Hike Report for Group Hike

When: Sunday, October 14^th 2012

Start Time: 4:45pm

End Time: 6:00 pm

Left from: Dura View, Pitscottie, Scotland, UK

Returned to: Dura View, Pitscottie, Scotland, UK

Maps and References: Fiona Bond

Weather: Damp and sprinkling, 11 degrees Celcius, (about 52 degrees Fahrenheit)

Participants: Entire Hiking Class

Though this hike was not a very great distance, I certainly got more experience out of this particular hike than any other I had previously taken throughout the course. Though I knew I wasn’t exactly going to enjoy the hike considering the rocky (sometimes literally) relationship that nature and I have had in the past, I figured it could be a potentially enjoyable hike, especially considering the fact that it was somewhat short and could be enjoyed with friends. I wasn’t looking forward to the mud and the rain that I knew would be involved, but I brought rain gear and worn my hiking boots, so I knew I could push through.

Unfortunately, I didn’t quite make it through the entire of the length. Alex, Faith, Jill, and I all got stuck in some mud that the rest of the class somehow passed through unscathed, Though after much struggling, Alex, Faith, and Jill were able to get help from Fiona and other classmates and pull themselves out of the mud, I was stuck too deep to be freed so simply. My right leg was completely immersed in the mud, and no matter how hard I pulled with my left, which hadn’t gotten stuck yet, I couldn’t pull myself free of the mud. Eventually, all of that work got me nowhere, and I ended up with both of my legs stuck all the way up over my knees. Any effort I gave to free myself was basically futile and brought me down deeper into the unyielding mud. Eventually it took a lot of upper arm strength, branches for support, and two people to help me get out of the mud successfully. Covered in mud, and extremely faint and exhausted from all the effort I put into getting myself out, I caught up with the group, basically going back the way I had come and not getting to complete the hike. Of course, it started to pour the moment I made it out of the trees.

I didn’t get to complete the hike, but honestly, I think I got quite a bit more out of it than everyone else because of my incident. First of all, I definitely learned that not going alone on these kinds of excursions is absolutely crucial. There was absolutely no way that I could have gotten myself out of that mud if I hadn’t had assistance, and lots of it. I fortunately did have my phone on me, so I might have been able to reach someone for help if it had been necessary, but having people with me who were able to assist me was ideal. If I had been alone in that situation, I’m not sure what I would have done. Also, along the same lines, I noted how important it is to make sure everyone in your group is always accounted for, Almost everyone except Sami kept going without looking back as Faith, Alex, Jill and I were stuck hopelessly in the mud. More than a third of our group was missing and nobody even seemed to notice! It’s just very important to be aware, especially when in such a potentially dangerous environment, with high levels of mud as well as cliffs. It’s very easy when on these types of hikes to forget about the people that you are with and just enjoy your own experience, but it’s so important to make sure that everyone is looking out for one another and making sure that no one gets in a potentially dangerous situation.

The most important thing I got out of this hike was more of a personal realization than a lesson directly related to hiking. During the time that I was stuck, which was probably close to around 20 minutes, I consistently stayed very calm and refused to panic, though the situation was beginning to look a little hopeless. I just followed the instructions given to me by Fiona and Sam to slowly attempt to pull myself from the mud, and when those things didn’t work, just sat patiently until another idea was formed. I learned that despite what I would have expected from myself, I was actually very calm and collected during what could probably be considered a crisis, and was able to focus on the task at hand without panicking. If a person were to panic in that type of situation, it could easily make the situation worse, as I could have easily dragged myself deeper into the muck by thrashing around and losing control. This was definitely the best way to deal with the situation, and I greatly surprised myself by being able to act calm so naturally. Though I won’t be venturing into the mud again anytime soon (or if I had it my way, ever again), hopefully I can remember this experience for future outdoor experiences and be sure to go with a dependable group and no matter what, keep calm and carry on.

