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 😃

Wellies might not be a bad idea. I seem to remember it being discussed on the UK Climbing forums a while back when talking about what to wear when hiking to a crag when the ground was soaked, and a few said that when bog-trotting they wore wellies.

I've never tried them but DD became a big fan of gaiters while doing her DofE in the northwest of England and Scotland. But that photo does look like a welly job.

Going is fairly boggy still tbh. Snow melt and just intermittent rain. Most of Ben Lawers was stone path though.

My solution probably isn't for everyone. I try and keep my shoes waterproof, wear thick woolen socks and change them now and again during the walk when they get soggy. I need the ankle support from boots as I'm hypermobile.

Thanks for the advice, all...

I ended up wading through shin-deep water today in my walking boots after all! My own fault as I hadn't really considered that the River Itchen may have burst its banks at the point I was planning to walk alongside... and I'd gone too far to turn back 😆I also completely misjudged the distance and ended up doing almost 29k instead of the planned 18! The mud as well - my poor thighs...!

Will definitely be trying the wellies as the water was soooooo cold!

@SanFranBear I really hope that first photo isn’t a mix of mud and cow pats!!

Have you ever tried NikWax treatments on walking boots? I bought (off Amazon) the cleaner and waterproofing set. I actually can’t believe how effective it is. Loads in the bottles. I’ve done quite a few pairs of shoes in the house now. Water just beads off !!

We always have a supply of nikwax cleaner and proofed in the house - and their products for washing and reproofing walking coats.
My boots could do with a clean but there doesn't seem much point when they'll just get muddy again!

Wouldn't help sanfran with the water in over the top though - we'd have baled out of the walk rather than plough through that I think!

@ErrolTheDragon yes that’s a Welly job!!

Signs of spring this weekend and the first weekend since about October that we have had good walks both days

Snow drops still crazy.

Gorgeous, Midgetastic!

Now the days are longer I’ve managed to get out of the house a bit in the evenings! Went for a 7 mile walk the other night, stopped halfway for a flask of tea, some salami and mini cheddars 😊
Was incredibly peaceful. So so many deer, heard an owl flying around hooting, loved every minute. I got home just as it was getting dark.

Just looked on my OS maps app and took me 2hrs 10 mins. Including my stop.

What a stunning photo, DelightfulDoris.. the sky looks like a painting!!

Yesterday was my Itchen Navigation walk and boy, did I need my wellies! They didn't even save me in three places, with the water gushing in over the top but thankfully, that was in the last 7-8k so managed most of it dry! Lots and lots and LOTS of wading though! The walk itself starts in Winchester and, as you can tell by the first photo, could tell the river had swollen even more than my previous outing last weekend... I've never seen it that high before! And the second picture is my lovely boyfriend, actually on the tow path, mid wade!

Did get the blood pumping though and I am very keen to do another decent, one day trek so am eyeing up a 20ish mile segment of the South Downs Way! Much hillier but I figure less likely to have thigh height water and ankle deep mud 😅

Hoping the sun comes out soon as all this rain is making it stodgy as anything out there!!

Well at least it’s not looking so bad over the next week or so rain wise, down here in the south at least.

Hats off to you @SanFranBear if you’re doing 20 miles, I run out of steam these days around half that. And South Downs should be drier, but watch out for that slippery chalk, a bit sketchy that stuff when it gets steep.

Got out with ds and the ex around Caesars camp near Farnham for a 10k loop the other day, son was in wellies but we were in hiking trainers- we had to pick our way in a few places and at one point make a makeshift bridge from bits of wood over a bog (as son stood there laughing). Managed a few hundred feet of climbing and descending which felt good…

Here comes spring!

great pic @DelightfulDoris !

Looks lovely @Lonelycrab

You're quite right, Lonelycrab - the weather has definitely improved, or at least stabilised, the last few days. I headed out today to get a picture of a spot I'm trying to photograph each month of the year to build up a little collage - got distracted and ended up trekking way further than I meant to. All for the good though as have now completed my most recent virtual challenge, walking the Great Wall of China.

Such a fascinating experience as you're sent virtual postcards as you walk the route which are packed with info and pictures and videos - I really, really want to walk the Wall in real life but expect its a bit of a pipe dream! I guess never say never - perhaps by v5 of this thread 😀

Hope everyone else is having a wonderful weekend - I'm looking forward to Mother's Day, when I normally dread it, so that makes a nice change.

Here is my spot that I'm photographing every month.. the water is still high but as this is on the Solent, I might just have caught high tide!

Ugh... it is properly wet again 😞 I was out today with the birds (my wonderful boycat decided 6am was a good time for breakfast this morning!) and got rather wet. It was that horrible, misty, relentless type of rain which doesn't feel top hideous in the moment but utterly soaks you!

No real photos at the moment either as am pounding the city streets because offroad I'd just so boggy and muddy and I really didn't fancy it again.

I've signed up for a new virtual challenge though - walking the Ring Road around Iceland which is approx 1,300km. I've given myself a year to do it so hopefully next March, I will be triumphant!

I need to make sure I'm getting out more regularly. Would like to venture towards the Forest, maybe midweek as I haven't been that way in months... hmmm - might have a look at some routes now 😊

Squelch skid slurp slide stick

Going to get out with ds for a couple of hours this afternoon, sticking to gravel tracks mostly. Weather on my phone says we might get a glimpse of sun around 3 but I’ll believe it when I see it

Haha... yes, that about sums it up! It makes me a little sad as I love being offroad, so to speak, but it's just miserable going at the mo! I shouldn't whinge though as at least I'm still getting out - I just want greener walks!

We just cracked - we've walked every pavement round here ( small town ) repeatedly this winter

Well we got a bit of sun, actually turned out quite nice in the afternoon. Went to a place called Long Valley for a couple of hours, it’s an MOD off-road driver trainer area, mix of heathland and forest. Very unspoiled with some great heather and scrub type habitats, it has very sandy soil so not to bad from a squelch point of view. Got these shots up close of some of the strange lichen stuff that grows up there, looks almost like an alien landscape!

Oooh, fascinating Lonelycrab and very atmospheric looking. I love your pic with the crazy trees in the background!

@Lonelycrab nice photos. Very unusual flora.

I've just by walking locally. Hoping for a better walk tomorrow.

Cheers folks

@Juniper68 looks stark, but in a beautiful way.

Is lichen exactly 'flora' even? That's extraordinary stuff.
We're mostly doing local walks where we know the paths are good, but have been watching Kate humble walking various coast paths and DH is thinking we should try to do some of them after I retire next year. Not big pack on back trudgers though so not sure how feasible. What prompted that was some of the interesting vegetation she's pointed out in various places - it had never occurred to me before that the shingle shores of Suffolk are actually a globally rare habitat.