Walking and Trekking in the mountains
Skiing, mountain walking and trekking are activities that I love to do. They combine often spectacular scenery and marvellous perspectives with fresh air, sunshine, good company, a physical challenge, time and space to think.
Navigation Aids
One thing some people may find useful are the tables of walking times for a variety of different conditions, you can see this by selecting the "Walking Times" link here or in the side bar. These tables are a micro navigation aid but may need to be adjusted for your own walking style.
Safety
Whatever you do though, make sure that you are well equipped and well trained before venturing into the mountains. Remember too that the mountains of England (let alone Wales and Scotland) are every bit as dangerous as those in other regions of the world despite not being as high or remote.
If you are not sure how to cope with the mountains, join a group and learn.
Of course, not all walking needs to be in the mountains and even those in cities will find excellent paths close by that have interesting things to look at and quite often, interesting wildlife as well. Look in your local newspapers for guided tours of out-of-the-way places.
My Favourite Walking Locations
I think that my all-time favourite in the UK has to be Snowdonia, North Wales. This area has fantastic scenery but the mountains are far more accessible than those of Scotland or even the English Lake District.
Looking further afield, the mountains of Norway would be high on my list. They are still reasonably accessible from the UK and you get a real feeling of wilderness but can retain the convenience of extremely well stocked huts (with bedding, food and cooking facilities in main season).
In the European Alps, Chamonix takes a lot of beating for its convenience, easy enough to get to from the UK, plenty of accommodation and lots of English speaking facilities.
Further afield still, have a look at my pages on Nepal and New Zealand. These locations offer some of the ultimate mountain experiences even for walkers, though you may want to dedicate plenty of time to them! Typical treks in New Zealand would be around 5-10 days and in Nepal, although small treks would start at around 5-10 days, the best treks such as the Everest Basecamp will take a minimum of 20-30 days!
Happy walking, Julian Knight.
Skiing, mountain walking and trekking are activities that I love to do. They combine often spectacular scenery and marvellous perspectives with fresh air, sunshine, good company, a physical challenge, time and space to think.
One thing some people may find useful are the tables of walking times for a variety of different conditions, you can see this by selecting the "Walking Times" link here or in the side bar. These tables are a micro navigation aid but may need to be adjusted for your own walking style.
Whatever you do though, make sure that you are well equipped and well trained before venturing into the mountains. Remember too that the mountains of England (let alone Wales and Scotland) are every bit as dangerous as those in other regions of the world.
If you are not sure how to cope with the mountains, join a group and learn.
Of course, not all walking needs to be in the mountains and even those in cities will find excellent paths close by that have interesting things to look at and quite often, interesting wildlife as well. Look in your local newspapers for guided tours of out-of-the-way places.
My Favourite Walking Locations
I think that my all-time favourite in the UK has to be Snowdonia, North Wales. This area has fantastic scenery but the mountains are far more accessible than those of Scotland or even the English Lake District.
Looking further afield, the mountains of Norway would be high on my list. They are still reasonably accessible from the UK and you get a real feeling of wilderness but can retain the convenience of extremely well stocked huts (with bedding, food and cooking facilities in main season).
In the European Alps, Chamonix takes a lot of beating for its convenience, easy enough to get to from the UK, plenty of accommodation and lots of English speaking facilities.
Further afield still, have a look at my pages on Nepal and New Zealand. These locations offer some of the ultimate mountain experiences even for walkers though you may want to dedicate plenty of time to them! Typical treks in New Zealand would be around 5-10 days and in Nepal, although small treks would start at around 5-10 days, the best treks such as the Everest Basecamp will take a minimum of 20-30 days!
Happy walking, Julian Knight.
