Well, with sundown now at around 4:40 pm up here, I had the night part down with yesterday's foray. With the ambient city light it was okay, but a good chunk of the distance was on the unlit pathway system. I did have a light on me (my little Fenix E01), but I didn't end up using it. In a more stressful situation, a light might have been good idea ... maybe even a headlamp would be in order (something I don't normally have on me).

As far as adverse weather, I'm seriously playing with the idea of doing this every now & again through the winter. We'll see if I actually test myself through some of the tougher weather conditions as time goes on. Looks like they're forecasting a high of -11 C and some flurries for next Monday, which would be a start .

I call this my TEOTWAWKI route! The adventure would be somewhat like that film Falling Down as it also involves traversing a Golf course, but potentially in the wee small hours in the dark, which could potentially be quite difficult as it is the last leg of the Journey. The first leg of the Journey also involves crossing a bridge more than 1 mile in length!!

Newport Hotel.
Tickety Boos.
The Counting House.
Beiderbeckes.
The Bay Horse.
The Queen Anne.
The Last Tram.
Sandy's Bar.
The Whip Inn.
Birkhill Inn.

Total Distance about 6 miles
Estimated time approx 10 hrs

Access to food and drink and a place for other bodily functions should be quite adequate though!

Worst for wear - Most definitely.

My mental picture of you did not, before now, include you acting like Michael Douglas' character in that movie.

LOL.. I am getting a little too old for such an epic pub crawl though.

The golf course I have to traverse does have areas nearby for picnics and has a petting zoo nearby as well. It does have some wolves so it might be advisable no to jump the fence into the zoo though as a short cut.

Choosing a direct route (as the crow flies) from the Whip Inn to the Birkhill Inn does have some obstacles in the way such as this pond. But this is an easy obstacle to go around as I know most of the area like the back of my hand.

Nicely done. I second the multiple route option. Any place to stash a small "restock" bag? Just some food, maybe a headlamp or matches or something? If it's as rural as you insinuate, might be easy to sneak it off the trail under a root or something.

Headlamp vice the Fenix?

I'd love to do the same, but my commute is about 30 miles, takes me over a bridge and through a tunnel under water. If society broke down, I'd either have to swim about 600m, risk the tunnel and traffic, or go around it ... adding a good 10-15 extra miles.

If you don't need to get "home" and just need to get somewhere safe, see if there isn't a closer option. When the subject of walking home came up in a different forum, my commute in an emergency got shorter. One of the members there determined I was traveling right by his house on my way to that first bridge. We met for a beer and have been friends since.

Denis... I was thinking smaller, and will probably get something like this Ambient Weather model... or Kaito... lots of choices, but I have an old CB in the car with NOAA channels and good WX alert at home



http://www.amazon.com/Ambient-Weather-WR-090-Emergency-Flashlight/dp/B0083J46Q4/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1353471475&sr=8-28&keywords=am%2Ffm+radio

I've got an older model of the Sony. The picture looks like they haven't changed the exterior except for no TV bands. It's about the size of a flip type cell phone. IIRC the headphone wire is also the FM antenna.

Actually, while it felt remote I was really in the middle of the city. Rather than walk along residential or commercial streets I was on the city's pathway system which, especially in the dark and with few users at the time, felt like I was really on my own. Much of the route I was on falls between the river and major roadways on otherwise undeveloped land.


I might just throw a headlamp in my urban pack so I have both options when I'm out at work.


Excellent point, my route last night took me pretty close to both my step-son's home & place of work. Either would easily be half (or less) of the distance to my home.

On the radio front, I dug around and found an old travel-sized AM/FM radio alarm clock. It runs off AAAs (which I usually cary spares of for both my lights & mouse) and it works fine. I guess I have a solution without spending a dime ... gotta like it .