Walking Forum
Main Boards => General Walking Discussion => Topic started by: ninthace on 17:32:15, 08/01/19
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What is the best bit of any walk? I have been ruminating long and hard. Is it the view? No, not all walks have or need a great view. Is it reaching the summit? Good - but a walk does not always have or need a summit. Then I thought - is it peeling your socks off at the end? Is it that moment when you take your boots off? Is it that first pint?
Then I decided. For me it is that shower at the end. We have a rain shower that delivers oodles of hot water that somehow hits the spot. Couple this with pulling a warm fluffy towel of a hot towel rail and I am there. If I could bottle the experience I could make a fortune!
Whats's your best bit?
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The end of long distance walk can be good. I wild camp so wildlife visits are great; Muntjac deer on Peddars Way; Red deer on the Arun Way, Otter on Hebridean Way. Foxes, Badgers- pick you pitch well and opening the tent flap slowly at dusk, and in the early morning can be special.
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I often enjoy the last stages of a walk the most, the walk back to the start along an easy track. A good time to let the mind wander and savour the highlight of the walk just done, as well as past and future walks. Especially so if I am in good company and there is a pub to look forward to...
And if the end point is a pub - that moment when you have a pint inside you and the next one on the table....
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All good points mentioned, but I really enjoy those minutes of anticipation when you and often friends/family are gathered around (maybe in a car park) pulling on your boots, checking maps & last minute adjustments to your straps or checking your pack contains what you need for lunch.
I always get excited and know the next 20 minutes or so will be walking with stiff legs & muscles until they warm up properly but thinking once that passes and your legs are just cruising you along ...... Bliss.
Although, I'll dash round to the end and join Richard for a couple of pints (just to be sure) O0
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I think the best bit of a walk is often if you come across something you didn’t expect to see. For example on New Year’s Day we were just doing a short walk at Shingle Street (Suffolk coast) and saw a seal which we stood and watched for about 10 mins.
Other times it might be reaching that summit or seeing something like High Cup Nick for the first time.
I agree that a lovely hot shower or bath at the end is great but that’s not exactly part of the walk! ;D
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I agree that a lovely hot shower or bath at the end is great but that’s not exactly part of the walk! ;D
It is for me - it's the only time I ever wash!
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For me it's being in some beautiful spot on a warm sunny day in peacefulness and solitude, with no sounds other than those of the natural world, and with no-one else around.
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For me it is the beginning of any walk. The first hour is the best especially if there are some great views from the get go. I feel so glad to be outdoors walking the route I planned the night or so before.
Then later there are good bits every time a hilltop or summit is reached or just turning a corner, with the anticipation of wondering what the views will be like..
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I don't think you can put a definitive answer to this as every walk is different.
When I'm in the fells, then maybe reaching the summit is the highlight but there is so much more to a walk other than the highest point. Yes the pint or 2 afterwards is always nice but my walks don't always end near a pub or I have to drive home and as said before on a previous post, by the time you have got to the pub, the walk is over.
However, lunchtime is often a good time on a walk for me. Deciding where to stop, whether on a bench, boulder, under a tree, by a lake or anywhere where I know I can rest for 15/20 minutes. Tucking into some food and cake, taking in the views and forgetting about everything apart from the scenery......Perfect.
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Stopping after a hard climb or long effort and making a brew on my spirit stove. Then getting the shoes off for few minutes and sitting with a view, a cuppa and a couple of home baked scones. Simple pleasures.
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Walking along a nice broad ridge (no airy scary bits) especially if it's very slightly downhill, admiring the views, knowing that post walk pint isn't far away
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And a really good lunch spot!
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Great question for a thread. O0
Of course it changes with each walk. On a mountain on a fine day it's the undoing of the belt strap on your rucksac and easing it to the ground, ready for lunch, at the summit, as you catch your breath after a hard climb. Just you and the view.
On a wet November day on the moors, it's sitting, back to the wind, warm and dry, in the hatch at the back of the car easing off your boots and popping on some fresh socks and a comfy pair of shoes ready for the drive home.
And finally for me, on a typical Sunday ramble with our walking group, It's the company and comeradary, as we take on the challenges of the day.
