Charlie, who studied History at university, decided, perhaps slightly foolishly considering he was not much of a hiker, to walk in the footsteps of some of the famous (and not so famous) figures from British and Irish history. These are not just short walks but in some cases some pretty epic trips – for example following King Harold’s route from Stamford Bridge near York to the site of his ultimate demise at Battle just off the South coast.

The book includes Boudica’s revolt, King Harold’s march south, Olaf the Dwarf (King of Man), Owain Glyndwr revolt against the English, Mary Queen of Scots escape from Loch Leven, Bonnie Prince Charlie hiding out in Western Isles and the tragic Doolough Famine Walk.

From the first chapter I was immediately drawn into not just Charlie’s journey through history, but his personally journey of hiking discovery.

She used words I’d never heard before, words like ‘wicking’ and ‘tog’. The list she’d made looked frighteningly long. My list hadn’t really got beyond ‘rucksack’, ‘cagoule’ and ‘biscuits’.

My choice to walk Offa’s Dyke was largely due to the historic nature of the route (and the castles, abbeys and other historically significant locations I would encounter along the way) – but I at least had the luxury of an existing defined route. Charlie put together his journeys based on research and a bit of guesswork of the likely routes his historic figures would have taken which, in the case of Boudica, left him with a few problems on the ground as he attempted to walk down the A140! All is not lost however when he discovers the wonder of OS maps:

In that moment I knew my walking life would never be the same again….. Suddenly my journey had acquired another dimension. I was seeing the map in layers, in relief. I wasn’t just looking at a map, I was reading it.

Each chapter covers a different historical journey – rather than being a step by step route guide, Charlie concentrates on the story behind the characters and the places he visits, and the stories of the fascinating people he meets. I really enjoyed how he imagined the thoughts and feelings of the people involved, for example at a war memorial following Harold’s progress south he ponders the feelings of the new recruits signing up to defend their country:

I felt a pang of sorrow that Harold’s soldiers would never have their names on a memorial like this one. Their names are long forgotten, their lives a mystery.

Charlie brings to life the history around us. As he discovered the joy of walking, the peacefulness of the outdoors and the slower pace of life when undertaking long hikes, I was reminded that the mountains, hills, woods and fields of these islands and the people who inhabit them hold the memories of our history – “history is irrefutably alive”.

I really enjoyed “And did those feet” – it is an interesting yet funny read about hiking and history which will inspire you to get out there and walk amongst our history.

I just have to share my favourite part of the book, as Charlie puts on some of his new hiking kit for the first time:

I put on the pants, curious to see if they lived up to the hype. I stretched, I squatted, I lifted my knees in an exaggerated marching movement ; I even tried an ill-advised star jump.. I was, frankly, amazed. This was by far the most comfortable item of underwear ever to pass my kneecaps.

We have all been there!

Kit

Having a clip was absolutely indispensable - it is so handy to easily be able to clip the dog to pretty much anything. The clip I have is a large lightweight clip (in fetching pink) – I think it originally came from a camping store. When not in use it just clips to the side of the rucksack, although I have been known to walk ‘hands free’ with the dog clipped to my side (on her Halti so she does not pull – this does require a bit of vigilance though if your dog is a chaser).

On Offa’s Dyke I really wish I had used her Halti every day all day. The constant additional strain on my feet due to her light not ongoing pulling pressure ultimately caused me to damage the metatarsal bridge of my feet, which meant they were in agony for most of the second half of the walk.

The Aqua Sorb towel, whilst a pretty good idea, ended up not really being that useful and just a dead weight in my bag. We were pretty lucky with the weather, so I just tried to make sure she had a swim close to our stopping point at the end of the day, and then letting her dry out of her roll mat during the evening.

Having half a cheap roll matt as a dog bed worked really well – it doubled up as a seat for me during the day on wet ground, it dried quickly, and provided all the warmth the dog needed at night.

