Favourite Great Hikes

Philip Goddard in his element on Dartmoor. Note the single walking stick. See here for some notes on the advantages of this over a pair of trekking poles.

Grey Mountain Carpet moth (Entephria caesiata) among heather near Fort William, Scottish Highlands

Preliminary Notes

Strong stuff!

I present here a simple, no-frills listing for enthusiasts. These are big, hard walks, in many cases much harder than their length on the map might suggest. So it would be wise not to commit yourself to any of these without proper research and preparation. The weather conditions on a few of my Dartmoor and Scottish mountain walks have made them potentially life-threatening and required a steady nerve and clear thinking for me get out without becoming an accident or even fatality statistic. You have been warned! ...But the rewards that you can reap from going ahead are - shall we say? - out of this world...

Add to the adventure - hitch-hike!

The majority of these routes are notionally linear walks, which are much more satisfying than the circular walks which most people feel tied to in order to return to their cars. For the most part I get round the latter constraint by hitch-hiking out to the walk start and hitch-hiking back to base afterwards - often a very long and demanding day. This is relatively easy for me because I almost always go solo for my major walks, and I have no partner or family at home to go worrying about me if I have a lengthy delay for the return hitch-hike. One constraint that the hitch-hiking does place upon my routes is the choice of starting and finishing points, for only certain places are really workable for hitch-hiking.

Long, long days...

For my South-West England hikes I typically set out at about 6.40 to 7.0 in the morning after a filling breakfast, and can return home anything from 6.30 to 10.30 p.m. and just occasionally later. My record epic return was from Tintagel in 2007, when I didn't get back to my Exeter flat till 6.58 a.m. - something I'd be very happy never to have happen again!

Making the right signs - important!

For all hitch-hikes I use strong, well-made signs with the notional destination in thick black lettering on white paper on a piece of hardboard, with another sign the other way up on the other side, the lot sealed in with self-adhesive transparent film. These boards are of a shape and size which fits very conveniently inside the back of my rucksack (protected also by an old plastic carrier bag) so that they don't get bent or otherwise damaged while not in use. See here for notes on hitch-hiking between Exeter and far Cornwall.

Being a healer adds a whole new dimension...

Since I became a healer in late 1998 I have found that as many as half of all the people who pick me up during the hitch-hikes have some (often initially unaware) requirement for some sort of input from me as a healer, or are that way inclined themselves. Occasionally I give a brief hands-on healing session before we part. Very often it's people who are healers themselves and don't know it* - in which case it's usually my task to tell them and give a little basic guidance as to how they might follow that up if they wish to. Quite often there are clear signs of a driver having had very strong deep intuition in his/her impulse to stop for me. Virtually always, when a motorist tells me that (s)he rarely or never has picked up a hitch-hiker before, there turns out to have been a quite pressing appropriateness of the encounter, and some sort of unusual subtle perception combined with deep intuition (what some would refer to as 'guidance') is strongly implicated.

* For more information please see "Am I a Healer?"

So you see, my outings keep me open to all sorts of wonderful and inspiring encounters that involve positive change in people's lives, including my own.

And then an end to my major hikes?
-- Not bloody likely! (at least, yet!)

Nothing is permanent. Having upped the length of my hikes in August and September 2006 to my maximum again after a lessening in 2004, on a 19-mile hike from Mousehole to Cape Cornwall on 23rd September I got hit by an arthritic development in my right knee. It had been nagging a little at times during the previous several hikes, and might well have been the true cause of twingeing pains that developed in either knee on various walks over the decades - particularly before I took up the Alexander Technique and was putting more stress on the knees. Such pains I'd always taken to be caused by strained ligaments, until a doctor's diagnosis of osteo-arthritis in November 2006.

I assumed throughout the winter of 2006/7 that I'd not be doing long hikes again. I consoled myself by reminding myself that I'd had a good 'run for my money' considering the weakness I knew I'd always got in my knees and ankles, and undoubtedly without the Alexander Technique I'd have finished my hiking nearly 14 years sooner.

However, all was not lost. During the winter of 2006/7 I was restricted initially to weekly 4-mile strolls on level ground from central Exeter down the river and canal to Double Locks and retrace, but then started extending to the Swing Bridge and retrace (making it a total of 5 miles). Then in early March 2007 I 'broke through' and walked the 8 miles down to Starcross without too serious objections from the gammy knee.