Two-day Hike in London Plan

Hike I: Adventuring through the streets of London

Planned for Thursday October 25^th 2012, from approx. 5:00pm to 8:00pm

Est. time, 3 hours

Est. distance, 6.23 miles

Hike Organizer(s):

Madeline Mohr and Lexy Hitchcock

Start Point: Piccadilly Hotel, 12 Sherwood Street, Piccadilly Circus, London W1F 7BR, United Kingdom

Latitude – 51.510381

Longitude – -0.135891

Passing Points of Reference:

Covent Gardens, London

Leicester Square, London

End Point: Piccadilly Hotel, 12 Sherwood Street, Piccadilly Circus, London W1F 7BR, United Kingdom
Maps and Reference sources:
Google Earth, mapmyrun.com, GoogleMaps

Projected Weather:

According to UKWeather.com and Accuweather, Thursday will be partly cloudy with the sun already having set upon the start of our hike.

High: 14 degrees Celsius (About 58 degrees Fahrenheit)

Low: 10 degrees Celsius (About 50 degreed Fahrenheit)

Participants:

Lexy Hitchcock and Madeline Mohr

Transportation:

We will be riding the Britrail from Leuchars train station in St. Andrews to London Kings Cross in London. From there, we will take the Underground from London Kings Cross to Piccadilly Circus. There we will begin our hike.

Brief Description:
We purchased a room at the Piccadilly Hostel near Piccadilly Square. From here, we will walk to Covent Gardens, passing through Leicester Square. Once at Covent Gardens, we will then walk to Tottenham Court Road. We will then walk to Holborn and back to Covent Gardens. At Covent Gardens, we will walk up Neal Street back to Tottenham Court Road and go left instead of right towards Regent Street. At Oxford Circus, we will go back to Piccadilly Circus towards Green Park. From Green Park we will go to Hyde Pak Corner and on to Constitution Hill. At The Mall Road, we will head towards Charing Cross, then back to Piccadilly Circus.

In total, this will be 6.23miles

Of Special Interest:

We decided to do this hike as a way to see more of London. We traveled as a group to London our first week in the UK, however, during that trip, we received Underground passes and were able to ride the train wherever we wanted. This hike is a way for us to walk more streets, see more people, and experience what it means to truly be in London.

Equipment/kit list for hike:

Warm jackets

Good walking shoes

Printed map

Scarves and gloves

iPhone in case we needed different directions

Hike II: Continued Adventure through the Streets of London

Planned for Friday October 26^th 2012, from approx. 10:00am – 1:00pm

Est. time, 3 hours

Est. distance, 6.52 miles

Hike Organizer(s):

Madeline Mohr and Lexy Hitchcock

Start Point: Piccadilly Hotel, 12 Sherwood Street, Piccadilly Circus, London W1F 7BR, United Kingdom

Latitude – 51.510381

Longitude – -0.135891

Passing Points of Reference:

Charing Cross

Temple

Victoria Embankment Road

River Thames

Embankment

Westminster

Victoria Street

Grosvenor Gardens

Buckingham Palace Gardens

Hyde Park Corner

Harrods

Hyde Park

Marble Arch

Bond Street

Oxford Circus

Regent Street

End Point: Piccadilly Hotel, 12 Sherwood Street, Piccadilly Circus, London W1F 7BR, United Kingdom

Maps and Reference sources:
Google Earth, mapmyrun.com, GoogleMaps

Projected Weather:

According to UKWeather.com and Accuweather, Thursday will be partly cloudy with the sun already having set upon the start of our hike.

High: 10 degrees Celsius (About 50 degrees Fahrenheit)

Low: 4 degrees Celsius (About 40 degrees Fahrenheit)

Participants:

Madeline Mohr and Lexy Hitchcock

Transportation:

None. We will have stayed in the Piccadilly Hostel near Piccadilly Square; therefore, we will not need transportation for the start of our hike.

Brief Description:

We would like to use what we saw on the first day of our hike to assist in our plan for the second day. We will have walked past Regent Street and would like to venture that way. This day, we would also like to walk to the River Thames, past Westminster, through Hyde Park, etc. In addition to this, we found extra side streets that we are planning on walking. Also, we would like to walk through China Town to get to the theatre where Les Miserables is showing to see if there are tickets for that night. We will end the hike at our Hostel to stay for another night.

Of Special Interest:

Having been in London for a day already, we would like to use this day to see things we hadn’t before. It is amazing how many people live in London, the amount of public transportation used, and the complete different culture that London holds than the rest of the world. We would like to use this day to experience life in London one last time. What better way to do this than on foot!

