TGO Challenge

After an enforced hiatus in 2020 due to coronavirus lockdowns, the TGO Challenge is set to return in 2021. To celebrate, eight participants walk us through their route plans for an adventurous west-to-east crossing of the Scottish Highlands this June...

Introduction by event organisers Sue Oxley & Ali Ogden

WITH 2020’S TGO CHALLENGE cancelled and this year’s enforced postponement till June, there were times we wondered if 2021’s challenge would ever happen. Months of Covid-19 uncertainty and restrictions were our background for so long, we just had to doggedly persist with our preparations for 2021 and hope it could all go ahead. We’re delighted it can!

This year’s challenge will be different, not least because our numbers are reduced, largely due to the postponement. But perhaps this is no bad thing. Many communities, whilst wanting and needing some economic benefits from tourism, remain wary of incomers. We have done our best to alleviate any concerns arising from the challenge by dispersing numbers away from natural bottlenecks. This has required many challengers to adapt their plans. We know that their good common sense will prevail and we all want the 2021 TGO Challenge to be as successful as possible. Despite the tweaks, the fundamentals remain the same: a west-to-east crossing of the Scottish Highlands, with each participant (up to 300 in a normal year) planning their own route, beginning from designated starting points on the west coast. ‘Challengers’ are required to check in with Challenge control along their journey, which also acts as an emergency backup, and routes are vetted by a team of experienced walkers; but otherwise it is a self-supported experience.

This year, it’s Ali’s turn on ‘challenge control’ and Sue’s turn to walk. However, like several other challengers, Sue has a long-term knee problem, so for her 17th TGO Challenge things will be different. Her previous 16 crossings have been high-level, but this year she’ll stay low-level to avoid long, steep descents, with several short days factored in should some rest be required.

To give an insight into the planning process, we asked eight challengers to give us the lowdown on how they’ve brought together their intended routes this year.

1. Alan Jordan (69) from Staffordshire

CHOSEN ROUTE: Portavadie to Lunan Bay PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 17

I always like to start from a different point and find new ground to cover, wherever possible. It’s good to vary the walk with different styles of terrain to keep it interesting, with a mix of wild ground and sections of tracks and paths. When I plan a hilltop or range of tops I like to camp fairly high so the next morning is easier and a summit can be reached early with minimal effort. For re-supplying, I look for a campsite or B&B every two or three days – a few home comforts make a big difference to morale, even if it’s only a shower or a hot meal.

This year I’ll be walking with my 20-year-old grandson Bradley, who’s participating in his first TGO Challenge. I wanted to make things as adventurous as possible for him, so I’ve included several achievable Munros. This should provide a perfect insight into what the Highlands look like from above, with high mountain lochs to camp beside and sparkling clear burns with waterfalls to follow. Fingers crossed we’ll feel part of the wilderness, carrying all we need for two weeks.

I always aim to visit interesting places – historical landmarks like ancient hill forts, castles, churches and museums – along my route. This breaks up any monotony. The day I reached Culloden Battlefield on a previous challenge, it was 7am on a chilly morning, with a low mist across the moor and not a movement or sound. As I slowly made my way you could feel the eeriness of great grief – days like that are never forgotten. The TGO Challenge gives us all these unique experiences and it’s with great pleasure that I’m able to seize that opportunity yet again.

2. David Pickles (58) from Devon

CHOSEN ROUTE: Strathcarron to Fraserburgh PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 6

This will be my 7th year of solo walking the challenge. Each year I procrastinate with the planning, as if assigned a difficult piece of homework. However the joy of the unexpected is the greatest motivation: amazing views, the people you meet, and friendships struck up on a hillside over a freeze-dried meal.

In deciding my route, I first look at a road map of Scotland and gain a mental picture of the terrain. I choose a starting place that appeals. This may be for the remoteness (Torridon) or the availability of a langoustine supper the night before setting off (Mallaig). I always stay at Braemar, Callater and

Tarfside as I love the vibe. This, however, makes each subsequent year more difficult to choose a different way to get there. I initially had a ‘social route’ accepted for 2021, but sadly when the consequences of Covid-19 became apparent, these favourite places would no longer be available.

Instead I re-submitted a plan from Strathcarron via the Moray coast to Fraserburgh, a route I had thought about for several years. This still gave me good Highlands walking and, beyond Inverness, an area of coast new to me. I could visit the Findhorn community and would have a better opportunity to chat to locals. I imagined also eating an evening meal of fresh fish and chips before retiring to a seaside camp. The added advantage is that the coast might be midge-free, allowing me to take off the beekeeper-style hat. I may also realise an ambition to visit Rattray Head (of shipping forecast fame) before heading for Montrose. Is this an ideal plan? Let’s find out!

3. Graham Brookes (75) from Stockport

CHOSEN ROUTE: Mallaig to Johnshaven

PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 28

What is important to me in planning a route for the TGO Challenge is that last word – challenge. It may be a walk to The Park (Hotel), but I am not looking for a ‘walk in the park’. I prefer my routes to include a good number of mountains, especially where I can walk a whole range using high camps. That keeps daily ascents reasonable until the need to replenish my food. This year’s route has been inspired by the chance to climb some of the few Corbetts in TGO Challenge territory I have yet to do.

There is usually too much on my wish list to include in one route, so the most alluring may have to give way to the more convenient, to allow replenishment of food and avoid unreasonably long walking days. Once the gist of a route is established, careful calculation of walking time using daily distance and ascent identifies days that are too long or short. A process of moving stopping points and minor rerouting gives better-balanced days, which I like to keep between 7 and 9 hours of walking before adding breaks.

