Journeys by hiking, running, cycling and touring
It's been over 10 weeks since I returned, broken, from the TGO Challenge, a mystery illness having made me fight hard just to get to the end. On day 2 back at work I collapsed as the mystery illness deteriorated. Three weeks total rest from work followed by a spell of largely working from home … Continue reading Getting Back On The Horse – Part 1: Pottering About
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
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 a huge swathe of Thursday people are getting - the platform is a solid mass … 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 cloudy. It's a little cooler than recently and I struggle to find the right clothing … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 14 – Fetteresso Forest to Stonehaven
I set off today with the "dreaded" (by some) Fetteresso Forest ahead. My only concern is not getting tripped up by the tendency of forest tracks to not quite match what the map says. First on the agenda is Kerloch, which I decide to tackle using forest tracks for as much as possible rather than … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 13 – Glen Dye to Fetteresso Forest
Repeating the trick of not laying down to sleep until properly tired worked again last night, but it does have the side effect of making it a late start. I'm just finishing my packing up when Graham happens by, as if he's deliberately timed it thus (he hasn't). So we walk together again, the first … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 12 – Fungle Road to Glen Dye
Yesterday's company got me through the day I know would otherwise have broken me, but today I have low expectations for accompaniment. The original plan was to attempt to get to Tarfside in a single day, including an ascent of Mount Keen which would have made today the hardest day of all on this year's … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 11 – Ballater to Fungle Road
Any thought I had yesterday of a better night's sleep in a proper bed, was proven to be spectacularly wrong overnight. Not only did I struggle to get to sleep, but to say asleep, and was up in the middle of the night with a massive coughing fit. Perhaps it was also the fact that … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 10 – Braemar to Ballater
The Cough did it again - another sleep-starved night. I'm looking forward to getting to Braemar and the pharmacy there, not to mention the other manifold "attractions" of the village. I must be keen as I'm away for 8:30 - on a day when there really is no need to hurry. I set off down … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 9 – Geldie Burn to Braemar
I wake in the bosom of my fellow Challengers, for the first time this trip. It's long overdue and with it the recognition comes that this has been a lonely Challenge so far. There's been a couple of days (ok, well technically I guess every day from day 4 onwards) that I really could have … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 8 – Glen Feshie to Geldie Burn
The noise of a vehicle on the track alerts me to a possible interruption. They're clearly checking me out as the noise is not moving. Then all of a sudden they're gone. Panic over. I pack up and continue to the bottom of the track, making my way to Loch Cuaich. The track takes me … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 7 – Not Far Past Dalwhinnie to Glen Feshie
I'm not enjoying the Challenge. There I've said it. Something is lacking. I've seen very few people, and it feels like a lonely one this year, and that's even before taking account of my missing walking partner. We'd have eaten up the miles on the walk if there'd been the two of us, but solo … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 6 – Dalwhinnie to Not Far Past Dalwhinnie
The day starts fine, but a bit fresher than the last few days, and with the promise of turning breezier and wetter still as the day goes on. I've already decided that I'm taking my Foul Weather Alternative today, missing out the climb over Beinn Bheoil in favour of the simplicity of the lochside path. … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 5 – Loch Ericht to Dalwhinnie
I'm awake early, with the knowledge that I've got quite a distance to cover today, and am walking for 8am. Gerry is camped up a couple of hundred metres down the track and we chat for a while before I crack on. The track itself fizzles out and I find myself following the line of … Continue reading TGO Challenge 2018: Day 4 – Black Corries to Loch Ericht