TGOC25 Day 12 - to Montrose Beach

Monday 19th May

Distance and ascent: 5.1km and as good as no ascent

Weather: Overcast 

For completeness, I'd best just write a few words about my final day. Few words, because there's not much to say.

At ten past seven, Ali dropped me back at the point where she'd picked me up. From there it was all pavement to the beach, where I arrived 53 minutes later. The only occurrence of any note was the two deer that, despite being on the opposite side of the field on my left, took fright at me walking along the road and ran up the field towards the road. It's a fast road (quite unpleasant to walk, even with the pavement) and I was almost holding my breath as they crossed, about a minute apart, but both made it across without incident. 

I'm not sure if I misremembered where to access Montrose beach, or whether many tons of boulders have been dumped there (in the interests of anti-erosion, not by way of fly-tipping) since I was last on that beach. Either way, I had to scramble down to the tiny amount of sand that still existed with the tide at the height it was. 

I took a couple of photos, and gave serious contemplation to whipping off my trousers and wading into the water. The thought of sand and needing to dig my towel out of my pack was enough of a deterrent to see keep to dry land. I scrambled back up the boulders and made my way to the Park Hotel to officially sign out of the TGO Challenge 2025. I'm not sure if I already mentioned, but it had been a fantastic walk that I thoroughly enjoyed. I've put in a request for the same weather next year.

Ten minutes later I was put to work, helping to relocate Challenge Control from the first floor to the ground floor. 

A jumble of boulders 

Finish point selfie

A little patch of beach between the boulders

Post-walk refuelling

TGOC25 Day 11 - to Montrose Basin

Sunday 18 May

Distance and ascent: 54.5km, 500m

Weather: glorious sunny start, then it clouded over and got windy. By the time I finished I had a fleece and a jacket on!

I fell into bed at around 2030 and was asleep in approximately 30 seconds. My alarm woke me at 2100, bringing me to just enough to take my last antibiotic of the day, then I knew absolutely nothing until 0350. 

I could have happily laid there contemplating everything and nothing, but instead I sprang out of bed and seized the day. I was walking just before 0515.

The downside of my chosen route this year was the amount of road walking at the end, and today was going to almost entirely on road, save for a 7.5k section between Kirkton of Airlie and Kirriemuir. First, though, I needed to get to Kirkton of Airlie (just less than 10k into my day) and that looked in doubt when I reached a turn in my route to find a sign telling me the bridge ahead was closed. My mind jumped to the destruction in this area in storms in 2022/2023, and the possibility that the bridge no longer existed. What to do? I looked at how far it was to walk around and decided to plough on, hope the bridge was there and passable on foot, or that otherwise the water would be fordable (likely, I reckoned given the lack of rain lately).

Thanks to modern technology, I gained reassurance as I continued the 3.5k to the bridge: Google told me that the bridge had been closed since January 2023, but that a tender had just been issued for its repair with the damage being described as a partially collapsed carriageway one side of the bridge.

The bridge was fine. After it I had a choice: 1) in the interests of vetting research, to try to cut 700m across fields, involving six or seven field boundaries; or 2) an extra 1.5km (& 75m ascent) going three sides of a square on road. I have always been dubious that the shortcut would go, and I decided this wasn't the day for me to explore. Going around would take at most 15 minutes longer, and I could easily lose 15 minutes with rough ground, troublesome field boundaries and water crossings.

Then came my only real off-road section of the day, which turned into something of an adventure. My route was on a Core Path, but I can safely say that not many people walk the W end of that path – it wasn’t overgrown, just through untrodden long grass. Then came the section with the cows…

On the map, this entire path looks like an enclosed old lane, but it is now only fenced on one side, with the other side open to a large field. In that field was a large herd of cows with very young calves. To make matters worse, whilst the line of the old lane was perfectly visible, it was also periodically blocked by gorse and/or broom, meaning I had to keep diverting into the field to bypass the blocked sections, and one of those diversions was just where quite a few of the cows were. At first they were quite calm about my presence, but just as I thought I’d got comfortably past them, and was able to get out of their sight behind the gorse, they decided that maybe I was quite interesting. Suddenly I had an entire herd bellowing behind me, with both adults and young running, not immediately behind me, but slightly offset, causing me concern that they were going to run in front and cut me off.

So, when I saw a gate ahead of me, I happily hopped over it, relieved then to see that there were no cow pats in this field. Maybe the herd hadn’t been on this particular pasture for long, but the absence of cow pats was misleading. As I went over a rise, there they were in the far corner. They didn’t have young and were far less interested in me, so I escaped that field without any additional drama and was most pleased to see sheep in the next field. The gorse/broom there was even more overgrown, creating a maze that required a few backtracks to find a route through.  

Arriving on the edge of Kirriemuir, I skirted the town and headed towards Brechin, with my onwards route being entirely on minor roads.

Two remarkable things happened along the road: someone stopped to offer me a lift (a rare occurrence) and a pop-up café appeared before me (which is to say that Ali was on her way from Challenge duties in Newtonmore to Challenge Control in Montrose, and swung by to offer me some cake, which I gratefully consumed).

