A Through Hiker’s needs

In terms of needs along the trail there is naturally much overlap with Section Hikers. After all, it’s not a competition to see how little one needs. Nonetheless there is a considerable difference in priorities and emphasis. Soon I came to regard with a sceptical eye references in the notes to “All facilities”.

Here is a list of what I consider to be “All facilities”
The essentials

• Garbage disposal. Sometimes this is the only useful facility offered by a place. It was never mentioned in the notes.
• A tap (faucet) with drinking water. A relative rarity compared to Europe. Less necessary in Scotland. The notes seldom mention water at all.
• A decent supermarket. Food was straightforward and easy. However I don’t recall any but the largest Tesco superstores (and one Decathlon) having gas canisters and none had methyl alcohol.
• A shop selling fuel of some sort. Perhaps a outdoor or hardware store.

Nice to have from time to time 
OK, for some of us the first of these might be an essential!

• A cute little cafe with great coffee and free wifi.
  And ideally a power outlet to recharge stuff.
• A post office to send the occasional postcard.
• A public toilet, preferably one that is not locked.
• A bench and table to sit at and eat my just purchased “heavy food”.
  Ideally it would be sheltered from the wind and better still the rain.

What I really don’t care about when in “trail mode”

• Expensive Hotels, Bed and Breakfasts and Restaurants
• Public transport
• Luggage Transport facilites
• Car Parking
• Shops for tourists
• Campsites for caravans and camping cars
• Outdoor shops full of crap “lifestyle” clothing and unnecessary gear. Although I’ll acknowledge that one or two did have a limited choice of fuel. Well done them!

And herein lies a problem... 

I probably spent 90% of my money in supermarkets where the profit goes elsewhere, albeit with some local low-wage jobs created. Small local shops where they exist usually combine high prices with poor choice and/or quality and sometimes restrictive opening hours. No wonder the emphasis in the notes is on high spending Section Walkers staying in expensive but locally owned B&Bs.

In Iceland this went even further. I flew into the country with most of my quality trail food bought from the UK. Again this was due to completely unaffordable local prices and very limited range. The only significant purchase was my air ticket out.

On the other hand...

I would maintain that a long distance walk really only exists if at least some people walk it long. Otherwise it is just a collection of short walks, some of which would barely be worth doing in isolation, such as a linking road section which only make sense as part of the greater whole.

Putting it another way a marathon is not achieved by 420 people each running 100m. And of course the mental and possibly physical state of a Through Walker is poles apart from someone who (perhaps for very good reasons) can only dip into a walk for little sections.