Long distance routes - official waymarks or not

[LDPWalker]

When Wainwright devised his English Coast to Coast route he deliberately called it "A Coast to Coast walk", not "The Coast to Coast walk", with the aim of encouraging people to devise their own variations to get from start to finish. I believe the same approach was taken by Cameron McNeish on his Cape Wrath Trail (I really enjoyed devising my own route). I see some good variations have indeed been proposed, but there is already an "official" CWT route emerging.

I was pleased to read the Jay Wilson report on his John O'Groats trail, but I would take issue with the wish for it to become an "official way marked route". I often find that official route designation brings a lot of undesirable baggage with it (e.g. overuse and erosion, commercialisation, loss of wildness).

I would be interested to hear other views on this.

P.S. I would get out more, but I am laid up with an ankle in plaster at the moment after an operation......

[Dan Scheer]

I am against waymarkers, it takes the adventure out of it. It is still easy enough to find your route and it makes it feel more like an accomplishment doing the routefinding yourself rather than just following some markers.
Also, if people are not able to do basic route planning, maybe they shouldn't be out in some of the more remote locations and it may give people without any experience a false sense of security, possibly landing them in trouble.
I really don't mean this in an elitist way that these tracks should be reserved for experienced hikers, the level of navigation required to do most long distance paths is pretty basic and should be easy enough for anyone to pick up if they want to do one.

hope you have a quick recovery and can get out again soon!

[malky_c]

I think there's a place for waymarked long distance routes, but I wouldn't like to see things like the Cape Wrath Trail indicated on the ground. However, joining up a route where there is already a network of substantial paths, then fair enough (eg Rob Roy Way, Cateran Trail etc).

Also some official long distance routes can be useful for resolving landowner issues - eg before the Anglesey Coastal Path was formed, following parts of the route would have involved climbing over lots of barbed wire fences and having landowner confrontations. This is more applicable in the less wild parts of the country.

Having said all that, my personal preference would be to find my own way anyway. I've never done an 'official' long distance route and I'm not that likely to (certainly not in the UK anyway).

[Jay Wilson]

I'm new to the web site and I am happy to see I've sparked some discussion. I won't argue for way-marked routes in general -- I think it's obvious enough that they serve an important place. As mentioned by malky_c, way-marked routes can resolve access issues, which there are plenty of along this route as will be seen in future posts. To be specific, there is lots of barbed wire, and even some unmarked un-stiled electric fencing!

By creating a way-marked coastal path in eastern Caithness and Sutherland (which is already authorised if not paid for all round Britain I believe) we would hardly be inviting the masses into remote wilderness. This is generally grazing land, hence the barbed wire. You are never more than half a days walk from accommodation, nor (usually) more than half an hour walk from a busy A-road. But this coast is beautiful and feels remote, and I think more people should know about it and have access to it.

And yes it would invite more use and commercialisation (i.e. economic development), something the communities along this coastline need desperately from what I saw when I was there. There are too many closed shops and run down if not closed hotels.

Jay

[Jay Wilson]

I've just posted another stage here, including a poll about whether there should be a way-marked trail from the Great Glen Way to John O'Groats.

Jay

[LDPWalker]

Thanks for the interesting comments.

Another aspect to way marking is the cost - it could be significant and the responsibility would almost inevitably fall on cash strapped Local Authorities!