Back up and walking

We are back up and running. Tomorrow it is up to Kingussie to restart from Garva Bridge. This time it is an exercise in travelling light and using the bunkhouses and bothies along the way. Sunday night should see me tucked up in Blackburn Bothy after a walk over the Corrietarrick Pass. Then it is down to Fort Augustus in the morning to resupply and a night at Invergarry Bunkhouse to make any final preparations and fill the body with carbohydrates prior to the walk through Knoydart which will take me four days.
Some of the questions on my mind are:

• will the weather be kind (an obsession I'm afraid)
• how will it feel walking for several days alone?
• what will the pack feel like this time around? At nearly half the weight it should make a great difference

Two steps forward and one step back

 So here we are on day 1 - Saturday 25 August. Leaving the front door in Edinburgh and then camping at the site just beyond Edzall. Things didn't turn out as planned. Here's what hapenned.

We took the train up to Montrose and got off there and started the walk. It was a good day although the walk up to Edzall is probably one of the hardest days as it is all on tarmac with the traffic wizzing past. Bonnie carried 5 days of food in her pack and seemed pretty comfortable with it. We covered the miles and got into a routine of walking for an hour or so, then taking a break and then carrying on again. Occassionally Bonnie would stop and want to just stop but not too much.

As we neared Edzall Bonnie got more and more relunctant to carry on and with all the weight I was carrying it wasn't as if my carrying her load was viable, (they say a dogs load should be less than a quater of their weight, Bonnie's was a sixth, by contrast mine was rather over a quarter).

Leaving Edzall, Bonnie decided she had had enough and lay right by the side of the road, on her side and refused to budge. Her legs were sticking straight out and she closed her eyes. It all seemed somewhat alarming and the next thing I knew a dog loving motorist had stopped her car and was dashing to the scene. She though Bonnie had been hit by a vehicle.

Fortunately this new turn of events prompted Bonnie to jump up and greet the concerned motorist as if to say what's all the fuss? Kindly motorist offerred us a lift the remaining couple of miles to the campsite, so Bonnie jumped into the back of the car and we drove up there. Our thinking was to give Bonnie a rest and see how everything looked the following morning after some food and sleep. Kindly motorist left us at the campsite leaving me to ponder things over. I had a number of concerns:

• My pack felt much to heavy to carry the distance, especially going into the hills where I would need to climb up to nearly 3,000 ft in getting over to Glen Clova and to then via Jocks Road to Braemar.
• If Bonnie pulled the same trick again it could be very difficult to get her going and that could be a big problem in the hills where we could be several miles from the road, the weather could be foul and we could be high up.

That evening and the next morning I mused. On Sunday I set off for Loch Lee, but in my heart I knew we weren't in a position to make the journey over to Glen Clova and Braemar so after a few miles, where there was reception I contacted Laura. After some discussion we agreed that the solution was to re-jig things. It was a big disapointment, especially when so many people are supporting the trek. We determined to return to Edinburgh so Bonnie could go back to Ruth's house and I would look at how I could lighten my rucsac and do the Kingussie onwards part of the journey without a tent, just using bothies, B&Bs and bunkhouses. It made a lot more sense and felt viable.

So that's what is happenning, I am reducing my rucsac weight from over 50 lbs (22.7 kilos) to under 30 lbs (13.6 kilos). It will make a massive difference to my ability to complete the western end of the trek. As for Bonnie, she needs to stay at home. You realise that for her that being taken off on a long walk without any previous experience must have been a very strange affair and she needs to have more experience before it would be fair to take her off on such an adventure.

On Friday it is back up to Kingussie and Inverie here I come.

As for the section from Glen Esk to Kingussie, I will leave that to be completed later, maybe as a few short overnighting trips as opportunities present themselves.

And we are off

Today is the last day at home and now all preparations have been concluded. At times the task ahead seems daunting, 200 miles or so to walk with a dog for company and many lovely people who have put their support behind me and so are counting on me doing it. I guess it is a bit like having nerves before something starts, speaking in public, going on stage, doing a rock climb. Once the thing has started these fade away and you just become involved and absorbed in the process of whatever you are doing, but beforehand it can be all butterflies. I remind myself that Laura says all I need to do is put one foot in front of another...

Actually some inspitaion came yesterday in the post. A copy of Scottish Mountaineer arrived and in it was an article by a climber who had taken a 1924 Paris Olympic medal (awarded to a British Everest expedition of the time) to the top of Everest. In the end me made it, but not without his share of great doubts and physically being greatly incapacitated by the altitude initially. By contrast all I need to do is haul about 20 kilos up 600 meters and down the other side from time to time, if I get soaked there will always be a bothy, bunkhouse or other alternative around and if the sun shines, that'll be marvellous.
My hopes are:

• to have fun
• complete the challenge I have set myself and finish in Inverie
• meet people along the way
• have a great evening in Sourlies Bothy with Martin and Brett
•  that Bonnie enjoys the walk

And I know it will be fantastic being reunited with family at the end.

Here's a picture of the Cirque de Navacelles, through which we were trekking with Colibri the donkey. It all worked well and now its time to buy provisions and get all packed for the walk.

Yesterday I took Bonnie for a walk with her bags on her back. Carrying a kilo of dried beans she made a jolly sound as she walked along and seemed unbothered by carrying some weight. She'll need to carry a little more for the Big Walk but it all looks promising. Anyway - off to provision - 14 dinners, 14 lunches and 13 breakfasts.

French training

Completed a thirty or forty mile trek through the Cervennes. The temperature was over 30 at times and occasionally I carried Gaia, memorably up out of the Circus de Navacelles gorge. All good training and it has left me ready for the big walk.