TRAILS AND TRIBULATIONS
WE’VE ALL EXPERIENCED ADVENTURES that are as challenging as they’re thrilling. The kind that leave you limping, blister-covered, even mildly terrified, but still somehow seem to feature in your memory as highlights of your walking career. And, after a week or two of intensive recovery time, you unaccountably begin itching for more of the same. There’s a phrase to describe this sort of thing: ‘Type 2 fun’. It’s not fun in the light and breezy sense of the word, but the thrill of it runs far deeper and stronger than mere effortless enjoyment.
That’s the kind of experience that you can expect from these 10 tough (yet terrific) trails. They vary in length, ascent, remoteness and terrain, but they have one thing in common: each offers the opportunity to push your adventurous limits in a distinctly Type 2 kind of way. So don a moisture-wicking base layer, pack plenty of plasters, and get ready to tackle one of the UK’s grittiest hiking challenges.
SOUTH WEST COAST PATH
Distance: 1,014km / 630 miles
Duration: 7-8 weeks
Difficulty: 3.5/5, long with plenty of ascent but never too remote or rugged
How to get there: Train from London to Taunton, then 28 bus to Minehead
More info: southwestcoastpath.org.uk
What it lacks in mountains this rollercoaster of a long-distance walk more than makes up for in vertiginous cliffs – complete the full 1014km and you will have climbed four times the height of), this means that you’re tackling the hardest bits first. Things get particularly muscle-mincing on the week-long section between Westward Ho! (the only British town to have an exclamation mark as part of its name!) and Padstow, making this a great choice for a marvellously masochistic walking holiday. It’s AONB practically the whole way, with a constant succession of spiky headlands, hidden coves and faultlessly picturesque towns to distract you from that burning feeling in your quads. Highlights further along the route include the 150-millionyear-old rock arch of Durdle Door, Chesil Beach – note the pebbles, which are naturally sorted by size from east to west – Cape Cornwall and the Jenga-ish granite ridges around Bosigran.