Since then my manageable mileage very slowly increased - this improvement accelerating after I took on a set of very powerful daily practices and measures for self healing and rejuvenation which I took home from an Energy Awareness Training workshop in mid-May 2007, and has since been greatly reinforced by my use of the Clarity-Sphere from the beginning of 2008.  The positive effect of these on my life has been dramatic. On 24th July 2007 I walked the hard-going 14 miles on the Cornish coast path from St Keverne to Lizard Point. Then on 30th July I walked the very strenuous 17 miles on Cornish coast path from Polzeath to Tintagel, and on 4th August the also very strenuous 16 miles from Sidmouth to Lyme Regis. On 11th August - just two days before I officially became a pensioner (i.e. age 65) - I broke the 20-mile threshold in style, walking the 21 miles and over 1100 metres of ascent from Exmouth to Beer.  In fact on that occasion there were about two miles of extra road walking in the outward hitch-hike, so my total for the day was about 23 miles.

Although it may look very impressive, that I'd effectively cured a major attack of what was diagnosed as osteoarthritis, there was actually a lot more to the situation, for that particular arthritis attack was actually little or nothing to do with normal 'wear and tear' osteoarthritis that you could blame on my age - even though my doctor believed that it was just that, because neither he nor I at the time knew its true origin. I did, however, suspect that it was either caused or at least aggravated by weakening of my non-physical aspects by severe attacks with trauma energies from the dark force that I experienced especially in early September 2006, and that was sort of correct, but through a bit of detective work in late 2008 I found that there was a bit more to it than just that.

It turns out that on a really weird hike on Dartmoor on 9th September 2006 I had been set up by the dark force to be subjected to a massive psychic attack of a particularly lethal kind, but, for a very specific reason, I was almost completely immune to that attack, but it did weaken my non-physical aspects slightly, and was responsible for that subsequent arthritic attack.

So, my healing of that arthritis was not so much a matter of reversal of normal 'ageing' - though that would have been a factor - but more the healing of damage done to me in that psychic attack.

I have actually been using a combination of methods, certain very powerful yogic practices (not 'ordinary' Yoga), appropriate diet supplements (including glucosamine, chondroitin and MSM), and aware choice of foods.

As from February 2008 a further major augmentation in the healing and strengthening process has been brought about by my use of the Clarity-Sphere™, a powerful healing and self realization aid which I myself have developed.

So, clearly I'm well back in business with the hiking outings. The tendency for slight nagging pains in that knee very gradually decreased (with little ups and downs) till it was hardly noticed at all, at least by 2008, and in any case my 'reading' since later in 2007 has been that what pains I did still get were not arthritis at all but caused by another, much less serious weakness of that knee, which itself was very gradually improving.

So, I might yet encounter you on, say, Cornish or possibly Devon coast path or on a hitch-hike (especially in Cornwall). Or indeed, you might like to join me on one of my walks (if so, just get in touch)...

Further observations

Making your hiking still more of a self-realization / healing process

Hiking is in itself an important self realization / self healing practice, but you can make it much more so still by doing part of your walking in Power Walking mode. Power Walking is a special walking meditation or yogic practice that has many powerful healing and self realization effects, including the progressive dissolution of emotional stresses and traumas, and of all manner of ties and attachments that are weakening you and holding you back in your life.

I give a full description of and guide to Power Walking in Some Potent Self Realization / Healing Practices.

Use of light walking sticks and trekking poles

It has become fashionable for people to use a pair of trekking poles when hiking, so I want to clarify about the costs and benefits of the different options. The ratings I give for the different options are made on the basis of relatively ordinary people who are not actively attending to their own self realization process.

For those (currently rare) people who are doing so, the best option is NOT to use even one stick or pole at all for most walks, but to have a single stick always on the pack in case of some specific need and to ensure that one has the stick available for particularly rough terrain, such as high Dartmoor off the main tracks, certain stretches of the Cornish coast path on the Land's End peninsula and the east side of the Lizard peninsula, and the rougher true mountain terrain.

