If you need a reason to have a favourite day walk you do regularly here are 11!
Fits our busy lives
It’s not just work commitments, but family, friends, community and household chores that demand our attention. If you work full time, spending just one day in the bush on a weekend, gives you a spare day for all the other stuff. I like to choose Saturday, then I have Sunday to wash all my smelly walking clothes, prep for the working week ahead and hang out with friends or family.
Day packs are lighter
This is good for so many reasons. A lighter pack is gentler on our bodies and if you’re nursing or recovering from injury, a day walk is a good way to ease back into it. The feeling of travelling light is a great one. It also means that you could pack a few extra tasty treats or even a stove for brewing up a coffee or hot lunch in the bush.
Build fitness and endurance gradually
With the greater number of day hike options available, the variety of walk grades allows you to choose an appropriate level to start and then keep building as your fitness increases. Start with a gentle grade 2 (AWTGS) until you can finish the day feeling strong and then step up to higher grades, all the way to grade 5.
It’s easy to maintain fitness
Exercise scientists tell us that we begin to lose our hard-earned fitness within two weeks if we’re not maintaining levels of activity. Once we’ve built our fitness up, going on a day walk a couple of times a month is an excellent way to hold onto it!
All the well-being good stuff
Much has been written about the benefits to our overall well-being from taking walks in nature. Day hikes, done regularly, can help bring balance to our hectic lives, help reduce stress, improve our mental health and provide a quiet place for spiritual practice. To help make them happen, try planning two day walks each month, three months in advance. And remember that walking with a club or social group helps build those important connections of community!
The Test Lab
If you are someone with a goal of doing multi-day, extended or even pilgrim or through-hikes, doing regular day walks helps you find your sweet spot. It’s the place to test out equipment, clothes and footwear, learn and practice your navigation and importantly, learn about your body and how it responds, to help make good choices for your future adventures. And hey, if you’re struggling or things aren’t working out there, you know it’s only for a day and you’ll be back home soon!
Broaden your knowledge and experience
Do you know what type of hikes you like? On track or off? Alongside creeks and waterways? Epic cliff-top views? A bit of rock scrambling? Mostly flat? Mostly hills? Rainforests? Beaches and coastal? Eucalypt forests? The variety of eco-systems and types of walks is massive. Choosing to do regular day walks means that each experience can be different, you never get bored and you learn the types of trips or National Park areas that you really like.
Become an expert
Something I’ve practised over the years is choosing a particular National Park or area that I like eg: the Jamison Valley, Blue Mountains National Park, and then spend multiple single days focussing on that area. I would plan a whole season of different regular day walks for my bushwalking club, with the aim of gaining a deeper knowledge of one spot. For off-track walkers it could be something like walking all the creeks and tributaries (a good thing for hotter seasons), testing out all the spurs and ridges or looking along the base of cliff-lines for hidden passes. If you prefer tracks and trails, this can give you a great bucket list within a region. Simply research all that is available and then tick them off. Before you know it, people will be asking for your expert advice on the region.
More friends want to come with you
Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that walking is the most popular form of exercise, with 30% of people doing it regularly. How many of us have had friends say, ‘Oh, I’d love to come bushwalking with you one day.’ Chances are, that if you offer your friends the opportunity to join you on a day bushwalk, they’ll jump at it. Offer them an overnighter and watch them come up with excuses.
Finish at a pub or cafe
After a solid 6 hours or so out on your day walk, there’s nothing better* than tucking into a good hot meal at the local pub with a cold beer. It’s the chance to share stories and photos from the day, laugh about the time when you fell in the river and also plan your next trip. It’s also a fabulous way of supporting local businesses in rural or regional areas, rather than just passing through.
*Own bed and hot shower
OK, so there is one thing better. Making it back to a comfy bed, hot shower or bath and then waking up the next day and planning to doing it all again.
Words_Caro Ryan - lotsafreshair.com