2017: I’m only going to do this once. 2018: Oops, I did it again. That’s probably it though. 2019: Several routes planned a week after getting home. 2020: ? In my house there’s a sort of informal rule: do something … Continue reading I have to do it – it’s a tradition!
If you made it through the 7 part story of the Quest for the Shirt of Destiny, well done. Even more well done if you kept up with it, and could follow where we were at any point. I thought … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2019 (or The Shirt of Destiny)
I wake, if indeed I slept at all, and I don’t feel good. There is rain in the air – it is clear both from my lungs and from the recent advice of sages, that it is coming. Our luck … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 7: Doom, Gloom and a Room
Beer barrels clatter close to our chamber at the inn and sleep is fitful. I wake feeling unrefreshed and earlier than I’d like. So we are away early in search of food to break our fasts. Light rain falls on … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 6: The Red Mountains
Once upon a time, when bandits roamed the land and all manner of thievery and roguery was the norm, the sheriffs of my land ran out of places to lock up these undesirables, and instead sent them on a long … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 5: The Grey Mountains
Ahead of this merry band of adventurers lies the Great Glen, and a chance to stock up with provisions at the Great Trading Post that lies towards the southern end of the Great Waterway. Keenness to reach this mythical place … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 4: Civilisation
A cold night, but there are no complaints about preferring to sleep in the old shack. Not for us a night punctuated by farting and snoring of fellow travellers. Nor a night woken by the crunch of giant’s teeth on … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 3: From Fjord to Forest
We adventurers rise early for there is much to be done. Fasts to be broken; equipment to be checked and packed; parcels to be despatched; and provisions to be secured for the journey. Finally, the Moor Man and I queue … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 2: Pursuit by a Giant
I slouch on the back seat of the charabanc trying to get some sleep whilst simultaneously keeping one eye alert to the near continuous passing by of restless, incontinent natives to what is laughably termed the “facilities”. It seems an … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 1: Beginnings
Once more the Challenge beckons, as it corrupts and subverts my freedom of will. Almost from the first steps taken eastwards from Dornie in May 2017, I knew it wasn’t going to be a one-off. 2018 was intended to prove 2017 wasn’t a fluke – as it turned out, it was pretty hard going. Now 2019 is the hoped-for redemption, both for me to put last year’s illness issues behind me, and for Paul to actually make the start line this time. All through last summer during a period of hand to hand combat between me and the asthma which led to very little actual hiking, there was instead much virtual hiking which resulted in 3 outlines of future Challenge routes. It’s fair to say I’m not done yet. Continue reading “TGO Challenge 2019: Prep and Kit”
After the struggle of last year’s Challenge, disrupted by hayfever that went so rogue it turned into full-blown asthma, I’ve been determined to make up for it this year. With the summer following the Challenge largely wiped out by getting the condition under control and finding a new normal, no sooner had I tentatively started backpacking again, than it was pretty much the end of the season. Coupled with an intensive period of art-focused rather than outdoors-focused activity, I went into the winter still in not great shape.
As is common, New Year came around and the inevitable statements were made about getting in shape. I re-started Parkrun on the first Saturday of the year. Despite some initial calf cramp problems, cured by a good pair of compression socks, I’ve started to get into the running, and have even been out mid-week. (*Whispers: I may even have started to enjoy it a tiny bit*). The hiking, though, has been sadly lacking.
I did make a point of finishing off the Essex Way in January, but that’s all apart from a 15-miler on the North Downs last weekend. Paul meanwhile has been regaling me with tales of weight lost and walks done. He seems determined to make up for last year’s withdrawal a couple of weeks from the start line. But he got me thinking that maybe I’ll be the weak link this year.
So far, each year before the Challenge I’ve been able to slot in a shakedown trip, or two: a section of Cambrian Way and a 4 day Dartmoor backpack in 2017; a short trip to the Lakes last year. It’s becoming a bit of a tradition, but to date the focus has been more on honing gear choices than training as such. This year’s trip felt like it needed to be more about training, or at least testing what sort of condition I’m in. After all, my gear is pretty stable, and the only decisions that really need to be made are clothing layers – ie whether to lean more towards a colder or warmer set of weather.
So with an invite to a 50th birthday do in Kendal, I decided to tack on a bit so I could get out on the fells and see where I was at… Continue reading “Training and A Pre-Walk Walk”
Through a gap in the trees, I catch my first glimpse of the end of the loch. At the head of the glen, rises the Mountain, for the moment innocuous amidst its neighbours, happy to take a back seat for … Continue reading The Mountain
I’ve already told the story of the actual walk, so this post is simply an index to the individual daily posts… Continue reading “TGO Challenge 2018”
Day 15 The Challenge done, I wake in my Stonehaven B&B with a lazy day ahead. I’m at the station in good time for the train to Montrose. As it pulls into Montrose, I realise this is the train that … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Aftermath and Reflections
Of the three (known) campers, I’m the last to pack up and leave. But it doesn’t matter: today I will reach the coast and should do it comfortably, even in my enfeebled state. The day is pleasant, albeit grey and … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 14 – Fetteresso Forest to Stonehaven