I’d covered 42km when I got to Brechin, and that had been my initial aiming point for the day. But the day was still relatively young, and I felt absolutely fine, so I thought I may as well continue on to reach the inland edge of Montrose Basin. It doesn’t count as a finish point, but I thought it would be nice to effectively reach the coast.

A riverside park gave me a bit of road avoidance through Brechin, then more road took me to Kinnaird Park – a gated, private estate, with so many residences that it has more of a spread-out village feel. They are walker friendly, and will happily give out the code for the entrance gate if you phone the estate to ask in advance. I hadn’t asked in advance, because this hadn’t been on my route until the previous evening when I’d decided to go via Brechin rather than Forfar*. So, I climbed the gate and walked through using the route that the estate requests. All the ‘tracks’ are really roads, albeit private ones, but it was still nicer surroundings than any of the public roads I’d used.

As I exited the estate on the S side, nothing was hurting, but my body was starting to suggest, quite gently, that maybe it would like to stop soon. It was about the same time that I remembered that I had three packets of Mini Cheddars in my pack. I perched on a wall and quickly despatched those, then had to put both my fleece and my windshirt on! After all that hot weather, it had clouded over earlier in the afternoon, with a N wind really picking up (it was blowing me across the road at regular intervals). Those layers stayed on as I walked my final 5k to Maryton. From there Ali came and gave me a lift to the Park Hotel.

With just 5k left to walk, I perhaps should have made the effort to finish, but equally, why push myself beyond comfort? 55km was quite enough for one day.

(*The campsite at Forfar doesn’t have a backpacker rate and is £22.80. Alternatively there’s a bus direct from Forfar to Montrose that only takes 30 minutes, so I thought that I would jump on the bus, spend the night in my own bed and bus back in the morning. The fly in that ointment was that the bus only runs on school days, and I was going to arrive on a Sunday. By rerouting via Brechin, I would not only be nearer to Montrose (shorter bus journey) but the buses run on a Sunday.)

Taken from the closed bridge

 Passing through Kinnaird Park

The path runs straight through that gorse

 

 

TGOC25 Day 10 - to Alyth

Saturday 17 May

Distance and ascent: 24km and 500m (on the days that I record the whole day using my Garmin, those are the figures I use. I recorded this day, and I've not rounded those figures up or down - I really did finish with such nice round numbers!)

Weather: yep, more blue skies and hotness.

It was a warm night! The warmth combined with the wind kept the condensation at bay, and with the sun hitting the tent by 0530, I was able to pack away a completely dry tent. 

My night-stop hadn't been far away from the Cateran Trail, which was my route for today, and having joined it it took me through woods to Bridge of Cally. On my way, it occurred to me to see if B of C has a shop, and sure enough it does - a  Post Office/general store.

As I carried on towards it, I contemplated the merits versus risks of posting my tent forward to Montrose, as I should now be done with it. The only thing that stopped me was the thought of what I would do if something went awry with my accommodation in Alyth. So, tent stayed with me, and I loaded up on more pop. A can of ginger beer that I drank on the spot and a bottle of Pepsi for the road - both straight out of the fridge. 

The route was, like yesterday, pleasant but unspectacular, as I went through the hamlet of Netherton, then past an Army Cadets weekend camp, where some cadets were just off for a walk and others were being instructed in something. 

Beyond there the path was hemmed  in between hedges, robbing me of a view and, apparently, being the local hangout for flying insects.

A 5k road section ensued, but it was a tiny lane. I don't recall any vehicles passing me. At the next junction I had a choice. Had it been cold and rainy I likely would have taken the direct route of staying on the road, rather than wiggling around a bit on a section of route that from the map looked a bit pointless. The decider for me today was shade and a softer surface was definitely preferable to hot tarmac. It was again all very pleasant.

The highlight off the day came just before Alyth where I came across the Hill of Alyth - a modest lump standing 300m above sea level, with a prominence of 101m. The summit doesn't lie on the Cateran Trail, but it's so close that it would have been remiss not to trouble to take the detour. 

Such a mass of sweet smelling gorse in bloom! Such a plethora of paths!

I got my start time and pace almost right today. The earliest I could get into my accommodation was 1pm, and I arrived in town at gone quarter to. 

My accommodation tonight is a whole apartment. I can't remember exactly how much the campsite was (£27 less a few pounds for being on foot rings a bell) but when I saw this option advertised for £50 I didn't hesitate. The extra money to have a bed (3 beds,actually), sofa, kitchen, washing machine, and to not have to get dressed to visit shower or toilet was well spent - and just goes to show how disproportionate the pricing of campsites has become.

TGOC25 Day 9 - to Loch Charles

Friday 16 May

Distance and ascent: 32.6km, 775m

Weather: wall-to-wall sunshine, again

Breakfast was included in my room rate at the Schiehallion Hotel and service started at 0730, so that's when I presented myself in the bar, which doubles as a breakfast room.

