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:

See planned route in new window

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...

TGOC 2014 - Day 14: North Water Bridge to Montrose

Thursday 22nd May 2014

A morning walk to Montrose trying to stay off the road as much as possible 

Distance: 15km; Ascent: 120m; Overcast with rain on the coast; Solo

See tracked route in new window

It was forecast to be a wet end to this year's challenge, with rain due to arrive from around 11am.  Therefore I resolved to make an earlier start than usual and set off walking at around quarter past eight this morning, although others had left much earlier than me.

North Water Bridge campsite

Looking up the River North Esk from North Water Bridge

It was grey and overcast as I followed the main road east towards Marykirk.  However, rather than crossing the River North Esk and heading for St Cyrus, I instead picked up a footpath.  I had planned my route from here to the coast to have as little road walking as possible by studying the Angus Council Core Paths Plan.  Using this useful resource, I had plotted a route to Montrose beach along various core paths, with only around 2-3km of road walking from this point onwards.

Signpost for the path to Logie

The River North Esk at Craigo

Path from Craigo to Logie

Path through the fields to Logie

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the Core Paths were actually signposted, which made route finding significantly easier.  I had brought printouts of the Core Paths overlaid onto 1:25000 maps from the council website in case I needed them to locate the paths; however these weren't needed in the end.  The path from Craigo to Logie was pleasant enough, with a section through some woodland followed by a bit through some fields.  From Logie I had a bit of road walking to reach the start of my next Core Path of the day.

Signpost for the path to Hillside

The track to Hillside

Entering the Rosemount Estate

In the Rosemount Estate

Good woodland tracks led me to the pleasant Rosemount Estate, after which I emerged onto the road again in Hillside.  Again a few hundred metres of road walking led me onwards to my next Core Path, this time from Hillside to Borrowfield.  This path ended in the middle of a housing estate on the northwestern edge of Montrose, from where I picked up the cycle path that I followed virtually all the way to the sea.

The track from Hillside to Borrowfield

Small lochan on the edge of Montrose

I rejoined the road a short distance from the sea, near to the golf club, at a road junction with a handy signpost for the Seafront Splash play area where I was due to meet Lynsey and the kids.  It was now getting a bit windy in addition to the threatening sky so I continued quickly towards the beach.  On the way there I met Lynsey, Isabel and Olivia and walked to the beach with them :-).

Nearly there!

Montrose beach

Finished!

Due to storm damaged paths, we were unable to get the pushchair down to the beach itself so I nipped down to the sea to dip my feet in the sea on my own.  It was now shortly after 11am and I'd finished the 2014 TGO Challenge :-).  I then spent an enjoyable half hour playing at the Seafront Splash play area with the kids, before rain stopped play!

We headed into town to get a spot of lunch somewhere indoors, before moving on to the Park Hotel for me to officially finish, which is also where we were staying this evening.  It was good to catch up with John, Ali, Gayle and Mick on control.  I spent a leisurely afternoon in Montrose with the family, before it was time for the enjoyable celebration evening meal in the hotel.  Lynsey joined me after the meal and it was good to catch up with so many other challengers :-).  Although it was sad to think that it was all over for another year.  It would be Lynsey's turn to do the TGOC next year, so it would be 2016 at the earliest before I'm next setting out from the west coast to walk eastwards for two weeks!

Not sure what Andy & Alan are so surprised about!

At the Park Hotel

TGOC 2014 - Day 13: Tarfside to North Water Bridge

Wedneday 21st May 2014

A pleasant walk down Glen Esk, via the Rocks of Solitude and the Blue Door Walk 

Distance: 27.5km; Ascent: 280m; Dry with plenty of sunshine; Mostly Solo

See tracked route in new window

The start and end points of today's walk were pretty familiar to me, having walked between them twice before in 2008 and 2009 (despite not actually having been on my route sheet either year!).  However this year I decided to investigate an alternative route instead of the perfectly pleasant walk down the southern side of the glen.  Angus Council's Core Paths Plan proved to be a useful resource for planning bits of today's and tomorrow's walk, which resulted in me deciding to pick a route between the hills over to Millden.

I set off at 9:15am, initially northwards along the Fungle Road, but after a few hundred metres I came to a signposted track junction and headed towards Millden.  The bulldozed track headed east and was reasonably well signposted every so often.  After a few kilometres I left this bulldozed route and picked up a older, greener track that led me down to the road.