The reason for this is that you are then cultivating effective proprioception in the feet, ankles and legs, helping yourself to have natural balance and poise, so minimizing any tendency to stumble, and thus minimizing any perceived need for a stick in the first place. This is also greatly helped by wearing light, flexible footwear - indeed shoes rather than boots wherever possible. It is also greatly helped by the use of really effective self healing / self realization methods. A Clarity-Sphere would be a particularly good aid to this end.

• No stick or pole at all

  • Pro - If you walk in the optimum manner, which most people don't but you would learn if you took up the Alexander Technique, with your hands unoccupied you would have optimum efficiency in your walking, with no interference to your body's light and loose co-ordination caused by holding onto anything. For optimum walking, both arms and hands need to be hanging loosely and swinging freely. Mechanical energy is conserved through that loose arm swinging.
  • Con - On uneven ground you would have no protection if you stumble or twist an ankle, and walking down steep gradients is very stressful on the knees and in some cases is prone to instability, requiring great care, especially when descending on steep and loose ground.
  • Verdict: ****** (******)
    (the latter rating for when shoes and a really effective self realization strategy including use of the Clarity-Sphere are being used)

• Pair of trekking poles (each with ski-pole type of handle)

  • Pro - Maximum protection against imbalance and for the knees during steep descents. Looks fashionable and also looks as though you're putting a lot of work into your walking, which can impress one's peers. 
  • Con - Walking with these poles looks as though you're putting a lot of work into your walking because you are! Although they can take stress off the knees as compared with normal (i.e. bad) walking technique without the poles, they commit you to having both your arms working instead of loosely hanging and swinging, so there is none of the energy conservation brought about by the loose swinging of the arms.
    Also, if you are using your arms and hands like that, you cannot walk in the better way that you would learn from using the Alexander Technique, because optimum poise, balance and looseness is a whole-body issue and if you are trying to walk in the optimum, most efficient way but with your hands and arms tensed up in held positions, it cannot work properly. That looser mode of walking (and indeed the AT altogether) holistically promotes health, both physical and non-physical, so you are losing out a lot by not taking that route and instead 'bludgeoning' your way through with a pair of poles.
    Further, walking like that interferes with your natural system of stability and balance, so you become more dependent on the sticks.
  • Verdict: ******

• Single walking stick (with a walking-stick type of handle, with a cross piece)
  In my view this is a workable compromise and is my own choice when a stick is needed.

  • You have a 'third leg' available to support you in moments of imbalance, albeit not with the same degree of support that a pair of poles gives.
  • Although holding even one walking stick does interfere a bit in good walking technique, that interference isn't very much if the stick length is set so that with the point on the ground the wrist is reasonably straight (pointing obliquely downwards) while holding the cross-piece of the handle (and it is this that should be held rather than trying to treat it like a ski- or trekking pole), and that arm is kept as loose and relaxed as possible, only lightly holding the stick handle cross piece except for some specific purpose or incident.
  • I find it helpful to periodically change the stick from hand to hand, so that both arms have time for hanging and swinging freely.
  • Using the optimum walking method that you learn in the Alexander Technique takes much stress off your knees (except on steep descents), so if you walk well like this you do not have all the knee stress in the first place to warrant use of a pair of poles.
  • The stick is very useful for testing ground just ahead where I am walking on boggy or potentially marshy ground.
  • Verdict: ******

• Single walking stick for particularly rough stretches and sustained steep descents; otherwise no stick or pole.

  • You get the best of both worlds, being able to greatly speed your progress on difficult terrain, while enabling the maintenance of a natural, free and balanced walking style for as much of the time as possible. For me in South-West England my stick is reserved for certain coast path stretches on the Land's End peninsula and east side of the Lizard peninsula, the Seaton landslip (Devon), and also Dartmoor when I'm off main tracks and on seriously tussocky, hummocky, peat-haggy or boggy terrain. Elsewhere I still carry my stick on my pack in case of need (perhaps if I did twist an ankle, for example) but actually don't use it.
  • Verdict: ******

• Ditto, with use of Alexander Technique and my self realization methodology (especially the Clarity-Sphere) as outlined in Healing and Self-Realization - The Safest and Quickest Way.

  • Now, that's really living!!
  • Verdict: ************

Caution!

