Author Topic: The Best Bit of Any Walk?  (Read 3092 times)

ninthace

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The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« on: 17:32:15, 08/01/19 »
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?
Solvitur Ambulando

Doddy

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #1 on: 17:56:02, 08/01/19 »
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.

richardh1905

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #2 on: 18:28:30, 08/01/19 »

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....
« Last Edit: 20:07:56, 08/01/19 by richardh1905 »
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Innominate Man

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #3 on: 18:45:44, 08/01/19 »
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
Only a hill but all of life to me, up there between the sunset and the sea. 
Geoffrey Winthrop Young

rural roamer

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #4 on: 18:49:13, 08/01/19 »
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

ninthace

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #5 on: 18:50:39, 08/01/19 »

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!
Solvitur Ambulando

Dovegirl

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #6 on: 19:14:11, 08/01/19 »
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.

GnP

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #7 on: 19:32:01, 08/01/19 »
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..
A night under silnylon. Doesn't have the same ring to it.

MarkT

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #8 on: 19:40:28, 08/01/19 »
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.



astaman

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #9 on: 19:44:41, 08/01/19 »
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.

Islandplodder

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #10 on: 19:50:55, 08/01/19 »

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


Islandplodder

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #11 on: 19:51:47, 08/01/19 »
And a really good lunch spot!

BuzyG

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #12 on: 20:42:53, 08/01/19 »
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.

Mines a pint

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #13 on: 11:31:32, 09/01/19 »
 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

pleb

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Re: The Best Bit of Any Walk?
« Reply #14 on: 15:53:03, 09/01/19 »
Somewhere twixt beginning and end, I generally find  ;D
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