The Hillwalker's Manual

A comprehensive and practical manual for the walker, covering equipment, safety, navigation, survival and photography. Contains information on organisations, the hill environment, weather and nature in the hills. The main emphasis is to equip the hillwalker with the practical skills needed to plan and execute a great day in the hills.

The Hillwalker's World

Only a hill; yes, looked at from below,
Facing the usual sea, the frequent west;
Tighten the muscle, feel the strong blood flow,
And set your foot upon the utmost crest.
There, where the realms of thought and effort cease
Wakes on your heart a world of dreams and peace.
                                           Geoffrey Winthrop Young

Hills hold a special place in the hearts of many walkers, and for us, it is enough simply to raise our eyes from the plains to realise that each hill has a character of its own. Primitively formed in most cases from rock, they exert a solid power and offer extremes of emotion with moods that change rapidly from kindly benevolence to brutal savagery at a blink of their weather eye. Above all they are quite simply magnificent.

Even within the small land area of Britain there is an incredible variety of hills: from the towering giants of remote Scotland through the rugged northern moors to the rolling and gentle downs of southern England. As great as their differences in height is the variety in their nature.

The hills you choose to venture upon may not be the highest or the toughest to climb, but to you they will always be unique. Hills can offer unparalleled pleasure and opportunity, whether they be a simple chalk ridge, humble but evocative, or an angry snow-clad lump of granite that looks down from lofty heights as if to say, ‘Climb me if you can, if you dare’. The thrill and satisfaction of hillwalking is open to all those who are willing simply to put one foot in front of the other.

The challenge, excitement and thrill of scaling the heights is only one small aspect of hillwalking. For many it is enough to feel the freedom of the hills through the changing seasons and to enjoy the associated sights and sensations: the sweet autumnal smells and the dazzling colours of the leaves before they fall; the biting cold of winter, when nothing moves to break the frozen silence of an awesome black-and-white world; the yellows of the first spring flowers as nature begins to laugh again; those balmy summer days when a dip in the glacial mint-clear winters of a mountain stream brings instant healing to both body and mind.Hand in hand with this freedom comes the ultimate pleasure of solitude in a wilderness setting. Here is a world where you can be alone but never lonely, where life is so beautiful and full of wonder that it can never be imagined by those who confine themselves below. If you don’t already go hillwalking, do make the effort, do feel the blood surge through your body: the hills are open to all.

However, with these privileges must come responsibilities; to yourself, to others, to the environment. Never forget that hills can be both friendly and hostile: they can radically change in nature either because of prevailing weather conditions or the seasons. The higher they get the more difficult and serious they become: a walk in the hills that may be taken as a gentle stroll in summer can quickly become a mountaineering expedition and fight for survival in winter. Remember too, that altitude brings further problems of its own.

To be safe, to keep others safe and to preserve that delicate beauty, however fragile, awe-inspiring and grand it may seem, you must appreciate something of the physical nature of the hills. This chapter, then, examines the important and varied components that make up the upland environment in both summer and winter.