There is one particular serious hazard about using such walking sticks or trekking poles. I well know how convenient they are, 'telescoping' into a short length for putting on one's pack when not in use. However, in my experience there has been a particular section of each stick that I've used which would gradually work loose during each walk using it and so required periodic re-tightening. I have got into the way of checking and re-tightening without waiting for the stick to unexpectedly shorten when I put weight on it. It is thus clear that there is a risk that sooner or later a stick will give way when you put weight on it in a critical situation.

Yes, you can avoid that happening by ensuring that all sections are fully tightened before you do anything 'critical' with the stick or pole - but if you are using it more or less continuously on a long walk, are you really always going to remember to periodically re-tighten, and particularly, to re-tighten all sections when you are about to use the stick in any 'critical' way that would result in an accident for you if the stick suddenly gave way? Also, if you are depending on your stick or poles in a particular rugged location in difficult conditions, and somehow you lose it / them while you're out there (maybe they got dropped or blown over a cliff) - what then?

Maybe depending on such sticks or poles for one's regular walking or hiking isn't so clever after all...

Some myths and false gods

Munro-bagging

Some visitors will probably have been searching on this page for mention of the name 'Munro', so here it is. I get a more satisfying range of hill and mountain walks through not restricting myself to hills designated as 'Munros'. To me, whether or not a mountain is over the arbitrary value of 3,000 feet in height and thus listed as a 'Munro' is of little interest. My own consideration when choosing walking routes has always been, "Will this make a satisfying and inspiring walk?" The height of mountains most certainly does come into this, but it isn't the only consideration. There are the odd so-called Munros well within my Highlands 'home territory', which I've never been on, because I could not make particularly satisfactory walks out of them, as compared with so many other available routes. By the same token, some of my regularly repeated 'gem' walks are on mountains that are not classed as Munros and therefore are shunned by the hordes, who much prefer a relatively dull walk in order to 'do' another Munro and tick it off on their list. Actually I write this not to attack those people who operate in that way (they have every right to their particular choice), but rather to encourage other people to adopt what in my experience appears to be a more aware and rewarding approach to walking in the wilds.

"If you go onto the mountains or similar rough terrain you need to wear stout boots that give ankle support"

I had lived this MYTH throughout my hiking, up to my starting to break that belief as a result of actual experience in 1999 onwards. It had seemed perfectly reasonable and 'watertight', the notion that on very uneven terrain you need some sort of firmness around your ankles to stop them turning over when they shouldn't be doing so. And I had increasingly weak and unstable ankles, so such 'support' was evidently doubly or trebly necessary.

Or was it? I frequently turned an ankle, and even sometimes got a strain or mild sprain, despite* my wearing boots, and as my ankles got more unstable, this happened more, and I occasionally got more significant (though still not severe) sprains, and then had the additional problem of ankle pain developing during walks, caused by scar tissue or other long-term after-effects of the healing of the sprains. And this was in spite of my starting to use a light walking stick, which no doubt did help reduce the number of ankle-turn accidents and especially any resultant falls.

* It never occurred to me then, that actually there might be an element of 'because of'!

I had an experience in 1990 on the Grey Corries ridge (near Ben Nevis), which made quite an impression on me. On that occasion my solitude was very much sullied by a major mountain marathon running event, and here and there on the ridge I was being passed by hordes of very fast-moving fit individuals, who were ALL wearing special purpose very light and flimsy-looking shoes. I was perplexed at this. These people must be absolutely crazy, I told myself, because this ridge was mostly of a very unpleasant and potentially injurious light grey to whitish quartzite, which fractured to give sharp edges, and all the scree and outcrops of this rock, which the runners were having to negotiate, were all angular and sharp-edged.

What gave me real pause for thought about those mountain runners was that those who I spoke with were completely unconcerned about the sharp rock and the apparent great danger of serious injury in those flimsy little shoes - and indeed, nowhere along that ridge did I see even one person nursing an injury - even a common or garden scratch, abrasion or bruise! What had they got that I hadn't?

