TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 14: Brechin to Lunan Bay

After a large cooked breakfast, I set off from Brechin just before 9am for the half-day walk to the coast in the sunshine.

Most of the walk was along roads, which was tedious. However a few km were across Rossie Moor, which were along pleasant paths. However not all the paths shown on the map actually existed, which made for some interesting navigation. If only the OS marked rights of way on maps of Scotland!

I arrived at Lunan Bay shortly after midday, where Lynsey was waiting for me. After dipping my feet in the North Sea, we headed to the car for lunch. Just as we got into the car there was a torrential downpour; clearly I had finished just in time! It had been a good third crossing, although it was a bit strange walking without Lynsey.

Position: llz=56.71681,-2.46121

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 14 Plan

Distance: 16km, Ascent: 200m

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My final day's walking should only take a few hours and I hope to reach Lunan Bay in time for lunch.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 13: Tarfside to Brechin

After a late night last night and hearing warnings of peat hags and electric fences without crossing points, I decided to give the Hill of Wirren a miss. Instead I headed south through the Clash of Wirren, which was a gap in the hills, although not as impressive as the map suggests.

I dropped down to meet the minor road that runs alongside the West Water, which I followed for just over an hour.

It was starting to rain as I ascended up the road to the Caterthun hill forts. By the time I reached the top of the White Caterthun, it was hailing heavily.

I plodded along the road to Brechin in the pouring rain, whilst listening to music to relieve the tedium of road walking. I reached Brechin at 4:30, where I met up with Lynsey again. It rained most of the evening and I was glad to be staying inside this evening!

Position: llz=56.73120,-2.66336

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 13 Plan

Distance: 28km, Ascent: 920m

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The last two years Lynsey and I have walked from Tarfside down the valley to the campsite at North Water Bridge. This year I've decided to take a different route out of Tarfside via the Clash of Wirren and then on to Brechin where I'll be meeting up with Lynsey again.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 12: Water of Unich to Tarfside

I woke at 6am with ice of the inside of the flysheet; it had clearly been a cold night. I went back to sleep in the warmth of my tent and had a bit of a lie in; today was going to be an easy day after all!

John, Ian and I left at 9:15 to follow the many meanders of the Water of Unich as we followed it downstream. The Falls of Damff and the Falls of Unich were both very impressive, as was the narrow valley between them.

Once below the Falls of Unich, Ian & I made a beeline for Tarfside, meeting various other challengers on the way. I arrived just before 4 (my earliest finish yet!), and had tea, cake & a shower in the hostel, before heading down to the camping field. Dinner was sausage & egg bap with chips, followed by a scone; a pleasant change from dehydrated food!

Position: llz=56.90476,-2.83321

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 12 Plan

Distance: 23.5km, Ascent: 680m

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If the weather is good then I plan to bag the most easterly Munro, Mount Keen, this morning and then head on to Tarfside.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 11: Braemar to Water of Unich

As I write this, the cheese & wine party by the side of the Water of Unich has just drawn to a close and we've all retired to our tents due to the cold evening. Thanks to Alan & Phil for the invite; it was an excellent evening. I was glad that I decided to alter my route to include it!

I set off from Braemar shortly after 9am and followed the minor road south. After walking for 3km, I was relieved to discover that the footbridge marked on the map did actually exist!

Lynsey was waiting for me at the bottom of the track up to Loch Callater, which was a nice surprise. After saying goodbye again, I headed up to Lochcallater Lodge for tea.  The weather improved as I climbed away from Loch Callater to Cairn Bannoch and then onto Broad Cairn. The views across to Lochnagar were excellent.

At the estate hut east of Broad Cairn I met a group of challengers who had set off from Lochcallater Lodge this morning: John, Mick, Peter & Gerry. They too were heading for the cheese & wine, so I spent the rest of the afternoon walking with them over the rough ground riddled with peat hags.

We reached the headwaters of the Water of Unich just after 7pm. After 15 minutes walking, we were relieved to find a group of tents; they had stopped a couple of km short. I pitched my tent, had a cup of tea and took my Argentinian Shiraz & Wensleydale with Cranberries over to join the party.

