hike | camp | paint
[Planned route, excluding FWAs, in blue. Actual route in red] For 2025, I chose the little-used start point of Ardrishaig - this year only 5 out of the circa 300 starters used it. Now, I'm still relatively early in my Challenge "career", and haven't yet exhausted the more popular start points, so why pick Ardrishaig … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2025: Ardrishaig to Aberdeen
Day 12: Ballater to Aboyne 20.9km and 51m of ascent. Total distance so far: 299.0km There were 6 Challengers staying on the main tent field, and I was very much the last to go. But even so I was away by 0840, which timed it just right to pop into the Co-op to buy something … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2025 – Part 4: The Deeside Way, Ballater to Aberdeen (Days 12-15)
Day 9: Blair Atholl to Bynack Lodge 28.1km and 597m of ascent. Total distance so far: 227.3km Woken by the %^&*ing crows, I decided to not try to go back to sleep, and instead opted for an early start (0650). Due to an oversight, there was no porridge for breakfast this morning, and a hasty … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2025 – Part 3: Blair Atholl to Ballater (Days 9-11)
Day 5: Glencoe Resort to Rannoch Moor 10.2km and 180m of ascent. Total distance so far: 129.4km After returning to my tent last night, I unpacked my parcel and did some thinking. Over the last couple of days a decision had been brewing about my route for the next section: specifically, that I probably wasn't … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2025 – Part 2: Glencoe Mountain Resort to Blair Atholl (Days 5-8)
Getting to the start As has now become a bit of a tradition, I got to Scotland on the overnight coach from London - this gives fundamentally the same journey, and even timings, as the sleeper, but for £20 instead of £70 (for a seat not a bed). The key to making this work, though, … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2025 – Part 1: Ardrishaig to Glencoe Mountain Resort (Days 0-4)
Day 9: Saturday 18 May - Newtonmore to Ruigh-aitechain 23km with 318m ascent It took a while to really get going today, which I think is a legacy of my original plan to pop up to Aviemore to do parkrun, then come back and do the day's (short) walk in the afternoon. Having scrapped the … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2024 – Part 3: Newtonmore to Ballater (including video)
Day 5: Tuesday 14 May - Fort William to Clunes 24 km with 123m ascent The seed of an idea sprouted late last night and I decided to sleep on it. I really wasn't feeling well and things could now go one of several ways: I could retire, I could try to stick to my … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2024 – Part 2: Fort William to Newtonmore (including video)
Day 1: Friday 10 May - Kilchoan to Sanna(ish) 21 km with 464m ascent The Tobermory clocktower woke me far earlier than was ideal, and after sitting it out as long as I could, got up and went out in search of breakfast and for a leg stretch. Back in the room, I packed, grabbed … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2024 – Part 1: Ardnamurchan (including video)
With my head now in the game, I have started to look forward to the Challenge, and this post will cover the planned route, the process that led to it, and how I plan to get to and from the start/end. The Route I am one of a small handful of Challengers who have opted … Continue reading TGO Challenge Preparations – Part 2: The Route
It's a week today until I set off for my 5th TGO Challenge, this time walking from Kilchoan to (hopefully) Kinnaber Links via an insanely rambling route that heads west more than a west to east route really should. This is a route I've wanted to do for a while, and sitting in the bar … Continue reading TGO Challenge Preparations – Part 1: Warming-Up
Day 5: St John's Town of Dalry to Chalk Memorial Bothy Rain at first light meant a bit of a lie in, and when I finally peeped out around 7am, I saw Afke packing up. She'd gone by the time I was properly up. I set off handrailing through the forest and went wrong almost … Continue reading Southern Upland Way – Part 3: St John’s Town of Dalry to Sanquhar
Day 3: Beehive Bothy to Caldons A cold night and I never felt quite warm enough, but I seemed to have slept ok. Partly because I wanted to cherish what warmth I had, I was slow in getting up, and when I did emerge found Afke on the point of leaving, and Wolfgang and Sophie … Continue reading Southern Upland Way – Part 2: Beehive Bothy to St John’s Town of Dalry
Day 1: Portpatrick to Castle Kennedy A bowl of porridge with stewed rhubarb and scrambled eggs on toast inside me (I highly recommend the Harbour Lights Guest House in Stranraer), we headed to Tescos for a few lunch bits before getting the bus out to Portpatrick. Portpatrick seemed a pleasant seaside town. However, it had … Continue reading Southern Upland Way – Part 1: Portpatrick to Beehive Bothy
A bit of Background The Southern Upland Way is one of the "Big 4" of Scotland's Great Trails, being one of the 4 dating back from the days of Long Distance Routes, and predating the re-badging of the English and Welsh ones as National Trails, and the Scottish ones as Great Trails. The Long Distance … Continue reading The Southern Upland Way – Planning and Getting to the Start
Just one more day to do, but the longest daily distance of all, and a deadline to do it by. Our train was booked for 19:50, which shouldn't have been a problem, but nevertheless it was still a deadline. If you add time to clean up and have a celebratory pint and meal, the real … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 5: The End (Kinlochleven to Fort William)