London LOOP finished

Last June I mentioned in another blog post: on the last weekend of April I started the London LOOP (London Outer Orbital Circle).

In the first weekend of October I finished it! 240 Km, 15 stages (officially 23 stages but I followed a book that divided it into 15 stages).

The London LOOP has been my first hike in multiple stages. It visits different parts of Greater London. I started in spring and finished in autumn: I saw the changes in nature (especially the starting/ending point… where I was 5 months later).

Many people have asked about my favourite stage. I’m not sure which is my favourite stage… They are so different! To mention a few random good memories:

• I walked part of the Grand Union Canal (in Uxbridge). A friend lives there and he joined me on 2 stages
• I started (and finished!) in Cockfosters: where the Piccadilly Line trains that I use come from or go to
• I walked through corn fields (yes, in London, just 20 minutes from an underground station there are corn fields)
• I saw amazing views of London (from South London)
• I walked in nice woods (I like woods!)
• A few friends joined me on the way (thanks to all of them!)
• I walked 20 Km. and finished near a house warming party of a friend… what a good coincidence!
• I met Derick Rethans: a mapper from Open Street Map that we discovered on IRC that we could meet easily
• I walked just next to Heathrow airport seeing and hearing the planes (did you know that there is a nice wood just next to Heathrow with a river?)
• I got really exhausted in a few stages… which was rewarding
• I went to parts of London that I wouldn’t visit otherwise: I like London and I like to discover unknown parts of London
• I could see the Queen Elizabeth bridge from far away
• I crossed Greenwich Meridian twice
• I closed a circle: arriving to the same point 5 months later

The official stage number 1 (it wasn’t the first stage for me): it’s nice because I arrived Capital Ring. It’s a similar idea to London LOOP but smaller: closer to the city, shorter stages, but it seems that it goes through interesting bits of London too. So far I like it.

So, if you want: have a look at London LOOP. My favourite resources were Luphen’s webpage and Waymarked Trails.