For food and water bowls I bought a set of Orikaso folding bowls and plates (there is also a cup in the set, but this is less useful for the dog!). They are cheap, fold flat, and very light – I did a review of them here: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/2010/05/19/review-orikaso-folding-platebowlcup/. The bowl is great for water, and the plate just about holds a meal worth of food.

Other bits: I would have probably taken less poo bags, as I ended up with loads left at the end. I would probably also now avoid special dog wipes for the first aid kit, and just have a few extra antiseptic wipes. The tick removers were not used, but are still in the first aid kit just in case.

The clip, halti, half roll mat and Orikaso bowl/plate still go with me on any trip with the dog (as well as the poo bags and tick remover).

Food and Water

There was plenty of water available throughout the trip for the dog, but I am still glad I carried some backup water just in case. Since Offa’s Dyke, I have bought a Travel Tap from backpackinglight.co.uk (http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/product353.asp?PageID=40) -  this allows me to safety drink water from hill / mountain streams, which reduces the pressure of my water supply so I usually just carry a 2l supply for both of us as a backup.

Food is still troublesome. On Offa’s Dyke we probably could have managed without the support vehicle doing daily drops of dog food with a bit of planning and foresight (there were plenty of shops, and where there was not, a pre-planned parcel would have done fine). Even now I still take a few tins and biscuits up into the hills with me for a night camp although I am starting to think about dropping the heavy tins and having more dried food and taking some gravy grannuals to make it a bit more enjoyable for the dog (she hates dried food).

I completely failed to find any freeze dried dog food in the UK – it seems to exist in the US though.

Dog Fitness

When I approached my vet about doing Offa’s Dyke, his response was that as long as she does all the training we do, then she will be just as prepared as we are. Halfway through the hike, after a night of not eating due to a poorly stomach, she was clearly tired – whilst seeing a squirrel would still excite her, she spent most of the morning walking to heel – at this point we made the decision to give her half a day off. She very gratefully curled up in the support vehicle and apparently slept all afternoon (and was back to her usual self the next day). Likewise towards the end of the walk, she started getting tired again, so we gave her another half a day rest before the final (and longest) day. The vet was right – she was as prepared as us – but whilst we knew the overall purpose (to raise money for charity) so could work through the tiredness, she did not. It was the right decision to give her a rest, and if I did it again without a support vehicle, I would include a few rest days.

On our return home, it did take her a few weeks before she was asking for her lunchtime walk with her usual excitement – I think she was worried it would end up being another 13 day trip if we left the house again!

Her paws coped fine – they were slightly worn and a bit tatty by the end, but they did not get sore or cause her any discomfort. I never did try any  boots.

Do you have any advice to give people thinking about doing a long distance hike with a dog?

When outdoors, it never ceases to amaze me how my senses seemed heightened and enhanced – the coutryside seems to come alive with small mammals rustling in the undergrowth, my skin seems to be able sense slight changes in air temperature and wind, and I am suddenly aware of the rich variety of smells.

The outdoors was far from my mind today as I sat on a train on the way back from London reading 'Seventeen Equations that Changed the World' by Ian Stewart. I was reading the chapter about logarithms when I came upon the Weber-Fechner Law. This law states:

"The perceived sensation is proportional to the logarithm of the stimulus"

Basically our brains handle relative difference in sensation (from all senses) rather than the actual difference. Put another way our senses tune into the scale of a stimulus – whilst we need to hear quiet sounds like a mouse and loud sounds like thunder, we cannot respond in proportion to both at the same time (or our ears would explode).

So (and I am extrapolating here slightly), as we leave our over stimulated lives to head out into the great outdoors, our senses must be re-tuning to our new environment, and this is the superman-esq feeling of enhanced senses we experience.

Get outdoors and experience it!

