Hiking

From The Arthur Conan Doyle Encyclopedia

Arthur Conan Doyle walked everywhere he went, in UK, Scotland, France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, Africa or Australia. It was not a sport per say, just the way of visiting places as any tourist.

Except in 1893 in Switzerland where he did some real hiking in the mountain and snow (see photos).


Photos


Conan Doyle about Hiking

  • « Within a quarter of an hour I was standing in full marching order, ready for every photographic emergency. » (Dry Plates on a Wet Moor, 1882)
  • « The battle was to begin at twelve o'clock, and as we were anxious not to miss any of the slaughter we made a forced march so as to get on the ridge before that hour. » (Easter Monday with the Camera, 1884)
  • « By that time the afternoon was far gone and it was only by hard walking that we succeeded in accomplishing the descent and reaching Brodick before night fell. » (Arran in Autumn, 1885)
  • « Delay was due to my being away on a walking tour. » (Letter, 1894)
  • « We carried our ski over our shoulders, and our ski-boots slung round our necks, for it was good walking where the snow was hard, and it was sure to be hard wherever the sun had struck it during the day. [..] Hitherto, we had walked as fast as boots would do, over ground where no boots could pass. But now we had a pleasure which boots can never give. For a third of a mile we shot along over gently dipping curves, skimming down into the valley without a motion of our feet. In that great untrodden waste, with snow-fields bounding our vision on every side and no marks of life save the tracks of chamois and of foxes, it was glorious to whiz along in this easy fashion. A short zigzag at the bottom of the slope brought us, at half-past nine, into the mouth of the pass; and we could see the little toy hotels of Arosa, away down among the fir woods, thousands of feet beneath. » (An Alpine Pass on "Ski", 1894)
  • « I had been travelling in Switzerland and had visited, among other places, that Gemmi Pass, where a huge cliff separates a French from a German canton. On the summit of this cliff was a small inn, where we broke our journey. » (Through the Magic Door, 1907)
  • « There is no shooting in the park but there is excellent fishing, and everywhere there are the most wonderful excursions, where you sleep at night under the stars upon the balsamic fir branches which the packer gathers for your couch. » (Western Wanderings, 1915)
  • « But now our interminable and tropical walk is lightened by the sight of a British aeroplane sailing overhead. [..] A mile of front trenches and then we are on our way back down that weary walk. [..] A charming young artillery subaltern is our guide in that maze of trenches, and we walk and walk and walk, with a brisk exchange of compliments between the '75's' of the French and the '77's' of the Germans going on high over our heads. » (A Visit to Three Fronts, 1916)
  • « For some time Innes and I lived entirely alone, doing the household tasks between us, and going long walks in the evening to keep ourselves fit. [..] Every morning I walked from the lodgings at Montague Place, reached my consulting-room... [..] I spent a day in Johannesburg, walking its deserted streets... » (Memories and Adventures, 1923)
  • «  It was an excursion which none of us would forget. We were amused by the patter of the guide who has to explain matters to the tourists. Such people are usually a nuisance, but this particular one had a wit of his own. His last words were: "If you liked the excursion, please tell your friends; but if you didn't like it, then keep quiet about it." » (Our Second American Adventure, 1924)


Letters


Articles




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