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 😃

@SanFranBear loving the fact your thread has made you explore 🙂

I do long distance walking. First one I did was the coast to coast st bees to robin hood's bay. Best experience ever. I met some amazing people. Lots of Australians and still in touch with some. That was 3 years ago. I've done a few others too.
I'm in NE England. I often walk locally as we're on the coast plus have a lot of fantastic areas for walking right from the doorstep.
Next LDW for me is the Cumbria way.
I tried adding photos but said they were too big.

The photo size limit is a pain @Juniper68 . I’ve found that if I take a screenshots of my pictures it significantly reduces their size, but appreciate not everyone necessarily wants to be faffing around with that!

I’m loving all these pictures of longer hikes. Mine are all of the shorter and flatter variety at the moment as DH hurt his knee, but I can feel the hills & mountains calling 😢

Anyway, here’s a photo of yesterday’s easy, late evening walk on my local beach, where we watched the sun set over Anglesey 😊

@WiseUpJanetWeiss - I basically rate my walks based on what the mountain hut food and drink choices are. There’s one near us that’s a steep ish hike up, and I swear I only do it knowing there’s kaiserschmarm pancakes at the top.

Goodness, the world is sooo beautiful, isn't it! Loving the photos ❤

That sounds idyllic, Caspianberg - and looks it, too!

I waz lucky enough to live in NZ for a year,
way back when, and didn't do nearly enough walking. We did to the obligatory Tongariro Crossing which was special (and a bit hair-raising at the time - I expect they've improved the paths somewhat now) and we also did a few days across to Franz Josef. I need to look out my photos (so long ago, all done on a manual camera!) and have a trip down memory lane.

I'm thinking of doing a multi-day hike over the summer if my DC spend any significant time with their Dad - can be tricky to get away otherwise. I quite fancy the Dorset Jubilee Walk but will have to see what's happening over the summer.

I'm in two minds about heading out today as DC due back at some point. But the weather is lovely and have a route in mind. Would love some inspiration though, Lovemusic (I'm also a solo hiker by preference) so any local places you'd recommend would be most welcome!!

Good idea @CrimsonAlligator I screenshot lots just didn't think of it.

Try again. This is next to my house.

Holy moly, Juniper - how wonderful to love somewhere so scenic so close by! The photo with the bridge is just amazing!

I did make it out on a small, 12k walk up a hill this lunchtime. Weather was ideal and had no excuse other than wanting to sit on my bum. It was fab and very weirdly, at the top was a monument to a horse - and not a small monument either. Apparently, the horse jumped into a chalk pit whilst hunting with his master (master on his back!) and went on to win a - presumably - noteworthy race across the downs. This wasn't a small monument either - so so random! I thought it was a chapel or maybe a WWII monument but no, all for an unnamed 16th century horse!

*have somewhere so scenic.. although am sure you love it 😀

Yes although some of the people around here leave a lot to be desired. Never tire of the views though.

You're just finding more and more as you explore 🙂

Not a huge walk due to rain but a bit of a climb and very dramatic.

I have done most of the Dorset costal path (not all at once, around 8-10 miles at a time) and highly recommend it, it’s challenging in places but amazing views.

Wareham forest is one of my favourite places to walk, especially towards the end of the summer and autumn as there’s so much to see, it’s good for short and long walks.

I plan on hiking in the Forest of Dean if I can get ex to have the dc for a weekend, we were there last year but the kids are not interested in walking so I decided I would try and go back without them.

Just a few more gratuitous NZ hiking (tramping) pics. The first one is near the top of the S Island, on the west coast, doing a day walk on the Heaphy Track. Absolutely beautiful. Second is a walk from the house 😁. And the last is an insight into NZ fashion - or hiking clothes at any rate. Thermals (polypros) under a pair of shorts is almost de rigueur and yes, is entirely acceptable in town as well as in the hills 😂Very practical.

Thanks so much for your suggestions, Lovemusic... Wareham is a bit of a trek for me but if the forest is worth a walk, then I am more than happy to make the drive. And I know what you mean about DC which is why I only get out a couple of times a week.. they would not enjoy even a 'little' 10k so wait for them to be at their Dads and then head out.

Love your pics, LostInTheColonies - and especially your thermals.. so stripey! Luckily the weather has been mostly quite kind for the most part so I've been wearing a lot of jeggings but would love something a bit more colourful.. not sure what the rather staid British public would think but who cares, eh!?

I'll be out tomorrow for a few hours but am then away for a few days. My friend has got dogs though so will try and take them for a couple of decent walks although can't expect her DH to be saddled with all four children for too long (theirs and mine - I've only got 2!)

