TR: TGO Challenge 2006

"Judith" <[email hidden]> schreef in bericht
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Congratulations Judith !! Well done !

I suppose it's an effort and a real pain in the.....feet. Some people might
call it a boring route but I think, considering the circumstances, you've
seen a lot of good scenery. Next time (?) you'll take a more /wild/ route
and perhaps even include some hilltops.
Now I'm going to look at your pictures, champ ;-)

--
"Beannachd leibh"

Theo
www.theosphotos.fotopic.net

In article <[email hidden]>, Judith
<[email hidden]> writes

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Well done Judith ! I expect you'll do it again next year :-)

--
Bill Grey
http://www.billboy.co.uk

The message <[email hidden]>
from Judith <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Well done.

--
Roger Chapman

W. D. Grey said:

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Well done Judith ! I expect you'll do it again next year :-)

Straight afterwards I had no desire to do it again. I had a strange,
almost sad, feeling of having lost something. I had finished and
there was nothing else to be done.

However, within an hour I had decided I *must* do it again as there
are so many things I could do differently and places I could go to.

Unfortunately, May is the worst month of the year for me at work and
I'm in the dog-house for taking leave. My current plan (assuming I
don't change jobs) is to apply for the TGO Challenge whenever there
are no Local Govt elections in May!

Judith

On Sat, 27 May 2006 08:57:02 +0100, Roger <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Well done.

Thanks, Roger.

Judith

The message <[email hidden]>
from Judith <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Straight afterwards I had no desire to do it again. I had a strange,
almost sad, feeling of having lost something. I had finished and
there was nothing else to be done.

I felt like that back in 1985 on completion of my Munro round.

Quoted message said:

However, within an hour I had decided I *must* do it again as there
are so many things I could do differently and places I could go to.

21 years on my feels still haven't changed but then the Munros are
substantially the same apart from the paths that have since appeared.
;-)

--
Roger Chapman

Judith said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay.

Well done Judith+Ticks!

Jim Ford

Well done.....I completed one a few years ago and was shattered. Hooe
all is well with you. Best of luck for the next one.

Michelle

Here's a toast to the dead already,
And here's to the next (wo)man to die....

Judith said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

Day 0. Left home at 0705; due to arrive in Lochailort at 1717. Missed
connection in Glasgow so was put in a mini-bus and reached Lochailort
at 1700. Went to "sea" and had a paddle.

Day 1. Lochailort to Glenfinnan. Stepped outside the hotel, first
thing, and heard the legendary Challenge "Gockoo". Long tiring day.
Started walking at 9am and finished at 9pm. Got lost in a tree-filled
gully. Boggy. Weather was hot. Dinner was a pint of Carlsberg
Export (as the 70/ was off) and a bag of crisps.

Day 2. Glenfinnan to Corran/Inchree. Beautiful walk through Cona
Glen. Another long 9am till 9pm day. Saw a deer skeleton; made me
jump. Saw highland cattle - made me jump again! Very sore feet - red
areas on the back of both heels. Wore (socks &😉 sandals for the 5
mile road walk down to the ferry once I came out of the Glen. Just
made last food order at the bar. Lovely comfy double bed in the
bunkhouse.

Day 3. Inchree to Kinlochleven. Traipsed 14 miles along the road,
rather than my planned route cross-country, to rest my legs and feet.
Rain. Tent up by 3pm and went shopping for blister plasters and tape.
Found a tick on my leg.

Day 4. Kinlochleven to Inveroran. South down the West Highland Way all
day. Long climb out of Kinlochleven. Lunch at Kingshouse Hotel but
not particularly hungry. Rain all day. Tent had been packed away in
the rain so still soaking when I put it up at Inveroran. Just managed
to catch last food order ........ managing to have beer every night so
far.

Day 5. Inveroran to Crianlarich. Put tent away damp but not soaked.
Passed dozens of WHW-ers going the other way; a mix of "normal"
walkers and miseries! Feet very sore. Tomorrow's route could be
tricky but Crianlarich YH's manager/warden very knowledgeable and
helpful - a former TGO Challenger.