(this is presumably the same reason a world class violinist playing one of hardest pieces of music in a Subway station was largely ignored – http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/01/15/the-things-we-miss-a-viol_n_158188.html)

[Disclosure - The North Face Pamir Etip gloves were provided by Webtogs for me to keep and to give my own personal opinions on and they have no influence on these views and no editorial control]

The Pamir Etips are winter gloves that are designed to be useable with capactive touch screens – on the thumb and index finger of each hand are silver pads permanently bonded to the fibre face which creates an electical connection between your finger and the screen. North Face call this technology ‘X-Static’ – rather bizarrely their website stresses this technology “inhibits growth of bacteria”…. whilst silver does indeed have anti-bacterial properties, they presumably are implying that whilst your thumb and index finger tips will stay bacteria free, the rest of your hand will suffer glove rot!? (silly marketing people).

Here is Gareth from Webtogs running through the key features of the North Face Pamir Etips:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KcXEMgnqZec

So could I use my phone satisfactorily whilst wearing them?

Generally yes. The pad on the thumb covers quite a large wide area (see photo below) and I found it too inaccurate however, with a little bit of practice, I found I was able to use the smaller index finger pad with sufficient accuracy. Navigating and browsing on the phone worked well and, albeit with a bit of practice, it was possible to use the full keyboard in portrait mode and to tap on small targets on the screen with only some errors. I found long presses more unreliable and these were often interpreted as multiple taps. Typing takes longer but, whilst I would not want to write a long email (or this blog post) with them, typing tweets and other small amounts of text is fairly painless. I did try using Swype on my keyboard, but it was difficult to maintain a constant contact point, which produced poor results.

It is worth noting that it seems to be personal preference whether the thumb or index finger pad works better – @divescidiva for example finds the thumb pad more usesble. [I also have to admit to rather stupidly trying a normal under glove to see if the inaccuracy of the thumb pad was due to the glove fit........ I know. I am an idiot!]. I cannot help feeling that the index finger pads are not in the best place – they seem too low on the finger which feels unnatural when touching the screen.

Over three months of occasional wear, the silver pads are showing a little amount of wear – mainly some tiny holes where the gloves have caught on prickly bushes. It is easy to imagine that the pads are the weak point of the gloves and are likely to wear first. Nick (@Astronick) kindly shared this photo of his old etip gloves after 6 months wear (NB Nick’s gloves are the first generation standard Etip gloves, and were worn regularly during the 6 months)

How are they as gloves?

The Pamir Etip gloves are made of Gore Windstopper fleece. This material proved really good at blocking the wind – I headed out into a storm and despite barely being able to walk, the gloves did a fantastic job of blocking the strong winds. The material is also meant to be good at managing moisture and regulating temperature – I run hot whilst hiking, but my hands did not overheat or sweat and even in sub-zero temperatures my hands remained at a comfortable temperature (although I would not say that they are toasty warm gloves). The gloves have a water resistant coating, and shower drops bead on the glove rather than being absorbed (I also did a snowball fight test – my hands remained dry although the material was beginning to get wet from the outside). I am always dropping my phone, but thanks to the Pamir Etip silicone gripper pattern on each palm, my phone did not once slip out of my hands.

As far as fit goes, the Pamir Etip gloves have ’5 dimensional fit’ and ‘Radiametric Articulation’.. yeah I had no idea either, so I researched them (you know you are Googling marketing gumph when the first hit for both terms is the trademark details):

 5 dimensional fit uses 5 measurements, taken from a single index point of heel of the hand to construct gloves with an accurate and consistent fit

Radiametric Articulation uses fabric patterns that mirror the relaxed position of your hand which improves warmth and blood flow

I do not know about the improved warmth and blood flow from the ‘Radiametric Articulation’, but the gloves do allow a good range of movement for your fingers, and they are comfortable to wear. I have a large pair, but whilst my finger tips are up against the top of the fabric, there is plenty of excess material around each digit – for the thumb especially this excess material is what makes the wide thumb pad hard to use accurately with a screen.

Want to make your own?

