Come chat hiking with me!

[SanFranBear]

I've noticed whenever hiking comes up as a general chat subject, loads of people jump in to say how much they love it. I thought there might be a general thread somewhere on this as I'd love to chat with people who walk regularly but couldn't find one.

Would anyone like to join me? I live down on the South Coast so am lucky that there are some gorgeous places for me to walk - the New Forest, South Downs and further up the coast in both directions. I normally manage a couple of decent walks a week, depending on DC's care pattern, as well as trying to get out for the occasional hour or so on other days. I mainly walk alone but do have a friend who joins me on occasion.

I'm quite a novice as only really started walking in February of this year and the furthest I've walked is just over 20k, but I'm finding it so liberating - I feel like a different woman after a walk, my mind is free and my body feels tired but satisfied, if that makes sense?

Would just be nice to have a friendly chat with like-minded bods. And perhaps share some photos - helps the weather is beautiful at the moment but I'm struck every time I'm out, just how beautiful our country is - even when I'm wandering in the inner city. Here's a couple of pictures from my Friday walk - a stunning church in a village in the middle of nowhere and some great graffiti on the side of a motorway underpass 😃

Glorious day today , got a good tramp in, got rather lost several times and I am so tired - sone so little lately

@midgetastic it was beautiful out wasn't it? I had a lovely afternoon with my dog investigating part of the North Downs link which led me to discover a part of the Surrey Sussex border path. Stunning views and I passed the most beautiful house which I thoroughly enjoyed fantasising about living in 🤣

Again, I don't think it really qualifies as a hike but did about 4 miles before work again this morning

I don’t think there’s any minimum if you’re getting out walking, had a 5k walk with ds10 today around Velmead common in Fleet, amazing autumn colours

Managed to get out, just round the city unfortunately, but forgot I was meeting a dear friend who lives in Scotland so is rarely in my neck of the woods. Managed about 15k though..

Was an absolutely gorgeous day for it, beautiful blue skies!

Ooh.. somehow missed there was a new page and so hadn't seen the lovely photos of all your treks today!

Loving the autumn colours of yours, Lonelycrab and the stunning skies in yours, overground! It wasn't even cold really, was it... lush! Long may it last!

@Lonelycrab beautiful Autumn colours, I think it's my favourite time of year.

@SanFranBear what a stunning sky. It's so nice to make the most of this great weather isn't it? Although I'm sure we'll be digging out the waterproofs and wellies soon.

I'm sure we'll be digging out the waterproofs and wellies soon.

I bought my first ever pair of waterproof trousers last week and have a nice, lightweight waterproof coat as well as a pac-a-mac! Hoping I'm prepared although am also hoping they won't be needed for a while yet.

Do you walk in wellies when it gets really wet? I have a great pair but not sure I could do distance in them... although maybe I should try it as they'd definitely keep the feet dry 🤔

I've never had wellies which were good for walking in. Goretex lined walking boots should be waterproof, especially with either the waterproof trousers and/or gaiters to stop water getting in at the top. I've never used gaiters but DD was a fan when she was doing DofE.

I do have some waterproof socks, but they never got wet at all when I've worn them with walking boots when doing squelchy conservation work. I don't know what they'd be like for walking in but they were comfortable for that.

I treated myself to a pair of Aigles a couple of years ago and will happily walk 10-12 miles in them, I love them. I am going to get a decent pair of hiking boots for the Ridgeway though.

I was planning to continue on the North Downs Link today walking from Rudgwick to Cranleigh but unfortunately the lane where I wanted to start was closed so I eventually parked in Bramley and walked nearly to Cranleigh and back again, about 8 miles in total. It is a great path, but I definitely prefer the Rudgwick to Slindon section which was much quieter and more rural. Today was quite narrow and on such a beautiful day I wish I'd got a bit more sky above me, it felt a bit tunnelly after a while, although there were some beautiful glimpses of fields either side as we got nearer to Cranleigh and it was interesting to read about the Wey Canal that ran alongside it, although much of it dried up and awaiting restoration.
It was also full of bikes, which I have no problem with but it meant I had to keep calling the wombling spaniel back to sit and wait until they passed as it was quite narrow which just made it feel a bit stop start.

As we neared Cranleigh though, The wombling spaniel (so called as her only job in life is to find things 🤣) found a stick and started harassing me to throw it so without thinking I threw it over the edge of the small wall next to me to get it out of the way. It was immediately followed by her. The only problem was that it was actually a bridge and there was about a 20 foot drop the other side. My heart stopped and I was fully expecting to see her at the very least badly injured at the bottom but by some miracle she was fine and by running back along the track I managed to get to an area she could scramble up the bank. She was absolutely fine and within minutes was putting up a pheasant at the side of the track, but I think I was still shaking when I got back to Bramley.

Goodness, your heart must have been in your mouth till you saw she was ok.

