Tramping for Girls

Here are a few hints for the tramper, for summer is here, and the “long white road,” the knapsack, and the camp fire are calling us. Very few modern girls can resist a long day in the open, a jolly lunch miles from the “madding crowd,” and a limp home in the twilight.

There is absolutely no need to make yourself a hideous spectacle merely because you are going for a tramp. I have seen creatures (I cannot call them women) stalking along the roads, an insult to the beauties of Nature, and a perfect example of the poet's words: “Where every prospect pleaseth, and only man is vile.” Why look a freak, and probably be horribly uncomfortable, with thick riding breeches and heavy hob-nailed boots? You must remember that not being a man you are accustomed to light shoes and silk stockings, and you cannot change suddenly. Your feet simply won't stand it—and why should they?

First of all, do not go too far; it is a great mistake, and you won't enjoy it. We are all familiar with the girl who strides along, head down, swinging arms, steaming face, never a glance to the right or left. Next day she will proudly tell you that she walked thirty miles! What an achievement! But did she really have a good time? We doubt it. For most of us, fifteen to twenty miles is ample, and allows us time to stop here and there—on the summit of a hill or by a cool stream, perhaps to take a few snaps, or just to look. Life is such a rush that we have little enough time to see the leaves and the clouds, therefore let us feast upon them during our tramps, and carry back in our hearts a fresh green little corner—a lasting memory.

Now for a few “common sense” hints, something practical. Wear a cool, comfortable frock, with a pleated skirt, to allow you to scramble over fences and jump streams. No tennis shoes and silk stockings, but light wool and brogues. If you soap the insides of your stockings you will be spared the agony of blisters, and they are agony when you have a last five miles to do! Although it is summer, take a woollen jersey—something light—which you can stuff into your knapsack. You will be thankful for it on the way home.

Just one word more—do not carry too big a load, it is unnecessary, and often spoils your fun. It is hard to climb a stiff hill when you are shouldering a fifty-pound pack! When you are packing the “grub” remember two or three cakes of plain chocolate—sandwiches are apt to get very “squashy”—a loaf of bread is far better, and more easily carried.

Best luck for your holiday tramps.

“Give to me the life I love,
Let the lave go by me;
Give the jolly heaven above,
And the highway nigh me.”