The National Trails. Paddy Dillon
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who will, at a price, make all the arrangements. Usually, these are ‘self-guided’ treks, where walkers take care of their own navigation along the trail, with all their meals and accommodation booked and waiting for them. Some companies ensure that luggage is transported from place to place, so that walkers can travel light, carrying nothing more than a day-sack. If this appeals, then by all means make further enquiries, but the extra services come at a price, and not every trail is covered. In a very few instances, it may be possible to join a guided party along a national trail, but this is very rare.
Food and Drink
The national trails run through such rich and varied countryside that it is unsurprising to find services along the way can also be very varied. When a trail passes through a city or town, it is safe to assume that there will be abundant offers of food and drink, so there is no need to carry excess weight. While many villages will have a shop or two, and perhaps a pub and restaurant, many others will have absolutely nothing to offer the passing wayfarer, and you need to know in advance what you are likely to find. There is little point carrying huge loads of food past lots of convenient shops, but it is much worse to have no food at all, and no chance of buying any.
Gritstone outcrops jut from the bleak moors around Gorple and Widdop (Day 6, Pennine Bridleway)
Rural services are in decline in some places, and increasing in others. Check the ‘official’ website for each trail to discover the likely availability of services such as pubs, restaurants, cafés and shops. However, also be aware that the provision of services can change, with businesses opening in some places and closing in others. Bear in mind that some shops and pubs in rural areas open and close at odd hours, and even a thriving town might observe a rigorous half-day closing. It is a good idea to make sure you always have a little extra food in your pack, just to cover emergencies. (I once walked into a village and headed for a shop that I knew from previous visits, only to find it had closed its doors for the last time just two days earlier!)
Tourist Information Centres
Walking into a tourist information centre to ask for detailed route directions will generally cause raised eyebrows – use your map and guidebook for all that! However, TICs are the best places to head if you need any kind of hard, local, up-to-date information. If you are travelling and taking pot luck on the availability of accommodation, then most TICs will be able to help you find a bed. The expertise of TIC staff can save you a huge amount of time and frustration walking from door to door, or making expensive rounds of phone calls. If you need information about local attractions and public transport, they can help, and they usually keep detailed notes of opening times for museums and heritage centres, along with admission prices. Many TICs are good sources of local maps and guides, if you find yourself in an area that you may want to return to and explore more thoroughly in the future.
PREPARING FOR A LONG WALK
A grassy track climbs into the hills to cross the slopes of Cairnacay (Day 4, Speyside Way)
There are perhaps a few people who will fill a pack with the most inappropriate gear, tackle a national trail without any previous experience, and suffer no harm at all. Most who adopt this approach, however, will find themselves sore, and sorely inconvenienced, and may regret ever leaving home. Before embarking on something as ambitious as a national trail, spend a few weeks ensuring that you are physically and mentally fit for the trip, and overhaul the gear you plan to carry. Experienced long-distance walkers can skip the following sections, as they will already have evolved strategies and routines that are easily adapted to each and every trip they plan. Beginners will find that a little forethought will make all the difference as the days on the long trail unfold.
General Fitness
Walking long distances in all kinds of weather is always likely to present some difficulties, and those who have never done such a thing previously should be confident of their general health and wellbeing before setting out. The human body thrives on regular exercise, but it would be unwise for the unfit to suddenly shoulder a hefty pack and subject themselves to a long and arduous trek. Start gently and build up your fitness level to the point where a long-distance walk is good for your health, not an ordeal. Unless you can finish a simple day’s walk feeling refreshed and positively glowing with health, then you probably need to work at it with a bit more determination.
The next logical step is to discover whether you could also walk all day on the following day and still feel fit and ready for more. Devote a weekend to this kind of exercise and see how you feel on Monday morning. If it is a bank holiday Monday, use the opportunity to take a third day’s walk and confirm beyond doubt whether or not you are fit.
Next, you need to determine how well you cope while carrying more than your usual day-sack. If you intend camping along the length of a national trail, you will be carrying a heavy burden all day and every day, and you need to be sure that you are able to do it. Again, try it for two or three days, pitching the tent and making sure that all items of kit are useful and serviceable. If you feel comfortable with the day-in-day-out routine of walking, then you are probably in good shape to embark on any of the national trails.
Once on the trail, look after your health, whether that means eating and drinking wisely, or avoiding stress, strain and injury by trying to do too much. The commonest cause of misery on any long-distance walk is simply blisters, and as blisters are avoidable, it makes sense to deal with any rubbing or ‘hot spots’ as soon as they are noticed, rather than leaving them till too late. A sensible daily breakdown of the trail should ensure that you don’t over-tax yourself, so that you can start relatively fresh each day, rather than suffering aches, pains and fatigue.
You should find that your fitness increases over the duration of a trek, provided you don’t cause injury to yourself and compound each injury by continuing when you should be resting. Time for rest and recuperation is just as important as time spent covering the distance. Guard against dehydration by drinking sufficient water or soft drinks, and eat well to maintain health and energy levels. General hygiene is important, too, since sweaty bodies and clothes not only smell unpleasant, but could lead to distressing conditions such as chaffing or prickly heat – get into a routine to deal with washing and drying clothes. Also, take care to maintain equipment on the trail, especially if camping, as failure or loss of equipment could mean a swift end to the walk. For your own health and peace of mind, be sure that your equipment is tried and trusted before wearing or carrying it.
Packing
It either doesn’t fit in, or you can’t lift it – these are both sure signs that you’re packing too much. A pack that is too heavy on a long-distance walk is bound to cause misery, which isn’t what you want when you’re supposed to be having fun and revelling in the joys of the great outdoors. If you are overburdened, and only tackle the problem too late by posting the excess weight home, you will probably already be carrying injuries that need never have happened. A long-distance trek may be something that happens only once or twice a year, or it may even be the fulfilment of a lifetime dream, so don’t spoil it unnecessarily.
Almost everyone who embarks on a long-distance walk for the first time makes the mistake of getting a big backpack. Kit expands to fill the available space and you’ll pack far more than you really need. Tents and sleeping bags now tip the scales at less than a kilo each and squash down very small. Modern wicking and waterproof fabrics mean that bulky clothing is a thing of the past. No one really needs more than one change of lightweight clothing for the evening. A good choice of kit will sacrifice little in comfort, but much in weight and bulk.
Food also is the downfall of many – it is heavy and takes up space. Water is a kilo a litre. The lightweight backpacker is easily seduced into packing lots of lightweight meals, then walks past delightful little shops selling wholesome food almost every day on the trail. The obvious thing is to buy food when you need it, and pack only enough to get you to the next shop. On most national trails food can be bought on a daily basis, so there is no need to carry excess weight, and buying food along the way offers the