After a tent mishap, Karolina Szczerkowska found a challenge within the Challenge this year – but picked up a brilliant tent hack along the way.
After my first crossing in 2023, I knew I would be coming back the following year. But what I didn’t know was that I would have to finish this year’s challenge sleeping in a broken tent. The third day had seen me walking alongside the Affric Kintail Way from Alltbeithe to Cannich. Don’t get me wrong – it was beautiful, hot and sunny. Perfect weather, perfect views for hours on end. But a little bit too monotonous for when you are tired. ‘What an uneventful day!’ I thought. And I jinxed it.
Main image: Karolina’s trusty MSR Hubba Hubba | Credit: Karolina Szczerkowska
When I finally reached the Cannich campsite, I promptly started pitching my tent. Everything around seemed just ideal. Calm and peaceful, the whole world clearly getting ready for the night. And then, all of a sudden, the pole hub on my trusty Hubba Hubba snapped. I wasn’t able to fix it, even with cable ties and duct tape. This got everyone’s attention.
Other challengers and non-challengers attempted to repair my tent, but to no avail. I had tears in my eyes. I didn’t want to go back home and abandon the challenge on my third day but how could I continue without the tent?
The broken Hubba. Credit: Karolina Szczerkowska
I was offered a cup of tea, someone else gave me a much-needed hug. One person invited me to sleep in their awning in case of rain overnight. Then, teamwork and a genius tent hack saved my challenge.
Fellow camper, Col, gave me a tarp to put above my head. As soon as I started taking it out of the bag, the campsite’s owner, Seth, spotted one of the parts and skilfully placed tarp’s pole into a pole hub. My tent was erect, at least for as long as I had the parts – until the morning, to be exact.
The tent hack that saved the Challenge. Credit: Karolina Szczerkowska
Luckily, my campsite neighbour, Steve, came up with what I later called ‘the pen knife trick’. A knife, while stuck in the hub at the right angle, could hold the whole tent together.
And so, I carried on towards the East Coast with my pack of tricks and trusty tent hack. “It’s the broken Hubba! I’ve heard about it!” became a great conversation starter but also a beautiful reminder of what the TGO Challenge really is about – the people. It is about you, me and everyone we meet during those two weeks.
You can walk across Scotland any time of the year, but without other challengers, it would never be the same. And that’s why we keep coming back year after year.
Walking alongside the Affric Kintail Way. Credit: Karolina Szczerkowska
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.
