Читать книгу The Dales Way. From Ilkley to the Lake District through the Yorkshire Dales онлайн

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Having several long-distance walks under my belt, I know the importance of maintaining daily progress, of not falling behind schedule, especially if time is limited. But I also know that too much progress can focus your mind more on the end of the walk rather than what there is to enjoy along the way. Keeping going, sticking to 22, 25, 28km (14, 16, 18 miles) each day, simply becomes a route march, and if you apply those tactics to the Dales Way you will be back home in no time, and possibly wondering what all the fuss was about, largely having missed the point.

With so much of interest concentrated in so (comparatively) short a walk, for a full enjoyment of the process it is vital to allow time to explore and potter about, to paddle in the streams and rivers, to visit churches (and pubs), to get something of a feel for the lifestyle that permeates the course of the Way and of the history that has fashioned the land it traverses. Generally, it is not a bad idea to take your cue from the rivers you will follow – nowhere do they charge headlong, save for the odd moment of madness, preferring to meander gently, switching this way and that to inspect nooks and crannies, going with the flow. You should do the same.