TGO Challenge

The TGO Challenge is an annual self-supported walk across Scotland, from the west coast to the east coast. The Challenge is unique in that each participant (or team of up to 4) must plan their own route and be responsible for their own safety during the event. A certain level of backpacking experience, and experience of the sort of conditions Scotland can deliver, is required to be accepted onto the event.

I undertook my first TGO Challenge in 2017, and loved it so much that I’ve applied every year since (unless I’m deliberately taking a rest year). It’s an addictive event that for me offers an unmatched combination of solitude, walking with friends and like-minded people and social opportunities. Each participant can create a route that fits how they like to walk, and part of the joy of the Challenge is unexpectedly bumping into Challengers in the middle of nowhere.

After a fairly conservative first route, they have been getting longer and more gruelling. I don’t tend to actual do many hills, preferring distance as my challenging element, but I always include a few Munros on my route so that I have the option of doing them if I want to.

I’ve now settled into a pattern of doing the Challenge for a couple of years, then having a year off – my next year off is 2026, so I am looking at hopefully doing crossings numbers 7 and 8 in 2027 and 2028. One of these will be a more northerly start, and one more southerly – I generally alternate so as to mix it up a bit.

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