Longest Walk / Hike

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

The longest I have ever done was 80 odd miles along the route of Hadrian's Wall.

 

There must be plenty on here who have done much more, so come on let's hear about it.

 

Thanks for the idea, Buce.

[Rocket-Ron]

The most I've walked was the three peaks (yorkshire). Only about 30 miles or so, but lots of ups and downs.

[VLC86]

8 minutes ago, Rocket-Ron said:

The most I've walked was the three peaks (yorkshire). Only about 30 miles or so, but lots of ups and downs.

That second one is an absolute bitch.

[VLC86]

I would probably say from Brugge to the stadium tbf.

[Izzy]

I once did a 72 hole golf challenge one midsummer's day - four rounds in one day. Teed off at 5am and finished at 9pm

 

It's 8.5km on average for a round, so that's 34km in a day. 

 

Do I win? 

[Buce]

49 minutes ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

The longest I have ever done was 80 odd miles along the route of Hadrian's Wall.

 

There must be plenty on here who have done much more, so come on let's hear about it.

 

Thanks for the idea, Buce.

 

Currently, the longest is the Appalachian Trail (Approx 2,140 miles at the time - it varies with reroutes year on year, currently approx 2,200).

I will probably do it again before I hang up my boots, and the Bibbulmun Track (Western Australia, 1,000km) and the Te Araroa (New Zealand, 3,000km) are definitely on the cards. 

I haven't given up on the idea of the Pacific Crest Trail (USA, 2,650 miles) and the Continental Divide Trail (USA, 3,100 miles), though age may not be on my side for those.

Edited 15 May 2018 by Buce

[VLC86]

3 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

I once did a 72 hole golf challenge one midsummer's day - four rounds in one day. Teed off at 5am and finished at 9pm

 

It's 8.5km on average for a round, so that's 34km in a day. 

 

Do I win? 

Don’t know mate you tell us.

[Webbo]

Buy a car you tight gits.

[Stinkenzo]

About 9km

[Rocket-Ron]

9 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

That second one is an absolute bitch.

I can't remember what order we did them in but the walk between the 2nd and the 3rd took forever.

[Izzy]

4 minutes ago, Costock_Fox said:

Don’t know mate you tell us.

I thought it was a competition for who's done the longest walk 

 

Looks like @Buce is winning as usual 

[VLC86]

10 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

I thought it was a competition for who's done the longest walk 

 

Looks like @Buce is winning as usual 

I thought you meant at golf  

[VLC86]

11 minutes ago, Rocket-Ron said:

I can't remember what order we did them in but the walk between the 2nd and the 3rd took forever.

The second one I did was the one with the gradual incline that went on forever. Grim.

[Buce]

16 minutes ago, Izzy Muzzett said:

I thought it was a competition for who's done the longest walk 

 

Looks like @Buce is winning as usual 

 

The general consensus is that thru-hikers are actually insane, so I’m not sure I’m winning much. 

[bovril]

Did about 120km over 4 days in North West Bulgaria. Completely untouched, unspoiled part of the world. Hardly saw anybody save for a few old boys working the fields. Slept in fields for three nights, was probably the best experience of my life.

 

Did the Affric / Kintail way over three days last year at about 80km.

Edited 15 May 2018 by bovril

[cambridgefox]

One Stop and back to get a Mars Bar.

[The Syrup]

Inca Trail. 4 day hike through the Andes to Machu Picchu in Peru. Its about 50 odd miles I think but the altitude can be an issue. If you ever get to do it spend a few days beforehand in Cusco getting used to the altitude.

[Alf Bentley]

3 hours ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

The longest I have ever done was 80 odd miles along the route of Hadrian's Wall.

 

There must be plenty on here who have done much more, so come on let's hear about it.

 

Thanks for the idea, Buce.

 

I'm booked up to do the Hadrian's Wall path in July. Any top tips, DT? Any bits particularly strenuous or memorable?

I have the OS map book and have done a bit of research, but mainly just to plan accommodation. Will read up a bit more before July.

 

I'm certainly not in Buce's league, but my most bonkers undertaking was most of the Cornish Coastal Path about 20 years ago.

I wasn't particularly fit or used to walking but took it into my head to walk the whole Cornish Path (275 miles) in a fortnight, with a full backpack in the middle of a summer heatwave.

Some of that path is very easy (flat clifftops/seafronts) but some is up and down series of rocky promontories or across heavy sandy beaches.

I didn't make it all the way but, being a stubborn git, did manage about 224 miles. I lost almost 1.5 stone in a fortnight and ended up looking like a slim George Michael (tan + bleached hair) with a heel blister the size of a potato. 

 

Did a similar bit of madness in my 20s, about 27 miles in 7 hours with a full backpack mainly up a pass in the Pyrenees. Couldn't walk properly for 3 days afterwards.

 

Thames Estuary to Mersey Estuary might have been longer, but did that over a number of weekends and a couple of holiday weeks over a year.....so that was a saner mission.

