Long Distance Walking - Day Hikes, Through Hikes

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I really enjoy walking, i like better at sunset or sunrise, because where i live the sun is strong as fuck and i am scared of getting skin cancer and then spreading to my testicles, i usually walk for an hour and listening to local radio stations.
Nice to hear other members enjoy walking and share their experiences.
 
No hiking, but a few weeks ago I started to walking to try to lose some weight. Started with 40 minute walks, now I'm up to about an hour and a half. Also started wearing a 10 pound weight vest recently.

My town isn't flat at all, there are hills everywhere and roads wind all over the place. Makes for some tiring walking at times, especially with that vest on. Thinking about adding ankle weights to get more out of it.
 
Buster O'Keefe said:
Unfortunately I'm in West Bongland, and am likely to get asked to produce a hiking loicense. I had to cancel a walking holiday in Wicklow over Easter: the weather was perfect, it would have been a fantastic trip.
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Assuming that's South West? I've not been able to hike up that way before, but there are really lovely parts of Wales I've been day hiking in. You might be interested in doing some of the British Pilgrimage walks.


Lots of good walks on this site, and Cicerone has some good publications of different walk throughout the UK.
There is also good hiking associations in the UK. I had wanted to do some ramblings along the Jurassic coast as some point.

crapstream said:
I really enjoy walking, i like better at sunset or sunrise, because where i live the sun is strong as fuck and i am scared of getting skin cancer and then spreading to my testicles, i usually walk for an hour and listening to local radio stations.
Nice to hear other members enjoy walking and share their experiences.
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This is the ideal times really. If you're doing long hikes, realistically you want to start off around 6.30 to 7am and walk till 2pm, then rest until 6pm and walk, that way you get the best of the cool morning weather and then you get the best of the evening. Love walking in the evening when it's still warm from the afternoon, but the sun's not as intense.


Islamic Creampie said:
No hiking, but a few weeks ago I started to walking to try to lose some weight. Started with 40 minute walks, now I'm up to about an hour and a half. Also started wearing a 10 pound weight vest recently.

My town isn't flat at all, there are hills everywhere and roads wind all over the place. Makes for some tiring walking at times, especially with that vest on. Thinking about adding ankle weights to get more out of it.
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Good on you. I've been using the isolation time to get in around 10 to 12k a day. It's a good way to keep the weight off.
 
Reading this thread made me want to go out hiking again, so I went out this morning and did a relatively short (~10K) hike. Pretty nice, though it started to snow a bit about 3/4 of the way through. So now I'm thinking about working toward some more intense trails in the area. Anyone have any experience with high-altitude hiking? There's some nice spots in the vicinity, but they climb to elevations around 10,000 feet/3,000m.
 
I've personally never been hiking, to avoid PLing I've got mobility issues, but I do enjoy a nice walk around my neighborhood when I can, most I can manage before having to tap out from pain is about 45 minutes, but I've been getting up to an hour recently.
 
DMT Blastoid said:
Ay thanks man, I've been trying to use the remaining mobility I've got, and walking is just about the only exercise I can do nowadays, highly recommend even a leisurely walk to anyone, it's great.
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I was in the same boat (mobility wise). Doctors pretty much said its not going to improve n shit.
A buddy got me into weight lifting, and it was a game changer for me. Focusing on building the hip muscles, and hamstrings were super beneficial (quads/glutes too, but less to an extent).
I'm don't know your situation, but if yours is like mine, stronger muscle stabilizers has improved my mobility a bunch.
 
This thread is making me want to go out into the woods and do some serious walkin'!
It's been a long time since I've been on a proper hike, there's some amazing places nearby but I don't always have the means to get there. Once the coronapocalypse is over I might go out somewhere with my family on a weekend.
I alternate between running and walking, mostly aiming for distance becasue I run half-marathons. Longest I've done is 14 miles in a day. One of my usual routes takes me pretty close to the head of a trail leading up into the hills. I've been contemplating if I can add that trail into my run and it looks like it would end up as a 11 mile round trip, give or take. I'm not 100% sure where the trail starts compared to where I run, so I need to do some research before I go out.
When I do a long distances I like to pack homemade trail mix maybe some beef jerky. If I'm running in an actual event I sometimes put a Hostess Donette in there as a moral boost. For many half-marathoners the proverbial "wall" hits at about mile 9 so you want to re-fuel before that. I usually do so just before mile 7. I'd assume while distance walking you'd want to keep that in mind too.

