Bags of Stuff...........

Not long now!

I was going to weigh all my kit for the Challenge and produce a neat list (as others have done) but........it's a little too scary!

Instead I'll just tell you that I've put everything in stuff bags - colour coded as far as possible. If I pluck up the courage I'll weigh each bag and make a total. That may not happen.

The bus leaves here just after 8 am on Wednesday morning and I'll have to be ready by then.....it'll limit the re-packing impulse a bit. From Aberdeen I'll catch the bus to Forres where Louise and I will meet up. On Thursday we'll travel from Inverness to Shiel Bridge where we'll start our Challenge on Friday morning. It's really not possible to travel by public transport from one side of Scotland to the other comfortably in only one day hence the Wednesday start.

I had intended to post some of my pre-Challenge training walks but sadly I didn't get round to doing that. Mostly I'm depending on two weeks recent walking in Provence and some regular day walking to give me enough fitness for the route we've planned.  That fortnight was almost all sunshine and I wore my shorts every day.

{TGOC training in Provence....}

In previous years I've had trouble with my feet on the Challenge so this year I'm going to try the Inov-8 solution. Much lighter weight and cooler than boots I've got a newish pair of Ladies Terroc 308 (now discontinued!).

There's also a new rucksack to try out. The Granite Gear that I used last year and the year before remains on top of my wardrobe - I haven't taken the decision completely to replace it yet. Last Autumn I bought a Lowe Alpine Nanon 50 + 10 - it has more pockets and should be easier for packing and accessing stuff on the hoof than the Granite Gear.

{New rucksack waiting to be filled up....}

Stuff Bags - Ready to Go

Blue Tent Bag - MSR Hubba with footprint, extra guys, j-cloth.

Long Red Bag - MSR tent pole, tent pegs.

Blue Bag - Vango short self-inflating sleep mat, Poundland blow-up pillow

Exped Grey Bag -  Tundra Warmth Unlimited -5 down sleeping bag.

Exped Blue Bag - clothes: fleece, Ron Hill tracksters, 1 spare Icebreaker undies, long sleeved zip top,
SS Smartwool t-shirt, Smartwool longjohns, silk LS top, I pair thick walking socks (sleeping),
3 pairs merino wool socks, spare Buff.

Exped Yellow Bag - repair/emergency kit: fleece hat, wool Buff, head-torch, shoo-goo, Tenacious tape,
Montane Primaloft gloves, emergency foil bivvy bag.

Exped Orange Bag - waterproofs: Goretex socks, Goretex over-mitts, lightweight gaiters.

Black Bag - stove/cooking: Coleman F1 stove, Alpkit titanium mug, collapsible food bowl with lid, 2 Lexan foons, 1 spatula, tiny frying pan, windshield, tiny bottle of oil, tiny bottle of Dr. Bronner's Peppermint liquid soap, Wind-proof lighter, small folding bowl, piece of w/u sponge, TGOC mug, 100g gas canister,
canister stabilising feet.

Mesh Bag - Mountain Equipment Primaloft jacket with hood.

Exped Red Bag - food: dried vegetables (cherry tomatoes, courgettes, peppers, mushrooms), spicy couscous, dried mashed potatoes, soya protein mince, falafel mix, angel hair pasta, whole egg powder, rolled oats, dried milk powder, tea-bags, coffee sticks, oat crunchy bars, mixed nuts, mixed dried fruit, packet of small Tortilla wraps, 2 small single serving packets of humous, 4 cuppa soups, squeezy mini-juice, 2 x Pour & Store bags.

Light Green Bag - small micro-fibre towel, wash kit: Dr. Bronner's Lavender liquid soap, Faith in Nature rosemary shampoo, tiny tub of toothpaste, tiny tub of foot cream, tiny tin of vaseline, half a toothbrush, baby talc, small hairbrush, moisturiser, deodorant wipes.