I forgot to post my pictures from last weekend’s walk. I hadn’t planned to do any hiking, but as the weather was glorious it seemed a bit crazy to not head out and make the most of it.

This particular walk was 10 km along the north Wales coast. It was so clear that we could see all the way to the Lake District and the Isle of Man, as well as all of the north Wales coast, Anglesey, Snowdonia and the Llyn Peninsula. There were a lot of views in all directions!

Wow, CrimsonAlligator - you can see for miles and miles! I often think my camera doesn't show half the beauty that I'm actually seeing so can only imagine how lovely your walk was.

And yes, always seems a shame to waste a sunny day! Hoping it stays sunny here today as last few outings have been very changeable...

Lovely sunny walk today down the coastline - although did cut inland a but so got to see woodland, farmland and meadows.. such a lovely afternoon for it.

That's me off for a few days now (camping with the DC and friends) and whilst I'd like to think I'll be doing some decent walking over the next few days, in all honesty I'm likely to be drinking in the sun whilst scoffing scones.

Here's some of surprisingly pretty Solent coastline (massive power station at Fawley just out of shot!) Lovely cotton candy clouds ⛅

I went for a walk along the appropriately named Jubilee Path. It’s the easy way to do some hill walking as the path goes around a mountain, so not much climbing involved. Perfect for my DH’s dodgy knee & for fixing my cravings for some hills! I like the stone posts at the start of the walk, which were put in in 1888 and are meant to look like crowns. Very topical 😄

There were some great views across the Irish Sea, followed by views of the Carneddau mountains. At one point we came within a few metres of a cuckoo. We couldn’t see it, but we could definitely hear it. Lots of other upland wildlife around, including choughs, which are one of my favourite birds to watch in action. They’re real aerial acrobats and do all kinds of crazy manoeuvres, seemingly just for their own entertainment.

Looks like it’s just me spamming this thread with my bank holiday walks 😄

I went for an amazing walk across the Carneddau mountains yesterday. I had only planned to go for an hour or two, but when I realised that the ground wasn’t as waterlogged as it usually is, I just kept walking ☺️

This is a truly ancient landscape, with remnants of Bronze Age hut circles, standing stones, axe factories, ancient way markers and burial chambers all over the place. There’s even a Roman road complete with gullies on either side to drain all that excess water off. There’s wild ponies too, so what’s not to like?!

It always amuses me when tourists come to Snowdonia just to “climb Snowdon”. There’s SO much more to the National Park than that.

I walked this morning along a small section of the Jubilee trail (Dorset), I didn’t plan on walking far, just wanted to check out a piece of woodland that I had found on Google maps, it ended up being further than I thought (5 miles ish) and because I hadn’t planned I didn’t take a drink or snack with me. Still not a huge walk but more than I planned today as the forecast was for rain. I took a few photos but nothing too exciting. I foraged some pineapple weed and elderflower whilst walking.

Lovely photos, CrimsonAlligator & Lovemusic.. the bunny and cheeky baby pony are just lovely - feel very British, so in keeping with the national sentiment this week.

I've been looking at the Dorset Jubilee trail as it looks absolutely stunning. Quite a long one, from top to bottom, but might try it in a few stages if I get some child free days!

I haven't been out since my walk last week but am planning on some decent treks in the next few days - to attempt to walk off some of the cocktails and scones! Mind you, it is horribly rainy here at the moment so would be nice if that passes - but it won't stop me as you can see some lovely things walking in the wet!

The weather isn’t looking great this week but I do quite like walking in the rain. I need to walk off all the half term take aways and cake we have eaten so I’m planning on walking as much as I can.

Ooh how did I miss this thread? Loved catching up. Irish hiker here, Dh also comes so it's something we do together. Usually we head North to the Mournes or South to Wicklow Mountains, about 1-2 hour drive depending on exact location.
We were up in the Mournes yesterday, cold and foggy start and sun not really breaking through till we were early done.

I had an almost 12 miler the other day. Am hiking tomorrow I'll post pics. Probably be 10 miles ish? Coast or Yorkshire probably?

Love that stile, SecretIdentitee... not just for the incredible view but I struggle with the one-two-over versions I often encounter - that one looks much kinder on old knees!

And great distance, CuriousMama - I've only done a couple of hikes of that length and I definitely felt it the next day. Looking forward to hearing about todays efforts!

Glad to have found this thread. I'd like to take up hiking with DH and toddler DD. Any tips on hiking with a toddler, distances to start with etc. We're in Surrey so surrounding areas Sussex etc would work. We're both fit already and DD (18 months) would probably spend all day outside if she could. Beautiful photos!