So opinionated I was on the issue of mountain footware, that none of this got me suspecting that wearing boots itself was problematical for me, but I did occasionally read in the excellent The Great Outdoors (TGO) magazine articles by individuals who claimed that boots actually prevented our natural ankle stability mechanism from working properly, and that actually relatively light and flexible shoes were much preferable for mountain and similar terrain, where not contra-indicated because of snow / ice conditions. That made sort-of sense to me, but with all the stability problems I'd been having (leading me to suspect that I'd soon have to stop all walks on significantly uneven ground), I shuddered in fear at the thought of me wearing shoes out on the mountains at all.

However, I had another ankle problem slowly and inexorably increasing, which was greatly disenchanting me with boots - sensitivity of the soft tissue over my malleoli ('ankle bones') to the pressure and movement of the ankle cuffs of boots, which was increasingly causing me to have to curtail walks, and was eventually almost always causing me to be in significant pain by the end of my walks. This was getting to be a real threat for my Scottish Highlands trips, because when I got such malleoli aggravation it generally needed at least a week to settle down, because going out walking in the boots again sooner tended to get an almost immediate flare-up of the aggro. So, what was I going to do about my Scottish Highlands trips, when for a bit over two weeks I wanted to be walking on mountains more or less every day when the weather was reasonably clement?

In response to this situation I started taking with me a pair of stout hiking shoes for using on relatively easy low-level walking and, at a pinch, on the odd hill or mountain with relatively gentle terrain (the latter such as the round of Beinn Dorain to Beinn a' Chreachain). Initially this didn't inspire a great deal of confidence because my first pair of such shoes actually didn't hold the back of my ankle snugly and actually accentuated my ankle instability.

However, things changed on my May 1999 Scottish Highlands trip, when I took with me a pair of the very stout (and heavy) Scarpa Lunana shoes. To my amazement, my seemingly crazy choice to use them for an ascent of Glen Coe's Bidean nam Bian - one of the British mainland's roughest and steepest mountains, which always previously had been a real ankle twister and boot grazer for me - worked out a treat, and for the first time I experienced the greater freedom and accuracy of placement of my feet on all the rocks and lumps. True, I was extremely nervous and so extra-cautious that time about where I was putting my feet, but the fact was that the shoes allowed me to have that awareness of foot positioning in a way that just wasn't possible in boots. And although the shoes did get a little abrasion of stitching in one place, overall they got a lot less abrasion than my boots had had on my various previous Bidean nam Bian excursions, because it was so much easier to place my feet so that the shoes weren't repeatedly scraping against bits of rock.

On my Scottish Highlands trip in May the following year - my last such trip so far - I used those shoes again, on the much famed Liathach, which was again one of the mountains on which I'd least expected to 'survive' in shoes. But again the shoes simply made for greater precision in foot placement, so I wasn't going twisting or indeed grazing ankles.

In 2004 I finally decided that enough was enough of finishing every booted walk in pain, and so I chose from then on to limit my walking to what I could do in hiking shoes. This largely ruled out Dartmoor - not because of unevenness of the terrain but simply to avoid walking with soggy feet. Basically, from then on I was walking mostly on coast path. But some of my favourite coast path stretches were pretty well as uneven and rocky as many a Scottish Highland mountain route - particularly on the Land's End peninsula and the east side of the Lizard peninsula. Again I found that shoes actually gave me more freedom and precision.

I now have much better ankle stability and almost never turn an ankle on any walk, never mind how rough the terrain. I've no doubt that my move to the use of shoes on uneven ground helped rebuild my ankle stability mechanism (relating to strength and control of muscles in the lower leg), though the underlying cause of this very positive change was ongoing healing (what people commonly though misguidedly call 'spiritual' healing) that I'd been using on myself from late 1998 onwards with increasing effectiveness.

So, nowadays I recommend to everyone to use hiking shoes rather than boots, wherever it is workable to do so. By the latter I mean that I'm not seriously suggesting that shoes would necessarily be sensible for major Alpine or Himalayan-style mountaineering, or even British mountaingoing in full winter conditions, for then of course you have issues like keeping snow out of the footwear, protecting from cold, and having sufficient stiffness for the particular climbing methods and equipment used. I doubt, for one thing, whether you'd find many models of shoe to which crampons could be usefully fitted - though I have read in TGO magazine that advances have been made in this direction, with the introduction of new, more flexible types of crampon.

