An addendum to my iPhone Walkmeter App vs Satmap Active 10 Review

It crossed my mind once I'd posted the Walkmeter vs Satmap Active 10 review that I had omitted something which was quite crucial. It is with reference to the Satmap Active 10, the Walkmeter review I feel is fair and true to the best of my knowledge.

The Satmap Active 10 however is inaccurate as an out of the box unit. Unfortunately at the outset I found the battery life to be substandard and was only really of use to record/log routes as any attempt to use it as a navigation tool drained the batteries like the fury. Obviously it was great to record certain routes in the wilderness as running on satellite the Satmap Active 10 was never out of service however the Walkmeter did suffer from this being reliant on it's mobile phone carrier signal.

The cure was to buy the rechargeable battery for the Satmap Active 10 which makes it an awesome piece of kit and can thunder on all day long on a lengthy one day hike.

Walkmeter vs Satmap Active 10

So of late I've been using the old iPhone with the Walkmeter app (review here) far more than I've been using the Satmap active 10 (review here). Why? A number of reasons but that's not to say that the Satmap active 10 has been made redundant - no way, its an awesome piece of kit!

So where does the Walkmeter iPhone app trump the Satmap Active 10? Firstly its convenient... The iphone is a handy piece of kit, fair play it's not as robust as the Satmap but as we all know it's compact and lightweight and you barely notice it in your pocket the Satmap, whilst not a brick, is considerably larger and is fairly weighty to take out on the hiking trail. What I like most about the Walkmeter app though is the mapping facility. It writes maps directly to google maps and the facility of emailing these or pasting them into google couldn't be easier. I find it also more accurately details the average pace, time walking etc. along with the pace and altitude graphs. It's perfect (or so I feel but haven't yet come across an app to beat it) mapping and diarising your walks.

The Satmap active 10 will always have it's place however. Whilst I've not yet found a way of swiftly and easily transposing the Satmap active 10 maps to my computer or email I wouldn't dream of being without this on anything other than low level pathways and bridleways. It locates with ease where you are and shows your location on an OS map which is imperative when off the beaten track. As this uses satellites too rather than 3g it never has any reception issue which the Walkmeter does when out of reception. I suppose though that the Walkmeter wasn't specifically designed for this kind of thing whereas the Satmap was and in this field it excels. It is a robust piece of kit too so you know you can rely on it. That said I would never ever suggest relying fully on this, it is always necessary to take a map and compass and more importantly know how to use them.

So in summary - Walkmeter app for low level walking and Satmap Active 10 for off the beaten track. Or put another way, Walkmeter to track and record your progress/route, Satmap active 10 as a navigation tool.

A walk round Harewood Estate and Harewood House

Harewood House

Still trying to break in my Merrell Mid Moab boots (and to get some fresh air on possibly the most pleasant day of the year yet) we went for a wander around Harewood Estate. Sadly due to work commitments we never made it to the Lake District to do some walking and bag some Wainwrights so local it was. We parked the car in Harewood on the A659 and walked east out of Harewood. This is probably the most unpleasant part of the walk as you end up walking along hte grass verge of the main road with the traiffic passing.

Countryside near Harewood House

Just short of a mile head due south passed a farm (ensure it's not the first turning to the cemetary as this leads to a dead end). You then continue across the field with the impressive Hollin Hall on your left hand side. Passing the fishing pond you leave the field and ascend with a woodland on your right.

Harewood House Countryside

The footpath continues in a straight line until you get to a t-junction where you join the Leeds Country Way in either direction. We went right heading in the direction of Hrewood Estate. Through a gate and down the hill we arrived on Wike Lane. Again walking on the grass verge but with far less traffic it isn't long before we arrived at Harewood estate. For the main part the part of the walk we'd completed so far wasnt the most staggering, between the main roads, through the farm and passed Hollin Hall were very plaesant but time on the roads do detract from it somewhat.

Leeds Country Way Sign

Once into Harewood Estate though the scenery is quite stunning with Harewood House revealing its magnificence fairly swiftly in the distance on the right hand side in the distance and boy is it impressive. The path however carries straight on and into some woodland, the path is clearly obvious here. You head through a gate and soon later over a bridge with a nice water feature to the left. Once over the bridge you continue alond the Leeds Country Way to the left. There is only one path which isn't prohibited which keeps things simple until you're hit with a crossroad. Here the Leeds Country Way heads off to the left, we took the route downhill to the right. Again once you're on this path it winds it's way around and you can see the fishing pond in the distance to your right.

Harewood Estate

This path becomes more of a track as it heads into the Harewood buildings. We managed to see a red kite here which was pretty impressive. We then continued back to the main road and back to the car.

Walkmeter had it down as 7 miles but that was taking into account the wrong turn we took to the cemetary at the very start of the walk. A pretty nice meander though, a leg stretch we'll be doing again.

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Merrell Moab Mid Boots Review

Merrell Mid Moad Boot

So then following on from my previous post in the hunt for a lightweight boot and my purchase of the Merrell Mid Moab Boots here is my findings of what joy I came across.

I tried them on and at first try the Merrell Mid Moab is a really comfortable boot. It seems to be really well built and is really lightweight, which is exactly what I was looking for - the best of all worlds! They felt a touch tight to start with but that was no surprise really as I have desperately wide feel anyway (see my post on the Meindl Bernina Boots). The length however was fine so I gave them a shot waiting for them to give a bit as all trainers do, after all the Merrell Mid Moab boots are made of the same stuff, or so it appears.

