caorach
Well-Known Member
On another forum I was recently involved in some discussion about the most remote trout lochs in the UK and after investigation it appears that you probably can't be much more than 4 - 5 miles from somewhere that you can take a vehicle. I've done similar stuff myself and walked miles into the middle of nowhere only to discover, when I thought about it, that I was probably never more than 5 miles from a spot that someone could get to in their car.
I've also had the pleasure to stalk in some pretty remote spots but the truth is that although I might have walked a bit on the day (and i suspect that even in highland stalking most people walk a lot less far than they imagine) I was probably never more than 2 miles from a track or road, probably half of that most of the time.
Now I appreciate that argos and quad bikes have changed the concept of vehicular access a little bit but I wonder how far you can be from vehicular access (i.e. track, road or similar accessible to a 4WD) when stalking in the UK? Any advance on the 4 - 5 miles that the trout angler might come up with as the most remote spot they can think of?
As a sort of aside to this I was reading some research they were doing in the USA into deer movement patterns. Eventually they decided to track the hunters to see how hunter movements impacted upon the deer. Deer hunters were reporting walking miles into the wilderness but when tracked by GPS the average distance a hunter went from his car was 200 yards. So, estimates of how far we walk can be very wrong indeed.
I also looked at my Lewis fishing and I'd guess it is close to the most remote area of the UK but, again, the truth is that about 5 miles is as far as you can get from a road or track. Last season I walked to the Humble Loch and the GPS recorded the walk as almost exactly 10 miles (round trip) however when I get Google Earth on the job the actual straight line distance is a pretty disappointing 3.23 miles. Not really that remote for what must be one of the most remote spots in the UK.
I've also had the pleasure to stalk in some pretty remote spots but the truth is that although I might have walked a bit on the day (and i suspect that even in highland stalking most people walk a lot less far than they imagine) I was probably never more than 2 miles from a track or road, probably half of that most of the time.
Now I appreciate that argos and quad bikes have changed the concept of vehicular access a little bit but I wonder how far you can be from vehicular access (i.e. track, road or similar accessible to a 4WD) when stalking in the UK? Any advance on the 4 - 5 miles that the trout angler might come up with as the most remote spot they can think of?
As a sort of aside to this I was reading some research they were doing in the USA into deer movement patterns. Eventually they decided to track the hunters to see how hunter movements impacted upon the deer. Deer hunters were reporting walking miles into the wilderness but when tracked by GPS the average distance a hunter went from his car was 200 yards. So, estimates of how far we walk can be very wrong indeed.
I also looked at my Lewis fishing and I'd guess it is close to the most remote area of the UK but, again, the truth is that about 5 miles is as far as you can get from a road or track. Last season I walked to the Humble Loch and the GPS recorded the walk as almost exactly 10 miles (round trip) however when I get Google Earth on the job the actual straight line distance is a pretty disappointing 3.23 miles. Not really that remote for what must be one of the most remote spots in the UK.