Signposted footpath to Millden from the southern end of the Fungle Road

Looking back to the Hill of Rowan

The track from Tarfside to Millden

Signposts at the half-way point between Tarfside & Millden, with Craig Soales in the background

Looking back west from near Mile Cairn

The Hill of Wirren

Around half a kilometre of tarmac then brought me to the main road through Glen Esk, where I had a break to rehydrate on what was turning out to be a warm day!  I also took the opportunity to change into shorts given I still had a long walk ahead of me.  My original plan had been to backtrack westwards along the road for the best part of a kilometre so as to cross to the other side of the river.  However I decided that I couldn't really be bothered with the extra distance and instead headed straight down the road, which on the plus side was a route I hadn't previously walked!

River North Esk a few km downstream from Millden

Bluebells in Glen Esk

Trees in Glen Esk

An old looking signpost

At around half past midday I reached a old looking signpost for the Rocks of Solitude.  I'd heard that these were worth a visit, so I followed a path down through the woods to reach some rocky outcrops above the river.  It was lovely and sunny here so I stopped to enjoy the warmth of the sun whilst having lunch down near the river.

The Rocks of Solitude

The Rocks of Solitude

The Rocks of Solitude

I was pleased that I'd decided to come this way as the Rocks of Solitude were indeed worth a visit.  After feeling suitably refreshed I continued on a good path through the pleasant beech woods to reach the famous Blue Door.

Heading through The Burn woods

The riverside woodland path

The Blue Door, of walk fame ;)

I'd heard about this Blue Door several times over the last few years from various different people and had decided to include the Blue Door Walk on my route this year.  I was very glad that I had as it had been a really pleasant woodland wander :-).

River North Esk from Gannochy bridge

Crossing the river by way of the road bridge, I picked up a path between the fields and the river down to Edzell where I arrived at the Tuck Inn at around 2pm for a second lunch!

Outside the Tuck Inn

Here I met up with Lynsey, Isabel and Olivia again :-).  I was in no great rush to get to North Water Bridge this afternoon so I spent a good couple of hours in Edzell with them, which included much running around on the grassy Edzell Muir playing with a tennis ball :-).  Eventually it was time for them to head back to Montrose for tea, so I picked up a few supplies in the village shops and left Edzell at around quarter to five.

The Shakin Brig

Looking down the River North Esk from Shakin Brig

I crossed the Shakin Brig with Martin and Andrew, who I spent the rest of the day walking with to North Water Bridge.  We arrived at the campsite at around 6:30pm, to find it overrun with challengers (no surprise there then!).  There then followed a very sociable evening at campsite catching up with lots of other challengers, although it was sad to think that tomorrow would be the last day of this year's TGOC for me!

Ploughed fields near Arnhall

TGOC 2014 - Day 11: Gelder Shiel to Queen's Well

Monday 19th May 2014

A long day walking in the hills of the eastern Mounth, including Conachcraig & Mount Keen 

Distance: 31km; Ascent: 1300m; Warm & sunny, but misty on the tops; Mostly solo

See tracked route in new window

The weather was forecasted to be good today, which was promising as it was due to be my penultimate day up in the hills on this year's crossing.  I had a reasonably leisurely start to the day and found that half the tents had already gone by the time I got up!  And by the time I set off walking just after 9am, there were only a couple of tents remaining.

Just a couple of tents remaining as I set off walking

I followed the riverside path along the Gelder Burn for a few hundred metres before it petered out into the heather.  Therefore I opted to head directly across the rough ground to an area of recently burnt heather and on up to the vehicle track.  Perhaps I should I just taken the slightly longer way round via vehicle tracks instead from the bothy!

Lochnagar from near Gelder Shiel

Last views back to the Cairngorms on the way up Conachcraig

I ascended along the vehicle track for a couple of kilometres, past Little Conachcraig, before deciding that it was time to begin my ascent up to my first hill of the day: Conachcraig.  The ascent was up some pretty steep rough, rocky and heathery ground, so it took a while to pick my way through.  I saw a couple of ptarmigan on my ascent up into the mist; the cloud base was at around 800m so the tops were only just cloud covered!

Eventually I reached the summit of the subsidiary top of Caisteal na Caillich (Corbett Top) at around quarter past eleven.  A reasonably pleasant misty walk over the plateau, punctuated with granite outcrops brought me to the higher summit of Conachcraig (Corbett, Marilyn) around thirty minutes later.

