Читать книгу The Pennine Way - the Path, the People, the Journey онлайн

47 страница из 86

More than almost any other UK walking trail, the Pennine Way seems synonymous with sheer physical challenge. The South West Coast Path may be much longer (630 miles compared to the Pennine Way’s 268 miles) and the overall height gain much greater (115,000ft against the Pennine Way’s 37,000ft, give or take a bit), but you rarely go half a day without dropping down to a village, café or beach. When you set off for a day on the Pennine Way, on the other hand, in most cases you don’t see a shop, pub or café until nightfall; and if you camp you might not see one at all.

As I walked north to Scotland, I pondered the question of toughness and challenge and talked to others about it. Where precisely do you strike the balance between maintaining the trail’s sheer physical (and mental) test and making it sufficiently accessible so that enough people feel both inspired and capable of attempting it? Reading accounts of early trail completions in the 1960s and 70s, I was struck by the fact that most people seemed to accept the boggy and sometimes treacherous conditions underfoot as simply part of walking along the top of the Pennines. It might not have been altogether pleasant at times, but coping with it was part of the adventure.