Green First Aid Bag - Compeed plasters, tape, antiseptic cream, moleskin, Engo blue anti-friction plasters.

Red Pill Bag - daily Thyroxine tablets, Ibuprofen, Paracetamol, hayfever eye drops, anti-histamine nasal spray, Kwells (for the boat trip).

Orange Toilet Bag - digging stick, wipes, toilet paper.

Various Other Stuff - compass, whistle, Montane wind-shirt, head-net and anti-midge gel, camera, smart phone in Aquapac case, spare batteries, mobile charger, note book and pencil, tissues, tiny pen knife, spare lighter, lip-salve, handkerchief, full length foil mat, piece of foam sit map, spare glasses, suntan cream, sun hat, money and credit card in purse, bus-pass, TGOC card, waterproof hip pouch, Water-to-Go filter bottle in Lifeventure carry case, 2 x 1 litre flexible water bottles, water treatment drops, ranger beads.

Map Bag - 4 maps, A5 Ortlieb case with route print outs, TGOC route sheets.

Wearing - Paramo jacket, Paramo trousers, Inov-8 trainers, Bridgedale socks, Icebreaker undies, wicking t-shirt, Anatom walking poles.

I expect I've forgotten to mention something important! When it's written down it looks very daunting and not very lightweight so there may be some weeding to do before I catch that bus............

{Some of the bags!}

My daily 'scamper'.......

The news that Louise and I have a place on the Challenge next May shocked me into realising that I need to make an effort to get fitter.

I have been walk leading for HF in recent weeks but it's all too easy to get back home and take a lot of 'rest' days.... SO I have vowed to myself  (and now I'm making it a public statement) - I will go out every day for at least half an hour!  This 'scamper' will be taken even on horrible weather days - after all I've spent a lot of money on really good waterproof gear and I should use it - not just carry it around on sunny days.....

The route is simple, flat and only just over two kilometres. Perhaps, once I can do this comfortably I will go round twice.

Last Saturday I took some photos on the circuit.

{Larch woods surround the Kirk}

{Passing the Tourist Information and Post Office building}

{Looking back to the Balmoral bridge}

{The War Memorial after the bridge}

{View of the Kirk across the river}

{The Balmoral Golf course crosses the road}

{Just before crossing the old bridge}

{Dangerously greasy footing on the bridge}

{Heading home}

I noticed today that it didn't take as long as half an hour to do the route. A definition of scamper I've just found implies a bit of running - in my case this is not going to happen!

scamper  (ˈskæmpə)
— vb
1.	to run about playfully
2.	( often foll by  through ) to hurry quickly through (a place,  task,book, etc)

Just visiting.............

For a long time I've harboured a desire to visit the Islands off the west coast of Scotland so when I saw an advert for the Harris Mountain Festival I made a decision to go along. There was no charge for the walks offered and there was a good deal on accommodation at the Scaladale Centre. Travel wouldn't be a problem - I could use my bus pass to get to Ullapool then use the ferry as a foot passenger to Stornoway.

I dreamed of blue sky, golden beaches and wild mountain places. Mmmm!

The travelling was a doddle although the grave warnings of gale force winds sent me running to Boots to buy some anti-travel sickness pills for the ferry - boats not being my favourite way to go - especially those that go up and down and round.......

While waiting for the delayed ferry in Ullapool I took one of the pills and then watched a couple of harbour seals popping their heads up in the bay - obviously also waiting for the ferry to arrive.

There was a good deal of up and down and round but I kind of dozed my way through it all. I was briefly fascinated by my co-travellers. Two ladies knitting, a group playing cards and others laying flat out on the seats covered by coats, sleeping. I suspected they may have been the frequent travellers.