The full Scottish, minus bacon and sausage (but with haggis and black pudding) went down nicely, then with just a quick nip across the road to the Coop for some cheese* I was ready to go (* I also impulsively bought a 1.5 litre bottle of pop, because that is what I'm enjoying on these hot days. I decanted half a litre into yesterday's empty pop bottle and most of the rest went down the sink - a waste but a big bottle was significantly cheaper than a little bottle.)

There isn't much to say about the first 15k of the day. Pavement, disused railway and road took me not-unpleasantly (river views, plenty of shade) but unspectacularly to Balnamuir, where I failed to take a side-on view of the bridge I crossed there. It's has a plank surface, just like one I remember over the river Mawddach from my childhood, and a couple of vehicles went over it whilst I was on it, giving a full demo of how much those planks rattle. 

Not long afterwards I crossed the A9 which somehow felt like it was the halfway point, even though I was 8.5 days down, with 3 to go. 

The Nae Limits cafe, adjacent to the A9, wasn't directly on my route but was so close that I decided it was worth the detour. The pot of tea was good and plentiful. The cake was dried out. 

The best bit of that cafe stop was the border collie who picked a twig off the floor, came and put it on the edge of my chair and then stared at me expectantly. When I did nothing it picked it back up and put it on my lap, again staring expectantly. I gave in to it. Unfortunately the twig wasn't up to the job and fell apart after one fetch. 

I didn't get much further up the road before I got slightly waylaid at the Petrol station shop (they have a diner attached - should have gone there instead of the Nae Limits cafe, but I'd forgotten about its existence) feeling like another bottle of cold pop* would assist my next climb. The cheapest option was a can of Tizer and whilst I recognised the name I couldn't remember what sort of drink that was. The can was decanted into my pop bottle and the verdict was that it's an inoffensive drink. (*I'm not a pop drinker. I reckon I've had more sweet fizzy drinks in the last week than I've had in the last 5 years combined.)

I now had a climb of around 500m ahead of me, but being over the course of 11km, it wasn't taxing. Along the way I caught up with another Challenger, Kenneth and walked with for a while until he stopped for a break at the next loch. I consulted the map and forged on. 

At this point I could have continued 2.2km along tracks to take two sides of a triangle, but my plotted route was to cut 700m across the short edge of the triangle. It's the sort of thing I wouldn't usually think anything of, but maybe the words from my route vetter about the hill I was now approaching should have caused a rethink:

"Creag nam Mial, I fear, is a stinker, the sort of hill which give Marilyns a bad reputation, especially when approached from the west. The heather hasn’t been subject to muirburn for many years and is deep, tangled and very energy sapping to negotiate. The lower ground by the burns is no kinder, marshy and very rough indeed. So, allow yourself plenty of time for the assault and expect a very slow rate of travel. It’s marginally better to the east but I guarantee that you’ll emerge on the track by Loch Charles with immense relief."

I emerged onto the track at the end of that first 700m stretch right in front of some locals who know the area well, who were bemused that I had opted to cut across. They were no doubt more bemused when I told them I still had 1.8km of the same to reach my summit. 

I then had a bit of a rethink. If I followed the track for a while (itself in places muddy and soft in spite of the prolonged dry spell), I could reduce the yomp through heather to 1.4km. The benefit of that (although I didn't realise until I got there) was that it took me past the Bothy where my route Vetter had wisely suggested I spend the night (wise because there's not much campable land in this area). It being exactly second lunch time, I called into the bothy, making use of a comfy chair indoors, out of the sun. The bothy had a living room, two bedrooms with two beds apiece and a decent sized area of cropped grass outside, perfect to pitch a tent. I questioned my decision to continue on over my hill today (it had been on tomorrow's itinerary), but I preferred to get it done rather than having a task of unknown difficulty ahead of me the following morning.

I have now visited the summit of 554 Marilyns, and this one went straight into my top five 'memorable due to ground conditions'. I couldn't even comfort myself with "well it's not the *very* worst heather and tussocks I've ever walked through". Thank goodness conditions are so dry just now, so the bog wasn't too wet. 

Having reached the top of a heather clad hill, the going the usually gets remarkably easier as yomping down hill through heather is so much easier than going up. The problem here is that in the 3.5km (plus wiggles) that lay between me and my new night-stop, there was a lot of flat and even some uphill to get across before the downhill started. 

I shall suffice to say that I was very glad indeed when Loch Charles came into view, although it still seemed to take me an age to reach it. 

If pushed, I could have found an "it'll do" sort of a pitch by the loch's inflow, but after filling up my bottles from that paltry burn (definitely not the mountain water of dreams, and it was a long process scooping it up a third of a cup at a time to fill my bottles) I thought I'd go and see if there was anything better over by the outflow. 

Not having far to go, I just shoved my full bottles at the top of my pack. That made my pack rather top heavy, which wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't tripped. But I did trip and all that weight so high up didn't half fling me forward. Fortunately a grazed elbow was all I incurred as I thudded to the ground.

I think you'll agree, from the photo at the top of this post, that it wasn't a bad pitch at all. 

Sad times though: Creag nam Mial was the final hill on my route sheet. I've been loving the hills (even a ridiculously hard one like this had its merits) in this glorious weather, but all good things must come to an end, and it was now downhill all the way to the coast - surely?

