Walking for the over 60s.

Great post Greatnan. I'm another who loves to walk. Unfortunately I've just had to pull out of a charity marathon walk because of a long standing foot problem which is getting worse. If the insoles I've been given do the trick I'll soon be back on track, literally!

My son is hiking the Appalachian Trail (alone) and tells me I would love it, I'm sure he's right but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have the stamina for it.

Like you I enjoy solitary walks, I quite like my own company. I envy you your surroundings though, to be able to leave your home & set off up the mountainside must be thrilling.

Hope your insoles work for you, baubles. Mine made a huge difference to my feet, legs and walking life!

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Well, as Habere Poche is a ski resort I am prepared for many months of snow - the tourist industry depends on it, and there is only farming and forestry otherwise. Last Winter, the snow came at the end of November and lasted until the end of April - even later on the highest peaks. Of course, the Massif de Mont Blanc has permanent snow cover, but that is about 40 miles from me.
Apart from spending seven weeks in the New Zealand summer, in January to March, I did carry on walking, but most of the little lanes were blocked. The snow plough clears the road outside my flat every day because it leads to the ski station and also clears our car park and the little lanes where there are houses, but once it is past the houses it turns round and leaves a seven foot high wall of snow! The ski slopes where I wander all summer are full of hurtling skiers, but I do like to have a hot chocolate in the bar restaurant at the foot of the slopes and watch the two year olds whizzing down.
I walk along the cleared roads as far as I can, or drive down the valley. l learnt in the Pyrenees not to ignore signs, like 'Pass closed', or 'chains obligatory'. I had some scary moments before I learned - driving along a very narrow path , covered in snow (I have a little 4 x 4), with a steep drop on one side and a sheer cliff on the other, I came to a river of ice which had flowed down from the hill, across the road and down the other side. It was several yards wide. I wasn't daft enough to try to drive over it, but there was no way I could reverse around the bends, so I had to turn the car round, an inch at a time - it probably took about 40 turns!
I was glad there was nobody there to watch me!
Ironically, I walked up a glacier in New Zealand, when I borrowed my daughter's car and did the 2,000 mile round trip down to Doubtful Sound.

As you can imagine, the area is picture-post card beautiful in the snow. The flats are built for the climate and the insulation is so good that I hardly used my radiators all Winter. I was never snowed in, but I did have to dig out my car on some days - the caretaker and a neighbour pitched in and helped 'La dame Anglaise'. I think they believe I am quite mad!

Bluebell hope you have a good evening !!

Bluebell , Bless !!

Greatnan - there is nothing quite like walking in beautiful surroundings is there? I envy your Alpine views, but I'm fairly sure I wouldn't have the stamina you have developed! Here in Northumberland most walks include one or two stiff hills and that's enough for me!

Like you, I enjoy walking alone with our dog and my thoughts to keep me company. OH and I walk each afternoon after lunch, but often I go out again for some "me" time . There is nothing quite so de-stressing as being outside in the open air.

You are quite right, Moomin - I think the tranquillity and beauty of the mountains have helped me to deal with my anxiety about one of my daughters.

First morning in Wales we went for a walk along a rocky shore with a stunning view of the North Wales mountains, the Llyn and Caernarfon. Low tide. Wading birds. And a spectacular, huge, skeleton of a seal on the high tide line with massive neck vertebrae.

I'm planning to join The Ramblers soon mainly because I love walking but can't read maps so need someone to show me which way to go. I'm going to start on the 5 mile walks and work my way up.

5 miles is a good start, Tegan! I love map reading but I have actually found that getting lost is a good way to get to know an area.

5 miles is a good start, Tegan! I love map reading but I have actually found that getting lost is a good way to get to know an area.

Great thread, thanks greatnan for your list of hints. I live in the north west, and we have great open countryside on our doorsteps, yet Manchester only 12 miles away if we feel a bit of culture coming on. I love to walk with loved ones / friends, and catch up on our lives. I do enjoy solitary walks though, for quiet reflection on life in general. My solitary walks always involve dogs, so aren't as solitary as yours Greatnan. I can never completely lose myself in thoughts, as one of my dogs can smell a sheep or deer from a long distance, so needs an eye kept on her. I have orthotics made by the rheumatology team, and what an improvement they have made to knee, hip and low back pain. Walking is free, what could be better

I am in a walking group so found your list very useful and have written down you tips and will pass it on to my friends. So thank you very much for your useful information

My son's MIL and sister are walking the coastal path in stages over the past few years. They walk on average 12 miles a day. both are in their mid-sixties. Last year the three of us walked along part of the Stour River walk - which is a local walk - starting in Hengistbury Head on the first day. Due to work commitments I could only do 2 days of the walk but the other two reached just outside Blandford on the 3rd day. Again on average 10 miles a day. Most of my team at work are in their 20's and all said they would find the walk really hard. We always follow the countryside and walkers code.