On the summit of Conachcraig

After a quick break I descended SW by way of a path back down to the vehicle track; clearly this was the most popular way to ascend this Corbett!  My pace increased noticeably as I followed the reasonable track down towards Glen Muick.

Heading down the track into Glen Muick

Soon I caught sight of another couple of backpackers ahead of me; I wondered if they were probably challengers too.  I didn't have to wonder too long as I had soon caught up with them and discovered that they were Laura & Louise, who thought I was slightly crazy to have nipped up Conachcraig on route from Gelder Shiel!

In the Glen Muick woods

Louise & Laura approaching Allt-na-giubhsaich

I walked down through the woods with them and past a shuttered up building near Allt-na-giubhsaich to reach the floor of the glen.  A pleasant flat kilometre or so led across the glen and over the River Muick.

Crossing the River Muick

Soon we reached the visitor centre at the Spittal of Glen Muick, where we stopped for lunch on a handy bench outside in the warm sunshine :-).

After a reasonably long and restful break in the sunshine, I decided that I'd better get going again as I still had to get over to the Water of Mark if I was going to fit Mount Keen into my day tomorrow.  Therefore at around 2pm I set off walking up alongside the pleasant Allt Darrarie.  Lynsey and I had previously walked this way back in 2008, during the only few hours of rain of our entire crossing!

The Allt Darrarie

Bridge over the Allt Darrarie

Higher up the path ends around a stream confluence, and I followed the left hand branch of the Burn of Mohamed up onto the peaty and heathery moorland above.  Back in 2008 we'd headed towards the Shielin of Mark, but this time I opted to bypass it and instead aim to pick up the Water of Mark further downstream.

The Burn of Mohamed

The upper part of the Burn of Mohamed

After reaching the headwaters of the Burn of Mohamed, I crossed the peat hags for a few hundred metres before picking up another burn heading SE towards the Water of Mark.  This made for a reasonably pleasant route and I was soon walking downstream along the Water of Mark.

For the first couple of kilometres along the river, I was able to cross at will to pick the easiest line although this was only possible due to the low water level.  As I got further downstream the glen became more well defined with steeper sides, meaning that I was sometimes down at water level and other times picking a way across the heather slopes high up above the burn.

The Water of Mark a couple of km downstream from Shielin of Mark

Looking down Glen Mark

The Water of Mark near Craig Michael, with Mount Keen in the distance

After a lovely couple of hours walking down Glen Mark, I reached my planned halt for the day around the northernmost point of the Water of Mark at 5pm.  However it seemed too early to stop walking on such a wonderful afternoon, and with the tops of the hills forecast to be in cloud tomorrow I decided to press on and climb Mount Keen this evening!

My original plan had been to follow one of the side streams up onto the moorland, but I'd noticed that the slopes of Little Hill seemed to offer a grassy alternative ascent.  This turned out to be quite pleasant initially, but soon turned into rough heathery moorland.  However there were lots of mountain hares bounding around on the moor this evening, which were entertaining to watch :-).

Looking East towards Mount Keen

A hazy view down into Glen Tanar from the NW slopes of Mount Keen

I picked a route across the peaty moorland for a few kilometres to reach the Mounth Road track, which I crossed and ascended to join the track heading up the NW slopes of Mount Keen.  At around half-past seven I reached the trigpoint and summit rocks of Mount Keen (Munro, Marilyn), just as the mist started to descend!  However there were still hazy views down towards Glen Tanar when the mist thinned.

The summit rocks of Mount Keen

On the misty summit of Mount Keen

I had a pleasant rest, savouring my last mountain summit of this year's crossing.  However eventually I decided that perhaps I'd better actually descend off this rocky and windy hill top and actually find somewhere to camp!  A good path led south, past a boundary stone, towards Glen Mark.  A while later this turned into a vehicle track, which I followed down to the Ladder Burn.

Boundary stone on Mount Keen

The track alongside the Ladder Burn

I had wondered whether there might be anywhere to camp alongside this burn, but it all looked to be unpleasantly heathery so I opted to continue my descent towards Glen Mark.  Soon after 9pm I reached Glenmark cottage and headed towards the Queen's Well in search of somewhere to camp.

Looking back to Glenmark cottage at dusk

Looking up Glen Mark at dusk

After deciding that the Queen's Well wasn't really an inviting spot to camp, I finally pitched the tent down near the Water of Mark.  It was now almost 9:30pm and I'd had been walking for over twelve hours so I was now pretty tired!  However it did mean that I was only around 9km away from Tarfside, which would mean for a short day tomorrow :-).