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Walking / Hiking


Bjornebye
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9 hours ago, Dougie Do'ins said:

Cheers RJ

 

I don't mind a bit of rain so that's part of the appeal of doing it in October.

 

Waterproof boots and treat them with Nikwax waterproofing - Any advice on what ones ? No to pricey mind. - 

 

Decent all weather jacket - Was just going to take my winter Jack Wolfskin, a lighter jacket and a poncho. Will this do ? 

 

Waterproof trousers - Got these from my cycling days.

 

rucksack with a weather shield - Think the one I used for cycling will do.

 

Waterproof phone protector - Cant be that expensive ?

 

Water bottles - Not a problem.

 

Map Bag - Will I need a map and bag ? I'll essentially just be following the wall wont I ?

 

Bridgedale socks - Will have to buy these.


gloves - Got 

 

hat - Got

 

in addition I would take 

Pole(s) if your knees are dodgy - Think my uncle will have these. If not I'll have to do without.

 

Pain killers - Really ? Not one for taking pain killers.

 

compass - Think I may have one. If not, can always download one.

 

pen Knife - Got one


powerbank/ mobile lead - Got them.

Any long walk (for me at least) is about comfort and preventing injury. Blisters, wet feet and being soaked through loses its appeal after a couple of days. Likewise, you don’t need emergency beacons and £500 gps system, it’s just about making sure you stay on track and safe (recoverable) 
 

Walking for a week or two has quite a bit of mental endurance to it. Even if you are accompanied by a Sherpa service and limit it to say 15 mile a day, there is a lot of time with your own mind and for little issues to feel like bigger ones. 
 

Boots are necessary (i think) to prevent turning your ankle. 
 

Prices on boots vary massively and really depends on what want. I would suggest water proof, but you needn’t go for gor-tex just to get waterproofing. There are good boots available for much less, just make sure you get them fitted (try in shop, even to buy online ) and wear them in a bit. New boots and a long walk will hurt, (I have a pair of berghaus gore-Tex I hate because i did a 100km 24 hour event in when they were new ), you don’t want to but nice boots to end up hating them due to painful memories. 

 

You can probably get a pair of leather boots for around £40 that you could treat with dubbing to proof them.

 

But like anything, you get what you pay for.

 

Good socks prevent blisters (to a degree) you don’t have to go Bridgedales, just find something that is seemless (prevent rubbing) and padded enough to add comfort. 

 

So long as your jacket is water proof and Jack Wolfskin are usually decent, Then you can layer up underneath. If you’re not sure it will hold up, then maybe take a few disposable plastic ponchos if it gets really wet. 

Map and Bag, I’m a map addict, I would see this as a good reason to buy every OS en route. On a practical point, not being familiar with the terrain, is it possible to follow the wall? 
 

I doubt it’s all open access land, so you’ll be following Footpaths. Are sections private?, no paths?, diverted? What if you need to divert to get lunch? Stop off, get to your digs?
 

Even well trodden National Trails have anomalies. I live next to the South Downs Way and in places it splinters off in two or 3 directions, all of these are still the South Downs Way, but you’d need to know where to turn.

 

OS do an app and it’s about £20 a year to have digital maps of the Uk. But the limitation of course is, what happens when you battery runs out, phone fails or get no signal and you haven’t downloaded the section you need? 

 

Phone can go it the map bag if that’s good enough. You just really don’t want to lose a phone due to it being soaked through or find it doesn’t work when you need it most. 
 

Compass you can download. Old tech is good for back up though and you can’t really set a bearing or fully navigate with a phone app, especially if no gps is available. 

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5 hours ago, TheHowieLama said:

What kind of mileage per day is a trek like this?

Depends on the terrain and the ability/fitness/health of the walkers. Also massively depends on digs and spacing of stops, it’s often driven by practicality 

 

25 mile is achievable for a single day, but not day after day, specially if it’s hilly.

 

When you plan a coast to coast and look at the well trodden paths and itineraries, you will see short days of 7-10mile and longer days of 15-17 mile, averaging in the middle. 
 

You also may want to factor in rest days 
 

 

 

 

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13 hours ago, Dougie Do'ins said:

Thinking about ticking another one of my 'always wanted to do' things off my list by walking coast to coast across Hadrians Wall. Want to do it in what's left of this year so by the time I get my holiday request in and by the time I get a few other things sorted, I'm looking to do it at the start of October. 

