DH and I were talking just last night about taking up hiking in the summer, I like walking and hiking sounds like fun.
When I started counting calories I knew I wanted to lose a significant amount of weight (50lb to be precise), I'd visited a nutritionist before I started and she suggested I aim for 1200-1400 cals per day, which is a standard answer. I aim for between 1200 and 1600 cals a day, which is a number I have come up with over time.
There are some great calculators
here that will help you work out how many cals a day your body needs to maintain your current weight. The general thinking is, get that figure of how many cals a day your body needs to keep your current weight, then deduct 500 from it. You will then be left with the amount of cals to eat per day in order to lose weight.
Like I said, that is the very broad general math. So I wouldn't take it to gospel, it's something to start with. There are more experienced calorie counters here than myself so maybe they can add something.
Cutting calories will only get you so far, you need to be exercising also. Again, how much you exercise depends on your schedule, general fitness level etc. start off slowly, 20 mins a day maybe then up the time you spend exercising, or the level of exercise.
Hope this helps, I have found calorie counting enjoyable and easy. There are programs and sites out there that will enable you to track your calories, many of us here use
www.fitday.com it's a pretty good, free site.
The best advice I can offer I think, is to browse this site. You are in the right place, there is a ton of information here in various forums, I've learnt a lot since joining.