Urban Hiking 101

Walking the same walk every day gets boring. Not only for the dogs but for me as well.

On a side note I know everyone loves Doga Ed. So for our first photos in this blog : here is Doga Ed on Urban Hikes (also known as How Ed Poops).

While some people are able to do the same path constantly, there is no way I can drag myself out of bed at 6 am to do the same loop every day. I like change, I like a challenge and I like being out with the dogs just doing whatever.

I'm not even sure if Urban hiking is a thing. So I did a quick google, apparently it is also called an urban walk. It is basically just hiking or doing a long walk around your local area, without the need to drive or the need to drive far. This is ideal for me who 1. Cannot drive (yet my 2020 goal), 2. Cannot convince someone to come with me far away at a stupid time in the morning.

When people complain that there are no off leash places to walk their dogs in Auckland I laugh.

This may sound mean but I have two questions for you.

1. Have you looked/ researched ? The council shows just under 3500 places to walk a dog. Of these 1840 are off leash. Here's the link Yes they may be crappy places but that's not the point.

2. Do you NEED to have your dog off leash?

My two are just as happy doing a hike on leash as they are off leash. They get to sniff, explore and hang out with me which is all they really care about. If dog dad comes too it is just a bonus.

With that being said I have looked at the council site to see where we can go off leash in the area. I know most of the dog rules for the 10 km radius around my house. This is the distance that we travel. Your radius may be smaller.

The below images are a rough area of where I would consider walking to from my suburb of Point Chevalier.

I also look into what I want out of my walk. Yesterday I walked a total of 11.5 km return. I knew I wanted to go to location A and I had to be home before it got to hot. We made sure we walked through local parks that had drinking fountains for me ( I always carry the boys Thirsty dog bottle). In winter I will just walk until I hit a certain time or me and the boys get tired.

Before work we have a list of various local walks we do. They vary from 4km - 9km depending on how much time we have and what we want to do.

"Urban hikes on leash aren't fun". Says who? Make it fun. Let your dog sniff, go somewhere pretty. Just relax and unwind. I love a long walk before work it helps prepare me for the day.

We are lucky and have found beautiful tracks near us.

Hidden bush and forest tracks, a waterfall, lakes/rivers, mountains, boardwalks over mangroves, beaches/ small bays and cute little roads and alley ways. The train is also close to us. (Just remember in Auckland dogs must be muzzled or contained and are restricted to certain hours). We also use the shared cycle / pedestrian paths but they get busy so we try to avoid that, and Ed likes to chase bikes.

Yes we are currently spoiled, but when we move further from here later this year I will trade my waterfall for more reserves and fields. That is okay.

To prepare you for your Urban Hike do these steps.

~ How long do you want to walk for?

~ What do you want to get out of your walk? E.g. go via the beach and then an off leash part, go somewhere new, go to a cafe.

~ Google maps are your friend. - Maps is pretty smart now. If you pick a location A-B and then the walking directions it will bring up small foot/cycle paths and other secret tracks.

~ Do research, see a reserve or park? maybe it is dog off leash or has agility equipment. It may have a pond of lake in it your dog can cool off in.

~ Have fun a relax, its just a walk. If you get tired just turn around and go home.

A late night (9pm because I am a Nanna) list of comparisons.

Pros :

~ Mix it up every day

~ Get to know your neighborhood/ surrounding radius

~ Don't need a car to get there

~ Make it up as you go - helps your creativity

~ Let your pup sniff

~ Get to know local food and drink places

~ Less traffic

~ More time to nap when you get home because of above

~ Close cute places for gram shots

~ Crazy people realize you are the weird one and leave you alone

~ Have local fun with your dog

~ Easy for a weekday walk

Cons :

~ Run into crazy dogs

~ Some of these crazy dogs escape their yards

~ Above crazy dogs ruin that walk for you

~ Walk to far in one direction and have to be picked up

~ Meet a lot of cats that try to fight you

~ Weird people in the morning

~ Getting to know morning people

~ Don't get out and see the other trails

~ Run into cyclists and children a lot

~ Not much I'm just spit balling here

I try to do loops because the boys get annoyed and start fighting if we go back the way we came.

I will do a series of our local urban walks (under the tab urban) in hope that we will inspire you (if we do use the hashtag #eddyswalkingcrew ) and that you realize there is more then just the same park every day.