What's the best walking/hiking you've ever done?

A big hobby of mine is walking.

Today I walked from Spurn Point to Withernsea as part of my quest to walk the entire Yorkshire Coast. Completing this section means I have walked from Spurn to Scarborough and so in the summer I plan on camping several nights and walking from Scarborough to the end of the coast just past Redcar and I can't wait. I will cheer and punch the air when I get to South Gare Lighthouse at the end of the walk. Completing ambitious walks fills me with such a proud and euphoric feeling. 

I was wondering if there are others on here that love a good walk and would like to share with me what their favourite walks have been! 

I tend to run rather than walk, but I've done quite a few of the UK's long-distance paths, and the Hebridean Way is definitely my favourite so far.

Some of the best shorter walks you really have to pick your time - the experience of say Malham Cove & Janet's Foss, or Dovedale in the Peak District would be rather different on a sunny summer bank holiday weekend... 

A few years ago my mate and I walked Hadrian’s wall, we were lucky in that the weather was marvellous and that we had enough time to take it easy and weren’t tied down to a strict timetable 

In the mid-1980s, Tour du Mont Blanc with three mates. It's a  circular walk around Mont Blanc taking in a number of passes, the most spectacular of which, The Fenetre d' Arpette, is worth the trek alone. We did it in two chunks , staying in mountain refuges mainly. Great nights in hostels with other walkers from all over the world.  The cable car  ride back from Courmayeur to Chamonix at the end of the first half was unbelievable. Brilliant!

https://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/

There's a 4-day circular walk which passes through part of my garden, the Herriot Way. April/May and September/October seem to be peak season for long-distance walkers. Some days I count 30+ people stood outside the front of the house over the course of a morning consulting their guidebook, maps or phone. Sometimes I take pity on them and point out the footpath when they've been stood there for a while looking lost, although I worry that if you can't follow the instructions or read the map, better to find out in a village with accommodation, food and transport rather than up on the fells  We get a couple of those 'sherpa' services operating round here, which carry your stuff from your B&B in one place to the next when doing long-distance walks, much easier than lugging a tent everywhere. Walkers tend to be almost always middle-aged men on their own, retired couples, or groups of women. Men don't walk in groups and I think younger men probably like to do something more challenging than this particular walk.

Couple of memorable walks for me were a week long trek in the Andes in Peru, amazing to see people living and farming at 5000 metres altitude. Also walking across the Isle of Man on the Millennium Way from Ramsey to Castletown - not amazingly wild or scenic or difficult or anything like that and only 2 easy days, but for some reason it's stuck in my mind more than the coast to coast, south downs way, peddars way/norfolk coastal path or some of the other walks I've done in England.

I've made a start on doing the Settle-Carlisle railway this year. The plan is to drive from home to a station, park there, take the train one or two stations down the line, then run/ walk back to the car. It's just short of 100 miles, so the plan is to do it over 6 separate days, not as one continuous thing. 

On 14/04/2024 at 20:54, The Hallucinating Goose said:

A big hobby of mine is walking.

Today I walked from Spurn Point to Withernsea as part of my quest to walk the entire Yorkshire Coast. Completing this section means I have walked from Spurn to Scarborough and so in the summer I plan on camping several nights and walking from Scarborough to the end of the coast just past Redcar and I can't wait. I will cheer and punch the air when I get to South Gare Lighthouse at the end of the walk. Completing ambitious walks fills me with such a proud and euphoric feeling. 

I was wondering if there are others on here that love a good walk and would like to share with me what their favourite walks have been! 

Congratulations as you get older there are many things you wish you did when you are younger and fitter, in my head the coast to coast st bees to robin hoods bay has always loomed, probably due to my close proximity to st bees and the inspiration of watching go with noakes as a child. I’m on a break from walking the wainwrights at the moment due to the age and mobility of my trusty spaniel but the new lands and coledale round are both worthy and spectacular walks to try. Good luck and try to make time for those things you enjoy while able

14 minutes ago, Route66 said:

Congratulations as you get older there are many things you wish you did when you are younger and fitter, in my head the coast to coast st bees to robin hoods bay has always loomed

Been looking at the coast to coast route this week and thinking Someone I know ran the coast to coast last weekend, as part of an organised race. She did it in just under 100 hours, the winner finished inside 48 hours. There was a 71 year old who completed the race last year, but I reckon I probably shouldn't wait that long.

I did all 30 'mountains' in the Yorkshire Dales National Park last year. Haven't counted up the Wainwrights done in the Lakes, but I'd guess it's probably only 20 or so.