As you only need a conductive connection between your fingers and your screen, it is of course possible to make any pair of gloves touchscreen capable, as this video demonstrates: (thanks for @Beuteltiere for sharing)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCuVCrBCDfY

Conclusion

As winter gloves, the North Face Pamir Etip gloves are pretty decent, and they are certainly usable to operate your touch screen device (although in my opinion the pads could be better positioned). Even after three months I still find myself taking of a glove sometimes to type a message, but in bad conditions or just to check the map or take a photo it is handy to be able to keep your gloves on. Overall if you use your phone as much as I do outdoors and want a basic winter glove which you can use on a touch screen, then the extra cost is probably worth it.

You can pick up North Face Pamir Etip gloves for £35.99 from Webtogs (available for men and women). Webtogs also have a range of other outdoor gloves including the three season standard Etip gloves.

I love being outdoors. As a reader of Martin's excellent blog, whether you are into hiking, backpacking, peak bagging, geocaching, rambling, mountain biking or running, you probably feel the same way. If you write about your outdoor trips or share your photos and routes, then you will also understand the enjoyment I get from sharing the outdoors online with others. This sharing works both ways - I do not get outdoors as much as I would like (again something most of you will probably relate to), so I find sharing in other peoples' adventures a great substitute.

Social Hiking is a free geo-blogging website that is all about sharing outdoor adventures online, big or small. Social Hiking merges location information with media like pictures, video, audio, and tweets to create a media rich interactive map which can be followed live or shared later. Do not be fooled by the name - the site caters for a range of outdoor activites (for example see Jilly's epic cycling journey from UK to China)

Social Hiking started life back in April 2010, when a friend and I set off to walk Offa's Dyke (a 177 mile long distance path from North Wales coast to Severn Estuary) in aid of MS Society. I wanted a way for family, friends and sponsors to share the experience with us. The response was brilliant: we had a regular group of people following our progress and interacting with us, which really helped us keep going, we were getting links to local information and history, met a friend of a follower who lived on the route, and had a surprise visit from another friend who tracked us down using the map on her iPhone. The concept was picked up by Phil Turner, Colin Ibbotson and Tim Cooper who encouraged me to create a version for general use, and Social Hiking was born.

Social Hiking is designed to be easy to use whilst you are outdoors - once setup, the site automatically collects your or your companions uploaded media. This can include:

• photos uploaded from your phone or camera via services like Twitpic, Flickr or Picasa
• tweets and your twitter mentions collated into conversations
• video and audio from supported services like Bambuser, Audioboo and ipadio

Your location data can be uploaded as a gpx format file, or collected live using ViewRanger or Instamapper mobile apps, a SPOT gps device or just via geo-tagged tweets. When location data is received a multimedia map is automatically created for you - your media does not need to be geotagged and the site always links each media item back to the original source. The site will even automatically 'bag' peaks for you, displaying the peak information on your map.

Sharing is an important part of Social Hiking - you can setup automatic tweets to notify your Twitter followers when you are sharing an adventure live, all maps can be embedded into your blog or website (we have tried to keep our branding to a minimum), sites like My Outdoors and Walk Highlands support Social Hiking maps and you can even send tweets via the site to auto append a link to that location on your map to give your tweets context as part of your adventure. The site also lets you share routes you plan on doing - these routes can be displayed as a layer on your live maps to show your planned route as well as your actual one. Of course you do not have to share - maps can be private so you can just use the site as a personal reminder of your adventures!

The site really comes alive when you are watching a map unfold live - the route updates live before your eyes as new location data is received, and photo and other media updates appear in the media viewer (next to each map) with a notification counter so you know when updates have been received. As a watcher, you can comment on maps (the site supports custom Disqus accounts, so the map owner can interact with their comments remotely via email) and reply to (or forward) tweets. It is a surprisingly addictive experiece - I usually have a live map in a browser window whenever I am on my computer! I would recommend to anyone interested in using the site to watch a few live maps to experience it from a watchers perspective.

It is great to see a community of outdoor enthusiasts coming together to share their adventures via Social Hiking. Social Hiking is very much a community driven site - user suggestions have led to most of the improvements and new features since the site started, and we are continually rolling out updates to help users get what they want from the site (there are some great new features planned for 2012).

