The Great Outdoors Challenge: Route approved!

Well that’s that: after some minor revisions, my 2024 route for The Great Outdoors Challenge has been approved! Trains and campsites are booked, kit lists have been checked, resupply points have been marked on the map and I am truly ready for the off…only three months to wait!

I actually stumbled across TGOC by complete accident. I recently finished a 5 year stint of bagging the 214 Lake District Wainwrights by public transport and over the last year have started getting back into trails (TMB, WHW and Chablais stage of the GR5.) I wanted to fit something in during May, as it is my favourite time of year: the colours and smells of gorse and wildflowers are like a sensory overload after the long winter, and the sound of new life bleating and chirping away is magical to the ears.

I also wanted to find something in Scotland, but I wasn’t immediately drawn to a number of the national trails. The Affric Kintail Way and Cateran Trails are quite short and my trail legs only seem to kick in after the third day. The Great Glen Way, East Highland Way and Rob Roy Way all initially looked interesting, but most writeups suggested that they might be somewhat less ‘epic’ or challenging than I was looking for. The Cape Wrath Trail is held aloft as an epic adventure, but I thought it best to keep this for when I have a little more experience, given the lack of infrastructure and facilities along the way.

It was only at this point that I saw the words ‘The Great Outdoors Challenge’, and was a little confused at the contradictory information I was seeing, with various start and finish points and different routes connecting them.

The penny eventually dropped and I realised that this isn’t a defined trail. It is a non-competitive event, plotting your own route across Scotland from the Atlantic Ocean to the North Sea. Taking place over two weeks in May, many others will simultaneously be completing their own unique challenges. At certain pinch-points challengers are likely to encounter each other – sharing stories and blister pads before parting ways again, willing each other onwards. Regardless of experience, difficulty or route chosen, all participants are bound together: not as competitors, but as kindred spirits with a shared goal. I absolutely fell in love with the concept, and immediately sent in my application form and entrance fee.

After receiving confirmation of my place, the next step was to plan the route:

I can be quite self-deprecating at times, but I am fairly proud of my ability to push through strenuous routes or overcome mental ‘downers’, particularly when hiking solo. Most of my fellwalking has been in the worst winter weather that Lakeland can throw at you, often navigating across featureless bogs in gale-force winds and thick fog. I also have walked several multi-day trails so have an idea of my physical and mental thresholds. I am, however, yet to put the two together in quite the combination that a remote crossing in an extended poor weather window would entail. I know that I would find the mental grind hard-going for a first crossing – particularly as my knowledge of Scotland and the landscape is fairly limited, so I decided that sticking to fairly well-maintained tracks and paths was a sensible decision.

Just to complicate logistics further, I had already booked flights to walk the TMB in the summer before coming across TGOC, and my annual leave was going to be stretched very thin (yes, I do have a full-time job as well as doing all of this hiking!) This meant I needed to start from somewhere I can get to in a single day from Aberystwyth.

All of this pointed to a route starting in Oban and finishing in Montrose.

Once I had set these parameters, the rest became fairly straightforward. I wanted to stop in a village or town with a campsite every 2-3 days, as a shower and hot meal goes a long way to keeping spirits up. Tyndrum, Blair Atholl, Braemar/Ballater and Edzell were natural intermediary stops, and it was just a case of playing ‘dot-to-dot’ to join them up.

I started looking at Google Streetview and Geograph to get an idea of the landscapes and wildlife in each area. I have rarely travelled further north than Penrith, and I knew that I wanted to see scenery and wildlife that were distinctively Scottish and unfamiliar to me. Specifically: walking alongside Lochs, passing through deep Glens and seeing as many Scots Pines in their natural habitat as I could. I also thought that going through the Balmoral Estate would be interesting from a historical and cultural perspective.

Therefore, this is the final submitted route that has now been approved:

Days 1-3:

Start by walking alongside Loch Etive, and then through Glen Kinglass. Onwards to the fill my boots at The Green Welly Stop, and a hot shower. Catch up with who won Eurovision, if I were unable to stream it from the tent by Loch Dochard!

Days 4-6:

Skirt the northern perimeter of Loch Lyon, and continue along the Glen before cutting through Rannoch Forest to Kinloch Rannoch and Blair Atholl.

Days 7-9:

Walk through Glen Tilt up to the Falls of Tarf, heading over Bynach and Geldie Burns and turning east towards Braemar. A small dog-leg detour up Glen Lui and back down Glen Quoich (must remember to not call it Glen Quiche) was purposely added in for the dramatic scenery and Scots Pines. If I am honest, I felt bad about not seeing Aviemore and the northern Cairngorms, and this was a way of gazing up to the Lairig Ghru to whet my appetite for future crossings.

Days 10-12:

A popular end to TGOC - up and over Mount Keen on the Mounth Road into Tarfside. This is apparently a legendary stopover, with the village green opened to a sea of TGOC tents, and a real community spirit as everyone is about to embark on the final push. From Tarfside it is over the Hills of Wirren and the plod to the coast, via Charleton Farm and their famous strawberry tarts.

Now that all of the planning is completed, I can start fine-tuning my kit list and can spend the next 12 weeks focusing on getting the body and mind in better shape. I have always struggled with motivation over the winter months, and while there is a certain rush about going out in brutal conditions or in crisp icy weather, these days are far and few between. For the most part it feels like 4 months of cold, wet, clammy darkness and I find my waistband expanding while my mood and energy levels deteriorate. This has come at the perfect time: now that the weather has started to improve and the days are grow longer, I have the perfect kick I needed to get in shape: not just for TGOC, but also to make sure I head out to the Alps in a much better physical condition this year!