Category: JOGLE 2017

Today was a fairly undemanding walk south then west along two single track, mostly deserted, minor roads. Decided to try on a brand new pair of socks kindly donated by Bridgedale – my favourites. The route took me through Forsinard and Kinbrace with great views of the Flow Country, a single railway line and the odd deer. Talked with a guy in Forsinard about why there are “RSPB Not Welcome Here” signs all over the place – seems the RSPB own substantial land in Scotland but are not very good landlords. Stopped for lunch with Cath in Kinbrace on the station car park, waited for a train to come through then carried on the final 5 miles of the day. Badanloch was a great location, by the side of the road between two lochs. We were treated to lapwings showing off, deer roaming in the moorland and a gorgeous sunset. This wild camping lark is not bad really!

A sheltered night in Betty on the Brown Trout car park massive thanks to the people we met in the bar who donated £28 for the charity – a fantastic start! After breakfast we drove 5 miles back to Mybster and today’s start point. In summary today was not terribly exciting, very windy, mostly from behind, and few highlights. The first 7 miles to the isolated Strathmore Lodge through a mixture of farmland then open moors dominated by a massive wind farm. After that onto a stony then sandy track through some fine pine forestry past the choppy Loch More and 7miles later arriving at Altnabreac Station for a rest. Probably the most remote railway station I will ever visit but reassured that I could easily have wild camped there as originally planned. After lunch the next 7 miles were about as mind numbing as I have experienced – areas shown as forestry on the map now just desolate landscape made bare by logging or fire/disease. The last 3 miles to Forsinain were better – a return to pine forest, a small climb around Sletill Hill, my first real close-up encounter with a deer (unfortunately a dead one) and the sight of the waiting Betty as arranged, although Cath and PJ were not there – they had walked to meet me and taken the wrong path – this has happened before, so not a major drama and we were very quickly reunited. Our chosen wild camp spot was perfect. Even had an inquisitive otter sniffing around!

After a quite windy night (thank heavens for earplugs) we were up just after 7 and getting ready for the “real” start. The wind was still howling as we had breakfast, went through the van checklist and plan for the day. Soon enough it was goodbye and off en route, me leaving Cath and PJ (the dog) behind to pack up. Today was mainly single track lanes past farms and acres of wild bogs, no hills of note but on particular straight stretch which went on forever. Wind was from south east (oddly) but quite cold until the sun showed its face around lunchtime. Cath met me as arranged around halfway (11 miles) and we had a quick salad and planned the afternoon. At this point I have to say that Cath is fast becoming a legend, mastering Betty (the van) and improving her map reading skills as well as being in charge of food, logistics and pretty much everything else – all I do is walk.

So after lunch more lanes and wind down past Loch Watten, and 5 miles further to the meeting point. In summary a decent day, no pains, 22 more miles and a nice bit of grub at the Brown Trout in Watten. As I write just negotiating an overnight stay on the pub car park.  

I have to mention also the Clif energy bar that I tried today – White Macadamia Nut – very tasty and I am not a nut lover, but that gets a big tick!

More tomorrow

Well it’s no going back now – all roads lead south towards Lands End. Arrived at JOG a bit later than hoped – a couple of “learning” experiences with the van, officially christened Betty at least for the remainder of this adventure. So we headed straight to the start point and after a brief photo shoot I set off on my way, following Cath to our campsite at Stroma View, 1.7 miles along my route. It is clear and dry but very windy so not ideal but could be a lot worse. A good meal, good sleep and the long haul south starts in the morning.

Delayed leaving home after another dog visit to the vet but 8 hours later we are here in Perth at our overnight before driving to JOG tomorrow. Motorhome performed very well so Cath should have no problems for the next 10 weeks!

I learned to walk I believe before my first birthday and have managed to retain that skill ever since, so why the heck do I need to train for a walk? Well if it was only that easy and everyone could just get up and walk 20 miles a day every day for 2 months I wouldn’t be in this position at all. 

For this walk and previous ones I began training after Christmas and gradually built up distances with different terrain and carrying a backpack. Over the last couple of years I have also started going to the gym 3 times a week under the guidance of my son-in-law Joe (Coreworx PT) working on overall strength and conditioning which has made a real difference.

So I can be fit and ready to do the distance but can I deal with the psychological challenge of such a long walk? I think the key is not to get too far ahead, just take a day at a time and not worry about the fact that I’ve still got over 1000 miles to go after one week if walking. Also not to worry about injuries, blisters etc, which will surely happen at some point, just deal with each situation as it arises.

The bottom line is being confident that I can get up every day and feel fresh enough mentally and physically to go and do another 20 miles, whatever the weather and whatever the terrain. Having been through some pretty horrible (but exhilarating) experiences on past walks, at least I know I can handle the toughest conditions and get through safely.

I get asked a lot how do I manage to do it on my own? Not an easy one to answer, but I think about loads of different things, constantly planning ahead and evaluating my situation. On new routes more time is spent making sure I don’t get lost (yes it happens!). Sometimes I listen to music on my IPod, other times I’m just comfortable in my own company testing myself against the elements. There are one or two other secrets which I may disclose should I ever write a book. Having said all that, I am equally happy walking with others as company, it provides a different variety of experiences to enjoy.

Thought I’d put something down about the planning and preparation for this (or any other) walk, the challenge here is not to fall into a nerdy trap or just produce a massive list. Here goes…

1. The Route

I had this idea in mind for at least 2 years having followed others on Twitter etc who have done it alone. There are some books around describing route options, because between John O’Groats and Lands End there’s a lot of space and family and friends almost certainly somewhere along the way – but no definitive route or path. So I bought some books, did some research and started plotting an overall plan and detailed route maps using Ordnance Survey. Even at this late stage I have been tweaking little bits and now have a fair size wedge of printed maps to go with the guide books for the parts where I’m on National Trails. 

Here is the final draft route plan for my John O’Groats to Lands End trek for Prostate Cancer UK.

JOGLE Schedule 1