Day 6. Crianlarich to Killin. Decided to use Foul Weather Alternative
- not so much because of the weather (although it is still raining)
but because my feet are sore. Back of right heel has rubbed raw -
plasters keep falling off. Survived 6 miles of the A85 before taking
a farm track and minor road/lane. Removed another tick this morning.
Had two pints of "Bitter and twisted" with dinner; feel better now!

Day 7. Killin to Acharn. Along South Loch Tay road to Acharn. Brief
showers but able to wear shorts and no waterproofs for the first time
in four days. Sandals and socks. Feet need rubbing every couple of
hours.

Day 8. Acharn to Aberfeldy. (Rest day). Followed planned route to
Aberfeldy. Lovely moorland-type walk. 10 miles - just right.
Saturday night and everywhere is full so am camping on a Corporation
campsite full of kids! Has been dry for last couple of hours but
pouring down again now; typical.

Day 9. Aberfeldy to Birnam. At 7am I dried the outside of the tent.
Later I dried the *inside* too. I've never really noticed the
infamous Akto condensation problem when camping in the (windy)
mountains. Mainly forest walks today and mainly dry until the last
couple of miles.

Day 10. Birnam to Alyth. Minly roadwalking although managed to get
lost in first hour. Right-knee hurting. After last night's luxury
guest house I am back in the tent tonight. Was planning to stay in
Blairgowrie but pushed on to Alyth. One other Akto on site; it
belongs to another Challenger.

Day 11. Alyth to Forfar. No rain until I decided to put up the tent.
Slightly ahead of schedule. B&B booked in Letham (5 miles away!) for
tomorrow so can have a lie-in

Day 12. Forfar to Letham. Very lazy day - almost feel guilty. Only
walked 5 or 6 miles but lovely weather and could have gone a lot
further. An old chap stopped his car to advise me on a shortcut to
Arbroath. He could tell I was a Challenger. He'd done it 8 times and
had been a vetter but had stopped now that he was geting on a bit (ie
93 years old).

Day 13. Letham to Lunan Bay. All road walking to Lunan Bay. Seemed
to take forever but got there at 1:30pm. Paddled in the sea, took a
few photos and phoned in to Challenge Control. The 1.5 mile walk to
the bus stop was awful; no idea if there *was* a bus stop or when the
bus would come! 40 minutes wait passed quickly as I ate everything
left in my rucksack.

Reached Montrose and followed the ruck-sacked hoards to the Park
Hotel. Just missed the Challenge wedding. At Challenge Countrol I
met PeeWiglet and various other Challengers I'd either chatted to
on-line or had met at the Spring Gathering a couple of months back.
Was given my T-shirt, badge and certificate - and a cup of tea and a
biccie. Spent a couple of hours chatting with people then checked
into my hotel to prepare for the dinner.

Summary. This really was a "challenge" for me. Yes, I did quite a
bit of road and track walking, rather than going off-piste and over
the tops, but I still found the physical effort of 15 or 16 miles
every day, with a full pack, for day after day very demanding. I
found planning the route very difficult, partly because I was
*definitely* not taking a tent and was going to stay in hostels/b&Bs
etc. When I decided I *would* take a tent, I should have scrapped my
route and started again - so I ended up with a wierd route that many
Challengers would regard as a bit boring. However, it is all
experience under the belt and I now know that I am capable of walking
just shy of 200 miles in 12.5 days carrying 14ish kg. I've never done
any LDPs and now feel I could cope with any of them!

I took a few photos along the way and there is a selection in the
TGOC_2006 folder in http://hometown.aol.com/goofif

Post script. I notice that while I have been away there has been a
thread in urw about whether we should rename the group
uk.rec.hillwalking. I've always been conscious that I'm not one of
the "he-men" of the group (thankfully) but I do enjoy my walking and
would hope that we don't split into factions.

Judith

"Judith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay.

Congratulations on your successful crossing. The first is always the worst,
particularly if you're going solo with no-one to share the weight with. But
you'll have learnt a lot to make your next 'Challenge' all the more
enjoyable.
You experienced my worst nightmare - missing a connection on the way up.
For me, getting to the start is the most stressfull part of the Challenge.
I don't have much faith in British Rail! Once I've got there, and signed
the register, I really begin to enjoy it.
We had ticks too, particularly in the west as far as Loch Affric. After
that we daubed our legs and arms with Mijex (for midges and biting insects)
and we only had a couple after that.
Aye, it was a good do - but it's good to get back to home comforts.
Cheers!
Gordon.

