Using the logs

What they are for 

My personal use of logs derives from the route card concept. On lengthy self-planned routes, such as my cross-Wales route, it's important to have studied the map beforehand to get a good idea of terrain and challenges. From that, you discern distance and, using your personal Naismith's rule, get some idea of how long the walk should be taking. This in turn has practical applications - will you reach the pub by lunchtime? will the sun be in the right place for the textbook photograph of the crags? can you catch the train home? - and also a safety application - when should people start to be worried about you?

The route card, then, needs to show key timing points and distances. Sometimes my own cards include height gained and predicted Naismith timings. The logs on this site are simply my record of my route cards.

I don't always prepare a route card of course - as inferred above, they are really only essential for complex terrains. On long walks in lowland Britain, I'll study the walk in advance, to be sure, and get an idea to the nearest mile of morning and afternoon stages, but not always any more than that. On the trail though I note down, sometimes in the margins of the map, when I pass key places, originally with a view to my own review in decades to come, latterly because I have a web site to share these days on.

Many guide books also have route cards of a type, in the form of distance charts and related information. Several of mine are littered with timing information, either against the distances or in the narrative. Increasingly I note down other information I might like to refer back to, like the price of a pint!

Two types of log

This web site uses two types of log - pdf logs, which is most of them, and embedded logs, still used on my Offa's Dyke, Peddars Way and Norfolk Coast Path logs, although these will be translated to pdf in due course. One day I might use html's table tags to produce the logs, but both they and the cheap web editors I use are cumbersome for what I want.

Both types of log contain much the same information (although there are as yet no grid references on the Offa's Dyke logs), as follows.

Place names and grid references,  taken from Ordnance Survey maps or similar. 
 
Day miles taken from the day's start point; may be my calculation, or Anquet's, or from the guide book.
 
Cumulative miles from the start of that particular trail, ignoring significant diversions from the official path eg to find a pub.  
 
Time, with both arrival and departure times given when there is a significant sit-down break. Shorter stops, to look at view, don wet weather gear etc, are not included. Times in red indicate delay from previous place - may mean getting lost, though sometimes it means talking to a shepherd.
 
Elapsed is the time spent actually walking, in hours and minutes, ignoring stops. Don't think that you could do the walk in this time with a non-stop effort; your body needs a break from time to time. I take relatively few stops en route, however - many might prefer more.

Every hill or wild country walker should be acquainted with Naismith's rule. It allows an advance calculation of a walk's duration, based on the distance travelled and the height gained. Now, of course, everyone is different, so the key thing is to personalise the rule to your own skills and fitness. This takes some practice, but it's worth it. (Or use Tranter's corrections).

I base my personal Naismith on one hour for every three miles plus another hour for every 1500 feet. I started walking when imperial units were de rigueur so younger walkers might choose metric equivalents! I can walk very comfortably within this schedule, and though many might see it relatively generous it is a schedule for one in his mid-50s. I intend to make a further tweak soon - to add an hour for every 2000 feet instead of 1500, but also to add an hour for every 3000 feet (probably) of descent. It's remarkable how difficult it can be to descend steep or stony ground. Of course, there would be no need to add the descent time on very gently sloping ground - it's an adjustment for moors and mountains.

Naismith's rule is intended only to calculate walking time. You need to add on time for eating, photography and gazing at the view. You may need to add on time for walking into a stiff head wind, squelching through bogs and kicking tussocks. Those who undertake winter hillwalking need to adjust for snow, but that is beyond my scope.

I don't use Naismith's rule for walking in lowland Britain. I just divide the mileage by three and expect to beat it comfortably (my basic pace is around 3.2 mph).  

Site created by Peter Aylmer of London

Page created 8 May 2005