scobub

Just wondering, would be good to exchange walks, tips, advice and GPS info etc. Mainly walk N & central Scotland myself, so info on walks in Wales, the Lakes etc would be great

hedgehog

Have you tried walking Lewis and Harris in the Hebrides? I know that the north of Lewis is acutally pretty flat but it is the most tricky walking I've ever encountered and you can wander out there for days and never meet another person. Like I say, very different from the traditional Scottish walking but a wonderful experience and I find it more rewarding.

fast bloke

I'll give it a go. Where is the SN hill?

ChrisB

GPS - what's wrong with an OS map?

Graz

http://www.walkingworld.com/home/index.asp

Well worth a subscription, though mine has lapsed

I will renew it though to get some walks before my two week break in Dumfries & Galloway at the end of October

The OS Pathfinder walk books are very good as well.

Graz

Just ordered PDA, Bluetooth GPS, Memory Map software (OS) etc. Looking forward to trying it all out. OS map on the PDA with my current position shown

Worth having the paper map and compass for when the batteries go flat though

mattstant

Done a fair amount in the Lakes and North Wales but not recently as two nippers in quick succession have curtailed any serious walking.

Email me for pointers on a couple of nice walks in both areas.
Got quite a few books as well

mattstant

Ps I'm with Chris GPS is for wimps

Daz34

I am doing this one in Scotland in a week or two.
Anyone done it?

Darren

Graz

Bits of it, but not end to end. Would like to one day, spectacular scenery.

Good luck, hope you have a good time

ozzy

Done loads of hill walking & running in Scotland. Would strongly suggest getting to Skye, Wester Ross for some of the most stunning scenery in the world.

GPS is OK, but what happens if your batteries fail or you drop it? Anyone who walks in the hills should know how to navigate with a compass and map. Don't forget to practice in poor visibility. Any idiot can find their way off a hill in excellent weather, but the majority come unstuck when the can't see 10ft in front of them.

I'd always spend money on getting the best clothing rather than on electronics.

Just my 2p's worth.

Stefan

ChrisB

Indeed. I came across a guy on another forum that was planning to go up a Munro in Scotland with a GPS unit he'd only just bought and no map/compass back-up

As for walking, done quite a bit in England & Wales but never made it to Scotland. Got some superb photo's at home from Tryfan on a stunning day

ozzy

You can't be a serious walker 'til you've spent time in Scotland

You should get up here in Winter. On a clear day, the skies are crystal clear and you can almost see coast to coast.

I was supposed to have spent last weekend on Sky doing all the Munros, but with the **** weather be abandoned the attempt

Looks like I'll have to wait until winter unless we get some decent weather.

Stefan

ozzy

I've met walkers on summits asking if this is Ben whatever only for me to say no, that's it over there

SiPie

ChrisB

I will get up to Scotland at some point. Trouble is it's miles away Can be in Snowdonia in under two hours (depends who's driving )

Just been reading the West Highland Way link - sounds good but it reckons you don't need a map. Where's the challenge in that then?

Graz

Agree totally, quite competent with compass and map, and have very good clothing, just wanted a new toy okay I'll be using it for in-car navigation as well.

I have bought a spare battery for the PDA, waterproof case, spare battery for the GPS, AA battery extender for the PDA, and I'll still have the compass and map with me

ozzy

The West Highland Way is just one big long path from Fort William to Milngavie.

I've only done parts of it actuall walking off hills around them and back to my car. The part around Loch Lommond is wide enough to drive a car down it.

I'll only ever do it if a) I run it or b) I cycle it

There's adventure to it whatsoever, but I suppose it's an achievement to walk almost 100-miles or spend a week walking/camping with some m8's.

ozzy

So you're not one that goes light & fast when walking

Graz

Lithium batteries don't weigh much

If I'm doing a days hiking somewhere remote in the winter time I usually take waterproofs, flask of tea, water, lots of high carb snacks, etc. So a few batteries won't make much difference

ozzy

If you were one of these mental ultra-lightweight walkers, you'd try cutting the batteries in half to save weight

scobub

lol @ some of the replies (fastbloke) Bloody quick you lot, Ill need time to digest all this info. fyi (Chris) I do and can use OS maps and compass and always have them with me, but as a gadget fiend I love my Garmin Geko which I mainly use for recording new trail and waypoint info to link up with Fugawi digital maps back at base.