Tent photos - loaded out of order by Blogger. Bottom was last night. Top this morning. 

Fwd: TGOC25 Day 8 - to Aberfeldy

Thurs 15 May

Distance and ascent: 28.5km, 500m

Weather: glorious. Just a bit of high level wispy cloud first thing.

I woke up at just gone 4am and whilst I wasn't exactly cold, I also wasn't comfortably warm. I put my fleece on and lay my down jacket over my legs, but didn't really get comfy again. At 0530 I thought I may as well get up, whereupon I found the tent was covered in frost both outside and in.

With a 760m hill to the W of me and an 888m one to the E I'd lost the sun 2 hrs before sunset and it clearly wasn't going to reach my pitch again until longer after sunrise. Perhaps I should have made the effort to continue another 20 mins last night.

I walked out of the shade after 10 mins, causing me to realise that my sunglasses were missing. By missing I mean 'not on my head'. I knew exactly where they were so all I had to do was get the tent back out and retriever them from inside. Whilst I had it out I left it in the sun for a few minutes to lose half an ounce of the moisture it was holding. I was too impatient to allow it to fully dry out.

5km on good track (see photo) saw me down onto the Rob Roy Way, which follows the road on the S side of Loch Tay for quite some kilometres, although I'd avoided 5k-worth of tarmac by virtue of yesterday afternoon's route choice.

I'd not been on the road very long when I saw some walkers well ahead of me. I gradually caught up and it was exactly who I suspected -a group of four who had left Portavadie the day after me. I chatted for a while before continuing on ahead.

Stopping at an Honesty Tea Shop just up the turn to Falls of Acharn, where I enjoyed a cup of tea and some double ginger biscuits, as well as picking up a bottle of chilled coke for the road, I expected the group to catch me back up, but there was no sign of them.

Now toiling uphill, I took the detours through Hermits Cave and to the viewing platform (the latter not so much a detour as I was able to cross the water and rejoin the track further up), and the falls were worth seeing, even in the current dry conditions. Near to the falls is, incidentally, where my previous day's FWA route was due to have ended, and it was irrelevant, but still good to know, that I wouldn't have struggled to find somewhere to camp up there.

About a kilometre and a half further on, I rounded the corner of a building and found four backpackers. They all had their backs to me, so I greeted them as strangers, only to find it was the same group as before, who had got ahead of me without passing me (different route ... omitting the tea shop - scandalous!).

By now I was around 12km from Aberfeldy and it was becoming apparent that I had misjudged my timing. I couldn't check into my hotel until 3pm and it was looking like I would arrive at 1.30.

So, I had first lunch on a rock alongside the track, then second lunch on a lovely shady picnic bench along the Birks of Aberfeldy. It was as I sat on that bench looking at the car park that I thought "I've been here before". Walking through said car park a while later confirmed it, but even a search of my blog hasn't told me if we spent a night there or just stopped by to have lunch.

It was only a ten minute stroll into town and I still arrived too early. My attempts to buy an ice cream failed (Coop looked like a plague of locusts had been through -they are still getting back to normal after their cyber attack) and the wares of the ice cream shop contained soya (which is currently triggering migraines, so I'm avoiding it).

Finally 3pm ticked around and to the hotel I went. I was given a room on the second floor (of two) and am pleased to say that this time I had no complaints. My room was big, the bathroom was huge, and it was all modern, comfortable and well maintained. And it cost slightly less than the disappointing B&B of two nights ago. 

Mick had posted my second resupply parcel, just containing a couple of breakfasts and evening meals to the hotel, so once I'd unpacked it, I refilled the box with my Paramo jacket, Buffalo Mitts and a couple of other bits and pieces that I just don't need to be carrying in this weather. I bought postage online, then went and dropped the parcel at the Post Office (later realising there were even more things I could have sent on ahead -not of any significant weight, but I have accidentally got two pen knives with me, for example).

Buying the rest of my resupply at the Coop, once I'd hand washed some clothes, I had a leisurely rest of the day. 

TGOC25 Day 7 to Gleann a'Chilleine

Wednesday 14 May

Distance and ascent: 28km, 1150m

Weather: cool and cloudy start but it burnt off by late morning to give a hot sunny day

My disappointing B&B did have some positives: the room was big, the bed was clean and comfy, there was a plug socket next to the bed, and breakfast was incredibly good, even if the host was in no rush to give it to me. 

I declined the offer of whisky porridge (I'd already had porridge in my room), and was then offered an avocado salad with poached egg. That sounded right up my street so I gladly accepted. The salad leaves were picked fresh out of the garden, the bread homemade and the egg from her chickens. With a garlic, herb and oil dressing it was one of the best B&B breakfasts ever. It was about 2 hours later when I realised she'd forgotten to put the avocado in the avocado salad; glad it's not just me who can forget the headline ingredient!

Incidentally, one other couple stayed in the B&B overnight and when they arrived for breakfast they were not happy at all with the accommodation and were leaving after one night despite being booked in for two. The host couldn't believe it and said she never got complaints. What are the chances eh? Everyone has apparently loved the place for 11 years then two sets of guests are unhappy on the very same day...

