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The distances on the walking guides

The distances on the walking guides


Postby Greg » Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:40 am

*Moved from "General Discussion" - mod*

This is probably going to sound stupid to you all but does the distance stated include the return leg of the journey?

:oops: :oops: :oops:
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby Gavin99 » Wed Jul 04, 2012 11:50 am

Hi Greg , the distance and ascent given in the walk descriptions is for the whole walk start to finish :D
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby stomper » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:36 pm

Agree But the biggest thing you need to do is IGNORE the timings of the walk. I have the two cicerone books for the munro's and last week we did the 5 sisters . The book says 5hrs + time getting back to the car. Now did the Author do the 5 sisters by using a motor bike of somewhat as we did this in 9hrs begining to end of the ridge. Yes alot of people might of done it quicker but to give the walk 5hrs COME ON he's having a laugh :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby BobMcBob » Wed Jul 04, 2012 4:48 pm

Lol agreed on the times aspect. I think most guides use Naismith's rule for calculating times, and I guess either Naismith was extremely fit, or very bad at maths :D. Or perhaps he never stopped to admire the view, or have lunch? Whatever it was it's a silly rule anyway because it makes no allowance for the fact that a steep slope will slow you down more than a shallow one. I tend to add 2 hours to any times in the guides and use that as a rule of thumb.
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby Greg » Wed Jul 04, 2012 6:35 pm

Thank you for the info people, much appreciated. I did imagine that the times would be all over the place due to the variables that you can face walking in Scotland, so with that in mind I will be getting up early for a few of the local walks I have looked at.
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby gaffr » Thu Jul 05, 2012 7:08 am

Some of the Scottish guidebooks, that you may come across, have distance and times given only for reaching the summits. :)
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby cerebus » Sat Jul 07, 2012 12:41 pm

Yes it is a funny scenario that at times becomes confusing especially on route paths. some are in miles,some in k and at times you feel that your walking like Superman. As a guide I use 2k per hour for walking. :shock:
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby angelalangford » Tue Aug 21, 2012 9:33 pm

Hi

I am still unsure are the distances and times given for there and back. I know it says whole walk start to finish but is the finish where you start!!
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby BlackPanther » Thu Aug 23, 2012 12:59 pm

It depends on the walk. There are some routes on this site, described as one-way walks, but most of them are "allez-retour". It is usually indicated in the description of the walk. An example: this route I did last weekend: http://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/moray/nairn-cawdor.shtml
The distance says: 9km, 2 hrs. If you look at the map, it's obvious that these numbers are for one-way walk only. Plus, the description says that "a bus can be taken for the return."
I know that it can all be confusing, sometimes the times given in different sources are overoptimistic and sometimes far too pessimistic :lol: :lol: I tend to rely on distance and ascent numbers to calculate my own time. When double-checking with WH times after the walk, I find my time within the range given here, though me and my chum are usually closer to the "faster" end of the spectrum :lol: It all depends how fit you are, how many breaks you take to take photos/rest/admire views, and of course on the lovely Scottish weather :wink:
Cheers,
BP
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Re: The distances on the walking guides

Postby Paul Webster » Fri Aug 24, 2012 9:38 am

The walk times and distances are always for the walk as described in the description.

If the description says 'retrace your steps to return to the start' or something similar, the walk is heading both out and back. If, much more rarely, it says something like 'you can catch a bus to return to the start' - or 'Next stage: blah blah' then it's a linear walk (in the second example it's part of a long distance route). The vast majority of the walks return to the start. If you aren't sure, look at the last few sentences of the description.

Our times are meant to be total times including stops and are a fair bit more generous for the hillwalks than most guidebooks, though obviously times are always very subjective.
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