I walk my dogs every day but only do about two miles. I'd love to go further but with a two acre garden to manage I just don't have the time (or energy)

A friend [who can map read] and I did a long'ish circular walk in the Peak Districict years ago and we did get slightly lost. I couldn't believe how much extra energy I got from eating a banana and having some water. I have read that lots of small sips of water are better than one long drink every so often as it also gets oxygen into your body as well. I've also found that wearing tights is good if you're prone to blisters [no good in the summer, of course] and it's also good to have an insectipen with you and a few ready cut plasters in case of blisters. I have a very small leather bag which I carry with me on very short walks. As Greatnan suggested one of my best buys has been a lightweight waterproof jacket that folds into a tiny bag but I also sometimes take one of those use once plastic ponchos; they're so small they fit into a handbag if you're going out for the day. And I never walk through fields with cattle in, especially if I have the dog with me.

I wonder if your local U3A has a walking group Tegan. They are sometimes a good way to start and very sociable too. Some of the groups have Stollers, Wanderers and longer distance groups. The blister plaster in you back pack tip is extremeley good as these modern ones really work until they fall off months later!!
As to walking in the winter in the snow in the Alps there are areas with walking paths prepared every day, just like pistes and there are superb walks to be had. The one in the shadow of the Eiger is always very cold but bracing and there are no skiers or tobogganers paths to cross either. You need the correct clothing (I wear the same merino wool shirts at +30C' and -20C') as Wainwright says there's no bad weather, just inappropriate clothing.

I'm not having much success with my local groups eCJ. Have emailed the two local ones but have had no reply. Annoyingly we have a friend who runs the a Borders u3a walking group, but we're not up there very often. The local Ramblers group seems to do walks quite close to where I live. When I retire I'm planning to find out more about the u3a groups as I very much want to join them.

Keep on trying Tegan you must have been unlucky with your local U3As. They're meant to welcome everyone Good luck with your Ramblers group; the one I was in in Norfolk were wonderful and each walk ended at a pub, which you could either join in or not for lunch with no dicrimination!

Super post Greatnan, thank you.
There is a really good walking group called Kinross and Ochil Ramblers. They are a very friendly bunch and meet every two weeks. The walks are of varying lengths as are the ages of the walkers!!!

My daughter and her husband were all set to walk the G10 from the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, (leaving the younger children with me when I lived in the Pyrenees), but then they emigrated to NZ. However, they do lots of walking there in the lovely Nelson Lakes area. When I stay with them each year, I have worked out a one hour circular walk from their house which I can take while she is doing her chores, feeding the animals, etc. In the afternoons, she takes me on much longer walks and at weekends the whole family joins in. Last year, she and her husband and the two adult children who were staying with her kayaked along the coast and I walked the coastal path with the two younger children. We met up after a couple of hours and they produced a huge picnic.

I think it was seeing how fit she is (she is a grandmother herself) and knowing that her family share so many outdoor activities - walking, camping, cycling, kayaking and riding - that inspired me, as well as the beauty of my surroundings.
When I emigrate, I will miss just one thing - the freedom to roam which I have found all over France. Apparently, in New Zealand you have to stick to public footpaths, except in the national parks. Quite hard for a lone maverick like me!

I think any walking is good whether it is a mile or two or a day long hike!

One further tip - loose chippings (scree) can act like ball bearings and a sideways-on pine cone makes a good skate.

Very useful post Greatnan I particularly liked the part about noting the position of the sun. Having got lost for hours in a pine forest, in the days before GPS, that was something I learned the hard way.

All paths in pine forests look the same, don't they? I have taken to making a triangle of sticks or stones at each junction, pointing back in the right direction. I have found French drivers to be very kind - I have had to flag them down on about four occasions, when I have entered a forest by one path, and come out in a completely different place. At least I now know enough to make a note of the exact location of my car!