Just a bit!

It didn't post pictures yesterday for some reason so I'll try again here. You can see it's the old railway line.

How scary, overground, but so pleased your lovely dog didn't do herself any harm! I'm always doing things without thinking and then going 😮 when the inevitable consequences kick in!

Your walk looks lovely though - the weather really is being kind at the moment.. I just want it to last. I've got a concert on Wednesday so won't be out (again 😟) but will be going for a proper, city based walk on Froday night and then out to the South Downs on Saturday for a nice, hilly, beautifully green trek - fingers crossed!

Thanks for the welly talk.. I really need new walking shoes as mine are not water-resistant really anymore as they are very old and getting pretty decrepit. Might look into Aigles but am on a bit of a budget so not sure I can quite stretch to them yet (although can see theyre sold through Decathlon so probably great value for what they are!).. shall have a think!

Your first lot of photos did post - there's sometimes quite a lag while they upload to the MN servers. Sometimes they can be visible in the apps before the browser or vice versa I think.

Finally managed a couple of non-wet, bracing walks the last couple of days.

Last night was just round a town in my area as wanted to stay pretty road based due to the light. It was nice to get out but not overly spectacular.

Today though I got back out to the Forest early and it was wonderful! It was a little drizzly when I started out but didn't last long and then it just became beautiful.. was quite deserted for most of it (I guess most people hike/walk in the summer months) and it was fabulously muddy in places and at one point I had to wade a ford. I expect during summer it was bone dry and it was shallow enough but, as mentioned ^^, I really need new walking shoes! Walked off the damp though and saw cows and ponies and gorgeous scenery.. has done wonders for my mental health as dipping a little at the moment due to life stresses!

So here is a lovely little pony and then a picture postcard perfect tree - love a silhouette against the sun!

Still keeping up the walks but it's getting a bit too dark for pretty photos of an evening! I have some time next week, with DC away a day or two for half term so will try and flex my work to get some daylight hiking in!

Barely been outside for almost 2 weeks now with too much work

Made it out this afternoon and whay started out as a gloriously sunny, autumn afternoon turned into a thunder and lightening storm with a complete downpour before I'd made it completely round my route 😄 I got drenched and, because the sun was firmly out when I set off, I took out my waterproof trousers so I was like a drowned rat when I got home! Ah well - lesson learned and will take my whole 'winter wardrobe' with me in future.

It was already pretty muddy and slippy and autumnal so lots of fun and felt good to be out in the sun, whilst it lasted!

Got out this morning ( saw the forecast ) and saw an otter

Ooooh.. otters make the most adorable squeaking noise, very jealous midge!

Went out for a few hours with ds10 yesterday to a Long Valley near Aldershot, it’s MOD land but only opened at weekends. Did about 8 k but it was such hard going as there was a lot of standing water and boggy bits, so not exactly a straight line. But beautiful as it’s a pretty large area and is untouched much of the time.

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Ah, interesting, LonelyCrab.. I did a trek round Deepcut Barracks just after the Queen's death and although my route showed you could go into the MoD land, it was firmly shut off. I thought it might have been in respect of the mourning period and the barracks having to observe some sort of protocol. But maybe its because it was a Wednesday!

Duly noted as it was still a wonderful walk but the area 'inside the fence' did look really nice - although was there to see friends so not somewhere I go often.

I’ve not been over to Deepcut Sanfran, but I’m sure it comes under the same group of MOD land. It’s actually an ongoing issue as some are saying that they are trying to slowly remove access rights across these areas, the byelaws have been in place for decades, allowing public use of the land when the military aren’t training. I’m a mountain biker too, and there’s a group called trail action group that monitors the situation re access rights being upheld. Really hope they don’t restrict things any further as it’s such a bonus to be able to hike or bike in these spaces.

That's really interesting, Lonelycrab - thanks for the info. I can see why people get cross about it although can also understand why the MoD needs the land.. although why only open it at the weekends - seems a bit off.

I've been out three nights on the trot this week, all varying distances and places and it's been lovely.

Wednesday did a relatively short, city based walk with a friend. It meant we went quite slow as busy talking but was lovely to get out.

Yesterday was a bit of a beast as managed 19k, out across the countryside to start and then back through lots of rather posh villages before circling back via the airport. Ended up doing 19k and my legs were totally feeling it by the end.

And then tonight, chose a very different route as knew I'd only have about an hour or so of daylight so took myself down the Solent on the Forest side and then looped back beside one of the main roads. The walk down the 'coast' was really interesting as there's an almighty power station that way and so many docks. I got this awesome picture of a freighter - not sure if it was loading or unloading or just hanging in port but it looked epic!

So a real tale of three, very different walks. Not sure when I'm out again as would like to do some some daylight hiking but time is so limited at the moment. I'm going to sleep well tonight 😴