Wednesday 3 February 2016

My Planned Route for the 2016 TGO Challenge

Oban to Stonehaven

Screenshot of planned route (scroll down for zoomable map)
Having previously started at Shiel Bridge, Strathcarron, Mallaig and Glenelg, I decided I fancied a more southerly route this year, so I've opted to start in Oban.  However I also wanted to visit Ballater and finish in Stonehaven, which are both more northerly than any of my previous routes!  Therefore my resultant route is reasonably southerly, before heading NE from Pitlochry to Ballater.

It splits nicely into five chucks:
  • 2 days from Oban to Glencoe, via Lismore
  • 2 days from Glencoe to Bridge of Gaur
  • 3 days from Bridge of Gaur to Pitlochry, via Ben Lawers
  • 3 days from Pitlochry to Ballater, via the cocktail party in Gleann Mòr
  • 3 days from Ballater to Stonehaven, via Mount Battock
And here is a nice zoom-able and pan-able map showing my planed route:



It's a similar length to my previous TGO Challenge routes, at 325km, and there's around 14,000m of ascent.  Assuming that the weather is fine I'm planning on climbing 7 Munros, 7 Corbetts and 3 Grahams, plus a few other hills on the way across.  However I anticipate that bad weather might put pay to some of these plans!  Although you never know, it might be another year like 2008 when it was dry and sunny for most of the fortnight!

This is by my fifth TGO Challenge and I'm already counting down the days until I set off!  Only 100 days to go...