(thanks to Dean Read for use of the photo)

Thank you to Martin for inviting me to write this guest post. If you have any questions about Social Hiking you can get in touch on Twitter (@socialhiking), on Facebook or on our Customer Support Community. Pilgrim Chris has done some great unofficial video tutorials about Social Hiking and how to use the site at http://social-hiking-tutorials.posterous.com/

Reposted with permission from: Summit and Valley – Guest post Phil Sorrell

The wood in question is located just south of Towcester – it is rented out by a local group of bushcrafters who hold regular meets there.  My friend Steve (@sandbag47) and I arrived just after lunchtime on Saturday to be greeted by a handful of friendly bushcrafters who had survived the previous night’s freezing conditions. There was a fire going in the central communial area, which was sheltered by piled up wood and tarps, and dotted throughout the small wood were hammocks and shelters, including a tent and a wig wam. We selected a few suitable trees, and Steve patiently demonstrated how to put up the hammock and the tarp cover – I tried to be a good pupil but, to be honest, I cannot remember any of the useful knots I was shown!

My bed for the night

Once our hammocks were up, and after a quick trip to the garage for alcohol provisions, we settled down for the evening in front of the communal fire. The guys were an interesting bunch, and I picked up some great tips applicable to backpacking, including a quick play with the Petzl e-lite. One of the group gave a fantastic demonstration of fire cooking: venison stew and mixed plum crumble with custard, all prepared from raw ingredients on the fire in Dutch ovens. It was delicious! There was of course a knife show and tell – I do not have one, but there was an impressive collection. It was also great to discover one of the group is a regular visitor to Social Hiking.

Proper camp fire cooking

After a bit more fire chat (and some more wine and whiskey) I made my excuses and headed back to my hammock. Outside the fire’s warmth it was cold – heading towards minus 2 (minus 5 with wind chill) – I slipped into my sleeping bag (complete with silk inner) and gingerly got on. Once the initial swaying had died down (I do suffer a little from montion sickness) I was comfortable. Very comfortable. And surprisingly warm (well not warm exactly but not cold). My sleeping bag (an old Technicals Transition 500) is a 3 season and does not tie up at the hood so I kept my fleece and down jacket on but had stripped to my Icebreaker leggings (a bargain at £20). Along with a merino / posum hat and neck scarf from Chocolate Fish and a pillow made up from another jacket I was very snug and quickly drifted off to sleep.

I awoke at 4am needing the toilet – a situation troubling enough in a tent. There was frozen condensation on the tarp and the ground was icy so, whilst I plucked up the courage to leave my cosy nest, I lay quietly enjoying the night: the hooting of owls, the rustling of nighttime animals and the gentle snores coming from various corners of the wood. It was bliss. I relieved myself and returned to my hammock and attempted a sit up maneuver, discovering that I do not have the balance to sit up in a hammock and fell out – waking Steve, who was hanging off the neighbouring tree, in the process. Feeling slightly embarrassed I snuggled back up and drifted off to sleep again.

I was awakened again at 9am by the bright winter sun which had drifted into my line of sight from behind the tarp. It was a glorious sight – the bright sun was causing the ice around me to glisten spectacularly. I lay there, still comfortable and still not cold. 5 hours of uninterrupted sleep outdoors is pretty rare for me, so that is a good indication if how comfortable I was.

Waking up to a view

Eventually I clambered off the hammock – the communal fire was burning, thanks to an early riser, and after some morning tea (and a trip to the nearby Super Sausage cafe) we packed up and headed home. I am a total hammock convert – it was (as various people on Twitter warned me) the best night I have had in the outdoors (impressive considering the weather conditions). Plans are already being made for taking a travel hammock (which can be used as a bivi bag) for a whirl. I may need to practice (well relearn) those knots!

