Be Excellent To Each Other

Feeling restless, and in need of grand plans and projects (other than the ongoing world domination one, which I try every night). One thing I've often thought about doing is a long-distance path, either here or further afield.

I know people who've done the Camino for religious reasons, but any route I take would be for 'pleasure'. I'm quite tempted by one of the ones in New Zealand, but being stubbornly Northern Hemisphere I can't get my head around their seasons.

Anyone ever done any of these trails, or have any recommendations or advice?

How long distance are you looking at ?

I've done the WHW (at 96 miles but that might be the type of thing you would do before breakfast)

One day when I'm rich and have a lot of free time, I'm going to travel the Silk Road - start in Rome and sail to Antioch, and head east until I end up in Peking. I might well wait until I don't have to travel through multiple war zones though.

How about the Appalachian trail?

What about that one that runs through several states in America? Is it the Appalachian trail? I vaguely recall reading a BIll Bryson book about it - lots of people only do sections of it but some walk the entire distance.

edit: Bah, beaten by a Squirt whilst I was trying to look for how to spell appelatian appelasian appalasian, etc

Its easier to just say the Bill Bryson book "A walk in the woods"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Walk_in_the_Woods

He does also talk about other long distance walks in there (I really enjoyed the book so if you havent read it before i'd suggest picking it up regardless - it might inspire you)

How about the Cleveland Way in the North East? It's long-ish (over 100 miles) and passes through some stunning countryside.

I couldn't remember what the book was called either and my hot cross bun was burning in the toaster.

Then the postman arrived so now it is burned AND cold.

There's also this one you could do for a warm-up:

http://www.coast2coast.co.uk/

100 miles or so over a week would probably suffice for me, depending on gradients and huts/camping areas. The benefits of marked trails is that you can always do the interesting sections and cut off the dull bits.

I think I've done 0.003% of the AT when hiking in the beautiful Shenandoah - well worth visiting (we saw a bear and a rattlesnake!). The route does have a certain appeal, but good to know of others. Else I might as well through a couple of darts at an inflatable globe and walk between them. Been a while since I read the Bryson - might give it a look later.

The Silk Road would be awesome, but surely one to ride on the beast of your choice, not walk
Am looking at the WHW website now, looks good.

There must be a lot of US Civil War-related ones that would take you near interesting stuff. Follow Sherman's March to the Sea!

To be honest, my Silk Road plan involves winning the lottery and then buying some sort of huge, Grim...-approved 4x4 thing and doing it that way. Camels would also work though.

What about walking the York-Lancaster trail?

I'd have to do it properly and burn every village and raid every farm as we go.

Morcombe Promenade?

I'd need a fair lady friend with a cute bonnet and white umbrella to link arms with as we promenade up and down in the early evening.

Great suggestions so far, folks, much appreciated. Plenty to ponder.

Might be difficult after the first dart.

The advantages to WHW are - well marked routes / well mapped
Can be done in a week (i think we took 8 days)
Virtually no 'road' walking , your away from roads all the way.
Wild camping is possible (or you can book B&B's or campsites depending on how you want to do it).
Good start / end points and bus routes (actually it can be quite depressing going back on the bus and passing everywhere you just walked in such a short period of time).

Another shorter one which can be done in a week is the coast route on the Isle of Wight , which is around 70 miles (although you cant just wild camp on that one)

http://www.islandbreaks.co.uk/site/spor ... ing-routes

I have a parasol. It's not white but pale blue and inlaid with very pretty brocade, and I have a nice pair of lace gloves, too. I even have a bonnet, but it's in London. Stop by there and pick it up on your way.

Also, 'through'?

I found the monotony of the path a bit boring at times & ended up taking advantage of the right to roam by detouring up mountains & along ridges. It takes longer, but it's more fun.
The C2C path that Mark mentioned was nice at times, but there's no right to roam down there so when I found bits of it a bit dull I was stuck on the path anyway
The Arran coastal way was good, plenty of variety.

I've largely given up on official LDPs, they're not really my thing.* More fun to head to the hills in one area then make it up as you go along.
Knoydart's my favourite. It's apparently the UK's last proper wilderness, there's one wee village that you can only access by foot or boat & it's home to the UK mainland's most remote pub


Advice off the top of my head.
Liquid blister plasters are best, stick them on at the first sign of heat.
Trail shoes are better than boots if you're on a decent path unless you're carrying a heavy rucksack.** If you're planning to detour off the path then take boots or both, preferably both so you've something comfy to wear in camp.
Water purification tablets are cheap & give you peace of mind.
Don't go out your way to get dehydrated food, it usually ends up weighing the same anyway. You need to carry the water to rehydrate it mind Powdered milk & mashed tatties are handy though, Beanfest is tasty & cuppa soups are nice on pissy wet days while you're waiting on dinner cooking.
Bacon, sausages, cheese etc were made to keep well. Beef jerky is rank rotten though.
August/September to April/May is best if you're heading up here & midges bother you. Activity in the summer varies depending on the wind & weather, if you keep to the hills you should be fine though.
If you don't already have one make a decision on your stove depending on where you want to go. ie gas is easy to get in Western Europe, but can be difficult elsewhere & it burns crap in subzero temperatures or high altitudes if it even lights.
*Saying that there are a few mountain trails in the Alps I fancy, though they involve proper climbing & that.
**You shouldn't be in the UK, you'll only need 2-3 days food at most & there's water everywhere.