Runningfox said:

You experienced my worst nightmare - missing a connection on the way up.
For me, getting to the start is the most stressfull part of the Challenge.
I don't have much faith in British Rail! Once I've got there, and signed
the register, I really begin to enjoy it.

I was supposed to have a 50 minute wait at Glasgow - and that was the
connection I missed. I'm glad they laid on a mini-bus though, rather
than making us wait till the next/final train which would have got me
in to Lochailort at 11pm-ish.

Quoted message said:

Aye, it was a good do - but it's good to get back to home comforts.

My legs seem to ache a bit more every day!

I forgot that there was another urw regular for me to look out for.
Were you on your tenth crossing?

Judith

"Judith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I forgot that there was another urw regular for me to look out for.
Were you on your tenth crossing?

Quoted message said:

Judith

Yes, my tenth crossing and probably my last. Not that I don't want to do
another, but there are so many other places I want to see - and time is
running out for me!
Cheers!
Gordon

Runningfox said:

Quoted message said:

Were you on your tenth crossing?

Quoted message said:

Judith

Yes, my tenth crossing and probably my last. Not that I don't want to do
another, but there are so many other places I want to see - and time is
running out for me!

LOL! A quick look at the ages of this year's Challengers suggests
that you could easily do another ten before you're "too old". I don't
know where all these old dears get their energy!

I know what you mean about other places to see. I camped with a
couple of cycle tourers and that's something I've always wanted to do.
And then there's sea-kayaking - which I know absolutely nothing about
but mean to get round to trying one day.

Judith

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay.

Wahey! Congratulations Judith. I'll settle down to read the TR now...
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

[email hidden] said...

Quoted message said:

I took a few photos along the way and there is a selection in the
TGOC_2006 folder in http://hometown.aol.com/goofif

Ooh, gorgeous! I do like the Highland cattle, but I agree with you that
those horns look just a little sharper than might be strictly necessary.
Good to see PW as well - and the little Piglet :-)
--
To reply see 'from' in headers; lose the domain, and insert dots and @
where common sense dictates.

Roger said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Judith <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Straight afterwards I had no desire to do it again. I had a strange,
almost sad, feeling of having lost something. I had finished and
there was nothing else to be done.

I felt like that back in 1985 on completion of my Munro round.

I'm still feeling rather strange about having got to half way. Shall I
carry on, or just wander about looking at different things? I spent
last week printing bits of maps and copying pages from guide books to
put in a file to take with me - I had forgotten to print some of the
hills I did before I met Martin on Mull and had to buy a map in
Invergarry. I could have gone up and done a few hills this last week
as I have been off work but I only got as far as Manchester and
Sheffield. With increasing transport costs I'll have to be a bit more
systematic and I have had to rethink the possible last Munro since I
had thought about keeping Ben More as it was the first I attempted way
way back. I have tentatively settled on Blaven. but it will be done on
a good day with views.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

However, within an hour I had decided I *must* do it again as there
are so many things I could do differently and places I could go to.

21 years on my feels still haven't changed but then the Munros are
substantially the same apart from the paths that have since appeared.
;-)

Some paths are nice ones made by stalkers which were probably there
well before you and some are awful; made by sad baggers like us
ignoring the least impact route and gouging great scars across fragile
areas :-(

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"

"Judith" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I know what you mean about other places to see. I camped with a
couple of cycle tourers and that's something I've always wanted to do.
And then there's sea-kayaking - which I know absolutely nothing about
but mean to get round to trying one day.
Judith

I'll go along with the sea-kayaking. A lot of places I still want to
explore are in the Western Isles and a kayak would be fine for getting out
to camp on some of the uninhabited islands like Mingulay and Sanday - not to
mention smaller islands like Staffa, Dutchman's Cap and Lunga. One of my
fond memories is of a blue Hebridean day sailing from Staffa with porpoises
hooping along in front of the boat - as if they were dragging us back to
Iona! Magic.