{Finally arriving in Stornoway - the bus station}

{Heb Hostel, Stornoway}

Stornoway was wild, wet and windy but I found a warm welcome at the Heb Hostel. The next bus towards Tarbert wasn't till the next day - giving me time in the morning to take a different bus to the standing stones at Callanish. It was an awe-inspiring place so I spent quite a long time wandering around the stones, although by the time I came to take a couple of pictures there were quite a few people doing the same thing making it difficult to get just the stones in the frame.  Eventually I hid from the wind in the cafe hugging a cappuccino until my bus back to Stornoway was due.

{Main circle of stones at Callanish}

{More standing stones at Callanish}

When I finally arrived at Scaladale there were two other walkers already staying for the Festival. A stroke of luck for me as I discovered that moving around on the island without a car was going to be really difficult. Both of the ladies came from Yorkshire and I thoroughly enjoyed their company during the few days we shared. One of them was interested in the TGO Challenge and has since emailed me to say she's ready to send off her application for 2014! I feel like a missionary.....

I had a short walk up behind the Centre, with great views between the showers over Loch Seaforth. The sudden squalls were accompanied by strong, cold gusts of wind.

{The Scaladale Centre}

{Information board behind the Centre}

{The view from the top}

The walk the next morning was advertised as an 'Eagle Walk'. The assembly point was the car park at Bhiogadail, not far from the Centre, and I had been prepared to walk back along the road to it but gratefully accepted a lift from my two new friends. Quite a big group set off and we scanned the sky for Golden Eagles. The ranger led us to the bealach and then up hill to a small top over looking Loch Langabhat. The storm was still lingering and despite the wind we did get a couple of good sightings of large birds of prey.

{Bird watching....}

{View of Loch Langabhat}

The evening was spent in Tarbert listening to the first time Chris Townsend had delivered his Scottish Watershed Walk talk. Brilliant photos, but the route itself looked very hard.

Until I met the ladies with their car I had been going to miss the thursday walk as there was no way to get there on a bus. Fortunately I was delivered to the start point which was beside the beach at Scarasta. Without a path and sploshing through some very wet pools, the group climbed to the top of Meabhal. There were great views from the top and a trig point for the young ones to play on!

{Trig point on Meabhal}

By the time we had had lunch and descended back to the beach car park the sun was out. At last the blue sky and the golden beaches!

{The beach at Scarasta}

On the way back to the Centre we took a detour to the beach at Losgaintir, wandering through the dunes, looking across the sound to Taransay.

{View from Losgaintir beach}

The beautiful weather didn't last long and by the next morning the heavy mist, wind and rain were back. I ditched plans for the hill above Tarbert and took the bus all the way to Leverburgh. I had planned to walk along to the old Chapel and get the later bus back. Getting off the bus was difficult, the wind was so strong it nearly took my legs from under me. I wandered about for about 8 minutes, then, as the original bus was still there, I hopped back on, to the amusement of the driver and went back to the Centre!

{Windswept Leverburgh}

Next morning I made my way back, eventually, to Aberdeenshire - where it appeared to have been a lovely sunny and warm week. My island adventure was done.

Till the next time.................................

Walking in the Borders...........

Once the gales had calmed down the weather improved during the week, reached a peak then deteriorated rapidly again to a huge storm on the Friday night. A new D of E group had arrived by then, and I watched them struggling to put up some big flappy tents.

Later, as the rain and wind became more persistent, I decided to make a last dash to the toilet block. Opening the door I was met by the sight of ALL of these D of E girls, rucksack contents tipped onto the floor, wet clothing hanging over every door, and so much damp air my glasses instantly steamed up.....not quite the experience they were supposed to be having!

Apparently, by the morning, two of their tents had collapsed and some of the girls had been taken home. That accounted for the cars which came and went in the middle of the night.....worried parents!  I wondered whether those girls would ever camp again.

Anyway.....the Walks............

1. Innerleithen Circular - This walk on the first day was not really the one I signed up to do. I met a group by accident at the St. Ronan's Wells visitor centre and was invited by the leader to join them for the afternoon. After the tea and cake we wandered on down to the river banks while the leader told us about the historical background to Innerleithen. The town had once had several large mills and warehouses. The proximity of the Tweed and Innerleithen Water being key to those industries.

