A sunny (but chilly) day for a hike through the countryside.
Today was a beautiful, sunny day, albeit a bit breezy and quite chilly. Nonetheless I was eager to get out for another long walk – my fourteenth consecutive weekend hike. I selected a route in the North Downs, outside the town of Guildford to the southwest of London. This week, the whole family came along. Despite extensive delays on the rail system, which has reduced service this week while crews leverage the holiday week for some maintenance work, we made a fine day of it.
A circuitous ramble over and around Box Hill in the Surrey downs.
Four weeks after arriving in London for a year-long sabbatical, I was itching to get outdoors – out in the hills, forests, and meadows, after weeks of city life. Don’t get me wrong – I am truly enjoying the chance to explore London, and to adapt to city living. But I am a country mouse, at heart, and needed to be out where I could climb hills, take in broad vistas, and listen to the wind in the trees. After some online snooping, I settled on this eight-mile circular walk around Box Hill, just an hour’s train journey south of London. Read on!
David Kotz 