Relaxed walks on mainly flat or graded paths and tracks within easy access of a road/parking with little or no steep ground. These walks are designed to take in a specific tourist site or experience - perhaps to visit a ruined Scottish castle, wildlife centre or ancient carved stones - and are suitable for a wide range of abilities, typically never more than 3 miles or 2 hours of walking.
Leisurely walking on paths and tracks with occasional steep or uneven sections or steps. Designed to offer an immersive and relaxing experience connecting with nature and the outdoors these walks help promote wellbeing and may include walks around lochs, along beaches, through woodland and glens, to visit a specific historic or geological site, to learn about foraging for wild plants or to reach viewpoint. These are suitable for a wide range of abilities and are typically 3 to 6 miles with up to 5 hours of walking and 300m of ascent and descent.
Expect a full day of walking using a mixture of paths, tracks and over mixed terrain. There are likely to be some steep or uneven sections or steps. These walks are suited to those used to being active and may include easier hill summits, coastal walks, sections of long distance trails such as the Kintyre Way, visiting sites off the beaten track and sunset walks. Walks are typically 6 to 8 miles with 4 to 6 hours of walking and no more than 600m of ascent and descent.
An active day of walking using a mixture of paths, tracks and over mixed terrain which is likely to have steep rough sections. These walks are suited to those used to being active and may include hill summits, coastal sections with a lot of ascent and descent, remoter areas, longer sections of trails such as the Kintyre Way, visiting sites off the beaten track, trig point hunters and Wainwright baggers. Walks are typically 7 to 12 miles with 5 to 8 hours of walking and up to 800m of ascent and descent.
A full day of walking over varied ground, which may incorporate a mixture of tracks and paths but is likely to include rugged steep pathless terrain, requiring advanced skills, good fitness and stamina. Walks at this level are usually either long distance, which may or may not incorporate good paths, or in remote and mountainous areas. Typical walks include the easier Munros and Corbetts, the higher Lakeland and Welsh fells, challenges such as the Yorkshire Three Peaks and long distance backpacks such as the Coast to Coast or Pennine Way. Distances vary but are typically 10-25 miles with ascents of up to 1600m. A full days walking may take anything from 6 to12 hours.
A full day of walking over varied ground, which may incorporate a mixture of tracks and paths, rugged steep and rough pathless terrain, exposed ridges and non-technical scrambles requiring advanced skills, good fitness and stamina. Walks at this level are usually either long distance, which may or may not incorporate good paths, or in remote and mountainous areas. Typical walks include the harder or more remote Munros and Corbetts, routes such as Striding Edge in the Lake District, high level or remote long distance backpacks or ultra long distance events. Distances vary but are often over 15 miles with ascents often exceeding 1000m. An example is the Patterdale Round which takes in 17 Wainwrights, is 30 miles and has over 3000m of ascent. A full days walking may take anything from 8 to16 or more hours.
The Trekmates Explorer is a classic baseplate compass. It is lightweight to carry at just 45g and has luminous needle markings for navigating in the dark. It offers both 1:25000 and 1:50000 scales in addition to a centimetre ruler so it is easy to measure distances correctly. The long length neck cord enables you to keep the compass within easy access and it can also be attached to the front of some rucksacks.
We use this compass on our navigation courses and recommend it to those starting out; it is not too expensive and covers all the main elements required. We keep a few in stock so if you would prefer to have one of your own when joining us on a navigation course just remember to choose 'pick up' at check out and we will bring your compass to the course.
Our main office is the great outdoors. This means we are sometimes away on expeditions or guiding walking holidays and cannot always send out products immediately. We do endeavor to get them out to you as soon as we can. Thank you for your patience and buying our products, Heather x