Equipment/Kit list for hike:

This day’s hike is projected to be a bit colder than our first day, so we will be dressing warmer. Coat, Hat, Gloves, wool socks, etc.

Good walking shoes

Printed Map

iPhone for extended maps

Backpack for extra snacks, socks, rain gear.

Water bottle

Scarves gloves

Rain jacket

Umbrella

Hike Plan to Craigtoun Country Park, St. Andrews

Planned for Saturday September 29^th 2012 from approx. 1:00pm to 5:00pm

Est. time, 4 hours,

Est. distance, 6 miles

Hike Organizers:

Lexy Hitchock, Madeline Mohr, Courtney Catt, Samantha Evans, William Henderson, Faith Walters, Jill Halfmann

Start Point: David Russell Apartments, Buchanan Gardens, Saint Andrews, United Kingdom

Latitude: 56.335656

Longitude: -2.821587

Passing Points of Reference:

Craigtoun Park, St. Andrews

The Duke’s Golf Course

End Point: Russell Apartments, Buchanan Gardens, Saint Andrews, United Kingdom

Maps and Reference sources:

Google Earth, Google Maps

Projected Weather: According to Accuweather, the day of our hike will be partly cloudy, and windy.

High: 14 degrees Celsius (About 58 degrees Fahrenheit)

Low: 10 degrees Celsius (About 50 degrees Fahrenheit)

Participants:

Lexy Hitchcock, Madeline Mohr, Courtney Catt, Samantha Evans, William Henderson, Faith Walters, Jill Halfmann

Transportation:

We will be leaving from David Russell Apartments, so no extra transportation is necessary.

Brief Description:

We will be walking from David Russell Apartments to the middle of Craigtoun Country Park, where we will likely spend a good amount of time exploring the park and enjoying the views and scenes that the park has to offer. We will walk from David Russell Apartments to Strathkinness Low Road, then turn right onto Lawhead Road. We will walk through a neighborhood until we turn onto Hepburn Gardens, where we will stay until we reach The Duke’s Golf Course. After reaching the Park, we will explore the area freely, stopping at whatever attractions catch our fancy. Once we are done at the park, we will head back the way we came, past the Golf Course, walking primarily on Hepburn Gardens until turning left back onto Lawhead Road, then back onto Strathkinness Low Road toward David Russell Apartments. This will, depending on how much walking is done in the park, amount to about 6 miles.

Of Special Interest:

We decided to do a hike that was still close to St. Andrews and our normal everyday environment, in a place that we won’t have to find transportation to get to, while still being able to see things that we otherwise won’t see at St. Andrews. Hopefully the park will contain more nature of Scotland than we’ve previously seen and get to see St. Andrews from a further perspective. Also we’re hoping there will be some fun playgrounds at the park!

Equipment:

Iphone for maps/GPS/compass

Printed map of area

Backpack

Hiking Boots

Wool socks

Comfortable rain jacket

Umbrella

Breakfast bar

Water bottle

Scarves

Gloves

Two-Day Hike Report for London:

When: Thursday October 25^th 2012 to Friday October 26^th 2012

Start Time: 5:00pm on October 25^th 2012

End Time: 3:00pm on October 26^th 2012

Left from: Piccadilly Circus, London

Returned to: Piccadilly Circus, London

Maps and References Sources: Google Maps, Google Earth, and mapmyrun.com

Weather: Thursday night it was overcast, gradually getting colder as the night went on – about 13 degrees Celsius (55 degrees Fahrenheit). On Friday morning, it was rainy, misty, and about 8 decrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit). However, the sun came out later in the afternoon.

Participants: Madeline Mohr, Lexy Hitchcock, and Madison Ferril

After spending a week of my summer in New York City, one of my favorite places in the world, I was on edge to experience more city life as soon as possible. I know that the purpose of this class was really to explore Scottish nature, but nature really isn’t my thing, as I believe I made obvious in an unforgettable incident where I became pretty hopelessly stuck in some mud. People were surprised by my calmness while I was stuck, but let’s be honest; I’m used to this kind of thing happening to me, especially when nature is involved. Therefore, doing a city hike was something I could really see myself looking forward to. Though we did all visit London as a group at the beginning of the semester, I didn’t feel like I was able to get a full taste of London, especially with all of the awesome and necessary activities we attempted to cram into about 3 days. As a whole, the city was completely overwhelming, even when compared with a place like New York City. Even though I obviously still didn’t even see a fraction of this great city during this hike, what I was able to see absolutely blew my mind and overwhelmed me. It was helpful that this time, we didn’t use the underground at all except to get to our hostel from King’s Cross Station; the rest of our travelling through the city was on foot.

