England's Longest Trail, The Southwest Coast Path. Part 1 Minehead to Lynton

[@Relaxingsoundsrsawwt]

That back pack along the swcp will be remembered for generations😅

[@pauladams6969]

Everytime I watch this 1st part, you always make me laugh. When you say "Im already sweating" at the beginning of the path.

[@andyshikes3425]

🥵🥵🥵

[@handbrakebob]

We've just started our adventure on the SWCP. Really enjoy your videos. Thanks for the tips!

[@andyshikes3425]

Thankyou. Enjoy your treks!

[@noseybirdadventures5880]

Have a great adventure

[@RamssesPharaoh]

This video is fantastic and empowering. Thank you.

[@Relaxingsoundsrsawwt]

Great videos andy, i will be going back down the swcp this year myself. i wasn't prepared for how it was last year but this year iam prepared.

[@andyshikes3425]

Thank you for your praise and good luck with your walk. The more you do, the easier it becomes😜

[@Relaxingsoundsrsawwt]

@@andyshikes3425your welcome and I think your right 👍, I have been doing short walks as practice, it was more the equipment side with me as I thought I could rock it with a normal pair of trainers 🙄, I got everything I need now , good luck on your next journeys

[@reasonsvoice8554]

​@@Relaxingsoundsrsawwtwear whatever footwear your comfortable in there's no fixed rules many people do these routes in trail runners Weather is the only thing that really dictates what you need to wear

[@gsomethingsomething2658]

Andy, lovely to see. May I ask why you opted for 480p? Was it just a memory storage issue while hiking?

[@andyshikes3425]

Hi, I didn’t ‘opt’ for 480, but for reasons known only to the gremlins in my computer, that’s the definition that it uploaded to KZbin! I actually recorded it in 1080! Apologies for the poor quality but I currently haven’t got time to re-edit/upload all the videos again. Maybe in the future

[@mikebreen2890]

This was the only trail that managed to cripple me - blisters. Never had an issue before but this had me taking a B&B for three days and buying new boots and socks. I think the heat was the main issue, sweating feet. Seriously up and down. I too have gone through a period where I nearly never made it, a truly horrid period of my life and if it were not for the Belgian health services, I would be dead. No two ways about it.

[@andyshikes3425]

Mike, I was quite lucky with blisters. I had one big blister on my left ball of foot in the first week, then after that, none. Glad you got help when you needed it and can appreciate the better things in life now. Best wishes Andy

[@donnadeluca3456]

I have just discovered your videos as I am considering the swcp for next year. I don’t see many people, so far, in your videos, but you mentioned many people walking. Do you feel this is a safe hike for a woman alone?

[@andyshikes3425]

Hi. The path is certainly safe for a lone woman, in as much as it can be in any place. I mostly filmed when I was alone, because I didn’t want to film others without their permission. There are times when the path can be quite busy with people and other times when you hardly see a soul for an hour or two. If your are on Facebook, join a group called ‘South West Coast Path’. On there, you will find many other people who have done or are thinking of doing the path, with lots of tips and advice. There are quite a few women on it who have walked the whole thing alone. I don’t know what you prefer, but I like to walk alone, so I can walk at my pace, stop when I want, push on when I want etc. However, you will find that you keep bumping into the same faces throughout your hike, so it’s easy to make friends along the way.

[@deadkennedy9140]

One of the thing switching to a high protein / moderate fat /low carb diet cured was my excessive sweating. You dont need to hold so much water to digest food. I switched for weigh loss but the other improvements (sweating/acid reflux ) happened virtually over night. Start the day with yogurt (full fat) or nuts instead of cereal, jerky for lunch instead of a pasty and you'll be golden

[@andyshikes3425]

Hi Thanks for the tips. I generally have a fairly low carb diet ( but have recently been eating too much bread!) and I will definitely ditch the carbs to lose weight. Unfortunately, my sweating problem is hereditary ( Hyperhidrosis ) and even when I’m fit and lean, I still sweat excessively!

[@PhilArmstrong-lj6eg]

how much weight did you carry Andy??. mine was 25kg when i started.. ?

[@andyshikes3425]

Hi Phil, in the beginning, my pack weighed 20.5kg ( with food & water). Along the way, I sent quite a bit of stuff home, but even so, I only got it down to 16.4kg! I chose to carry the extra weight of a 2 person tent and a few other ‘luxury’ items, to make camping more comfortable, that most others wouldn’t bother with!

[@steveparker8605]

What equipment were you using to record the walk on ?

[@andyshikes3425]

I used an Insta 360 one x2 for the moving shots and iPhone or DJI Pocket 2 for the rest.

[@PhilArmstrong-lj6eg]

P:S. I started mine on 22nd October 2020.and it was tough going into the winter !!

[@Zeamus634]

What is that Relive map thing that keeps coming up?

[@andyshikes3425]

It’s a phone App that records your movement that you can add photos and videos to, in order to make a record of your hike!

[@highflyer1878]

What Rucksack did you use for this hike plz 🙏 I sm planning to do the same hike .

[@andyshikes3425]

Apologies for the delay. I used an Osprey Atmos AG65. It stood up to the task brilliantly, with no issues.

[@IST1985UK]

you need to shed some weight in that pack mate - you'll get injured and not finish the trail!

[@bfyrth]

yeh, the neck ache must be off the scale

[@richardtams564]

Spring/Summer hike Andy you are carrying too much. You need water but don't need to carry too much in UK, get a filter for topping up and plan your water stops.

[@andyshikes3425]

Thanks Richard. Keep watching…..😜

[@richardtams564]

@@andyshikes3425 Thanks Andy, I will. You could probably ditch food if you are carrying lots, you pass through plenty of towns and villages. Apologies if I'm teaching to suck eggs.😁