My family has a special snack we make before we do really long distances that I think would be really good for hiking too, I call them Mama's Magic Balls and they're modified from a recipe in the Rocket Fuel cookbook.
This is the recipe as suggested in the cookbook (where they're called Enduro Balls) but we change it up based on what we have on hand.

1 cup pitted dates
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/3 cup raw shelled sunflower seeds
1/4 cup raw shelled pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed or chia seed (optional)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup almond butter
1/3 cup fresh mint (we don't add this in, it seems to weird)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Soak sour dates in warm water for 30 min, drain on paper towels. Place your dates, and everything up to the salt in a food processer and blend until everything is finely chopped. Add the honey, almond butter, mint if you're weird, and vanilla and blend until it starts to look like the texture of play doh. Pulse in chocolate chips. Roll those bad boys up into balls and store them in the fridge for up to a week. What we sometimes do is just form it into a big brick and slice it into squares. The shape doesn't really matter as once it's been in your pocket for 7 miles it's going to turn into an amorpheus blob anyway.

Heres the cookbook for anyone who's curious, it also has recipes for your own sports drinks and energy gels if you don't want to go store-bought.
https://www.amazon.com/Rocket-Fuel-Power-Packed-Sports-Adventure/dp/1937715469
 
this is a pretty good post OP. not wearing milsurp is a good idea.. i personally use a MOLLE pack since i can attach gay shit to the outside, but camo pants looks retarded.
 
Went ten miles yesterday and decided to scope out where I think the trailhead I'm looking for is. The roads leading to the hill are closed to traffic because the nearby campground is closed so this is actually the perfect time to go out and explore. Found a really nice trail leading towards the hill but I didn't go all the way, I'll come back on a day where I'm better prepared. I'm pretty sure there is also a way more efficient way to reach the hill, by way of a really steep incline. I'm already planning my next long-ass run out here, I'm pretty excited. I'm thinking of borrowing a Camelbak from someone so I can carry my shit easier and have more water.

Scenes from the sort-of wilderness.
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(This road would be so fun to longboard on right now because of the road closures!)
 
I've been planning a hiking/camping trip in the nearby national forest, it'll be my second time in the area though it has been a handful of years since I've actually done anything like that. I think it'll be a good experience to get my overweight self some exercise as well as some peace in the middle of nature with no cell service.

From my research the hike itself isn't anything special, just a few miles for a loop around a lake and very minor elevation change. I've god good shoes and good socks, though I would like some cargo pants.

For preparation I've just been doing walks around the neighborhood in the evening, typically no cooler than 80 degrees, with some good upbeat music to set a pace.
 
Been progressively working on improving my stamina and general fitness with hikes on the weekends, usually 10-15 km. One of the nicest things about where I live is the abundance of really high quality hiking trails: mountain trails, desert trails, river trails. We got 'em all within 50 miles of here. Though you do have to get used to the elevation.

My biggest success so far was doing a mountain trail to the summit, 8 km each way with a 600 m climb to a bit under 3300 m:

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Even though I live at 1500 m, that elevation did get to me a bit. Felt really good when I finally got to the top, though, and could just see forever.
 
Hyper mobility/arthritis myself, but hikes are just my thing. Can gan fae say, twelve at night tae about seven in the morning without much stopping up hill, then back again. Fecking kills the legs for a week or twa, but considering how fast the confines of the disability is fecking me over, better to embrace it while I can. Can get some bonnie pictures along the way as well, double plus. More sae, if ya aim for the sunrise at the summit ae your walk/hike. Seen lairds only ken how many ae those in the last ten/fifteen years.
 
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