On the first day of our hike, we left from Piccadilly Circus and walked towards Covent Gardens. We had planned to begin our hike right at 5:00pm; however, it took us longer than expected to get from London Kings Cross Station to Piccadilly Circus, and we had some problems with checking into our rooms in the hostel, which took about half an hour more than we originally anticipated. After checking into our hostel, we gathered our gear for the hike and left towards Covent Gardens. We were with our friend Sami Evans, and she was going to the Royal Opera House for a show, so we walked with her. Passing Leicester Square, we walked through a busy Friday night London Evening.[1] There were so many people around, and it was difficult to weave through everyone. This was, of course, extremely different than the previous hikes we had taken, where other than our small group, our routes were pretty much deserted.

From Leicester Square, we moved briskly towards Covent Gardens.[2] Sami went to the Royal Opera House, and we moved on to Tottenham Court Road.[3] After beating our way through the crowds, we moved on to Holborn and back to Covent Gardens. At Covent Gardens, we walked up Neal Street, back to Tottenham Court Road, and instead of going right, we went left towards Regent Street.[4] Christmas decorations were already up, as well as flags from the recent Olympic countries. At the end of Regent Street, we ran into Piccadilly Circus. From here, we walked towards Green Park[5] and Hyde Park.[6] From Hyde Park, we walked on Mall Street towards Charing Cross.[7] We stopped for a while for dinner, at one of our favorite restaurants, Chipotle, to refuel and relax. That was definitely food I had been missing dearly! Maybe not the best food choice for heavy walking, but definitely necessary and satisfying. From here, we were almost done with our hike for day 1, and we headed back to Piccadilly Circus towards our hostel.[8]

After a difficult nights rest, having slept in the center of one of the busiest places in the world in what wasn’t exactly a top notch hostel, we awoke to a rainy, gloomy day. From our hostel, we walked down Haymarket, and then left on Strand. Walking towards Temple Underground Station, we were attempting to get as close to the River Thames as possible.[9][10] We turned right on Victoria Embankment, and were right on the water. From here, we passed Westminster Abbey[11] and Big Ben[12], two places we had seen when we came to London as a group. We didn’t stop at these places, however; we wanted to experience new places in London. Walking around Victoria Street was absolutely beautiful, and we then walked on Grosvenor Gardens.[13] Walking on the outskirts of Buckingham Palace Gardens,[14] we looked to find Buckingham Palace, but must have been on the opposite side of the park.  This led us to Hyde Park, where we walked to Knightsbridge, the place of Harrods.[15] Having already gone into Harrods, we decided to turn around and keep walking on the side of Hyde Park. We then walked on Oxford Street, looking for Regent Street. We wanted to walk back on Regent Street in order to stop in a few shops that we had seen the day before. One of these stores was the famous toy store, Hamley’s.[16] Inside Hamley’s was a hike in and of itself. The store is absolutely enormous! This then led us straight back to our hostel, where we changed, and went on with our day.

Hiking through what ended up being just a small portion of London was an absolutely unforgettable experience. I felt that the first time I travelled to London with the bigger group; I got to see some great things, but was so busy rushing from place to place that I didn’t actually step back and see London for what it was. I’m so glad I went back and really took note of my surroundings because I could take the time to do so. This hike did feel sort of rushed in a way, but that was really because of the rushed feeling of the city more than an actual sense of urgency. Though this was a familiar and pleasant feeling to me, especially just having been to New York City, what really separates London from American large cities is the history. It was great to see so many historical sites among the hustle and bustle of the city; it’s so easy to forget that these monuments are really at every turn, and even reside in the streets themselves. I wish the weather could have been a little more pleasant on this hike. I’m not a huge fan of rain, but I suppose that some drizzle is really part of the London experience. Overall, it was a wonderful hike, and I even got some shopping in too!

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