Adam, Leigh and the Trees

It is has been six years since our Thru-hike of the PCT and how the time has flown. A bit of an update of life post PCT and how I came to writing this post.

After finishing the PCT I spent some time living and working in Phnom Penh, Cambodia whilst Adam returned to Sydney to resume his role. In March 2020 I returned to Australia in a hurry after COVID hit and international boarders began to close. It was an incredibly stressful time, firstly making the decision to leave Cambodia and then logistically, packing my apartment and flying out within 3 days.

Most hikers talk of post long trail depression, whilst I didn’t experience this after finishing the PCT I think the excitement of living and working in a new country had staved it off. After returning from Cambodia, I found the adjustment to life back in Australia incredibly tough. My return home was unexpected not just for me but for Adam. After six months of living apart we were forced into two weeks of quarantine, living and working from his tiny one bedroom rental in Sydney. After a while we both felt the strain, so when we found out our tenant was vacating our townhouse in the Blue Mountains we decided to make the move. The Blue Mountains is a huge LGA, we would have relative freedom during the lockdowns, more spacious living arrangements and be close to nature. A win win.

It was a fortuitous string of events that lead to our move to the mountains in April 2020. We were living not only in the same town but right next door to my sister. In the biggest curve ball that life has throw me, my sister passed away in a canyoning incident in January 2021, 8 months after we moved to the Blue Mountains. I am forever grateful to have had that time living so close to her.

The first few years following Kellys death felt like a blur, I was in a bubble of grief, working and moving through the motions of life. It can be difficult to find your feet in a new town, add COVID restrictions and lockdowns onto that and its tough but dealing with the loss of Kelly at the same time made it all the more challenging. It was probably a good three years before I started feeling robust enough to start actively making connections in my new community and figuring out this new life without my sister in it.

Slowly over the next couple of years I began getting back into the things that brought me joy. I took up trail running and started building connections in my community and making the most of the incredible Blue Mountains region.

Over the next couple of years we got outside on a number of smaller adventures, trips to Tasmania hiking the Overland Track, Three Capes, Frenchmans Cap and Freycinet Peninsula Circuit. We bush bashed our way through the iconic Katoomba to Kanangra and then built our way up to tackling some bigger adventures. Along the way I found myself again, or rather re-built a new slightly different version of myself. The more I got myself moving outdoors the better I felt and the more I remembered why I loved nature and the outdoors. In late 2023 we ticked off a lifetime bucket list goal of visiting Lord Howe Island and diving Balls Pyramid. With Adam turning 40 and myself not far off we decided to open up the bucket list again and in December 2024/ January 2025, visited the mountain gorillas of Uganda and summited Africas highest peak, Mt Kilimanjaro.

In late 2024 I finished up work with a long term employer. It was the perfect opportunity to reassess, open that bucket list again and invest some time in doing more things that bring me joy. I made a plan, if I could secure contract work for the first half of 2025 I would spend the latter half of the year hiking, ticking two more goals off the bucketlist. First, the Bibbulmun Track and then, all going well, the Australian Alps Walking Track soon after.

I must have manifested the work situation and was very lucky to have been connected to the perfect project by an old colleague and friend. I spent the first half of 2025 contracting and training for my first 100k ultra marathon at Ultra Trail Australia (UTA). My training block for UTA was anything but smooth, I battled tendonitis and walking pneumonia but was incredibly proud to have completed the race. Unfortunately I developed an overuse injury in my hip following UTA. I was worried about how it would impact my hiking plans and honestly felt a bit embarrassed to have overdone it. I worked hard at rehab post UTA and with some bumps along the way, decided to follow through with my plans to Thru-hike the Bib.

I felt nervous about the decision, personally it didn’t bother me, if within a week of hiking I discovered my hip wasn’t up to the task I could simply fly home and find work but I was worried about the ridicule from others if that did happen so I was cautious about telling people about my plans.

On the 17th August 2025 I set off on my Thru-hike of the Bib and in doing so thought I may as well reignite the blog, if only for myself. So here starts the story of my journey along one of Australia’s most iconic long trails, the Bibbulmun Track.

If you haven’t heard of the Bib you can read more about it here.