hike | camp | paint
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)
Breakfast in the Real Food Cafe set us up well for the day ahead. Back at the hotel we shouldered packs and grabbed parcels to drop off at the Post Office - although we could have simply walked up the main road from the hotel, we still had to do the bit of trail through … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 4: The Good Bit (Tyndrum to Kinlochleven)
Whilst it was a shock to suddenly find myself solo, it wasn't a huge surprise and I'd mentally prepared myself for it - by now I can recognise the signs. And so, I strode out towards Ptarmigan Lodge not too discombobulated by the sudden change in my circumstances. Here was the well-known honesty stall, but … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 3: That Accursed Loch! (Rowardennan to Tyndrum)
Milngavie really must be quite proud of the fact that the West Highland Way starts there, as they've taken every opportunity to draw your attention to the fact. Leaving the railway, there's various "to the West Highland Way" signs and the murals in the underpass before you get to the actual start point, itself with … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 2: To The Loch! (Milngavie to Rowardennan)
Well, this post may be titled "Introduction", but this trail barely needs one. One of the more popular trails, maybe even the most popular of the Great Trails in Scotland, I felt as though I already knew it quite well before I even set foot on it. Which is, of course, nonsense, but it's fair … Continue reading The West Highland Way – Part 1: Introduction
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