[Bellend Sebastian]

I've walked a boring and repetitive route between one house then another and an office, which I reckon has been about 10,000 miles long. Mind you, it's taken me the best part of 20 years and I've still not finished

[Buce]

7 hours ago, Alf Bentley said:

 

I'm booked up to do the Hadrian's Wall path in July. Any top tips, DT? Any bits particularly strenuous or memorable?

I have the OS map book and have done a bit of research, but mainly just to plan accommodation. Will read up a bit more before July.

 

I'm certainly not in Buce's league, but my most bonkers undertaking was most of the Cornish Coastal Path about 20 years ago.

I wasn't particularly fit or used to walking but took it into my head to walk the whole Cornish Path (275 miles) in a fortnight, with a full backpack in the middle of a summer heatwave.

Some of that path is very easy (flat clifftops/seafronts) but some is up and down series of rocky promontories or across heavy sandy beaches.

I didn't make it all the way but, being a stubborn git, did manage about 224 miles. I lost almost 1.5 stone in a fortnight and ended up looking like a slim George Michael (tan + bleached hair) with a heel blister the size of a potato. 

 

Did a similar bit of madness in my 20s, about 27 miles in 7 hours with a full backpack mainly up a pass in the Pyrenees. Couldn't walk properly for 3 days afterwards.

 

Thames Estuary to Mersey Estuary might have been longer, but did that over a number of weekends and a couple of holiday weeks over a year.....so that was a saner mission.

3

 

In truth, as unlikely as it may seem, a thru-hike isn't particularly a great feat of physical endurance - if you can hike ten miles, you can hike a thousand. Very few hikers start a hike trail fit (to draw a football analogy think match fit), it's something that is achieved by the act of hiking. What sets successful thru-hikers apart is mental strength. Statistically, 50% of aspiring Appalachian Trail thru-hikers quit the trail within the first 200 miles, and the reason is usually not lack of physical preparation, but rather lack of mental preparation. You need to accept that it's sometimes going to be tough; that you're going to stink; that sometimes you'll get wet and stay that way for days; that you're going to be hungry (the infamous hiker hunger - no matter how much food you're prepared to carry, you will mostly be running a calorific deficit). A successful thru-hiker embraces it. There is something spiritually magnificent about paring your life down to the simplicity of the hike - eat, break camp, hike, make camp, eat, sleep. Rinse and repeat. When you think about it, the way we live our lives is a very recent thing in evolutionary terms. Up until we became 'civilised' we lived a life where our only possessions were those we needed to live, and we carried them with us. For me, thru-hiking is about getting in touch with that spiritual vibe that our ancestors enjoyed. About communing with nature and a more natural way of life. About knowing that everything I need to be self-reliant is in that pack on my back. About forgetting - for a while at least - all the man-made stresses of modern life. Like life, a thru-hike is about the journey, not the destination.

[Buce]

 

You might find these of interest, @Alf Bentley:

 

https://rucksackrose.com/trails/hadrians-wall/

 

https://www.walkingenglishman.com/hadrianswall01.html

 

https://www.elizabethskitchendiary.co.uk/2017/04/walking-hadrians-wall.html/

 

https://andreasmoser.blog/2011/06/12/hadrians-wall/

 

https://whatsdavedoing.com/hadrians-wall-guide/

 

http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entries/21835

 

http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/532112

[Jattdogg]

Are there any rules to this? I mean a hike over 4 days is technically at least  4 smaller hikes within 1 hike (especially if you are sleeping in between).

 

Just trying to figure out if muzzys golf adventure is a winner or not.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

I remember being made to do a sponsored hike at secondary school, we left at 8am and got back at 4pm, covered about 18 miles. My ankles were on absolute fire at the end of it and really sore, the thought that people do that kind of shit for fun is mind-boggling - boredom AND pain.

[Jattdogg]

2 minutes ago, Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo said:

I remember being made to do a sponsored hike at secondary school, we left at 8am and got back at 4pm, covered about 18 miles. My ankles were on absolute fire at the end of it and really sore, the thought that people do that kind of shit for fun is mind-boggling - boredom AND pain.

Being one with nature can be totally relaxing. You see all kinds of things and its nice to get away from the daily grind. I can see how a really long hike could get seriously boring/tiring but to each their own. For me i can only handle like 10km before I'm "cool with doing something else"  haha.

[Julian Joachim Jr Shabadoo]

8 minutes ago, Jattdogg said:

Being one with nature can be totally relaxing. You see all kinds of things and its nice to get away from the daily grind. I can see how a really long hike could get seriously boring/tiring but to each their own. For me i can only handle like 10km before I'm "cool with doing something else"  haha.

 

Yeah sorry I could have been clearer - I can understand 5 or so miles on a nice day being good, as I do that with my labrador at weekends, but trudging all day in drizzle in shit-up boots with blistering feet is a different kettle of fish