{Buses were organised to/from walks - all part of the daily charge}

2. Tweedbank to Clovenfords by Torweedlee Broch - This walk was lead by a Ranger from the Scottish Borders Council Ranger Service. It took in the northern part of the Gala Circuit and we had some good views of the Eildon Hills. After exploring the site of the ruined Broch, we finished up sitting outside the Inn at Clovenfords waiting for our bus, a large glass of blackcurrant and soda with ice in my hand.....other drinks were available......

{Sir Walter Scott's statue outside the Inn at Clovenfords}

3. Stobo Circular - I chose a shorter walk for the day so that I could hop off the bus in Peebles and go to the John Buchan Centre. In the end I didn't do that as it was such a glorious day I walked the six miles back to Innerleithen from Peebles on a newly opened footpath alongside the river, mostly along the line of the old railway.

{Glorious views from the Peebles to Innerleithen path}

{Halfway to Innerleithen - the old railway station is put to good use}

The circular walk beside Stobo Castle was a pleasant wander partly on the John Buchan Way. Dropping down towards the Castle (now an 'exclusive' health club) we only had time to peer into the Japanese Gardens. At the start the local farmer had entertained us with a rather lengthy talk about his life and work which meant the pace of the walk was a little faster than was comfortable for some of the group. Trying to 'hurry' doesn't really work as the time taken waiting for the back of the group to catch up slows the whole thing down drastically. In my opinion it's better to keep a steady reasonable pace for everyone.....

{Lunch spot on the edge of the forest}

 4. Blackhopebyre to Innerleithen - This was a rough walk over wild ground above Innerleithen. We climbed Windlestraw Law and Glede Knowe. Our morning break was taken in the grouse butts and there were great views over the hills. Fortunately the ground was not too wet and we managed to skip lightly over the boggy stuff on the tops.

{View from my grouse butt.....}

{Reaching the trig point..............}

5.  Rhymer's Walk - This was probably my favourite walk of the week. First we visited (or rather didn't visit) the Eildon Tree Stone. This stone marks the spot where Thomas the Rhymer first met the Faery Queen. After this he acquired prophetic powers enabling him to make some significant predictions - I can't remember what they were! The group leader showed us the stone from about 50 m away........it was a shame we didn't just go and look at it!

The route then took us above Melrose, between the Eildon Hills over Bowden Moor to Cauldshiels Loch. The return to Melrose through Rhymer's Glen was stunning. This last part of the walk took us onto the land once owned by Sir Walter Scott as part of the Abottsford House estate.  Waiting for the bus in Melrose we found an ice-cream shop.............

{Looking over Melrose}

{Cauldshiels Loch}

{Follow the Leader - down to Rhymer's Wood}

{Spooky - but stunning! The path through Rhymer's Glen}

6. Abbotsford House - Friday dawned wet and misty. The previous evening after the Rhymer's walk I had decided that a visit to Abbotsford House was a good way to end the trip to this part of the Borders. I have long been a fan of Sir Walter Scott; my Kindle has a collection of his work which I dip into from time to time. The rain hammered down the whole time I was there. The visitor's centre was very informative, and I bought a couple of books in the shop. Tours of the house are taken with audio units, and very interesting it was too.

{Abbotsford House}

Because I was camping I didn't attend any of the evening events that were on offer - and I had to leave before the last day and missed the closing ceremony and parade through Innerleithen. However, I did enjoy the Festival. The walks were really well organised, and a reasonable cost (£6) which included bus transport as required. At the end of every day there were cakes and tea available for a donation. The organising team were friendly, helpful and cheerful......I'm going to look out for the Festival next year when it'll be based around Jedburgh.

{Memorable view from the tent}

Base camping in the Scottish Borders.......

