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Ever since completing the Yoshida-guchi trail up Mount Fuji earlier this month, I have been eager to do more hiking. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gyades and I already have plans to spend a week next July walking the 84 mile Hadrian's Wall Path[*], and I attempted to organise a group outing with some friends to hike Mount Snowdon next month. With an elevation of 1085 meters (3560 feet), Snowdon reaches less than a third of Fujisan's 3776 meters (12,380 feet); even so, it is the highest peak in Wales[**] and taller than any in England.[***]
All that is fine and good but, as the unusually fine Summer weather persisted over Great Britain, I wanted to get outdoors and hike something sooner. So, on Sunday, my darlingmiss_amaranth and I set out from Oxford's Osney Bridge and hiked the Thames Path from Oxford to Abington.
This ten mile stretch of the path is described nicely here, albeit in the reverse order to how we walked -- the description proceeds upriver, whilst we walked downstream. The hike was also a nice continuation of the 42 mile Oxford-to-Cricklade walk that I did with TS last year. Putting the two together, I have walked from Cricklade to Abingdon, covering about 52 miles of the 184 mile Thames Path (which starts at the official source of the river in Thames Head and ends at the Thames Barrier, in East London). Bit by bit, I intend to complete the whole of the trail!
For most of the walk, we enjoyed perfect hiking weather -- clear skies and a cool temperature. Near the end, though, there was a brief period where the skies opened up, when we were near Nuneham House[****]. Of course, a little rain and a little sun make for a most lovely rainbow... and that is precisely what we saw:
Somewhere under the rainbow
(click for full-sized version)
Strangely enough, the lawn ornament that can be seen on the right side of the picture -- just near the base of the rainbow -- is a Jacobean water conduit that was installed in the very centre of Oxford from 1610 to 1787. When the roads were widened to permit coach traffic, the Carfax Conduit was retired and moved out of the city to become the decoration it is today.
Covering ten miles of level ground, Sunday's hike was not particularly challenging. However, it was pretty and fun. It was nice to be outside in the Summer warmth, it was nice to walk alongside the river... and, of course, it was nice to spend time with my lovelymiss_amaranth!
[*] Being a relatively small country, the United Kingdom doesn't have hiking trails in excess of 2000 miles, a la the Appalachian Trail. On the other hand, the Hadrian's Wall Path follows a structure nearly 2000 years old -- the Northern border of the Roman Empire, Hadrian's Wall.
[**] Snowdon is also the third tallest peak in the British Isles, and the highest outside of Scotland. Although I would like to climb the tallest British peak -- Ben Nevis (1344 meters, or 4409 feet) -- at some point, getting there requires considerably more driving than popping out to Snowdonia National Park. Less suitable for an impromptu weekend getaway.
[***] Alas, my impromptu attempt to organise this outing was not successful -- perhaps unsurprising when trying to assemble a last minute group weekend away for August, when folks are already travelling. No matter, as Mount Snowdon will still be there next Summer!
[****] Built in 1756 by the 1st Earl Harcourt, who had an ancient village removed to make room for a landscaped park around his new home. The park was then designed by "Capability" Brown, who I am convinced is more than a single person -- a la the Dread Pirate Roberts. Oddly enough, the building is now owned by the University of Oxford and used as a retreat centre by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
gyades and I already have plans to spend a week next July walking the 84 mile Hadrian's Wall Path[*], and I attempted to organise a group outing with some friends to hike Mount Snowdon next month. With an elevation of 1085 meters (3560 feet), Snowdon reaches less than a third of Fujisan's 3776 meters (12,380 feet); even so, it is the highest peak in Wales[**] and taller than any in England.[***]All that is fine and good but, as the unusually fine Summer weather persisted over Great Britain, I wanted to get outdoors and hike something sooner. So, on Sunday, my darling
miss_amaranth and I set out from Oxford's Osney Bridge and hiked the Thames Path from Oxford to Abington.This ten mile stretch of the path is described nicely here, albeit in the reverse order to how we walked -- the description proceeds upriver, whilst we walked downstream. The hike was also a nice continuation of the 42 mile Oxford-to-Cricklade walk that I did with TS last year. Putting the two together, I have walked from Cricklade to Abingdon, covering about 52 miles of the 184 mile Thames Path (which starts at the official source of the river in Thames Head and ends at the Thames Barrier, in East London). Bit by bit, I intend to complete the whole of the trail!
For most of the walk, we enjoyed perfect hiking weather -- clear skies and a cool temperature. Near the end, though, there was a brief period where the skies opened up, when we were near Nuneham House[****]. Of course, a little rain and a little sun make for a most lovely rainbow... and that is precisely what we saw:
(click for full-sized version)
Strangely enough, the lawn ornament that can be seen on the right side of the picture -- just near the base of the rainbow -- is a Jacobean water conduit that was installed in the very centre of Oxford from 1610 to 1787. When the roads were widened to permit coach traffic, the Carfax Conduit was retired and moved out of the city to become the decoration it is today.
Covering ten miles of level ground, Sunday's hike was not particularly challenging. However, it was pretty and fun. It was nice to be outside in the Summer warmth, it was nice to walk alongside the river... and, of course, it was nice to spend time with my lovely
miss_amaranth![*] Being a relatively small country, the United Kingdom doesn't have hiking trails in excess of 2000 miles, a la the Appalachian Trail. On the other hand, the Hadrian's Wall Path follows a structure nearly 2000 years old -- the Northern border of the Roman Empire, Hadrian's Wall.
[**] Snowdon is also the third tallest peak in the British Isles, and the highest outside of Scotland. Although I would like to climb the tallest British peak -- Ben Nevis (1344 meters, or 4409 feet) -- at some point, getting there requires considerably more driving than popping out to Snowdonia National Park. Less suitable for an impromptu weekend getaway.
[***] Alas, my impromptu attempt to organise this outing was not successful -- perhaps unsurprising when trying to assemble a last minute group weekend away for August, when folks are already travelling. No matter, as Mount Snowdon will still be there next Summer!
[****] Built in 1756 by the 1st Earl Harcourt, who had an ancient village removed to make room for a landscaped park around his new home. The park was then designed by "Capability" Brown, who I am convinced is more than a single person -- a la the Dread Pirate Roberts. Oddly enough, the building is now owned by the University of Oxford and used as a retreat centre by the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University.
