The Edzell Conundrum

I admit I can be slow on the up take sometimes.

I can miss things that to most are obvious.

I think my map reading skills are fairly good; yes I do get misplaced at times, who doesn't?

If I do go astray its mainly because I'm chatting or not concentrating on where I'm going.

I'll also admit I can be a lazy so & so at times, so walking an extra couple of km's when not really necessary, especially near the end of a day for me isn't fun.

So when planning my TGO route; I thought it strange that people would walk into Edzell only to have to walk out again to cross the river; yes I know there is a cafe but to me that's extra km's.

But I've just found Edzell's little secret.

Now people in the know will say 'yes; we know, didn't you look at the map?'

Yes; I did look at the map, now maybe on a 1:25 its as clear as a bell but on a 1:50 it isn't, well that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it :-)

So am I the only one to be dimwitted about this and miss it? Or have others similarly missed Edzell's little secret?

Sent by Hansel in a wood somewhere

Google Earth Route

I have put my route into a Google Earth file; So anyone wanting to take a look can download the file here.

You do have to wait 20 second before you can download the file, and you do need Google Earth installed to run the file.

TGO Challenge 5 Roads

Today's route will be on a lot of roads. I think it's about 9km or so of road into Laggan, but it does look to be B roads. At Laggan I have a choice to make; either stay on the North side of the river or cross to the South. If I stay North; I can pick up a path going North which will bring me into Newtonmore and then the cycle path into Kingussie. Going across the river means more road walking but I have heard of a wild camp East of the A9 and this is easier to reach going this way. I guess I'll make the decision on the day depending on how I feel at Laggan.

Sent via GW520

TGO Challenge 4 Corrieyairack

Today's route; will take me from Fort Augustus to Grava Bridge. This will mean crossing The Corrieyairack Pass, the pass is one of General Wade's Roads the pass climbs to over 2500ft.

I'm quite looking forward to going through this pass and hopefully the weather on the day will be as good as the last time I when through a high Scottish pass.

The night's camp will be another wild camp but I also think that there maybe a few others camping near to the same place.

TV Maps

BBC Four are starting two new programmes with maps as the central theme.

The first is a four part series titled Maps: Power, Plunder and Possession.

Documentary looking at the history of maps.

This Starts on Sunday 18th April at 9.00pm; and looks to have a few repeats during the week. I guess it will also appear on iplayer as well.

The Second is called The Beauty of Maps, and is again a four part series.

Documentary exploring the cartography through the ages.

This one starts on Monday 19th at 8.30pm; and again looks to had a few repeats during the week.

Lick of Paint

As the blog is coming up on its fourth birthday; I thought a lick of digital paint was in order.

So here it is the freshly painted londonbackpacker.

There will probably be a few tweaks over the next few days; so be careful as the paint may still be wet.

TGO Challenge 2-3

Day two; sees me setting out from a wild camp somewhere between Alltbeithe YH and Athnamulloch to Cougie. This is a relativity short day but not by intention; I have heard a lot about the little settlement of Cougie and wanted to experience the place, after hearing stories from previous challenges.

The route continues through Glen Affric to join the path along side Loch Affric until I reach the Bridge across Allt Garbh where I turn South then East to find the path into Cougie.

Day Three; looks to be a long day, the route goes from Cougie to Fort Augustus a distance of about 18 miles (eek!!)

From Cougie; it's North/Northeast to Plodda Falls then the track going South to Fort Augustus; this should easy to found as there are Electricity Pylons along the whole length on this track.

The only section I am worried about is the walk from Torgyle Bridge to FA as this is through forest and I'm a bit like Hansel & Gretel when it comes to forests.

The camp site I was going to use in FA is now closed for the year; so I have managed to find another one and they are also happy for me to have a food parcel sent there.

TGO Challenge 1

First off; this is for the people who don't know what the TGO Challenge is.

The TGOC is a self supported walk from the West coast of Scotland to the East coast, it is held every May.

The map shows my first day on the challenge; overall my route is a low level one starting out from Shiel Bridge and going up through Gleann Lichd. The route crosses a couple of rivers/streams before climbing up to Camban bothy from here I drop down to the river Affric. I continue into Glen Affric; passing the youth hostel and then start looking for a camping spot. Athnamulloch looks to be a reasonable place but maybe a bit to far for the first day.