Languishing with the grandchildren in France I realised I was missing my regular two or three walks each week and gradually becoming rather lethargic as a consequence. I searched on the magic web for a remedy once we had waved goodbye to the Shanghai contingent and it had all gone very quiet.

Without too much effort I found that the Scottish Borders Walking Festival was due to run from 1st to 7th September. There were four or more walks every day and it was being hosted jointly by Innerleithen, Walkerburn and Clovenfords for 2013. More investigation followed and I discovered there was a campsite in Innerleithen - so a plan was beginning to form..........

When first I was old enough for my bus pass I had had a vague plan to use it for a Grand Tour all round Scotland so it appeared fairly painless to use the pass and travel to Innerleithen. I could catch the service bus to Aberdeen, Citylink to Edinburgh then another service bus to Innerleithen - it would cost me the booking fee for Citylink - 50 p.

I had resealed some small tears in the fly sheet of my MSR Hubba backpacking tent so I was looking forward to testing it out. Thinking about base-camping in a very small tent I decided I would have to take a few extra 'luxuries' to make day-to-day living more comfortable. I splashed out on a new 60 litre duffle bag to hold my camping stuff, clothes and a restricted amount of clothing - made by Osprey, it has rucksack straps to carry it though I had to take a day sack as well for the daily walks.

The 'extras' I decided on were my Kindle loaded with a good choice of books, one of those camping mat seat contraptions and an extra 99p plastic groundsheet to put at the entrance of the tent.

The camp site was booked (£9 per night) and the walks chosen at £6 per day.

{Helpful signs in the village}

{Sunday's Registration centre was easy to find}

The travel plan went well and I arrived in good order, struggled a bit walking with the bags down to the camp site but had no problem later finding the place to register for the next morning.

The camp site was quite full when I arrived - a couple of D of E groups, weekend caravanners and the camping field was chock-a-block with a group of motor bikers. I found a fairly sheltered alternative pitch next to a caravan and behind a hedge. More by luck and laziness than judgement, I stayed there for the week and managed to avoid the flooding at the end of the week!

{My pitched tent - after a heavy shower}

{First morning - still wet and windy too!}

An extremely windy first night meant I didn't sleep at all so after registering at the Walk centre I withdrew from the first day's walking, had a quiet morning dozing in the tent and then investigated the town instead.

{St Ronan's Well}

In the afternoon, after a sandwich and coffee in the local cafe, I wandered up to St Ronan's Well. This is an historic spa, popularised by Sir Walter Scott, and well-known as a health resort during the nineteenth century. From here the first bottled mineral spring water 'St Ronan's' was given Royal approval in 1900.  The museum was open and I was welcomed with a cup of tea and a piece of cake and joined the members of one of the shorter walks for the remainder of the afternoon.

Back with the group at the Registration centre - there was more tea and plenty of cake! So the day which had started badly in the morning turned out to be quite a good introduction for the rest of the week.............

{Just a sample..........}

Of many parts..........

Missing so many opportunities to write this blog has created a huge backlog of possible stories. And I have no idea where to start.......all of which indecision only adds to my 'blogger's block'.

A few unkind comments about my writing had left me wounded and then more than three weeks in the Summer without proper Internet or even a mobile phone signal just added insult to injury. Those three weeks were spent in Northern France as co-carer (with the other Granny) for two grandchildren holidaying away from the heat and pollution of Shanghai, without their parents. There was plenty of swimming, playing in the garden, dancing and dressing-up, even some road biking but, sadly, not much walking.

After a week back in Pitlochry where we celebrated a little girl's third birthday, had picnics by the Loch, and enjoyed a surprise visit from a certain person who lives in Canada, it all went quiet..............

There have been some great walks since then. A long planned trip up Creag nam Ban, an exploration of the old railway line in Glenlochsie, Friday walks with the local group and some joint ventures with Louise, usually involving tea and cakes of course, have filled my time.

