Tim Day links high camps in fine weather – with only one bothy night required! – on an epic TGOC24.
I first became aware of “The Challenge” sometime in the mid-noughties, via bothy log books containing entries like “Big TGO crowd in tonight” for the appropriate dates in May. At the time I was puzzled by the idea: if you wanted to walk across Scotland, why not just walk across Scotland and why did it need an organised event?
Main image: An Aonach Meadhoin high camp | Credit: Tim Day
Yet, two decades rolled by and despite doing a lot of multi-day hill-bagging backpacking trips, I still hadn’t walked across Scotland. In 2023 I decided it was high time this was fixed. The Challenge seemed ideal for providing a deadline for planning and doing it.
On Beinn Bhrotain. Credit: Tim Day
The route planning was an interesting exercise. The constraints imposed by FWA (Foul Weather Alternative) fallback plans and resupply logistics mean it’s more complicated than simply linking some favourite mountain areas together.
I eventually settled on a perhaps over-ambitious route taking in 18 Munros, 14 Munro tops and a Corbett. Encouraging input from an experienced route vetter was invaluable for clarifying details of some of the connecting sections I was unfamiliar with and for planning escape routes.
When the time arrived, I was unbelievably lucky with the weather and managed to stick to my planned route throughout. The first night of bad weather coincided with a planned stay in a bothy, and I arrived in Braemar just in time to avoid a drenching. It was only during the last few days in the east that the waterproofs saw some serious use.
Camped on Fasheilach (721m); view to Mount Keen in evening light. Credit: Tim Day
I managed 10 summit camps (seven of them on Munros) which was far more than I’d anticipated being possible. The good weather also meant generally dry conditions underfoot and I crossed the Monadhliath and what could have been a hideous labyrinth of peat hags west of Mount Keen with ease.
I was surprised how few Challengers I actually met high up in the wilds, although a few times remote figures striding along a skyline in an eastwards direction would hint at the mass movement underway. It was a different matter at any cafes or pubs passed by; there always seemed to be a welcoming group of other Challengers present and keen to compare stories on progress so far.
Will I be back for another go next year? Definitely! Possible route ideas are already brewing…
Sunset from Mullach Clach a’Bhlair. Credit: Tim Day
What is the TGO Challenge?
The TGO Challenge is a non-competitive, self-supported backpacking event in which you have up to 15 days to walk across Scotland from West to East on your own bespoke route through the spectacular Highlands using the benefits of Scotland’s unique access code to wild camp in some wonderfully remote places. It is not a race. The focus is on savouring your environment, exploring places you can only reach by foot and enjoying rather than enduring the experience. There are no accolades for high or fast routes and the infinite possibilities for routes, variations in weather and different characters encountered on each crossing make each journey unique.
Visit tgochallenge.com to learn more about the TGO Challenge or read more tales from the TGOC24 in the November 2024 issue of The Great Outdoors.
