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 😃

The storm part was enjoyable, actually - watching the whole sky light up, every 20 seconds. So glad got into the dry before the heavens opened as it was a downpour and that would've been miserable - dark and wet!

I would love to know more about the countryside I walk through as it's far older than what's currently there. No waterfalls round these parts though - does make it sound very magical, CrimsonAlligator.

Lovely wet walk this morning - I won't say hike as was mainly along roads which was a bit of a shame but in a pretty part of the county, so there was that. It was also pretty soggy too - although typically now I'm back and working, the sun appears to be beaming (good news for my laundry, I guess!)

I did manage to head up one Down (which sounds all wrong 😆) and found a War Memorial at the top. There was also a simple cross on the other side which was in support of the WWI soldiers who marched that route on their way from Winchester to Southampton to board ships to France.

I've come across a lot of memorials and landmarks from the wars on my travels - makes you realise just how the entire country was involved, nowhere escaped unscathed and how we are so very lucky to live in such peace today. Also made me think on the current situation in Ukraine and my heart is quite heavy. I just hope its over soon and the country can start to heal.

I went for a late evening walk through a local RSPB reserve. Over one of the lockdowns I discovered that, even though they charge during the day, it’s freely accessible in the evening.

We’re not talking about sneaking in over a fence here. They actually leave gates that are locked during the day wide open, so that anyone can just walk in. Not many people seem to know about this, so we usually have the entire reserve to ourselves, which is pretty cool even on days like this when most of the birds actually stayed away. It’s just so peaceful 😊

When our DD was having to catch an early bus to school, a couple of times DH and I went early to the rspb a bit up from us. Dawn (or a bit thereafter) and dusk are good times for bird watching - and other nature, we saw otters once.

Is the reserve you’re talking about also closed to the public during the day unless they pay, but free at other times Errol? I’ve come across a few others like that and am now wondering if this is a thing the RSPB do at all their reserves.

A reserve I visited a few weeks ago in Yorkshire had a public footpath running through it. The volunteers told me that was the reason they had to keep it open (and legally meant that they couldn’t actually insist on anyone paying the entrance fee during the day either!). But there’s no public right of way through my local reserve, so I’m not sure why that one is open 24 hours a day 🤔

For the record, I am a fully paid up member of the RSPB, so I’m not actually looking for any freebies here! It’s just that, like you say, those kind of reserves become extra special around dawn and dusk.

'Mine' also has a public footpath through it, and the hide on it is called 'the public hide'. So anyone who wants to walk into the rest of the reserve could do so. I'm not sure if the gate at the visitor centre is left unlocked out of hours.

First time posting on this thread. Currently on the east coast of Scotland. Lovely walks and weather has been good, not too hot, not too wet.

Stunning photos, nanny - Scotland has some of the best scenery in the entire UK, in my humble opinion. Nice to see some of the east coast as the west tends to get most of the love!

Interesting about the RSPB reserves - I don't know if there is one local to me although there are various protected spots for the rarer birds which nest in the forest and round the coast.. May have to look into that and will let you know what I find out. I love the light in your photo, Crimson (sorry to sound so wanky but it's really atmospheric!)

I had a small walk in a village I've never really explored this evening as too busy to head too much into the wilderness and discovered there's an ancient peat bog in the area... really interesting and goes back to the earlier point of wishing I knew more about the areas where I walk as I'm sure there's some tales to tell! Anyways, here it is.. might not look much but was really tranquil and the dense ferns and grasses were very beautiful!

A quick Google this morning tells me there's two RSPB reserves in my near (ish) area and both are open 24 hours... so looks like it's something that they do rather than a one-off for your one, CrimsonAlligator. Mine are a bit of a trek but might well make the effort at some point as the pictures look lovely!

That’s interesting @SanFranBear . Some of the RSPB reserves I’ve been to are absolutely stunning, others have more of an industrial vibe.

The reserves are often created to compensate for large developments somewhere else, so can be close to large factories, major road schemes etc. I personally quite like that contrast between nature & the mess us humans create, but appreciate its not necessarily for everyone 😂

It's always worth checking out local nature reserves too. Two of the parks in my nearest city have decent-sized areas attached, which makes for nicely varied walks (though not exactly hikes!). I need to get back to doing some volunteering in one of them - on one occasion we were (successfully) looking for willow tits but during the morning we spotted about 50 species of birds.

I've been surprised at just how many nature reserves are in my local area, Errol. I mean, the entire New Forest is pretty much one, but they are everywhere. Some are less well kept than others though - you can tell when they have regular volunteers - but I'm loving discovering all the different habitats on my doorstep and learning more about the wildlife.