Onwards with the walking:

Earlier in the morning I'd had a text chat with Mick saying I was torn between sticking with my planned route giving me a very easy 19km day all on good paths, or whether to go a different route to the same place giving me just 12km but with 5km off-path. Whichever route, I wouldn't be walking on further as the Rob Roy Way then takes to a road for miles, limiting camping opportunities. I was still contemplating between those options when I came up with a much more pleasing plan involving an unbagged Marilyn.

So, rather than rejoining the RRW I headed E out of Lochearnhead along a disused railway, following it for 8km to Glen Tarken. There, for 1.5km I was on ground I'd trodden before - in April last year when I visited the summit of Carn Each. I put some thought I to it and concluded that may be the only repetition of my entire route. 

Today I was heading to Creag Ruadh, Carn Each's neighbour, but not at all similar a hill. Last year I found the terrain of the latter to be pretty friendly. From a distance Creag Ruadh looked to be quite thoroughly covered in heather. 

I managed to string together grassy patches for the initial part of the ascent, but once the ground became less steep (around 550m, I would guess) the heather became less avoidable and considering how many sheep and deer I saw, there was a dearth of trods.

From the top my onward route was to a bealach to the NE, involving another 4km of quite consistent heather bashing, although this time I was significantly assisted by deer trods. I opted to contour around Meall Ruadh, rather than going over the top as the very presence of well-worn trods around the side suggested it would be the easier option. 

Second lunch (my meal times are all to cock at the moment so I can eat at antibiotic time; this was 3pm) was had part way around that contouring exercise, very soon after crossing the route we took from Lowestoft to Ardnamurchan on 2 May 2011. A memorable day being the day Osama bin Laden was killed, causing the TV to go into reporting overdrive at the expense of giving weather forecasts, which is all we wanted in our B&B in Killen). The night before had been memorable too as we spent it at the dam end of Loch Lednock (which was my lunchtime view today) whilst a wild fire ripped through miles of terrain on the W side of the loch. 

Anyhoo, time was marching on and I was changing my plan on the hoof again. I'd noticed that if I could just get myself over the Corbett, Creag Uchdag, then I would not only have a good choice of places to pitch but it would make tomorrow shorter AND it would remove quite a bit of road walking from the morrow. It wasn't the easiest possible end to the day and I didn't even get to the start of the climb until 4pm, but I was feeling good and after all those miles of heather it was a relief to see that this one was a nice grassy hillside. 

Definitely worth the effort I declared when I saw the views from the top. So many layers of hills seemingly going on for ever. Even better, when I descended far enough to get a view into where I was going, there was lots of campable ground. The only problem was that I ideally wanted to cover another 6km before stopping. 

Looking at the map again as I went, I spotted another hill that I would be passing and was sorely tempted to pitch at the nearby track junction and nip up it in the morning. I even found a good bit of ground there, although there wasn't good water immediately at hand. After a few moments of dithering, I opted to give it a miss. A shame, being so close, but the morrow's route was to be long enough without adding an out-and-back of a hill before I even got started. 

Arriving at the place that, based on distance alone, I wanted to camp I found some vaguely satisfactory ground (not too tussocky, but at the cost of being a bit boggy) and got the tent up and tea on as fast as I could. It was gone 1830, which is a pretty late stop by my standards. 

Looking now at the stats (having changed plans on the hoof, I hadn't even considered the ascent figure) it really had been a hard day when you take terrain into account, so it was pleasing to not be dead on my feet at the end of it. 

TGOC25 Day 6 - to Lochearnhead

WHW, in the far glen, under a cloud inversion whilst I basked in sunshine

Tuesday 13 May

Distance and ascent: 31km 950m

Weather: glorious! Just a few fluffy clouds late in the day

What a fantastic day! I had an absolute ball, and was loving life and my route choice for most of it.

It started with my ascent straight up the side of Meall Mhor, as I suggested it would. 620m of ascent over the course of 1.5km as the crow flies - or 2.6km as I approached it. The first 2.2km took me two hours, with just a couple of faffs on the way, one for water, the other to remove waterproof socks, once the sun had dried the grass. Otherwise I kept a slow but pretty constant pace (lower down I was getting midged if I stopped, although they were annoying rather than biting).

Dumping my bag at the low point just E of the summit, the final 400m was quick and easy. I had a 15 minute pause up there, not just to admire the view, but to try to talk Mick (at Challenge Control in Montrose) through finding some files he needed on my laptop.

As nice as it would have been to continue along the ridge, per my route sheet, I knew it wasn't a realistic option. Such is the competition for accommodation (particularly cheaper accommodation) in Scotland these days that, for the first time ever, I pre-booked some. The obvious downside of that is the loss of flexibility, so I couldn't just decide to take an extra day (plus I would have run out of food!).

So straight down there other side of the hill I went, into the glen, which was also a mighty fine place to be. Absolutely stunning under the perfect blue sky.