Utterly unrelated to walking, but Copland's 'Appalachian Spring' is one of my favourite pieces of music. I was in a shithole of a place* and I passed a church with a modern carillion/bell-system chiming out the famous recurring melody in the piece (which I knew at primary school as 'Tis the Gift to be Simple') and I smiled in pleasant appreciation of location and tune.


* Let's be frank, the only reason to go to Front Royal, Virginia, is because it's close to the gates of the Shenandoah National Park.

Ok, over three years since I started this thread, but I've finally decided to do one. Going to do Hadrian's Wall in late August (before we have to rebuild it twice as high). Setting myself challenging but, I think, achievable goals, and will do mixture of hostelling and camping. I'm already excited. Anyone done it and got any tips?

Don't do it in Roman armour?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/book ... liday.html

I think I'll farb out and wear my 21st century gear.

West Highland Way is still a good plan.

I did about half of it a couple of years ago. I crapped out doing the whole thing due to knackering my ankle. The path along loch Lomond takes its toll. A walking poll is strongly advised!

Also in this original thread Wullie talked about carry gear/food blah. I can recommend the company that takes you 'main' pack for you and drops it off at the points you're staying so you don't have to drag it around yourself all day. Unless you're really hardcore and want a real endurance test, there's little point!

Edit: You can get fairly cheap cabins/hotels for 15-25 a night, depending on if you're sharing. If I ever do it again I'll be going B&B all the way, if only for a decent shower and a hut that is bloody midgie-proof. Those little bastards really get to you after a while!

Thanks for the tips and the suggestions. Will look at the West Highland Way for next season.

Yeah that was one of the worst bits - at the time we did it you could wild camp along the edge of the loch although I understand thats been stopped now - about 3/4 of our day along there we came on this massive hotel and tried to see if they had any rooms (at that point didnt care about the cost of one) however it was fully booked by old people they bussed in (or they just dont like the look of any walkers although we did buy some food from there)

I know the one you mean, you get to it crossing over a wee wood bridge that goes over a nice waterfall type bit? I seem to recall a busload of old people when we passed.

We walked a little further up from that, and got the boat across to Ardlui and stayed in one of their cabins. Unbearably hot but you can't open the damn door because of the bloody midges, which are apparently small enough to get through the wire mesh on the door.

The weather forecast for next week is currently the ever useful 'raincloud with sun' symbol. But I'm determined to do the trail, rain or shine.

Which one did you decide on?

The Metcheck forecast is more optimistic than the Beeb, so I'm going with that.

Hikewise, I'm doing Hadrian's Wall as I'm up in Durham this weekend for a wedding anyway. WHW looks great though: will consider that for next year.

Y'know what walk I really really super enjoyed?

Sit back as I vaguely try and recall whereabouts it was.

So I started off with me and my friends in these rolling hills somewhere in the North West. The hills were gentle and green and from there were set off down the road, across the farmers fields, until we reached a river that headed South East. Unfortunately it started raining, and we were chased off the fields by some grumpy sod on a horse, but we managed to pass upon a rickity barge that we used to paddle down the river to a passing town where we stayed in a bar over night. We were due to meet one of our other friends at this pub (Prancing Pony. Bit of a dive, but the barmaids are fitties) but, anyway, he didn't turn up but we forgot about him when we got drinking with this cool guy at the bar. He was a laugh a minute and we stayed up into the early hours. He didn't look as though he was going to murder us in our sleep and he wanted to tag along for our walk. Anyway, funny story, we get woken up in the night by some drunkards kicking off so we get up and make an early start of it.

The drinking session must've caught up with my mate cause he drops out like a wuss for some reason and we continue on without him while he sobers up. I don't know what happened to him. Anyway, bit later he catches up with us as we're passing through this lovely forest walk heading east. My mate's a lucky git though cause he gets chatting with this lovely blonde bit for ages. Mind you, we bump into this rotund fellow, bit on the short side, but he loves his ale. He said he wouldn't mind coming for a walk an' all. He keeps being followed around by this waif looking lad who I suspected was a bit of a pooftah. Tried to grab my balls in the night, he did. Anyhoo, we all head off to Mordor.

:-)

Knew where you were going with it but expected a comment about stopping off at the farmers house for some mushrooms :-)

Hah! Missed opportunity.

Anyway, an actual nice walk is The Valley of the Rocks down south somewhere. Devon, init. You walk along the cliffs with the goats on the cliffside and then make your way down to some dockside town that just gorgeous in the middle of two hills andthen make your way into the forest which is equally pleasant if not more so.

God damn, I can't remember whereabouts it is.

Lynmouth! That was it. Bloody lovely place.

This says Lynton?

http://www.southwestcoastpath.com/walksdb/247/

Anyway, go there, walk there and push a goat down a cliff when no ones looking.

Two other walks for Kern to consider since they are close to him (although I'd still say start with The WHW)

Oxford Canal walk

http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show ... Canal+Walk

Thames path

http://www.ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show ... onal+trail

*ahem*

Back from Hadrian's Wall. Got about halfway, but decided to leave it after three days as the forecast didn't look promising and I didn't fancy trekking alone on the moors in the rain.

Had great fun though. Will post some notes about it here later.