Rumination: Active March

Active March did not get the day 6 which was anticipated for it as I'd found that extra reserves of enthusiasm could not be found for any of the other days of my week off, really too much hot weather for that time of year. More significantly, the last Saturday of the month fell by the wayside when I had planned to join the FOSCL group for a jaunt from Dent to Ribblehead via Deepdale and Whernside. That morning I had woken up with a rather uneasy feeling in my stomach, and had to make a swift decision on going out or not, choosing not too proved to be absolutely the right choice, as about an hour later, around the time I'd have been travelling through Bingley, I was really really glad to still be in my own home and not on the train...

Still, even with an early and unplanned conclusion, I have to consider Active March to have been a success, even if a qualified one. Only qualified in so far as I did not achieve all my walking plans and for finding that I didn't have extra reserves to draw on when the weather got hot. Still, an upset stomach should bring a halt to everything, and there was no way that I could have expected hot weather in the last week of the month. I thought that I'd be forcing myself to go on in the face of cold weather and driving rain, not temperatures of 25C and the risk of sunstroke. Contending the weather was something I learned a lot about, and in March at least, you are not having to worry too hard about keeping warm, indeed letting the heat out was more of an immediate concern. I only walked once in a woolly hat, and put that away during my very first walk, and only wore thermals for three walks, only really needing them for one of those trips, and by my fourth trip, it was so warm I had to rapidly redress myself for a warm spring day. Having an emergency lightweight waterproof has shown up as essential, really handy to don as needed, and whilst I hadn't needed the waterproof strides, I find that appropriate amounts of breeze and the right air temperature means that you don't stay too unpleasantly wet for too long. A technical vest has also proved essential, it's just so much better than sweating heavily into a shirt, though I rapidly found that wearing any layers between vest and fleece will have them saturated in no time at all, another lesson quickly learned. Keeping yourself clean is a different matter, though, not sure how I go about that. Just have the washing machine ready when needed, I guess...


Quantify 'Covered in Shit'

The second major lesson is finding that I have many more miles in my legs than I had expected, I'd not expected to find that walking 50+ miles would be so straightforward whilst putting in full weeks of work as well. My brain had assumed that I'd need a week of psych-up/relax time around every all-day walk, so I'd gone out of my way to arrange a schedule that was completely on the opposite scale to that. The first walk turned out to be the hardest, the only day with grimy weather and terrain that gave me trouble, but despite going home filthy and with very sore calves and ankles, I was still ready to go back to work without issues, and the days on the Leeds Country Way gave me no difficulty, aside from choosing to do 14 miles in rather too much heat, which was the exact same problem I had on the Mallerstang jaunt, not being ready for Summer weather on the first weekend of Spring. It was really encouraging to find that I wasn't gassed by the walking, and I could put down many miles and still function normally, walking all (or at least most) weekends was clearly a possibility for the future. The stamina for uphill walking was still lacking, but that will have to be trained in, and the sorenesses that I take home are apparently unavoidable in many cases, especially in the knees and ankles, according to our FOSCL leaders anyway. Also good to find that you don't need nearly as much food as I'd thought, fearful of being short on rations you naturally over-cater, but you need to go with picnic logic, only bring enough for yourself for lunch and a snack afterwards. Drink, however? Carry as much as possible, but do find a less bulky flask.


Tea Break on Harewood estate

The third lesson is learning the differences between walking with company and walking alone, and adapting accordingly. My solitary nature leads me to favouring walking solo, I can enjoy the walk and the landscape without feeling the need to interact with other walkers, and I can go at my own pace, as most the leaders so far encountered favour a pace quicker than I'd choose. Still, my solo walking so far has stayed close to Leeds and none of it has been wilderness, even the many woods haven't been actually far from anywhere, and group walking is essential for gaining familiarity when walking in more challenging terrain, though we have so far avoided the bogs that litter the Dales. Even so, company when far from home is welcome, makes the walk feel like a bit of an event! and the FOSCL group does seem to emphasise the word 'Friends' as many of the walkers are well known to each other, and whilst it can seem a bit cliquey to the newcomer, the personal warmth of the group is palpable. Checking in on other group's literature, I find them immediately less appealing as the Ramblers and YHA want you to pay up to join (pay to walk? eh?), and the LDWA have a macho attitude of "Start at Pateley Bridge, 7.30am. Walking 22 miles". So I'll be sticking to solo walks whilst close to home, and continuing with the FOSCL group for my further afield stuff, they're a nice bunch and it doesn't cost me any more than my train fare.

So on to Active April, to get the LCW down and to look for other routes to tramp, it's worth noting that when getting together with friends for traditional pre-Easter drinks, there was modest surprise that I had managed to stay with my walking programme for a month, and greater surprise that I was set to continue, and when the time came for the mile and a half amble back from the pub to my bed, I did not grumble as I would have, I was ready to WALK!