Wild Trails Wales Guide: Creating Hiking experiences to remember
Sometimes, with a bit of planning, and a dose of luck, everything comes together for the perfect moment.
My work as a guide can be so rewarding, creating hiking experiences that my guests will never forget, hopefully for all the right reasons! It’s also a fair responsibility, and because everyone comes to the experience with different perspectives and often very different expectations, interests and maybe even worries, over the years I’ve developed ways to help ensure everyone has a brilliant time. This has also gone in to planning my own adventures, and I wanted to share what I’ve learned over the years to help you plan amazing hiking experiences for yourself.
Devil’s Bridge on Worm’s Head, Gower. This had been somewhere I’d wanted to visit for a long time.
Objectives
Consider what you want out of the trip. The first thing I think about when planning my own trips, or trips for my group, is how I want to feel, or how they want to feel at the end of the trip; accomplishment, freedom, peace, awe, fun, discovery; and let this guide the plans for the day.
Then think about what makes an experience unforgettable for you. For me this varies, and depends very much on how I feel at the time. Sometimes it is watching a sunrise in the mountains or sunset over the sea. Sometimes it’s deepening my connection with an area by observing its wildlife or historical sites. Sometimes it’s extending my comfort zone and doing something a bit scary. Sometimes I just want an easy, feel-good walk to connect with friends. Think back on past experiences, and what made them memorable and how they made you feel. It’s also worth checking your ego to make sure you’re really going to make yourself feel good through the experience you’re planning, and you’re not just doing it to please friends or have something to post about on social media!
Once you know how you want to feel, and what makes you have that feeling, you can work out your objective or objectives for the day. Some of mine include great views; a particular activity (i.e. swim, take photos, scramble, camp out, observe wildlife); a specific destination (such as a secret beach or hidden lake), achievements (i.e. completing a section of the coast path, reaching a summit, scrambling a technical section, facing exposure, or walking a particular distance).
Do you want company for your day out? I love walking alone, but I also love walking in small groups and with friends. It just depends how I feel at the time. The positives of walking with others, are that some experiences are best shared so you can talk about it with someone for years to come, and it can create bonds and deepen friendships. On the other hand, venturing out alone can be great if you have a busy life and spend a lot of time surrounded by others. Being alone can make the experience meditative, confidence boosting, and give you a bit of a high from having been brave. If you’re the planner for a trip to be shared with others, it is worth checking through with them what their expectations and wishes for the day are to make sure you’re on the same page!
We’re having fun. honestly!
Attitude
One of the best ways to guarantee a great day out is to work on your attitude to it before the event! I’m sorry to say, but the weather and the mountains don’t owe you anything. Mother nature laughs in the face of even the best laid plans. So relax. Be realistic and gentle with your expectations. Again, check your ego. Think about your attitude to the weather, to other people, to physical difficulty. If any of these are really going to ruin your day if they don’t play out the way you want, maybe you’re better off leaving it for another day. An example of this is an amazing experience I had on Cader Idris back in December last year. There was a vague forecast for the chance of a cloud inversion in the morning, and I’d wanted to see sunrise on the summit for a very long time. In fact I wanted to see the view from up there as I never had before! So, I made plans to set off at 1am from south wales, to reach the summit for sunrise. As we walked up, the starry skies clouded over and we were soon walking through thick low cloud. I accepted that the sunrise wasn’t to be and the view was to elude me for another day. I told myself that it was always a long shot and it had been an adventure and great training to navigate up in the dark anyway. Suddenly though, as we neared the summit, the sky began to glow and we emerged above the cloud to a mind-blowingly beautiful sunrise. It was the greatest gift, even better because we hadn’t expected it or felt entitled to it.
You’ll want to check the weather before setting off up Crib Goch!
Practicalities
It may sound dull, but planning ahead and taking care of the practicalities really will help your trip go smoothly. First, take time to research your route. I actually love pouring over maps and researching beforehand, preferably with a nice cuppa in front of the fire!
Work out using a map where you’re going, plot it out on an app like OS Online, and study it. Pay attention to the landmarks you’ll pass, the height gained and lost, the length of the route and how long it will take. This will make your route finding and navigation much easier on the day and make sure you don’t run out of time. Also think about alternative routes or ‘escape’ points, that you can use to extend or shorten your route if you want to on the day.
Once you know where you’re going, check the weather forecast, and keep checking it right up until the point that you’re about to set off. For the coast you can check the Met Office beach forecasts and tide times. For the mountains I love the MWIS forecast, and Met Office Mountain Weather also does a good forecast. Be prepared for the weather to turn unexpectedly anyway. Even with a warm sunny settled forecast I’d personally never go onto the mountains without waterproofs and from March - October I’d never go for a long walk on the coast without sun protection.
On the subject of kit, without going into great detail here, make sure you have everything you need, take more food than you think you need, plenty of water, appropriate clothing, personal first aid kit, a map and compass (and the knowledge of how to use them if cloud comes in), and a fully charged phone and back-up.
Next make a plan - where will you park, do you have a back-up plan if there is no parking available? Do you need to pick up supplies on the way, where are the nearest shops and what are their opening times? Do you need cash for the car park? Believe me, I’ve learnt to plan ahead the hard way!
It really doesn’t hurt to have a back-up plan. If you turn up to unforecast lightning storms, if there is no parking anywhere for miles around, if you discover a coast path marathon is taking place, if your bus doesn’t show, the list goes on.. where is the nearest pub, cafe, castle, indoor climbing wall, that you can retreat to to save the day?
And finally just to say that I find that no matter how much planning you do, sometimes the best experiences come from the unforeseen, unplanned moments, and the intangible memories you get from the day. And the rule of probability means the more adventures you go on, the more of those truly unforgettable, special moments you will find. So plan, yes, but then let go of expectation, get out there and let the universe surprise you!