Les Behan

Whey-hey!

Off with the boys this weekend to Talybont-on-Usk. Strike base camp on Friday night with suitable refreshments to follow. Do Pen-y-Fan and Big Fanny Saturday with lunch at whichever summit we do 2nd. Hoon back down for a monster bowl of chilli (I've managed to source some of those naga jolokia jobbies - 800,000 Scovilles ) which should make Sunday interesting. Probably go pot-holing or do a river walk.

Cheers
Les

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

This was the last 'hill' we walked up



It was so embarrassing to be overtaken by a pensioner running on the way up to the top

Juan King

I don't know - looks quite impressive.

Take a look at the endurance & fell running record holders - the majority of them are fairly well-advanced in years (not sure there's any pensioners though )

ChrisB

That Pen-y-ghent Sal?

hedgehog

Interesting about the GPS stuff, I have one and it is very old and has no mapping function or anything, basically it just gives you the coordinates of where you are. It is utterly worthless without a map.

I'm not really a gadget freak (though this is as good a reason as any for having one if you ask me) but as I mentioned I spend a lot of time walking on Lewis which is flat, but rolling, ground with absolutely no landmarks. The local horizon is usually no more than 500m away, because of the rolling nature, and this makes navigation a nightmare. One bit of heather looks much like another and they go for 30 miles in each direction. You can try holding the compass and walking on a bearing but the ground is too cut up and dangerous to get more than 3 steps in a straight line and tactical retreats of some considerable distance are common :-) I usually walk alone and so carry the GPS as a safety blanket to negate moments of self doubt. Out there with no landmarks at all it is possible to start doubting yourself and as everyone knows that is fatal in mental terms. The GPS is the equivalent of having a mate along to say "I think we are here. You agree?" and it works well in that role. So, I would recommend them, I don't need a GPS because I'm harder than you are, I need one because I'm more frightened than you are :-)

I appreciate that this sort of walking is much different from that engaged in by many hill walkers and my reasoning for attacking such strange and difficult ground is to get to trout lochs. However, in view of the fact that there is rarely anything on the horizon to aim at and that walking on a bearing while watching a compass is usually impractical I was given a very useful tip by someone who walked the moorland to make his living. As there isn't even a slope to follow he informed me that how he maintained his direction was by using the wind direction as a guide. I know the wind can change direction etc. but when you are talking about "legs" of half an hour or so I have found this to be a very effective way of keeping myself right despite having to make very many detours and retreats from dangerous bog. It is a useful tip to keep in mind, at least on barren rolling ground with absolutely no hints at all to keep your head pointed the right way. Not always useful in the hills where the wind may be coming from 3 places at once but you usually have the sense of the slope or an aiming point of some description there to assist and so it is rarely necessary. Hope that helps someone, it is such an obvious idea but I had to be told it before I realised it was obvious!

Graz

Mmmm Star Inn - Talybont-on-Usk - Upto 12 real ales on tap

You know it's a good pub when the locals only start turning up from 10pm onwards, boy did we have a late night

scobub

Hedgehog, have a shifty at the new GPS kit, I've used older stuff but imo the new ones are much more useful. Basic ones like the Geko 101 are still compromised by a lack of ability to connect it to a PC so there is no possibility of updating the software or of collecting and analysing waypoints, routes and tracklogs on a PC, but the 201 is great. I bought my Geko 201 for £94 from Tracklogs (40 - 60 quid less than most retailers)http://www.tracklogs.co.uk/cgi-bin/p...in&page=gps601

It works well with the Fugawi 2 digi maps and they are pretty good value as well, £89 for all of Scotland and North England (the equivalent of 100 OS maps)

Scoobychick

iTrader: (1)

Close, it's Ingleborough