It has made me realise that despite living firmly in a big urban centre, people still care deeply for the countryside. I'm not sure if you've read Notes from a Small Island by Bill Bryson? I reread it recently for my book club and he points out how the UK is destroying its hedgerows, such a vital part of our countryside. The book is almost 30 years old now so was thinking it might have progressed even further but, certainly in my little neck of the woods, care and love for the countryside seems to be going strong. Mind you, I don't know what it was like before - far more green, I expect - but there are still more pockets of nature and wilderness than I expected.

We hike a lot.
We live in a National park in the Alps so everything is on our doorstep

This year we are introducing Ds to his first hikes more as well. He’s just turned 2 so previously he was always carried in sling. Yesterday we walked up through the local woods, which overlook the lake, and has lovely viewing platforms. It’s around 800m above sea level here. It’s a short trail of just over 5km but Ds managed almost all of it.

During furlough I had the time to do some local walks and now my DS (15) likes to come with me. We leave DH at home.
I hadn't realised until recently that we are close to 2 long distance paths. One, the Monarch's Way , follows the route taken by Charles the second when he was fleeing Cromwell , and we follow a section just outside Bath.

The other is the Cotswold Way. We have climbed Kelston Round Hill which is right at the southern end. From the top there's amazing views across to Bristol and if visibility is good you can see south Wales toward the west. Looking east you can see the whole of Bath. It also comes with this handy sign!

OK so I seem to have loaded the sign sideways but you get the idea

i love that sign @MrsMoastyToasty ! I can only dream of what it must be like to have a cheese shop within walking distance 😋

Today, back home in Surrey, a walk to town through the country park.

Sounds amazing, Caspianberg - I can only imagine the views... feel free to share some pictures 😉

I think the Monarch Way stretches all the way to here, MrsMoasty - for some reason, I think I walked a tiny stretch of it recently.. I could very well be wrong though as there's lots of long distance ones that seem to stop or start around here. I need to have a little loop built into my walks - I don't mind revisiting a bit of the same trail back to my starting point but do like lots of different scenery.

Made it back out to the New Forest today after a few weeks of heading the other direction. My route included a WWII Bombing Range today, complete with shelter and craters - fascinating. It was absolutely gorgeous weather and the scenery was also stunning - I've missed the Forest! None of my pictures seem to really do it justice but that won't stop me posting 😆 This beautiful lake was just sitting there... and I also got to see some beautiful ponies - I love their silky coats and the fact they just appear. I also saw two, teeny little red deer but didn't have my camera ready and they bounced off pretty quickly - adorable!!

@SanFranBear - here’s a favourite picture of tiddler just enjoying the outdoors.

We take the cable car up to get up this high. It’s about 15mins from home so we often go here to hike or ski. They have a lovely mountain hut at the top of the cable car with food, drinks, sandpit and toy cars for kids. So it a perfect into area for Ds to walk with us as we don’t need to hike uphill much, and can relax afterwards whilst he plays.

I'm living in NZ so thought I'd throw these into the mix! NZ is hiker's paradise, with a network of 950 or so huts & bivvies that you can hike to to stay. I did a fair bit of hiking when younger but it ground to a halt when DD arrived, then she was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes which made hiking tricky while we got to grips with the diabetes!! This was her 1st overnighter so a bit of a milestone & she is keen to go back with a group of friends for her birthday... still complained most of the way there though!!

Just wow!

Lovely thread.
I live in the West Coast of Scotland and go regularly.
In fact I'm off to the Highlands next weekend for a week of walking and running there.

A NW England hiker here. We're fortunate enough to live right by a country park, within walking distance of a nature reserve, and a short drive to the sea/estuary, so we have plenty of trails on our doorstep. We mainly work from home now, so have a 20 minute "walk to work" every morning as long as it isn't raining too much, and then a longer one later in the day if we can.

At weekends we like to go on a local 6-8 mile walk, and all our holidays are organised around hiking.

We went to NZ a few years ago and I'd be hard pressed to say which was my favourite "tramp". Possibly Key Summit, part of the Routeburn. We also love the Austrian Alps. Being able to use the ski lifts in summer is fabulous. It's practically illegal not to have coffee and strudel at every hut. We walked the Pinzgauer Spaziergang, which was spectacular, but the last climb to the lift at the end almost killed me and there was no strudel available.

As pp have mentioned, the knees are not what they ought to be so we both use walking poles. We have Nordic poles, which we don't actually use for their intended purpose, but I love the hand straps which make them very comfortable and easy to use. Pricey, but they have been worth every penny.

Here's a goat that we found up a mountain in Austria.

I hike and am down south too. I kind of tie it in with other hobbies (photography, foraging, bird spotting/wildlife spotting) and wild swimming. I just love being outdoors and it helps greatly with my mental health, I mainly hike alone mainly because my best friend refuses to buy hiking boots so can’t walk too far or anywhere muddy. I love the new forest, Dartmoor, Wales etc..