Walking the Walk

I was reading Craig Mod’s essay, Walking the Length of Manhattan, this morning, which left me wondered about some of the epic walks I’ve done in my life. I haven’t walked the full length of Manhattan but I must have come close while I lived and worked there back in the 80s. Every weekend I walked and walked and walked. I never really did the metro and rarely bother with the bus. Traffic was as silly back then as it is now. So why not walk? It was definitely faster to get from A to B. As a teenager with a couple of friends who, likeminded, love camping and walking, I walked all over the Lake District. No, silly, not all at once. But slowly, over time. I think I did them all, or I should say, we did. Maybe I might not have done so many or finished half the harder walks if not for my two stalwart companions. I think we egged one another on to finish some of the more strenuous and dangerous walks. We did Helvellyn, Saddleback, Coniston, Grasmere and Rydal water and yes, we even did…