hike | camp | paint
Although it's only day 2, we're already in trouble. We're 6km behind a plan that gets steadily harder, requiring successively longer days, and now in a serious game of catch-up. Add to this the uncertain perils in front of us that need to be overcome, and the knowledge that it's possible we might not be up to it. We could still find ourselves scurrying back west with our tails between our legs.
...We look down at Loch Beoraid, a swathe of trees barring progress down the steep hillside. Even getting to the edge of the trees looks perilous. Already I'm starting to wonder if we should have considered the ridge route, even though we (meaning I) chose not to so as to "give ourselves an easier first … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2022 – Day 1: The Misadventure Brothers
This is the Index Post to the 2022 Challenge, my fourth crossing. DayDateFrom/toDist (km)Ascent (m)Cum Dist (km)Post link-435 to 0Thu 12 May Home to Fort William000https://backpackartist.com/2022/06/14/tgo-challenge-2022-days-435-to-0-a-long-wait/1Fri 13 MayFort William / Lochailort and kinlochbeoraid1555515https://backpackartist.com/2022/06/15/tgo-challenge-2022-day-1-the-misadventure-brothers/2Sat 14 MayKinlochbeoraid to Just Past Glenfinnan1949134https://backpackartist.com/2022/06/17/tgo-challenge-2022-day-2-escape-from-the-black-hole/3Sun 15 MayJust Past Glenfinnan to Glen Righ3046864https://backpackartist.com/2022/06/19/tgo-challenge-2022-day-3-redemption/4Mon 16 MayGlen Righ to Kinlochleven23601875Tue 17 MayKinlochleven to Loch … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2022: Lochailort to Dunnottar Castle
I walked the Great Glen Way (GGW) with my friend Paul in mid October 2021. This trip replaced a previous plan to do a longer route in the south west of England, that was ultimately a victim of fitness levels. The decision to do the GGW instead was a compromise between an easier/shorter route and … Continue reading The Great Glen Way
A look back at some stand out days of backpacking. Today we go back to May 2018 and the TGO Challenge. That year my route started in Oban, and took in Glen Etive, Rannoch Moor, Dalwhinnie, Glen Tromie, Glen Feshie, Ballater, Glentannar Forest, Fetteresso Forest and Stonehaven. An unexpectedly solo route after my walking partner … Continue reading Best Backpacking Days #3 – Rannoch Moor to Loch Ericht
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 I should put something together that reviews this year's Challenge in plainer, more everyday, terms, … 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 -Â it is clear both from my lungs and from the recent advice of sages, that it is coming. Our luck with the weather has come to an end. We stow our bundles and return to … 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 us as we head into a Great Forest. The sort that feels like nothing but … 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 sea voyage to the lands at the end of the earth. They settled in that … 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 stirs our tired limbs from our beds, aided by the ever-present sound of cuckoos. We … 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 my bones. I have survived the encounter. The gods of this valley seem to have … 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 up to inscribe our names in the Grand Ledger of Questers kept in the inn. … 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 odd way to begin such a momentous quest – hurtling north in pitch darkness to … Continue reading The Shirt of Destiny – Part 1: Beginnings
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 now. The path weaves a seemingly random course through the wood, one moment going up … 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... Day What Happened Distance (km) Ascent (m) Stuff Climbed -1: Wed 9May  Travel to Euston, Edinburgh, Crianlarich and Oban 0  0 - 0: Thur 10 May 1: Fri 11 May Oban to Loch Etive … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018