I stopped for lunch 4 hours through my day, at a few minutes before noon, at the point where I joined my planned (FWA) route for this day. I can't remember how far I'd actually gone to get there, but it was just 3.6km through the planned 32km day - although as my Main and FWA routes were intentionally out of sync at this point (to take their relative difficulties into account) there was going to be no problem with stopping short ... except the issue of where to camp but I'll come back to that later.

First though, I needed to make my way down the glen, almost as far as the public road (which I could have followed to Balquhidder, had I felt inclined to some tarmac bashing). My choice was to use forest tracks on the S side of Lochs Doine & Voil, involving a km or so of pathless yomping and needing to cut through the forest to access them. I decided that for the shade of the trees on a hot afternoon the extra effort would be worthwhile. 

It was, and not just for the shade and hot-tarmac avoidance. My way across the flat riverside land was much easier than expected with an old track (no longer on the 1:50k map, thus I hadn't spotted it in advance), now mainly just a single trodden line through the reeds, maintained by the passage of sheep. The bit where it dwindled to nothing for a while before resurrecting was hard work, but I took comfort from the fact that it must have been harder for the mountain bikers who had come this way, as evidenced by tyre prints in the (currently quite firm) mud. Reaching the side burn that I needed to cross, I was also in need of more water. There not being a good filling point immediately to hand I went upstream a way (as I needed to anyway) and discovered the most delightful waterfall below which were perfect circular pools worn out of the rock. 

Finding my way through the trees to the forest track might then have been a trial, but no, another old track, completely grassed over, and again not on the 1:50k map, awaited me and made me wonder if this day could get any better.

Of course I did eventually reach modern engineered forest roads, together with signs telling me I couldn't proceed due to forest works. I proceeded and encountered no hint of works. The same happened in two more locations, with me passing signs at beginning and end of the alleged work area (they clearly had been worked -the trees had gone and with them my cool shade, but the signs should have been removed).

Ironically, when I finally did come upon an active work site (not that there was any work in the immediate vicinity of the track), there was no signage telling me I couldn't pass.

By now the hard start to the day was catching up with me. I was beyond the end of my planned main route, so it wouldn't have been unreasonable to stop, if I could just find somewhere. I did have a couple of half hearted attempts to find a pitch, but there are a lot of permanent caravans dotted around on the S side of Loch Voil, as well as houses further on, so it would have been a stealth camp rather than a wild camp. As it went, I didn't find anywhere I liked anyway.

As I trudged along the minor road from Balquhidder, now really feeling the effects of effort and heat, I contemplated the map. I'd struggled whilst planning this section to come up with somewhere I would be happy to camp between Loch Voil and beyond Glen Ogle Cottages (which is why my main and FWA routes became so out of sync here), but I had mentally noted an option about 0.5km off route, about 7k hence. I now reckoned there might just be somewhere where the Rob Roy Way took a little away-from-the-main-road detour at Balquhidder Station (the RRW/cycle route 7 doesn't go along the road, but runs adjacent, on an old railway line). It was as contemplating the options that the thought popped into my head to look if there was any accommodation near by. 

Within moments I was informed that I'd passed a place less than 1km ago (but I wasn't going to backtrack), but there was another option in Lochearnhead. I'd still been walking whilst searching, so by now I was only(!) about 7km from there. I contemplated for another 10 minutes or so, then booked it. 

Soon afterwards pitch options galore stayed presenting themselves, but I wasn't sorry for my frivolous impulse. Yes I'm using more accommodation on this trip than ever before, but a year ago I opened a savings account called TGOC, specifically for this trip and stated paying £5 per week into it -a small enough sum that it wouldn't be missed -as well as topping it up with the occasional small sum of magic money (that being money unexpectedly received). Having accumulated a budget, it was there to be spent.

My final 0.5km, before I turned off the cycle way was in the company of a local lady who was out training for a Spanish Camino walk. Then before I knew it, I was in Lochearnhead and my accommodation was before me.

This B&B had cost more than twice what I paid at the Loch Long Hotel, and was the most expensive of the trip (I have two more places booked). It was not good. Amongst the lowlights, there was no curtain on one of my windows (downstairs room) and the other window, facing the road) had a blind that wasn't as wide as the window, so anyone walking by could see me sitting in bed. Those blinds were horribly water stained, and the whole place was grubby - forgivable at Loch Long prices, but not at premium prices. There was also no toilet paper for the first 5 hours that I was there.

When at just before 9pm the host's daughter, in the next door room, stated playing music, I had a sense of humour failure. I stomped out of my room, and straight into the chest of drawers that the daughter had just moved out of her room to *right* in front of my door. At least she was apologetic about the music and turned it off straight away.

All doom and gloom, but in tomorrow's post I will have more positive things to say about the accommodation.

(Details I'd forgotten about until I just looked through my photos: I'd had a 'midnight feast' at 2am, so I could fort in a third dose of antibiotics. A hunk of cake was my chosen foodstuff. You should have seen the state off crumbs in the tent the next morning! It was also another morning on which I needed my Midge head net.)

