The lure of long miles

For those who walk, then walk, then keep walking

I think there’s a little voice inside those drawn to thru-hiking: “but what if I just carried on?”

The fell wanders and Wainwright bags turn into longer days, to catch that sunrise and chase that sunset. You find your legs, test your kit on weekend wild camps. You gain confidence and skills and a taste for something ‘more’. Soon, those weekends turn to a week long adventure, hoping the great British weather doesn’t encroach on your carefully earned annual leave as you follow a dotted line on a map, a lure to more miles, bigger skies.

And just as you’re getting into it, you’re ripped from nature’s embrace; that simple, stripped back way of life, your annual leave over, birdsong swapped for Teams calls and traffic.

But you’ve got a taste for it now. A peek behind the curtain. You’ve seen backstage - the tangled roots, sun dappled trees, the mountains, the coastlines, the wild magic of it all. It’s lit a little flame inside you. So you hold it close, don’t let it be smothered by busy life, by spreadsheets and supermarket trips. You fuel it, add kindling. You trace a line on the map that your eye keeps straying to. You read blogs and books and build the bonfire.

At the point where you’re looking at logistics and train tickets and different configurations of your tent and sleep system you know there’s no extinguishing it - the trail must be walked, the miles are yours.

Cambrian Way, I’m coming for you.

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