South from Bergerac, chemin de Vézelay, France, 2005.

Getting Ready ~ Pre-Walk Checklist

One year timeline to the trail

If you’ve decided to leave your footprints on the sentiers de grande randonnée in France, make your own camino in Spain, or trek somewhere else, here’s a one-year timeline to keep your planning on track and your getaway gone. If you have less time before departure, do what it takes to catch up on the earlier checkpoints.

It’s time to start getting ready. There are a lot of tasks to accomplish and decisions to make in order to realize a fantastic, engaging, life-changing, healthy, robust journey over the land on foot.

Checklist ~ 12 Months

Commit. Tell your family and friends. Expressing a dream with words is the first step to making it come true. (more…)

Along the canal on the way to Espalais, France, 2009.

Training ~ Weekend Walking

Shortwalking your way to the long-distance trails

Wherever you live, if you’re planning to walk one of the world’s long distance trails, you need to get ready by walking at home. Training is so important, it’s hard to over-emphasize it. In fact, before finishing the rest of this article, you probably ought to get up right now, and go wander around your neighborhood for an hour. I think I’ll do the same …

Welcome back.

Before my first European trek, I decided to take a little tour of my hometown. I mapped out a route to a string of my friends’ homes, which were each a day’s walk apart. Then I called them up and asked if I could take them out to dinner in exchange for a night on their couch. (more…)

Road into Aubrac, Chemin du Puy, France, 2009.

Training ~ The Los Angeles Stair Streets

100’s of Great California Walks

When I moved to Silver Lake (Los Angeles) a few years ago, and began prepping for my 2005 walk, I stumbled upon a few of the “stair streets” in the neighborhood. The most famous one is now called the Music Box steps, in honor of the classic, Oscar-winning, Laurel and Hardy film of the same name. (That’s the one where they’re trying to deliver a piano up a very, very long stairway).

Little did I know at the time what I had wandered into. A couple of years later, I discovered the work of Dan Koeppel, another local resident who was intrigued by the stair streets. He went about cataloging them and then designed a single walking route that runs up or down most of them. My favorite comment from his downloadable instruction sheet, describing a view along the way is, “Minaret House, up and right. You’ll be there in five hours.” (That’s training!) (more…)

Waymark on the trail to Drache, France, 2007.”

French Trails and the FFRP

FFRandonnée Leads the Way

The FFRP®, now re-branded as FFRandonnée®, is the administrative heart of the vast web of French long-distance hiking trails. If you’re planning to take a walk in France, this is prime resource dedicated to providing information to all randonneurs (hikers). The FFRandonnée Centre d’Information is in a nondescript office building not far from the Paris Métro station Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, on Line 14. (more…)

Path to Saugues, Chemin du Puy, France, 2009.

How to use a French Topo-Guide

Part 2 ~ Tips for English language walkers

English-language walkers without much familiarity with French may have an extra challenge when hiking the long-distance trails of France. But it is by no means impossible, and may be both educational and fun. Imagine how impressed your family and friends will be when you return home being able to say “kwarh-SOHn” instead of “crah-sahnt” when you order a croissant. With a little effort, and a small dictionary, it is not too hard to figure out the maps and instructions of the French-language topo-guides (trail guides) published by the FFRP, (the French long-distance trail association). (more…)

The FFRP Topo-Guides® of France

Part 1 ~ Introduction to the Best French Trail Guides

How do you find your way?

How do you keep from getting lost?

I’m often asked these questions about my long-distance walks in France and Spain. The reason I rarely lose my way, is that I use one of the many superb trail guides, called Topo-guides® (pronounced “TOH-Poh-Gheed”) that are produced by the FFRandonnée, also called the FFRP, for Fédération Française de la Randonnée Pédestre (French Long-distance Hiking Association). These excellent trail guides contain detailed maps, pathfinding instructions, lists of useful resources along the GR® routes (sentiers de grande randonnée), and a wealth of history, culture and wildlife information about the various sections of the trail. (more…)

Walking across France… days of color that never ends…

Weights & Measures – part 2

Body or “Skin” Weight

Body weight or “skin” weight is simply the naked weight of a person. Just shed your clothes and hop on a scale and you have it. For ultralighters, it’s one of the standard figures used to calculate the total weight of everything that’s planning to walk down the trail. The more you weigh, the more energy it takes for you to travel a given distance. That translates into calories, which means fuel for you (food), and possibly, fuel to cook it (alcohol, gas, etc.). All fuel weighs something.

Body weight is an important factor in fitness, and creates the single heaviest load on your joints. Depending on the speed and slope that you’re walking, every pound of weight above the knees, exerts 3 to 5 pounds of force on your knees. Anyone with arthritis below the waist should be especially mindful. Even a 5 or 10 pound reduction in body weight is beneficial for helping to ease these effects. If you’re feeling a little portly and are planning a long walk, get out and start training today.

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