Walk and you'll feel so much better (Hiking/Walking in general)

Member Name: dmandrew

Product:	Hiking/Walking in general
Date:	19/08/09 (39 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Keeps you fit

Disadvantages: It's not fast

I am lucky enough to live in an area of England (Shropshire) that is very good for hill walking so I can get out often to enjoy the natural beauty of the countryside. However, I work away from home for about two thirds of the year and so have to get my walking kicks elsewhere then.

There are a lot of wonderful things about walking for pleasure.

* It need not cost anything
* You can do it on your own, if you prefer, or with any number of people from a single companion to a whole group
* The United Kingdom is very well laid out with footpaths, so you need never run out of new places to explore
* There is much greater satisfaction to be gained from having got somewhere under your own steam than by using transport
* Walking is great exercise, so it is good for your heart and your body/
* It also helps to clear and refresh your mind, so it's brilliant if you have been sitting at a desk for hours, and it helps you to recharge your brain.

How can you walk?

This might seem an obvious sort of question to answer, but maybe not everyone has thought of some possibilities

* One way is just to go out of your front door without a map and explore the area around where you live. Look out for alternative routes. If you are in a town, try to spot short cuts and passages (yes, of course check that where you are going feels safe). If in the country, look for choices in which footpath you take.

* Alternatively, use a street map or an Ordnance Survey map (the 1:25000 orange ones are the best of those readily available, though the OS do produce a number of different large scale maps. Get to know how far you can go without getting overtired.

* Use a car or bicycle or public transport to get you somewhere else to walk. Again, it is essential to use a good map, and if you going anywhere mountainous and potentially misty then you should have a compass as well, and know how to use it. If you are heading anywhere challenging, then you are advised to leave information as to your plans and to take a mobile telephone with you, just in case you get into trouble.

There are lots of famous areas for walking, and this is not a review of those, but among those are the Lake District fells, Snowdonia, the Peak District, the Coast-to-coast path, the South Downs Way, the Pennine Way and a host of others. You can do a walk in an hour, half a day, a whole day, or several weeks, possibly taking all your needs with you, or knocking on doors for shelter and food.

If I were to do a long distance walk, two really appeal.
One has been done before, but would be fantastic - to walk all the way around the coast of Britain - about 11000 miles, apparently
The other would be to start at the Lizard, Britain's southernmost point, and then do a series of long zigzags, perhaps first aiming for the Kent coast, then across to South Wales, then Lowestoft (furthest east), followed by Holyhead, Scarborough, the Lake District, Blyth, Stanraer, Edinburgh, Oban, St Andrews, Ardnamurchan Point (furthest west), Aberdeen, Gairloch, Dornoch, Cape Wrath and Dunnet Head (furthest north). I guess I might need a year for that!

Equipment needed

Apart from maps, unless you know the area and can walk it by eye, which is a special joy, you should have walking boots, making sure they fit really well, and, if it's a walk of any length, provisions of food and drink - WATER! - best carried in a rucsac, which might also contain extra clothing and waterproofs, depending on the scope of your walk.

Why walk?

In addition to the reasons given above, there is something deeply spiritual about placing your feet upon the ground and moving from one place to another. You become deeply aware of the shape of the country, and of man's tiny part in it all. You gain a little beginning of how animals and plants are integral to the outside world. You see the course of streams and rivers and how they join. You get close to the weather. You learn how to endure pain and how to enjoy the thrill of gaining a goal.

You feel truly good.

Summary: Look after your health in a really enjoyable way without costing anything and get close to the world