Mobile phones - the 'safety' myth

Whatever their good points, these are an absolute pestilence in the countryside and wilderness. People are rapidly forgetting the very meaning and point of the wilderness experience and harmony with nature. Quite apart from whether or not it's okay for people to go having conversations with colleagues in the office while on, say Bidean nam Bian summit and 'bringing down' everyone around them in the process, there is a widespread misapprehension of the supposed safety benefits of carrying one of those phones. Yes, of course it's true that if you have an accident out in the wilds it's easier to call for help if you can just use your mobile. But does carrying one therefore actually make you safer?

Sorry, no, it doesn't! -- Here's why. When you take a mobile out with you, you feel safer. True. And that's the catch. You feel safer, and therefore in difficult or precarious situations your decisions will tend to be just that little bit less cautious and well thought out. When I go walking, I have a commitment to myself to take full responsibility for myself. That ensures that I take maximum care to see that I don't have an accident or get seriously lost in the first place.

"Don't you think it a bit unwise to go walking alone on the mountains?"

Ha-ha, I've had that one fired at me on and off over the years, often with an admonishing finger waved at me. But it's the ill-thought-out words of ignorant people. If you actually pay attention to the sorts of people who get reported as being rescued from the mountains and moors you'd discover something significant - most of the people who get into trouble are not solo walkers but in pairs or, more particularly, in groups. Of course there do exist plenty of people with no mountain sense, who would therefore be a menace to themselves if they went out on the mountains alone, but in fact most people who choose to do so are not in that category.

In fact, in an important sense going alone is actually safer than going accompanied. And it is for exactly the same reason as to why it is actually safer to go hiking without a mobile phone. On your own, you know that your life is in your hands and nobody else's. Therefore you make the best possible decisions from moment to moment, based on what your body is telling you and what you know you can manage. Rather than having somebody with you who might be able to get help, it's actually safer to make better decisions and thus not have that accident in the first place.

Feeling safe isn't cool!

Our supposedly civilized cultures have a number of materialistic fixations that are born in ignorance and fear, and which divert people from the underlying purpose of their lives. Comfort, safety and predictability are all made into gods and primary aims in life. But actually you can't escape danger, and ultimately neither can you escape discomfort, except by facing it and where appropriate resolving its underlying causes - though many people do their damnedest to anaesthetize themselves and avoid facing it.

Of course the sort of outings that I've outlined on this page are dangerous. So, dear friends, in their different ways, are getting out of bed, crossing a busy road, doing your regular shopping, driving, sitting for hours in front of a television... Nowhere in everyday life is there total safety. You have to decide all the time what levels and types of risk are acceptable to you in each situation. When you become aware that your current situation is tricky, you can recognise the fact and take appropriately more care, such as when driving in a traffic jam. Similarly, on the odd rare occasions I've got into what was for me a rather scary scrape high up on particular mountains. Does that mean that I was actually in great danger?

Well, actually both yes and no. By recognising the precariousness of my situation and responding with due thought and care, I was able to extricate myself without mishap. The implication is that because I was able to respond appropriately to the particular hazards, those particular walks had overall not endangered me more than any of the others.

"Going out hiking in those places is unfair on the people in the rescue services, and is a drain on the Taxpayer. Hikers and mountaineers should be made to pay for the rescue services."

That old chestnut is another bit of ill-thought-out, ignorant hot air. The situation is that the British mountain and Dartmoor Rescue groups are voluntary groups of enthusiasts, who wish to support the whole activity of walking and climbing in wild places, and they greatly enjoy their work, though naturally the groups do need some voluntary donations to cover their overheads. They are certainly not so pleased when walkers come to grief because they weren't properly prepared or equipped, and they are no doubt greatly frustrated when they get frivolous call-outs from certain ignorant walkers who routinely expect their mobile phones to bale them out of any little difficulty or inconvenience that they encounter while out in the wilds. Also, in general, helicopter call-outs, while expensive, are simply part of the training of the crew involved, so actually for the most part the occasional helicopter rescues of hikers or mountaineers are at no extra cost at all to that curious entity known as The Taxpayer.

"Motorists aren't willing to pick up hitch-hikers as they used to do."

