Getting ready to head for the hills

I HAVE walked all 192 miles of the Coast to Coast. I have climbed Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Each time, I considered myself well prepared, with waterproofs, mobile phone and a bottle of water in my rucksack, along with a map and a compass “just in case”.

How wrong I was. Having met long-distance walking expert Mark Reid, I now realise I got lucky.

If the mist had come down on a poorly marked moorland path or a snowstorm had obliterated every landmark on a bleak fell, with no one else around and no phone signal, I wouldn’t have had a clue what to do with my map and compass.

And if darkness had fallen, I would have been in even more trouble. As Mark points out: “Every single day, it gets dark.” So why did I never put a torch in my rucksack?

Like many who enjoy walking, I was an accident waiting to happen. I relied on a mixture of good luck and other people to keep me safe, instead of taking responsibility.

This is where Mark comes in. Recognised as one of the UK’s leading experts on long-distance walks, he has written 17 guidebooks, including the acclaimed Inn Way series, as well as writing a regular walks column for The Press’s sister newspaper, The Northern Echo.

Having hiked more than 10,000 miles through the north of England over the past decade, he is familiar with the ups and downs of almost every public footpath in the region, getting through a pair of walking boots every 18 months.

A qualified walking group leader and mountain guide, he started taking people, including corporate team-building groups, out on his popular group hikes five years ago.

So far, more than 12,500 people have joined him. I have signed up for his navigational skills and map reading course. Joining me is a group of women about to head off on a walking holiday in Italy and another group who walk regularly and want to stop relying on their husbands so much.

I learn a vital lesson within the first few minutes. Mark has told us all to check the weather forecast before we come. It’s a lovely fresh morning, about seven degrees celsius with a bit of rain forecast for the afternoon. By my reckoning, it’s a good day for climbing a peak.

How wrong I am. Mark points out that our weather forecast relates to conditions in the valleys. “Uphill it gets worse. It is twice as bad at the top of a mountain as when you walk out your door.”

For every 100m above sea level, temperatures drop by one degree and wind speed doubles for every 1,000m.

So today, at the top of Whernside, for example, the temperature will feel more like zero with wind speed gusts of about 70-80mph. If I had headed off, I would have ended up freezing, barely able to walk for the gale and drenched by rain.

“Problems occur when people have driven all the way to the Lakes, arrive in horizontal sleet and say, ‘We’re going to do it anyway’.

“Lots of little things can soon build up to big problems. The key thing is planning. Always plan a walk within your level of skill, experience and fitness, and know where your level is.”

Mark doesn’t have much time for GPS or satnav. “They spoon-feed you information and you disengage your brain,” he says. “If you really want to enjoy the countryside, forget the gadgets and mug up on your basic map-reading skills.”

Thanks to this course, which took us on a relatively safe one-day ramble through the fields, woods and tracks near Fountains Abbey, I now realise how exactly to place myself in the landscape, matching my compass needle’s north to the grid lines to bring my map to life.

During the walk, we pause regularly and pick out three co-ordinating details from our surroundings to pinpoint our location on the map.

“There may be a couple of farmhouses or fences or whatever else you’re looking for in the immediate area. You want to make sure you’ve got the right one,” says Mark.

I discover that I cover 100m in 70 double strides, so I can work out at what point I should reach a particular landmark when navigation is tricky. Far from being guesswork, pacing is a reliable way to keep track of progress, explains Mark.

When the rain does come down, he has a handy portable shelter, rather like a parachute, in his rucksack, which we all gather under to have lunch. As we huddle together, Mark runs through clothing and nutrition tips and what to do in an emergency.

“Almost everything that goes wrong is avoidable. Almost every call out to mountain rescue is caused by over-ambition, lack of equipment and lack of skill. People get lost, cold, caught out,” he says.

Most cases of hypothermia occur in summer, when people head up hills and mountains ill-prepared for changing weather in T-shirt and shorts.

Mark advises having an escape route planned in case you get behind or cut off. Something as common as a sprained ankle or one of your party falling in a stream and getting wet may mean you have to retrace your steps or walk an extra 10km.

“If you do get into trouble, stay calm. Don’t let a small problem become a big mistake,” he adds.

Brought up in Harrogate, Reid fell in love with the Yorkshire Dales after a school trip to Swaledale when he was 16. “It changed my life,” he says. The 1980s James Herriot TV series inspired him to explore more.

“I remember being at the Swaledale festival in 1985, driving through Bellerby Moor, Leyburn and Reeth one early evening in late May. The light was fantastic and it struck me how beautiful the Dales were. I’ve been obsessed with them ever since.”

His favourite summit is Ingleborough. “It’s crowned by England’s highest Iron Age hill fort and the views are great.

He is evangelical about walking. “If you go walking for 30 minutes a day, you halve the risk of heart disease.

“Walking in the country can also help you deal with stress; it is good for your mind.”

When Mark’s walking books took off, he left his career in brewery management. But his geography degree still comes in useful.

Throughout our walk, he points out interesting features in the landscape, wild flowers and birds.

By the end of the day, his map reading mantra – “direction, distance, detail and destination”, the four Ds of navigation – is firmly lodged in our brains.

We come away starting to believe that there is no such thing as being lost. “All we have to do is place ourselves on the map. You should always know to within a 1km grid square where you are. Then you won’t ever get lost again, just slightly misplaced,” he says.

“The outdoors is here, it’s free and just waiting to be discovered,” he adds.

• Team Walking 102 Leeds Road, Harrogate HG2 8HB Tel: 01423 871750