And there are many paths to tread, part 10

[ladyofastolat]

I've been feeling quite loomed by my fast-approaching Enormous Walk, happening in just over two months. Since I'm not prepared to walk through the night by myself, I can't practise distances even remotely approaching the full 72 miles, but I feel that I need to walk 30+ miles often enough that I can do so without feeling at all weary. So walks of

Comments

[puddleshark]

I've never come across a "shute" on any of my walks in Dorset.

Lovely hazy views! So many sunlit sheep! And I had no idea the Isle of Wight was the Cabbage Capital of the country.

[ladyofastolat]

I expect I've asked you before, but are there chines in Dorset?

I knew the island produced many, many tomatoes, and is a fairly major player in the world of garlic, but this winter, it's been cabbages all the way.

[puddleshark]

I believe Bournemouth has chines. But Bournemouth is quite a late-comer - only established in the 19th century - so I expect it copied its chines from the Isle of Wight.

[leesa_perrie]

That first photo is very atmospheric. If you cropped the field out (but left some of the treeline in), it could make a great greeting card. I like it!

I've not heard of steep roads being called 'shutes' round here, so it could be a local term.

Lots of lovely, lovely sheep!! And some sage advice from the random passerby. Lamb cuteness is known to delay walkers and can cause cuteness overload, resulting in much gibbering and 'ooh-ing' and 'aww-ing' and a general inability to talk sensibly for several hours afterwards!! Thankfully his warning acted as immunity, so looking at them was okay!!! :D

I wonder what the chosen sheep is chosen for? A quest? Has it got a ring hiding in its fleece that needs throwing into a volcano? And where will it find a volcano to throw it in round there? Ah, perhaps the beast is there to eat the ring and destroy it with its stomach acid!! That makes sense! :D

[ladyofastolat]

I did try cropping the field out completely, but I wanted to keep the sparkly village on the left, so put it back again. When taking it, I considered heading off the path to the right, in the hope that I could get a shot of the hazy view without the field in the foreground, but I couldn't be bothered. I amuses me how, when facing a walk of 30 miles, one still begrudges every extra 100 yards walked off route.

A few years ago, Pellinor and I were berated by passerby, who shouted, "Slow down! You're not looking at the gentians." So to the list of Rules of Walking On The Isle of Wight, we now have:
1. Look at the gentians!
2. Don't look at the sheep!

I fear that if the fate of the world rested in the hands (hooves?) of a sheep, we would all be doomed, and the dark lord (probably a sheepdog gone bad) would triumph beyond doubt.

[leesa_perrie]

Thank goodness sheep are our only hope, lol!! :D

I like the first rule, not so much the second, but then I'm not a walker, I'm an ambler at best!

[thismaz]

Great pictures and a really interesting read to go with them. I applaud you in your plan to walk all the paths. That is the kind of ambition I really admire.
I agree with you on the cuteness of the not lambs, too.
Where is your Enormous Walk going to be?

[ladyofastolat]

The Enormous Walk is the first Saturday in May. Which, I've just noticed, is Star Wars Day, May the Fourth. I suspect I will need the Force to be with me if I'm to walk 72 miles in 24 hours. The force, and a lot of cereal bars.

[ylla]

Are you walking Round The Island, or is it on the distant mainland somewhere?

I'd quite like to do a challenge walk in a crowd sometime, but ~30 miles feels more sensible...

[ladyofastolat]

It's the coastal path, yes.

The annual Walk the Wight is about 26 miles, going from the eastern point of the island to the Needles. Many thousands of people do it, although a lot only do half. I like taking part in it, but the crowd element can be challenging. I walk faster than most, so unless I get up very early to catch one of the first buses to the start, I spend half the walk constantly getting stuck behind people on narrow paths. The forthcoming Big Walk has about 2000 people, I think, but some - I don't know how many - run, and some spread it over two days, so I really have no idea of how much I'll be part of a crowd. They strongly encourage people to clump together for the nighttime walking, though.

[ylla]

I'm not sure if that's a good thing because you know where you're going or a bad thing because you know exactly what you've still got to face...

I keep having a look at the various Kiltwalks, but they're expensive to enter and always seem to be on dates that I can't do, and I'm not sure just how much of a noisy mob it would be!