Five Long Distance Walks in UK: Trip Report

Preview of Long Distance Walks

By Brian Tyler, AFIChemE, Cheshire, England

{Editors note: This 47 page report of five walks is from a family memoir by Brian Tyler, father of my friend Simon Tyler.  Brian – a truly peripatetic professor and chemist – estimates he has walked some 75,000 miles over his more than 80 years on earth, cycled at least 50,000 miles, and run about 4,600 miles. This chatty and informative chapter from his memoir details five walks taken between 1975 and 1999.  It gives a feel for each walk, provides useful information (though some is doubtless out-of-date)  and reveals his sharp eye for historical detail.  His photographs have a family album feel and add greatly to the text.  When I read this report I was enchanted by how it compellingly tells the story of one man’s long walks over time.  Brian kindly agreed to my request to include it on hut2hut.info as a unique example of how walking fits into a life well lived. – Sam Demas, October 2016}

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Yosemite High Sierra Camps Trip Report

Yosemite Camp CabinsYOSEMITE HIGH SIERRA CAMPS — AUGUST 2016

By Rachael Swift

I recently completed a 6 day, 5 night ranger-guided group hut-to-hut hike to four of the Yosemite High Sierra Camps.  I was accompanied by my husband Bill and our 23 year old son Tom. We started at Tuolumne Meadows Lodge and from there hiked to Sunrise, Merced Lake, Vogelsang, and then back to Tuolumne Meadows Lodge. We did not go to the camps at May Lake or Glen Aulin which I am now really looking forward to seeing at some future time.

Reservations are by lottery through the National Parks Service concessionaire website.

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Huts for Vets & Tenth Mountain Division Huts

Huts for Vets

by Sam Demas, August 2016

“Huts for Vets and my fellow warriors saved my life over the last four days. Finding healing could not have happened in a better place.”

–From the logbook at Margy’s Hut, Tenth Mountain Division Hut System

This quote by a Marine veteran captures the essence of the Huts for Vets (HFV) program. Operating in partnership with the Tenth Mountain Division Hut System, Huts for Vets is one of many outdoor-based programs treating veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

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Adirondack Hamlets to Huts: a founders’ profile

Adirondack Hamlets to Huts

Duane Gould, Joe Dadey, and Jack Drury – The Adirondacks Hamlets to Huts Team

Joe and Jack: pioneers in a culture awakening to the environmental benefits of huts

In 2013 Joe Dadey and Jack Drury came up with the idea of a lodging and trails system connecting Adirondack hamlets to huts.  I’ve been following their quest as something of a model planning process for hut systems.

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Trip Report: Pilgrimage to Iona

By Hut2Hut Pilgrimage Editor Amanda Wagstaff

Iona-Abbey-View

View of the abbey complex on Iona © Amanda Wagstaff 2016

I arrived in Glasgow and immediately realized that I was overdressed. It was only the first of June, but a spell of cloudless summer weather had overtaken the west of Scotland. As I walked across town with my backpack, I could feel sweat dripping down my face and the beginnings of sunburn on my neck. I was a mess by the time I reached Queen Street Station.

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Wicklow Way Case Study

Case Study: Wicklow Way, Ireland

by Sam Demas, January 2016

Purpose, methodology, and notes

These case studies are building blocks towards a broader “Country Study” examining long distance walking in Ireland. The intent of the case studies is to paint a picture of the most salient features of each walk and to delve somewhat into operational details. The idea is that from these case studies a broader national picture will emerge.  Wicklow Way Case Study….

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Burren Way Case Study

Case Study: Burren Way, Ireland

By Sam Demas, April 2016

Purpose, methodology, and notes
These case studies are building blocks towards a broader “Country Study” examining long distance walking in Ireland. The intent of the case studies is to paint a picture of the most salient features of each walk and to delve somewhat into operational details. The idea is that from these case studies a broader national picture will emerge.

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Kerry Way Case Study

Case Study: Kerry Way, Ireland

July 2016

By Sam Demas with advice from Patricia Deane, Rural Recreation Officer

Purpose, methodology, and notes
These case studies are building blocks towards a broader “Country Study” examining long distance walking in Ireland. The intent of the case studies is to paint a picture of the most salient features of each walk and to delve somewhat into operational details. The idea is that in looking across these case studies a broader national picture will emerge.

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Adirondack Hamlets to Huts: coming soon….

Adirondack Hamlets to Huts: a new hut system

By Sam Demas, August 2016

A new hut system, Adirondack Hamlets to Huts, appears to be coming together quickly.  In 2015 the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) contacted Joe Dadey and Jack Drury to request that they propose and help to “fast-track” the implementation of a hut system in the Adirondack Park.   In response to the DEC’s invitation, they produced a “Conceptual Plan for a Hut-to-Hut Destination-based Trail System” analyzing and ranking 26 potential routes.  I  reported on this plan last month.

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Trip Report: Kerry Way, Ireland

Trip Report: Kerry Way

May 2016

Overview: The Kerry Way affords beautiful coastal views, passes through upland moors and bucolic agricultural areas, and passes under Ireland’s highest mountain and one if its most spectacular mountains ranges, the MacGillycuddy’s Reeks. The full Kerry Way is 130 miles long, beginning at Killarney and proceeding inland towards Glenbeigh, after which the trail generally follows at a distance the shoreline of the Inervagh Peninsula and circles back to Killarney.  Walkers usually allow 9 or more days for the full walk, though it can be done more quickly by very strong walkers.   Having only four days for this walk, I cut out certain sections and hitch-hiked ahead to get a sense of the range of terrains covered.  This was a research trip so I stopped fairly often to talk with people who work on the trail.  The trail passes many villages and accommodations are plentiful. 

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