Did the Dalesway a few years back and that was really lovely. A gentle introduction to long distance hiking through Wharfedale, into Cumbria and finishing on Lake Windermere. A great laugh with some mates and one I would highly recommend. We also had planned to do the Coast to Coast until covid scuppered that plan.

We're slowly crossing off the Wainwrights, although that is increasingly slowed down with us now living so far away!

The advantage now being in Cornwall means we have the South West Coast path right on our door step and we are ticking that off nicely having completed the vast majority of the north Cornish coast and about half of the south Cornish Coast. Seriously diverse and as challenging as anything I've ever walked with the continuous up and down!

Bucket list of long hikes:

Tour du Mont Blac

Camino de Santiago

Coast to Coast.

Samaria Gorge on Crete.

Photos I took below.

https://padge.smugmug.com/Places-Europe/Greece/Crete/Samaria-Gorge

we should enjoy walking while we can - before the govt decide to tax us on it with tolls to pay every 20miles to pass through certain points and a footpath erosion fee 

Two years ago I set myself the challenge of completing all the "Ethels" (95 hills / trigs) in and around the Peak District area in the calendar year.

A good mix of popular and off the beaten track locations. 

I completed the challenge over 44 different walks, totalling 342 miles climbing a total of 51000 feet by the end of September. 

Not my website but some more detail on the Ethels below.

https://thewanderingwildflower.co.uk/list-of-peak-district-ethels/

On 17/04/2024 at 15:37, tiffers said:

Did the Dalesway a few years back and that was really lovely. A gentle introduction to long distance hiking through Wharfedale, into Cumbria and finishing on Lake Windermere. A great laugh with some mates and one I would highly recommend. We also had planned to do the Coast to Coast until covid scuppered that plan.

We're slowly crossing off the Wainwrights, although that is increasingly slowed down with us now living so far away!

The advantage now being in Cornwall means we have the South West Coast path right on our door step and we are ticking that off nicely having completed the vast majority of the north Cornish coast and about half of the south Cornish Coast. Seriously diverse and as challenging as anything I've ever walked with the continuous up and down!

 

Bucket list of long hikes:

Tour du Mont Blac

Camino de Santiago

Coast to Coast.

Good choices 

Look also at the Lyke Wake Walk - 42 miles across the North Yorks Moors.  ( Closed now? It's 40 odd years since I did it in  one go.)

GR5 Alpine section: Geneva to Modane. ( Again 40 odd years ago) 

http://grfive.com/

IVe done some walks on my own but mainly with like-minded mates and colleagues male and female from diverse backgrounds. Much more enjoyable with mates and colleagues than on my own.

I've also had great times having done a modest 80-something Munros (so way short of all of them) over weekend trips, consuming notable quantities of Rusty Nails.

Don't put things off, though. Get them done when you can, before age catxhes up in you.

One from the memory banks.

In the Yorkshire Dales, from Bolton Abbey (after a good session of ducks and drakes at the pool just South of the stepping stones) to the great views from Simon's Seat.

On 14/04/2024 at 20:54, The Hallucinating Goose said:

A big hobby of mine is walking.

Today I walked from Spurn Point to Withernsea as part of my quest to walk the entire Yorkshire Coast. Completing this section means I have walked from Spurn to Scarborough and so in the summer I plan on camping several nights and walking from Scarborough to the end of the coast just past Redcar and I can't wait. I will cheer and punch the air when I get to South Gare Lighthouse at the end of the walk. Completing ambitious walks fills me with such a proud and euphoric feeling. 

I was wondering if there are others on here that love a good walk and would like to share with me what their favourite walks have been! 

Pleased to hear you managed to do the Spurn thing. Having cycled from Robin Hood's Bay to Ravenscar and back along the rock strewn path, I can tell you it would make a much better walking route. You'll enjoy that section, some of the views along the way are spectacular.

One of my favourites is Padstow to Perranporth over 3 days.  Great section of the SWCP.  And at least 2 ice cream opportunities a day.  

On 16/04/2024 at 08:33, JohnM said:

In the mid-1980s, Tour du Mont Blanc with three mates. It's a  circular walk around Mont Blanc taking in a number of passes, the most spectacular of which, The Fenetre d' Arpette, is worth the trek alone. We did it in two chunks , staying in mountain refuges mainly. Great nights in hostels with other walkers from all over the world.  The cable car  ride back from Courmayeur to Chamonix at the end of the first half was unbelievable. Brilliant!

https://www.autourdumontblanc.com/en/

Been on something similar out of Courmayor, John.  A couple dropped out and had to go back.  It wasn’t a gimme. Fantastic experience.