Position: llz=56.89177,-3.10264

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 11 Plan

Distance: 30.0km, Ascent: 1180m

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This morning I plan to walk to Lochcallater Lodge, where I'll drop in for tea, before heading up into the hills again and I'm aiming to camp somewhere near the headwaters of the Mark.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 9: Falls of Tarf to Braemar & Day 10: Rest Day in Braemar

I set off from the Falls of Tarf just before 9 on another scorching day, with not a cloud in the sky. I followed the path towards Fealar Lodge, before cutting up through heather to reach a welcome stream to resupply with water.

I stuck to the higher ground, occasionally following faint paths, as I ascended the west top of Carn Bhac. As I walked across to the true summit, the views across to the Cairngorm plateau showed that there was still plenty of snow up high.

I had lunch in the cooler air on the summit before desending north-east to Inverey, where I joined the road to Braemar. It was a boring walk along the baking hot road for the first hour of so. Then I met Lynsey, who had walked out of Braemar to meet me, which was a nice surprise!

We walked the final 20 minutes or so into Braemar together. I was feeling very warm from the day's walk so I headed straight an ice cream, before we headed to the Fife Arms to catch up with other challengers. Dinner was fish & chips followed by an evening in the Moorfield drinking the excellent Trade Winds :)

Sunday was a novelty, as it was an entire rest day; not something we've had in previous years. We saw many challengers around town in the morning, in Braemar Mountain Sports and at the Hungry Highlander. We took an afternoon trip a few miles down the Dee to spend some time looking round Balmoral, before heading out for an evening meal to celebrate Lynsey's birthday (only three days late!) All in all, a very pleasant day :)

Position: llz=57.00604,-3.40062

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 9 Plan

Distance: 23.5km, Ascent: 790m

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After another Munro this morning, I plan to drop down to Braemar where I'll be meeting Lynsey for the first time on my walk and will also be taking a rest day.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 8: Gaick to Falls of Tarf

Well what a day it has been! 31km, the first 20 or so over rough terrain, and it all in the sort of heat that you'd normally associate with trekking in the Pyrenees or the Alps not the Highlands!

I set off at 8:30 and headed east on a path overgrown with heather. When this petered out I continued east across peat hags to reach upper Glen Bruar at 11, which is where I should have camped last night. I was glad I decided not to push on last night as it would have meant arriving very late! However, I now had my entire planned day ahead of me and it was already 11, so even now I knew I'd be camping late this evening.  The next few km proved to be as rough as Ann & Alvar had warned. Eventually I reached the Tarf Water and had a pleasant rest on one of it's many beaches. The hour or so of walking down the Tarf was good, with the ground much easier than before.

I then turned south to skirt Loch Mhairc on the west side and then headed up Carn a'Chlamain. There were a couple of light showers during the ascent, but no sign of the forecast thunderstorms, so I continued on upwards keeping an eye out for anvil shaped clouds!

The views from the summit of Carn a'Chlamain were excellent and I could pick out all the peaks that Lynsey & I had climbed on a three day backpack in this area last year.  There was now a path all the way from the summit to the Falls of Tarf, so I was able to make relatively swift progress. However it was still 9pm by the time I arrived at the Falls of Tarf after a very long, but good, day.

Position: llz=56.89632,-3.67064

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 8 Plan

Distance: 23.5km, Ascent: 760m

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Today should be a good walk along parts of the Tarf and Tilt with a hopefully a hill in-between. I plan to camp at the Falls of Tarf.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 7: Dalwhinnie to Gaick

The cafe next to the bunkhouse provided an excellent cooked breakfast, which made a pleasant change from the museli with dried milk that I'd had for the previous six mornings.

It was overcast when I left Dalwhinnie shortly after 9:30 and headed south for a couple of km. It was then time to cross the A9, which is a major landmark on any TGO challenge route as it marks the approximate half-way point (give or take a day).

A landrover track made for an easyish ascent up to 900m, where it was time for a detour to the south to bag A'Bhuidheanach Bheag. I returned north to climb Carn na Caim in almost perfect hillwalking weather: dry, overcast and warm but not too hot, with a pleasant breeze. There were a few others out walking with daysacks, but once I left the Munros I saw no-one else for the rest of the day.