Massive thanks to Steve and the guys at the Bushcraft meet – you can find out more about bushcraft meets near you at http://www.bushcraftliving.com/ and http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/

Favourite Event: Just Walk 2011

It hurt like hell at the end, but I did really enjoy the 40km hike across South Downs in aid of MS Research – it was a great route with two nights camping in great company (@ukjeeper, @TheRamblingDuck, and the two MS Trust girls who plied me with Jelly Babies). It was also great to raise £1152 for MS Research (thank you again for everyone who donated).

You can view the route, as well as the photos and tweets, at http://www.shareyouradventure.com/map/os/daylightgambler/2011-05-07

Favourite National Park Trip: Dartmoor

I am not sure if it was the lovely weather, the company or the awesome rugged landscape, but I really enjoyed a weekend in Dartmoor, and I am looking forward to visiting again soon!

Links to the write ups: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/category/areas-of-uk/south-west

Favourite Experience: Wild Swimming

On a trip to Brecon Beacons in August I discovered wild swimming (or just outdoor swimming if you prefer). It was in a rather slimy pool, but I followed it up the following day in a beautiful waterfall plunge pool (see below) and, to be honest, I am still raving about it. Unfortunately there were no other opportunities for the rest of the year, but this is definitely something I will be doing in 2012!

Related post: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/category/areas-of-uk/south-west/

Favourite Walk: Waterfalls of Afon Mellte and Afon Nedd Fechan

I am totally in debt for Surfnslide for his original write up of this awesome waterfall themed walk (and the scene for my second wild swim). It is quite possibly one of the best walks I have ever done!

You can view the related blog post at: http://www.mycountryside.org.uk/2011/09/23/brecon-beacons-day-3-waterfalls/

Favourite Camp: Peak District with Gareth and Wales with Lauren

Ok I am cheating here slightly by picking two camps, but honestly my life would not be worth living if I choose a favourite. First up was my first wild camp with Gareth (from Webtogs) in the Peak District in a wonderful spot found by James. This was followed a few weeks later with a glorious little spot on a hill above Lauren’s house. Both fantastic experiences.

Favourite Kit: Chocolate Fish Merino Baselayer

I love my Chocolate Fish baselayer I bought earlier in the year – in fact I am pretty much always wearing it (except of course when it is in the wash…) It has a great fit, remains the same size as it was new (my Icebreakers seemed to shrink down a size over a few months) and still feels fantastic against my skin. They are not cheap – but they are worth it!

Other Highlights

• Spending some quality time with friends both old and new out on the hills, especially @divescidiva
• The Monsal Head outdoor bloggers meet organised by Terry
• Social Hiking – literally blood, sweat and tears have gone into it in 2011!
• Pretty sure I have forgotten something….

and 2012?

2012 is going to be all about taking time to enjoy the outdoors – I have a vague idea about some time out on Dartmoor, as well as more wild swimming and camping.

2012 is also the year of Walk 2012 – a great project that lets you be part of the Olympic experience whilst walking in some lovely English countryside. More on that soon!

Have a good 2012 everyone!

The morning was a little more leisurely than planned – but eventually, after a bacon sandwich, the dog and I were packed into the car heading towards to Ravenstone, just East of Salcey Forest. The weather forecast was for strong winds and showers, however, other than a brief light shower, the rain held off and, whilst gusty, the wind was certainly bearable especially as it was surprisingly sunny (I was thankful I remembered my sun glasses!).

The first half of the walk followed The Milton Keynes Boundary Walk – from Ravenstone to Weston Underwood and then heading towards Bozeat. Being an official trail the route was well sign posted. Although a lot of the route was on quiet tracks, this was made up by some wonderful wood sections (through Kilwick Wood and Old Pastures) and high (for this neck of the woods) views across Buckinghamshire (and possibly Bedfordshire!!)

It is quite unusual to see fellow outdoor enthusiasts out in the countryside, other than a few dog walkers within sight of their villages. As I left Weston Underwood (after passing ‘The Knobs’, a fascinating feature on the main road out of the village) and headed up the bridleway track I was passed by a group of mountain bikers – a rare site in this part of the world.