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One for the warmer months this,but finding a comfy spot to sit down(a view is always a bonus),and just let yourself drift off. Getting a few zeds in is a sure indicator I`ve truly relaxed! ;)
Regards, Richard
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Somewhere twixt beginning and end, I generally find ;D
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Probably getting snug in my sleeping bag after a long day of hiking, tucked up on the side of a fell somewhere, just listening to wind against the tent and the wildlife.
Second would be the view from a summit or vantage point whilst you're having a brew on a clear day, just gazing as far as the eye can see, looking back over the route you took to get to the top. Probably equal to that feeling when you put the tent up, get all your 'camp tasks' done and just put your feet up watching a sunset on a warm night.
My least enjoyable bit of any walk/camp is either the first ascent as I never feel as warmed up and fluid despite how many stretches I do, or that moment where you wake up on a frosty morning, get out of your sleeping bag and everything is absolutely freezing - thus starting this explosion of activity where you're putting on layers, making a brew, going through your morning camp tasks before getting the tent down. Some days I feel I need an extra few hours of sleep.
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Getting to where I am going to pitch my tent for the night, on a warm balmy evening, clear starry skies and close to a good pub or restaurant. Then after eating and having a drink, settling down for the night and sleeping well. Unfortunately something that doesn't happen to me too often.
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Fully agreed with Forgotmyoldpassword's "best bits" above, though for me it's the view from my tent when I rise in the morning - just grass, rushes, rocks and maybe a few sheep, as far as I can see all around. No houses, no people, no cars. For a suburbanite like me it's awesome.
The best part of any of my day walks can vary from one to another. It might be a panoramic view, an enchanting wood, pretty cottages, a pub, exchanging a few words with a pleasant stranger or unfortunately on some occasions simply the moment I get back to my car.
Yesterday's walk will be remembered partly for finding a group of wild stinking hellebore, Helleborus foetidus, with blooms just opening, but more so for the timid little dog that came yap, yap, yapping from a farm just as I settled myself down for my lunch. He was clearly frightened of me but I won him over with bits of sandwich. Before long he was sitting at my side and then rolling over to have his tummy tickled. I was so grateful to him for sharing his company with me.
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I think the best bit of any walk is the bit without any stiffness, aches or pains :D
Usually the middle bit ;)
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The after walk pint! I don't say this flippantly. It's a chance to reflect on the wonder of the day. To consider questions that cropped up and to enjoy the company of like minded souls.
Maybe discuss with companions events or features of interest.
Today, after an interesting walk, over a pint, we studied the map to consider where a valley we saw actually led to/from and whether we might find more walks there. So much better in a nice warm pub than trying to do it out on the moor and today, between snow showers!
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For me it starts once I got into my stride, with a pace decided on, breathing pattern established (especially uphill), boots, rucksack and everything else adjusted and comfortable. I am then no longer thinking about process of walking can forget about ‘normal’ life. I can feel myself relaxing as I become immersed in the great outdoors.
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The beginning. I've made the decision of where the starting point will be, checked the map for suitable footpaths, made the sandwiches, rucksack on the back and boots on, map in hand, now lets go for it. Smile on my face looking forward to the day ahead, and the freedom of the great outdoors.
ilona
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The after walk pint! I don't say this flippantly. It's a chance to reflect on the wonder of the day. To consider questions that cropped up and to enjoy the company of like minded souls.
Man after my own heart O0
Jon.
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That agonising burn in the lungs and deep throbbing pain in the quads as I slog up the first really steep ascent of the route.
Being jostled by a milling crowd of noisy sweaty hikers on the summit of popular hills.
Taking off my boots and socks in the carpark at the end of the day.
(PS I lied about the first two.)
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That agonising burn in the lungs and deep throbbing pain in the quads as I slog up the first really steep ascent of the route.
Being jostled by a milling crowd of noisy sweaty hikers on the summit of popular hills.
Taking off my boots and socks in the carpark at the end of the day.
(PS I lied about the first two.)
No you didn''t. We all secretly enjoy the burn. It's one more way nature tells us we are still alive and kicking. ;)
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Kicking??? Crawling, more like ;)
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Best bits for me are;
Finding a good lunch spot. (Usually somewhere quiet with a nice view, which doesn't necessarily have to be high up).
Spotting some form of wildlife that I don't see very often. (Turns a nice walk into something special.)
Adding the miles walked to my running total for the year.
:)
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Finding and recognizing the place on a walk, which has the quality to give the reason why it is a good day or recognizing that Mrs BWW has discovered such a place.