I headed east over rough moorland covered with peat hags for 4km and eventually picked up a faint path dropping down towards Gaick. I was surprised not to see any other challengers around here.
I found a lovely spot to camp by the side of the Allt Gharbh Ghaig at 7pm and decided to spend the night. Therefore, I'll have to make an early start tomorrow to make sure I make it to the Falls of Tarf.

Position: llz=56.91511,-4.02461

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 7 Plan

Distance: 30.5km, Ascent: 1270m

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I should be crossing the A9 this morning and then climbing two Munros before heading east to Glen Bruar.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 6: Melgarve to Dalwhinnie

Today looked to be an easy, but long, day, but somehow it didn't turn out that way!

John, Andrew & I left Melgarve just after 8:30 for the road walk to Garva Bridge and the day was already quite hot. After a few more km along the road, we headed S along a landrover track to the A86. The map looked to show a shortcut that cut off some of the road, but after following a track for 5 minutes, we ended up outside the garden of a big estate house. The woman who was tending the garden kindly let us through so we didn't have to walk all the way round!

We found a lovely spot to spot and dip our feet in the River Pattack to cool off, just by some waterfalls. The first hour or so from here went well along good forest tracks. However they eventually ran out and we picked our way across the open moorland. When we eventually reached the road near Dalwhinnie there was a handy sign informing us that the right of way we had just followed was not evenident on the ground, which by that time we had already worked out!

The new bunkhouse still had space when we arrived, so I stayed there and had soup, stew & cake for dinner :)

Position: llz=56.93517,-4.24245

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 6 Plan

Distance: 30.5km, Ascent: 780m

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Another long day today, hopefully including a couple of Munros before finishing in Dalwhinnie.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 5: Laggan Locks to Melgarve

I was feeling very tired this morning after the previous two long days, and the weather forecast didn't look to be good for tomorrow, so I decided against my plan for a high camp. Instead I decided to head to Melgarve bothy via Glen Roy.

I set off from the hostel with John, Andrew, Alan & Phil at 10am for the climb up the 'Fairy Glen'. We had been given instructions from the hostel regarding the best way out of the forest, which we followed. The faint path petered out above the forest, so it was then a rough walk across to Glen Turret.

In Glen Turret we found the remains of two ruined shepherd's huts, with only the fireplaces & chimneys remaining; one of them even had a saucepan & kettle by the fire!  We had a lovely sunny afternoon walk up Glen Roy, stopping for some long breaks for brews in the sunshine.

Alan & Phil stopped at Luib-chonnal, but Andrew, John & I decided to push on to Melgarve. As we neared Melgarve, we met Peter & Avril and then Humphrey. We arrived around 9pm and had dinner & whisky in the last light of the day.

Position: llz=57.03026,-4.53383

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 5 Plan

Distance: 21.5km, Ascent: 1330m

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Another shorter day today, with no hills planned but ending with a high wild camp near Creag Meagaidh.

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 4: Eas Chia-aig Waterfalls to Laggan Locks

There wasn't a cloud in the sky when I got out of the tent this morning. I set off walking up past the Eas Chia-aig waterfalls at 9am.  The going was easy for the first hour and a half along the forest tracks. The ground was then quite rough all the way up to the Cam Bealach, which I reached at 12:30 for lunch.

Leaving all my camping stuff hidden behind a boulder in the bealach, I nipped up the two munros: Meall na Teanga and Sron a Choire Ghairbh. It drizzled intermittently on the way up to the summits, but luckily the cloud stayed high enough to ensure I had some good views from the tops.

I reached the forest track above Loch Lochy at 5ish, then the hostel at 6:30ish where I met Peter & Avril. John, Andrew, Alan & Phil arrived somewhat later having been waylaid by the floating pub.

Position: llz=57.03409,-4.81418

TGO Challenge 2010 - Day 4 Plan

Distance: 21km, Ascent: 910m

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A shorter day today, mainly through forest but I should hopefully be able to include an ascent of Ben Tee.