The message <[email hidden]>
from Phil Cook <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Straight afterwards I had no desire to do it again. I had a strange,
almost sad, feeling of having lost something. I had finished and
there was nothing else to be done.

I felt like that back in 1985 on completion of my Munro round.

Quoted message said:

I'm still feeling rather strange about having got to half way. Shall I
carry on, or just wander about looking at different things? I spent
last week printing bits of maps and copying pages from guide books to
put in a file to take with me - I had forgotten to print some of the
hills I did before I met Martin on Mull and had to buy a map in
Invergarry. I could have gone up and done a few hills this last week
as I have been off work but I only got as far as Manchester and
Sheffield. With increasing transport costs I'll have to be a bit more
systematic and I have had to rethink the possible last Munro since I
had thought about keeping Ben More as it was the first I attempted way
way back. I have tentatively settled on Blaven. but it will be done on
a good day with views.

I only had about 50 left when I started to think about finishing and by
then the only significant ones left were Ben Lomond and Ben More on
Mull. In the end I opted for the most Southerly rather than the final
Munro in the final section. I was going to suggest that you could have
asked the SMC to rewrite Section 17 to put Blaven at the end but on
checking I find that they did that during their 1st attempt to mess up
the list (1980 edition) so Ben More would have lost its significance
before I compleated.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

However, within an hour I had decided I *must* do it again as there
are so many things I could do differently and places I could go to.

21 years on my feels still haven't changed but then the Munros are
substantially the same apart from the paths that have since appeared.
;-)

Quoted message said:

Some paths are nice ones made by stalkers which were probably there
well before you and some are awful; made by sad baggers like us
ignoring the least impact route and gouging great scars across fragile
areas :-(

I found some of the stalking paths very useful but they were often an
added bonus as the were usually omitted from the 1". Pick a decent way
up a remote hill and the chances are you would come across a stalkers
path going your way at least most of the way up the hill.

Incidentally stalkers paths weren't made by stalkers but built for
stalkers back when stalking first became popular (19th century?) and had
long since blended into the landscape unlike their modern counterparts,
the bulldozed landrover track.

--
Roger Chapman

Judith said:

I've just completed my first TGO Challenge, walking from Lochailort to
Lunan Bay. At the end of each day I made a few brief notes. As usual
with my TRs these notes tend to be personal rather than exciting tales
of derring-do.

<snip>

Good stuff. The first pint in Montrose must have been /very/ good! ;-)

Quoted message said:

Post script. I notice that while I have been away there has been a
thread in urw about whether we should rename the group
uk.rec.hillwalking. I've always been conscious that I'm not one of
the "he-men" of the group (thankfully) but I do enjoy my walking and
would hope that we don't split into factions.

Missed that one, but I would hope that doesn't happen. There's not
enough traffic that urw is unmanageable and there's plenty of worthwhile
walking that doesn't have to involve hills the whole time, as you've
demonstrated very well.

Pete.
--
Peter Clinch Medical Physics IT Officer
Tel 44 1382 660111 ext. 33637 Univ. of Dundee, Ninewells Hospital
Fax 44 1382 640177 Dundee DD1 9SY Scotland UK
net [email hidden] http://www.dundee.ac.uk/~pjclinch/

Roger said:

The message <[email hidden]>
from Phil Cook <[email hidden]> contains these words:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Some paths are nice ones made by stalkers which were probably there
well before you and some are awful; made by sad baggers like us
ignoring the least impact route and gouging great scars across fragile
areas :-(

I found some of the stalking paths very useful but they were often an
added bonus as the were usually omitted from the 1". Pick a decent way
up a remote hill and the chances are you would come across a stalkers
path going your way at least most of the way up the hill.

Incidentally stalkers paths weren't made by stalkers but built for
stalkers back when stalking first became popular (19th century?) and had
long since blended into the landscape unlike their modern counterparts,
the bulldozed landrover track.

Yes I was aware that the stalker's paths were built. I often wonder as
I walk up them of the estate workers putting them in and who thought
where they should go and the fact that they will have used none of the
fancy membranes and bags of stone helicoptered in to make them.

Martin Jhimmy Nick and I walked up an even older path on our long walk
in to Ben More - a drove road.

--
Phil Cook looking north over the park to the "Westminster Gasworks"