 |
John Forrest NP- R’way Heritage + Glenbrook Trails(S) |
12 |
150 |
0 |
26 |
0 |
|
2/7 |
Trigg Bushland (S) |
10 |
50 |
0 |
16 |
0 |
|
16/7 |
Victoria Reservoir Trail + Bickley Reservoir (S) |
11 |
150 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
|
6/8 |
Yanchep Ghost House Walk (O) |
12 |
25 |
0 |
51 |
0 |
|
20/8 |
Glen Forrest SuperBlock + R’way Heritage trail(S) |
~10 |
50 |
0 |
27 |
0 |
|
3/9 |
Fern Road to Hewetts Hill Hut return (S) |
10 |
150 |
0 |
32 |
0 |
|
17/9 |
Honeyeater/Spinebill Trails Bungendore Park (A) |
~10 |
198 |
0 |
37 |
0 |
|
1/10 |
Bibb: Sth Ledge to Hewetts Hill Hut rtn (S) |
11 |
240 |
0 |
45 |
0 |
|
15/10 |
Yellagonga Regional Park (S) |
10 |
50 |
0 |
20 |
0 |
|
5/11 |
Mundaring to Ball Ck + O’Connor Trail (S) |
9.5 |
75 |
0 |
41 |
0 |
|
19/11 |
End-of season ramble and shared picnic: Kings Park |
10 |
NOTES:
Light Walks are gentler, shorter walks for those needing less ‘challenge’. Any hills are taken slowly - 1st & 3rd Wednesdays.
School Holidays
Meeting points: (M) Midland (Bunnings); (K) Karragullen; (A) Armadale; (S) Start of walk (O) Other TBA.