So many people, including particularly motorists who have picked me up on my hitch-hikes, have repeated the above statement to me. But where have they got that information from? Have they conducted a survey? Are they repeating what somebody's said on television or radio? It's pretty clear to me that they actually have no knowledge at all of the actual situation; it's just another bit of so-called 'received wisdom'. Some motorists who've given me rides have made a comment that was probably much nearer the mark - that they don't see hitch-hikers regularly as they used to. That might indeed be the case, and in that event there would inevitably be less pick-ups, but that doesn't necessarily mean that motorists are really less willing to pick up those hitch-hikers who are out there.

For the record, I have been regularly hitch-hiking to and from my hikes from 1981 onwards, and if anything my fortunes have slightly improved over the years. That, however, should not be taken as an indication of the general situation, for I cannot be counted as an average hitch-hiker. I use very well made and clear destination signs, I stand very upright (especially since I took up the Alexander Technique), and don't look scruffy and dishevelled in the way that many hitch-hikers do, and I've progressively become more confident and skillful in the hitch-hiking. I'm also much older than most hitch-hikers. Also, the 'vibes' that I give out as an enlightened no-soul incarnation and strong healer tend to draw to me motorists who are relatively open and aware themselves (very often with some healing connection), while many others would no doubt be repelled.

"You do of course tell someone where you're going or leave a route card with somebody...?"

'Ere we go again! That confounded safety issue. No, I don't do any such thing, at least for my local walks. Note these points:

• I live on my own and have no partner nor family living with or near me.
• I don't know when I might return, especially with all the hitch-hiking delays. This would lead to people unnecessarily worrying about me and even calling out the appropriate rescue service. Quite apart from not wanting unnecessary emergency service call-outs, it would be a considerable imposition on the neighbour or whoever I left the route details with.
• If I felt safer because supposedly somebody's going to get me rescued if I ran into difficulties, then, as explained in notes above, I would actually be less safe and more likely to get into difficulties. I am actually safest in the situation of knowing that I have total responsibility for my safety.
• If I did leave with somebody the details of where I intended to go, then I would be committed to doing that particular walk or simply returning home. That would deny me the opportunity of changing plans to take advantage of a particular lift that I was offered on the outward hitch-hike. It would also render me less safe on some occasions, because for greatest safety I need the freedom to change my route in whole or part according to the conditions of the terrain, the weather and my own body.

When I stayed with friends in Fort William in the Scottish Highlands, what I did was tell them in broad terms what I expected to do, including mentioning likely alternatives.  With one exception I never left precise route details, just indicating which mountain group I was aiming for and where I would most likely (but not certainly) come out to the road. Those particular friends were very good in that they didn't worry about me even when I got back pretty late, for they had a great trust in my self-preservation ability and mountain sense. I think there was only one occasion when they said they'd just started wondering whether to do anything - though their first action would have been to drive to where I was expected to come out on the road, to see if I was simply stranded by a failed hitch-hike.

The one walk for which I did leave an actual route card was the Ben Alder route, because that was so long and remote, with so little in terms of escape route, and I was a little nervous at my boldness in doing that - especially in view of certain weaknesses in my knees and ankles.

And finally...

Why such a restricted selection of photos for these walks?

I have to admit to having made a sad blunder some years ago. I did have a huge collection of high quality colour transparency photos taken on my hikes. I ceased photography in 1990, so in any case I had no coverage for the Kintail area, which I didn't start visiting till after then. In the late 1990s I decided to find new homes for my slide collection, as it was hogging space in my small flat and the only use I was finding for the slides was for very infrequent slide talks that I gave to local organizations, which earned me too little money even to cover my overheads. It wasn't till about 1999 that I finally woke up to the fact that I needed some such photos for my website, but it was then too late. I had indeed given away all my Scottish Highlands scenery slides to somebody whose name and location I didn't even know and so cannot trace to ask to borrow selected slides for scanning.

Although I did get a small digital camera in 2000 to enable me to get some photos for this site, I have not had funds to go back to the Highlands and get photos again from my 'old faithful' routes.

I did, however manage to salvage a very small selection of the lost Highlands photos, by scanning cheap prints that I'd had done from some of the slides in 1979-81, and it's these I've used here. That accounts for the rather poor quality of most of them. Indeed, most of the prints don't come out well enough as scanned images for me to use at all.