TGOC25 Day 5 - to NW end of Loch Katrine

(I've remembered that I can post to this blog via email (been years since I last did that!) So I don't have to fight with Blogger and hopefully a couple of photos will also have appeared)

Distance and ascent: 18km, 300m

Weather: another glorious hot day with just a few fluffy clouds.

I started my day with a phone call to the doctors' surgery; the response I received was both friendly and helpful and I was given an appt for 1045.

Check out at the hotel was at 1000, and the doctors' surgery was less than a mile away. So I got back into bed for an hour and sat writing blog posts, leaving the hotel at the last moment. 

Slowly strolling along the edge of Loch Long, I belatedly twigged that with a tide line of sea weed, this was a sea loch. Day 5 of my cross Scotland walk, and I'm still technically on the W coast!

The doctor was friendly and helpful too, and at 11am I left the surgery clutching a bag of antibiotics (it was about 2km later when I realised with horror that I'd not paid for them, before then remembering that prescriptions are free at the point of delivery in Scotland).

The next ferry across Loch Lomond was at 1145, and I had a 3.5km walk to get there. Doable, but I had a heavy pack full of supplies for the next four days, and I also needed time to buy a ticket. Not wanting to feel rushed, I decided not to even try for the earlier boat. Instead I took my time stopped for any number of faffs (and to buy my ticket online), after all of which I arrived at Tarbet just as the ferry pulled away from the pier.

My plan was to have something to eat in the café there, but it turns out the café is really a kiosk and they only sell sandwiches, plus a few cakes, none of which appealed.

So I sat on a bench, ate the food I had with me and even had to put my wind shirt on as, in the shade, the wind felt cool, rather than pleasantly cooling. 

An hour and a half later, I thought I'd go and buy myself a cup of tea before wandering down to the pier. First, however, I availed myself of the toilet facilities -and came out to find a queue of eight people waiting for drinks! Where'd they all come from?!

I abandoned hope of being served in time and went and got on my boat.

Half an hour later I alighted at Inversnaid and finally, at 1420, I was ready to start walking (because somehow the walk to the ferry from Arrochar didn't feel like part of the same walk).

A couple or three dozen WHW walkers (judging by appearances) were sitting outside the Inversnaid hotel, and more were encountered in the 100m or so that I followed the Way, before I turned off onto the Great Trossocks Path.

There's an Honesty Tea Room at Garrison Farm and on another day I wouldn't have hesitated to stop, but it being so late in the day, and having only just got started, I walked on by. As it went, I wouldn't have even gone past the farm had I paid attention to the map as the path there leaves the road to climb up behind the farm, only then to immediately descend almost back to the road. I would have just stayed on the tarmac for the tiny extra distance and cut across the field to gain the path, had I noticed.

Other than the pointless up and down, the path was rather pleasant and the surroundings were stunning, although I'm sure I've failed adequately to capture them in a photo.

Reaching the turn off the road for Loch Katerine, I discovered that the track that goes around its edge is a tarmacked private road. It goes past some stunningly located properties.

On reaching the shore of Loch Katrine I was almost opposite the point at which I wanted to leave it, less than 1.5km away as the crow flies, but 8k around the edge. Where's a chap in a fishing boat offering a lift when you want one?!

The walk along the road was quiet and uneventful except for the lack of water in the burns. When I finally found one with a trickle, albeit not looking particularly appetising, I filled my bottle, filtered and chemicalled it, then predictably the very next burn was flowing well and looked good. I couldn't be doing with repeating the process given the time of day, so made do with what I had. 

I didn't end up going all 8k around the loch. When I got to the NW point, where I was to turn back on myself down the far shore, there was such a good pitch on the riverside that I paused to give serious contemplation to stopping. I was 8k short of my intended destination, but it was gone 1730, meaning it would be late by the time I got to my intended night stop (the last 3k looked like they were going to be hard work).

Just then a chap in running gear appeared beside me, asking if I was lost. I didn't point out that I'd have to be the worst navigator in the world to not know where I was given all the visual clues around me, but reassured him that I knew where I was. He clearly didn't believe me and in the conversation that ensued he tried to direct me back onto the West Highland Way!! He also seemed rather dubious of my intended route and my statement of 'but I may just stay here and nip over that hill in the morning' (whilst pointing to the ridiculously steep side of Meall Mor).

It was the enticement of Meall Mor* that finalised my decision. I popped the tent up on nice cropped grass, and spent much of the evening examining the hillside in front of me and the map, trying to decide on the route of least resistance. Based on what I could see (it's not just a steep hillside, but craggy too) I plotted three potential route variants on my map. Then, just before bed, I thought, why not just go straight up the burn in front of me? I could weave around on a slightly shallower line, but if that involved trogging through rough terrain, then maybe straight up, through the lack of intermediate contour lines, was the better choice?

Other than the passing chap, the only other passers by during the evening were a Waitrose delivery van (I was 5km from the nearest road!) and a fox that didn't seem to be at all afraid of my presence. 