Last week I used my bus pass and my backpacking tent to join the Scottish Borders Walking Festival.

So there is plenty to write about........I just have to get started.................

{Walking the new trail from Peebles to Innerleithen}

Blogger's Block..............

but I am trying really hard to get through it..............

{Loch Faskally at sunset....}

Overnight camping on the Dava Way.......

It's only a short while until the set-off date for this year's TGO Challenge - but there is still a lot of training needed......

One thing left to do was to have an overnight camp somewhere wild(ish) to test out the patching on my tent fly after last year's disaster when it all flew away in a 100 mile an hour gust of wind. I've bought a new footprint as the original one was completely shredded and the inner seems un-damaged. Unfortunately there are abrasion marks and small splits in the fly sheet. After seeking advice from MSR I have used some patches they kindly sent me along with some seam-sealer to try and make it watertight again.

After pitching it in the dining room for a few days it was time to test it out.

Louise and I arranged for me to get the bus to Forres so we could have a night out on the Dava Way. This is the route of an old railway line which ran from Forres to Grantown-on-Spey (more info here). The weather forecast was rather mixed but not altogether miserable.

I tried to pack all the essentials for the Challenge with a few exceptions. I wasn't carrying the obligatory pile of maps, days of food, wading sandals, and a few other odds and ends I like to shove in the bag just before I leave. My lightweight Paramo Velez jacket was going to get a try out to replace the 3rd Element Paramo and I took an old Paramo shirt instead of my Challenge fleece. There was a new Alpkit waterproof cover to put over the rucksack and I hadn't attempted to carry such a heavy pack since I broke my shoulder last summer.

{Setting off along the track}

{A frog/toad on the path..}

We didn't intend to WALK very far on this trip so after plodding along, trying a little puddle jumping, we started to look out for somewhere to pitch the tents. Louise has a new Terra Nova number which she wanted to try. The pitch needed to score at least 7 on the scale of 'good places to wild camp'. The first requirement was 'out of the wind' which was forecast to be a bit blustery by morning. A bit of a view would be nice too and hopefully not on too wet or muddy ground.......

Further along than we thought we would have to go, we eventually decided to leave the Way and explore a farm steading at Bogeney behind the Knock of Braemoray. The land immediately beside the old walls was too stoney and lumpy but by following the track above the ruin we found a good spot and after a bit of a faff while we worked out which way to face the tents, we pitched and settled in.

{Just getting organised....}

During the night I discovered (in no particular order) that I had pitched over a lump, my sleeping bag needed more shaking to properly distribute the down, using spare clothes as a pillow is fine until you need to wear them, low flying aircraft and helicopters sound very close in the dark, the ground was exceptionally cold and settling down to go to sleep before 9 pm means I need to get up before morning to visit the bushes........but it did rain and the fly didn't leak....... Louise will probably mention the snipe drumming and the curlew calls......and an owl or two....

One of the things I hadn't taken was a spare battery for the phone so I turned it off which meant when getting up at dawn I couldn't take a photo but it was spectacular.....the sky was golden and the tents were frozen solid.....magic!

{Packed up and ready to leave....}

There was no hurry, so we chatted and packed up after cups of tea and flapjacks. (Thank you Louise, chocolate and ginger goodies - mmmm!). Just as the tents were stuffed away there was a heavy hail storm....

We strolled along to Logie Steading. Viewranger wasn't engaged so I have no idea how far it was.....maybe about 7 miles......we passed the Half Way Hut with its smart benches and picture boards, then over the Divie Viaduct with its 7 arches, a detour past an old station platform and had a coffee break at the Dunphail Breathing Place.

{Rucksacks resting outside at Logie Steading...}

Lunch was eaten and then David (Louise's husband) came to pick us up and I caught a much-delayed bus back to Aberdeen.

Now the kitchen smells of wet tent and I'm resting and reflecting .........