 

I'll be looking to take ten days holiday. First day travelling by train to which ever start point I decide on. Last day travelling back home so this will mean I will have eight days walking.

West to east would mean the first day of walking will be starting off in Bowness on Solway.

East to west would mean setting off in Wallsend in Newcastle.

I'm thinking East to west will be better as I'll make the most of daylight, or is this me overthinking it ?

 

I'm going to pay someone who specialises in this sort of holiday to arrange all the accommodation and that will transport most of my stuff to each days destination so I can walk with just the bare essentials. The first one I looked at is a shade over £1k and this doesn't include train travel and I presume it'll only include one meal a day. Breakfast or tea.

 

I have no walking stuff apart from my legs and I don't want to go spending loads of money on stuff I'll probably never use again. 

 

So, has anyone done it or any part of it and any advice ?

 

Thanks in advance, Dougie.

Great idea, mate

I'd be going West to East, though. The prevailing winds in this country tend to be Westerlies so you'd have the wind at your back. The other way round you'd be walking into the wind. Makes a big difference on a long walk

Get the best boots you can afford and walk them in beforehand

Decent waterproofs and a map are vital as well

My knees are fucked so I use poles which are great 

 

https://outdoorsmagic.com/article/best-value-hiking-boots/

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Here's a link to the Hadrian's Wall Walk. It's also got info on all the National Trails in the UK.

I've had quite a stressful year, as I'm sure a lot of people have, and I can't emphasise enough how much doing long walks has benefited me physically, emotionally and mentally.

It's hard work when you start though

 

https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/hadrians-wall-path/trail-information/

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21 minutes ago, mattyq said:

Here's a link to the Hadrian's Wall Walk. It's also got info on all the National Trails in the UK.

I've had quite a stressful year, as I'm sure a lot of people have, and I can't emphasise enough how much doing long walks has benefited me physically, emotionally and mentally.

It's hard work when you start though

 

https://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/en_GB/trails/hadrians-wall-path/trail-information/


Even when I was out of work I’d make myself go for a 5/6 mile walk each day. 
 

Stick a few podcasts on, take a water bottle and just get outside, if it was pissing down I’d just go in shorts and have a hot shower when I got back. 
 

Helps enormously with mental health. Swimming was the same for me. 

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Thanks for all the advice people.

 

Apart from the boots and socks, I think I can scramble the other stuff together. There's an outdoorsy shop in town. I'll call in tomorrow and see what the options are on boots. 

 

I've had another look at the options on the website I looked at and I think it'll be a choice between these two.

 

9 days 8 nights.

https://www.macsadventure.com/holiday-29/hadrians-wall-path-9-days-8-nights/

 

10 days 9 nights

https://www.macsadventure.com/holiday-30/hadrians-wall-path/

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My penn’orth...I love my Berghaus gore tex boots. I’ve never had a bit of trouble with them and would never go back to leather now.

 

I’d also recommend Smartwool socks. So comfortable and have never had an issue with washing them 

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You can get job lots of Bridgedale socks on eBay. Often they have minor imperfections but nothing drastic. 
 

Whatever boots you get make sure you wear them in beforehand. 
 

Compseed plasters are a lifesaver. Me and my mates did the first 4 days of the Penine Way a while back and they are handy. My mate even used one on his hip where his bag was rubbing.

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11 hours ago, Champ said:

My penn’orth...I love my Berghaus gore tex boots. I’ve never had a bit of trouble with them and would never go back to leather now.

 

I’d also recommend Smartwool socks. So comfortable and have never had an issue with washing them 

I also have Berghaus gore tex boots and Smartwool socks. Keeps feet dry, warm and not stinking. Made out of merino wool and the best socks in the world. 

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44 minutes ago, cloggypop said:

I also have Berghaus gore tex boots and Smartwool socks. Keeps feet dry, warm and not stinking. Made out of merino wool and the best socks in the world. 

This thread has inspired me to get a new pair.

 

I’ve done a good bit of walking over the past few months and have discovered that my trusty jacket leaks like a sieve when it rains so if I’m going to carry on through the winter I’m going to need to invest in something that’s going to keep the rest of me dry

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1 hour ago, easytoslip said:

It must be good having some of the places shown quite handy to have a good ramble, used to love walking miles in North Wales and around the River Alt as a kid though the latter you were probably on someone's land so running was often involved. 

Lots of places to have a good walk in the New Forest and the South Downs

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