I went on a 5 mile mosey round the park and whilst they were tight they weren't ridiculous, the inner soles were liking walking on a cloud they they were exceptional. It was nice to get them off however.

After that and with training for the Oxfam Trailtrekker in mind I thought I'd go out and break them in once and for all and set off for a meander up the Leeds Country Way. They started to give me a bit of grief after about 5 miles so I taped the tender parts up with micropore and ploughed on. The long and short of the matter is that when I got back I had a blisters on the sides of my heels where the footbeds are actually too narrow for my feet and whilst there is seemingly enough room width ways for my toes I had a blister the size of my little toe on the end of my little toe, rather a large watery growth at best.

I thought that would really have sorted them so again I gave them another shot the following week once the blisters had settled down to see if they were going to give. Same results, this was only over about 7 miles but still. It's the actual footbed around the middle of the heel of the foot that is too narrow so I feel no amount of breaking in is going to sort these unfortunately. I feel I've given the Merrell Mid Moab's a fair go but after 35 miles they are still giving me grief so I will go back to the drawing board. A pal of mine has pointed me in the direction of the Keen Targhee Mid Boot so I'll give them a shot next.

To surmise I have a friend who swears by the Merrell Mid Moab boot but for my wide feet there is just no way will these boots do, well not in my size anyway. Naturally if I went up a size then they could well work but then I'm nervous that the flex point over my toes will be too far forward and cause me discomfort there. So if you have normal sized feet from a width perspective I think these could be possibly the most comfortable boots you could come across however very very sadly they are not for me.

More more more of the Leeds Country Way

Leeds Country Way

A much nicer day, I set out on another training walk for the Oxfam Trailtrekker along the Leeds Country Way - a far nicer day this time though. I went for it in my new Merrell Moab mid boots to try break them in but more about that later. Again the same start as the norm and set off through a particularly busy Temple Newsam Park, as it would be on what was the first weekend of pretty spectacular weather, and dare I say it the last for a while. I plodded through the wood in an attempt to shirk the crowds who normally walk up and down the Avenue in Temple Newsam.

The bridleway then skirts Bullerthorpe Lane and emerges not far from Thorpe Park. Rejoining the Leeds Country Way by the M1 I followed the same route through the farm and along the way to Scholes, this part of the route I had already done and was the more pleasant part of the route previously walked. Leaving Scholes via a hiking trail adjacent to the vegetable plots the route heads towards Barwick in Elmet. From here it improved vastly with a more countryside feel.

The route takes you through and alongside various fields which were still dotted with snow - even though it was over a week since we last saw it snow. Not long later the Leeds Country Way arrives in Barwick in Elmet which again is pleasant enough but I'd far rather be walking out of civilisation. I suppose there are plenty of country pubs to benefit from though which is always a plus, more so if you're walking for about 6 or 7 miles, more of a hindrance when you're hoping to walk 20. But Barwick in Elmet is quite nice. You follow the road passed the church on the left with the pub on your right. A left turn leads you out of the village. There's a public footpath which you may be mistaken in taking but by heading down the hill another footpath which is the Leeds Country Way presents itself.

You head out of the village here and over a stream which seemed like a perfect spot for a bit to eat and to micropore the blisters on my feet, blisters are the only bad thing about walking. This leg takes you along the side of a field and leads you over a track where trespassing is prohibited, bit confusing. Skirting a tree line beyond which there was a field of lambs this was one of the nicer stretches of the day, until I came across the A64. This is a treacherous road to cross not only due to the speed of the cars but also as one direction is a complete blind spot. Through Kiddal Wood and you're on the hiking trail to Thorner. Hugging the southern-most edge of the village, by road, then footpath, then road again until it bends to the right you head through the centre of the village. You pass the Mexborough Arms as you cross the crossroads and head out of the village. Through gates and up the hill you arrive in a small hamlet where Oaklands Manor is. On into the hamlet and you can see the yellow marked post which signs the Leeds Country Way. It's only a small hop down the field and you're back onto a road and walking a short hop down to Moat Hall which is the next right hand turn.

At the next opportunity I headed over a style and followed a footpath which turned into a complete bog. Navigable only by crossing make-shift bridges made out of logs. This path emerges into a field and you soon find yourself in Bardsey. Here I consulted the walkmeter and found I was suddenly 12 miles in and I now had to get home. I looked at the map for the most direct route and beautifully discovered that I could maybe shave off a mile or so by just heading in a straighter line then the straight line I'd taken to get here.

I basically backtracked to Thorner along the roads and cut off right before the Leeds Country Way. Walking through Thorner a path headed right before I hit the Leeds Country Way which I took thinking it would reduce the mileage. Which no doubt it did. The path took me into Saw Wood which is attached to Kiddall Wood which I walked through earlier. The path went to oblivion and just seemed to disappear so I just trudged through the woodland until I was close to the A66 then headed east looking for a marked footpath which I duly found.

I then crossed the road and walked down the hill, increasingly concerned at the lack of footpath, I wasn't wrong though as it was once again marked at the bottom of the hill. The hiking trail from here was well marked back to Scholes whereby I followed the standard route back to Temple Newsam park and home. According to the trusty walkmeter on the iphone I'd covered around 23.25 miles which was more than I'd set out for and was pretty pleased with the effort. Hot bath and a homebrew necessary. This was a far nicer stretch of the Leeds Country Way, looking forward to the next leg.

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