For a short while, the track was left behind as the trail winded it’s way through Kilwick Wood – I prefer these private managed woods (usually managed for shooting) than the more heavily managed Forestry Commission ones – they just seem wilder and more interesting. The path soon rejoined another quiet track leading to Olney Park Farm and a variety of turkeys, clearly unaware of the fate that lies ahead of them!

After another easy to follow path through some fields, the route entered another wood – Old Pastures. Judging by the signs, the majority of the wood is used as a firing range, but I found a peaceful spot at the junction of several paths for lunch. Guarded by the dog, I settled down against a huge Horse Chestnut tree as I boiled up some soup and put on a brew.

At Horn Wood it was time to leave the Milton Keynes Boundary Walk to head back towards Yardley Chase. Just off the path, well away from any roads or other buildings, was a derelict barn with a remains of some kind of walled garden. I find these old ruined buildings fascinating - what were they used for? Why were they left to go to ruin? Who still visits it? (there was a well worn path through the undergrowth into it!)

At Yardley Hastings, I took another lunch break – basking in the sun on a bench on the village green. I was tempted to pop into the friendly looking pub, but unfortunately I only had enough money on me for a single pint, and I was saving that for the end of the walk! The path from Yardley Hastings into Yardley Chase, which I have walked before, is a rather dull road, but eventually I entered the estate proper (making friends with some huge pigs on the way). The estate is some kind of nature reserve – with information signs about some of the wildlife and plant life. Yardley Chase is also used for cadet training – the last time I passed through, I was accompanied by the sound of machine gun fire!

As the path turned to the South back towards Ravenstone, my feet began to tire. Checking ViewRanger, I noticed that my rough and ready route was a little too inaccurate as I was already approaching 17 miles. Reaching the car I felt completely justified to pop into Cowpers Oak in Weston Underwood for a pint of A380.

It was an enjoyable hike around some quiet and tranquil countryside – I was also mighty impressed with my Defy+ phone: I was running ViewRanger recording a track, BuddyBeacon pinging every 5 minutes and the Audible app running continuously, as well as taking photos and sending / receiving tweets. By the end the battery had only just gone yellow (less than 30%) (with a PowerMonkey Extreme top up at lunch time).

This morning, I was reminded of this as I was mulling over a discrepancy in distance between Social Hiking and a GPS unit, and GPS tracker apps in general (as you do). For my 1000 mile challenge, I have been using ViewRanger to record my progress – ViewRanger is a fantastic app, but feels like overkill when you are not using the maps or Buddybeacon (to share the walk live on Social Hiking). With 170 miles still left to go, I wondered whether it would be a good opportunity to have a look at other options available for recording tracks.

So, for the rest of the year, I have decided to run a group test of GPS tracker apps available for Android. The criteria is simple – the app must be able to record and export a gps track. I will be looking at things like ease of use, accuracy (based on how data compares with peers), cost, battery life, progress features, sharing features and anything else that catches my eye.

As well as being a useful test to run, it will also give me some extra motivation to complete my 1000 mile challenge, and will be helpful in my ongoing testing of the Powermoney Extreme and the North Face Etip gloves.

Diving into Google marketplace, it is really quite surprising how many apps there are that allow you to record a track! I found the following that seem to meet the criteria:

GPS Tracking
Google My Track
Backcountry Navigator
Sportypal
endomondo
Alpine Quest GPS Hiking
Gaia GPS
GPS Essentials
Maverick GPS
Speedview Pro
Trip Track
Viewranger
Ultra GPS logger
Andando
GPS Grid Reference
Trimble Outdoors
Allsport GPS
MM Tracker
Imapmyrun
My Trails
Sports Tracker
Run Bike Route

Let me know if I have missed out your favourite. As the list is quite large, I will do a brief test of all of them, and then choose my top 5 for a more detailed test (including battery performance). The final test results will be published at the end of the year (possibly the start of next year) but I will be using the Twitter hashtag #trackertest throughout if you want to  stay updated with the test.