(*I now realise in reading this back through that I didn't explain that I opted for my FWA (foul weather/feeling weary alternative) today. Not actually so much because of the loss of half a day, but because my planned route was another hard one, that I didn't feel inclined to do with such a heavy pack. I hesitated to put it in my route at all, knowing I'd be tired after the hills of the first few days, but as there was no guarantee that weather would have allowed me all of those initial hills, I included this day so as to give me the option. Meall Mor was included in that route, but approached and exited via the ridge, whereas I was now looking at going up one side and down the other.)

TGOC25 Day 4 - to Arrochar

Sunday 11 May

Distance and ascent: 23km & 900m

Weather: still glorious but with some periods of entirely welcome cloud cover. 

The downside of having gone to bed at 1930 (I was tired!) was being wide awake at 0330, and there was no option of an early start today as I very much needed to visit the shop at Lochgoilhead. I'd based my food supplies on previous backpacking trips, many of which have involved longer days and more ascent than this one. What I'd failed to take into account was that this one involved ascents with far more rough ground than I'm used to whilst carrying a heavy pack. It has become apparent that I didn't have enough food for the energy I was expending. 

Arriving at the shop it was a relief to find it open, but there then ensued a long and nervous wait when it transpired that their till system had fallen over and they couldn't process any transactions. Eventually the cashier asked if anyone was paying with cash, and I turned out to be the only person (of four customers) with any cash (unusual; I almost never carry cash in daily life). The till then locked up again and he couldn't even take cash. 

I was on the verge of suggesting I write down all the items and bar codes and give him an appropriate sum of money to process later, when the till was resurrected. I went outside with my wares and immediately ripped onto the fruit cake like a wild animal. Passers-by stared. I cared not a jot. 

Suitably revived, onwards I went. I'd found at the end of yesterday that the Cowal Way on the ground didn't match the map and the same happened again today. Yesterday's alterations had been a detriment (using tracks rather than paths) this morning's was a good one, following a new coast path rather than the road. 

Out the other side of Lochgoilhead, I was to climb consistently for 760m. The CW only goes up to 500m, but I wasn't going to bypass this morning's hill - the Corbett of Cnoc Coinnich.

What a refreshingly easy hill that was! It got promoted to Corbett status in 2016, and thus has now seen nearly 10 years of relative popularity. As a result, a trodden line has formed. I was up in 30 mins and down in 12, having left my pack just above the track junction. Having eaten half my lunch at 11am, before visiting the summit, I finished it when I got down and decided I ought to have bought two pasties, not just the one. 

I'd not then got far to go. Something like 12k, largely downhill, mainlybon good paths and tracks. 

My timing was perfect. I arrived at the Loch Long Hotel at just gone ten to three, with 3pm being the earliest check-in time. I filled the time by making my Phone-in to Challenge Control.

It would be an understatement to say that the Loch Long Hotel has seen better days. They gave me a room on the fourth floor and the lift was out of order, but I had no complaints. It would be quiet up there (there are only seven rooms and a panoramic view lounge on the top floor), and having paid just £40 for single occupancy of a double room, and having held a parcel for me, they could put me wherever they wanted!

The room wasn't bad, if you can overlook small cleaning issues, the lack of a plug in the sink (or strainer arrangement -anything dropped would go straight down the drain), and the lack of a lever on the shower (despite a clear instruction on the bathroom door telling me to operate the shower by pulling the lever towards me). I found easy solutions to the issues and soon had electronics charging and laundry drying. 

Tea, from the chippy across the road and eaten on a bench overlooking the loch, was disappointing but filling.

So that's what went on from a walking/progress point of view today, but there was also a side issue. 

Two and a half years ago I suffered from cellulitis on the bridge of my nose. Not knowing what it was and hoping it would go away of its own accord, I ignored it for 9 days until I felt like I'd been punched in the face and couldn't take a step without it hurting. I called the doctors' who considered my symptoms to be an emergency and saw me straight away. I left with antibiotics and an instruction that if I got any worse I was to go straight to A&E. A bit dramatic, I thought, but apparently there's a risk of infection spreading to the brain and sepsis occurring. So, when yesterday I'd felt the same first signs, and by the start of today it had progressed to 'this is definitely the same thing happening again' my first reaction was that my Challenge was over. Disappointing, as to have the opportunity to cross Scotland in this weather is incredible.

Then I put some more rational thought into it, decided that I had time on my side and that this was purely a problem that needed solving. 

I was pretty sure, from previous experience, that heading into the hills for four more days, hoping the infection would resolve itself, wasn't the right solution, but by the end of the day I had three possible plans:

1. worst case - train to Montrose, use medical centre there, take advantage of being able to ditch some kit, train back.
2. Most likely - a day-trip by train to Alexandria (as far as I could make out, the nearest pharmacy and surely a doctor nearby).
3. The local GP - worth a try, although I didn't fancy my chances of getting an appointment. 

There was also the hope that it would be improving by morning in which case maybe it wouldn't be too reckless to continue across Loch Lomond and take my FWA, which would see me at another main road within 1.5 days, if needed. 

(I feel a bit bad leaving this on a cliff hanger, so I'll just say that I have drugs and the ferry across Loch Lomond is just about to depart, with me on it, and only half a day has been lost)