A question we often get asked is whether it's possible to start a circular walk from a location part-way round the route with the app.
The answer is yes.
Once you reach direction 1, the app should detect that you didn't start at the beginning and offer to continue the walk from direction 1.
The answer is yes.
When you first reach a direction point on the route, the app will offer to navigate from here. You can then follow the walk until you reach what is normally the end of the route.
Once you reach the normal end of the walk, make your way to direction 1 (note that in some cases e.g. where there is only one way out of the car park, the start/end of the walk and direction 1 will be in the same place so this step won't apply).
Once you reach the normal end of the walk, make your way to direction 1 (note that in some cases e.g. where there is only one way out of the car park, the start/end of the walk and direction 1 will be in the same place so this step won't apply).
Tip: This is most easily done with the help of the map screen as the hand-written wording for the last direction will be based on how to get back to your car to end the walk at the normal location, not how to get to direction 1.
Once you reach direction 1, the app should detect that you didn't start at the beginning and offer to continue the walk from direction 1.
You can then continue using the directions as normal to carry on around the route.
When you reach the point where you started the walk, the app should ask you if you want to end the walk here and mark it as completed.
The app will compute stats such as distance and time remaining to the end of the walk based on where you joined the walk, so these should be meaningful even if you don't begin from the normal start point.
Walks with a "lead in" from the normal start point
Some walks have a lead-in from the car park onto the main circular section of the route (directions 1-4 in this example):
When starting the route part-way around, you don't necessary want to make a visit to a car park just to reach direction 1 to continue the walk. We've therefore allowed these lead-in sections to be skipped on the walks that have them.
In these cases, when you reach the point where the walk normally departs from the circle, rather than walking back to the car park to direction 1, instead you can make your way to the next direction within the circular section of the walk:
The app will ask if you want to continue the route from this point instead.
Tip: Remember that the directions wording is hand-written based on coming from the normal start of the walk so make sure you re-orient yourself as if you'd come along the route from the previous direction number before you interpret "left" and "right" in the directions text!
The app will then continue guiding you around the circle to where you started the walk.
Why is there a choice?
For some walks, the car park has a beach or hedgehog ice cream (as in this example) that may be a reason why you do actually want to make your way back along the "lead in" to direction 1. That may even depend on the tide, time of year or weather, so the app gives you the choice of whether to short-cut or not.