Читать книгу Walking in the Yorkshire Dales: North and East. Howgills, Mallerstang, Swaledale, Wensleydale, Coverdale and Nidderdale онлайн

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The area is covered by Ordnance Survey maps at both 1:25,000 and 1:50,000 scales, the larger scale showing a greater detail that is often invaluable. The key maps for the walks in this guide are: Explorer OL2 – Yorkshire Dales (Southern & Western areas); Explorer OL30 – Yorkshire Dales (Northern & Central areas); Explorer OL19 – Howgill Fells & Upper Eden Valley; and Explorer 298 – Nidderdale.

Careful planning

Plan your walk in advance, bearing in mind your party’s capabilities and the anticipated weather conditions for the day. The times given in this guidebook for each walk are based on Naismith’s Rule, and are provided merely as a guide. They make no allowance for stops along the way, and in practice your time may be significantly greater, since it will depend on your level of fitness, ability to cope with the particular terrain, and other factors such as weather.

The amount of height gain, poor conditions underfoot and lousy weather can add considerably to both the time and effort needed to complete a walk, and it is a good idea to make your own estimate, adapting Naismith’s Rule to match your own performance. Naismith’s Rule basically takes into account distance and height gain, allowing one hour for every 5km (3 miles) and a further half hour for each 300m ascended. By monitoring your own performance over a period to determine appropriate personal times for each element of the calculation, you can achieve a reasonably reliable formula that suits your own level of capability. Having said that, particularly if you are out alone, it is also a good idea to leave a note of your intended route and return time with someone (not sitting on the dashboard of your car as an open invitation to a thief).