I use digital mapping but do not trust walking times produced by it, which tends to under-estimate for the rougher western terrain and over-estimate in the gentler east. Or do I get fitter as the days go by?

I enter the data into my own spreadsheet and use personal, experience-based walking, ascent and descent rates to get a better estimate. It never goes exactly to plan but is seldom far out.

4. Jean Turner (81) from Inverness-shire

CHOSEN ROUTE: Morar to Muchalls PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 15 Bedtime reading, dreaming of routes and hills. That’s what my TGO Challenge was for years, while job and young family precluded planned holidays in May. At 64, the year before retirement, I finally made it. First-timers were asked to choose a low-level route, and reluctantly I complied, adding interest by starting at my parents’ origins (Plockton) and including my own (Portsoy). I met two challengers – Chris Peart and Colin Crawford, fellow solitude-lovers – and had no idea what a sociable event it was.

Weather was unkind on my second crossing, but on the third I managed an ‘official’ high-level route, just as official recording ceased. Thereafter I challenged myself with various themes: the longest possible route in 2007 (south-west to north-east, Ardnoe Point to Rattray Head), for example, and a local traditional music or song for each overnight in 2012.

Advancing age compelled the admission that a full camping pack over Munros was hard work. Temptation, though, was often overwhelming.

So it was for this year. I designed an interesting but modest route from Morar, ambling through Glen Dessary, Glen Kingie and Glen Garry. But if the weather should perchance be beautiful? I’d be walking beneath the siren call of a long, glorious ridge for miles, unable to divert up there because it wasn’t on my route: intolerable! Many promises of

“if, and only if, the weather is perfect” eventually persuaded Sue and Ali to allow me to plod at my old-crone pace along that glorious ridge. The remainder of my route will perforce be tame, to make up time. But I hope to include some summits of the little hills of Buchan that are new to me, complete with their history, archaeology and legends.

5. John Arlington (75) from Washington DC, USA

CHOSEN ROUTE: Plockton to Kinnaber Links PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 4

One of the best things about the TGO Challenge is designing your own route: it’s the next best thing to actually doing the walking. My planning parameters are few, but important: avoid the madding crowds; seek out the dramatic views; go someplace I haven’t been; make it physically challenging; and savour the experience. There are also some guiding principles: pace yourself (a daily distance of 12-14 miles is optimal); and plan re-supply points (to minimise the weight I need to carry and to use a pint in the pub as an incentive to get over the next hill).

Planning the route required long-distance consultation because I live in the US and Sue, my walking partner, is from Nottingham. We first met on the 2017 TGO Challenge on a hill above Loch Monar, when we were both walking solo. Our routes diverged two days later, but kept converging over the next fortnight. Good walking partners are hard to find, so we accepted fate and decided to team up for a future event. The challenge tends to work like that: a chance encounter can result in lifelong friendship.

For 2021, we chose to start at Plockton to avoid the crowds. With the starting point and the destination decided, there was just the middle to figure out. Inspired by an old by Ralph Storer book, we’ll take in the Mullardoch Munros before heading directly over to Newtonmore. Then it’s across Glen Feshie to wild camp at Loch nan Cnapan. The second week will see us into the eastern half of the walk, taking the path less travelled wherever possible.

I’m really excited about this route and seeing my friends in Scotland. Here’s hoping the UK and Scottish governments let this fully vaccinated American into the country!

6. Julie Skipp (61) from Washington State, and Dave Skipp (52) from Dorset

CHOSEN ROUTE: Oban to Corbie Knowe PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: Julie (10),

Dave (15)

We met at a bus stop near Dunnottar Castle after finishing solo crossings in 2010 and quickly became close friends – the rest was history and we married in 2019. Even after multiple challenges, first as solo hikers and now hiking together, we still feel a sense of anticipation each November while we wait for confirmation that ‘we’re in’. Route planning then starts: maps spread out over the dining table, Munro targets eyed up, and discussions about new territory to explore. It’s surprising how many ways you can get from west to east with some creativity.

We’ve both started from Oban before but it’s the quickest way into the hills of Glen Etive, so the start point was set easily. Conversely, we hadn’t been to Corbie Knowe at the south of Lunan Bay so our finish point was established quickly too. The goal of our first week is always to get and stay high, and this year is no different. We’ll climb high above Glen Etive onto the Black Mount before descending to the West Highland Way and ascending again to the hills beyond Bridge of Orchy and into Killin.

Normally the second half is more sociable and relaxed. There’s a clear transition from the rugged west, with its isolation and navigational challenges, to eastern areas with amenities, roads and people. Invariably there’ll be other challengers to share a drink, a meal and a laugh with. But this year we’ve decided to walk on the south side of Loch Tay, as this area will be new to us and less crowded during these Covid times.

We’re particularly looking forward to spending our last evening with old and new friends with celebratory beverages in hand, sharing tales of our respective crossings, reliving past memories and already a glimmer of next year’s challenge in the back of our minds.

7. Sally Phillips (32) from Inverness-shire

CHOSEN ROUTE: Torridon to Lunan Bay PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 2

Route planning has been one of my favourite parts of the TGO challenge. Poring over maps looking for new and interesting ways to cross mountains and glens, and hunting for beautiful places to pitch a tent for the night, is great fun and a perfect way to pass time during the long winter months.

There were so many obstacles in the way of the TGO Challenge 2021, I was convinced it wouldn’t happen. When the revised June dates were announced and almost everyone I knew dropped out, including my two team-mates, I didn’t know whether to wait another year, or submit a solo entry. The team route that we’d chosen was aimed at hitting the main hubs of activity along the way and followed a lot of ground that I’d already covered in previous years.

With a shortened time-frame and less motivation to socialise, I picked a route across some of my favourite big hills. I’ll start in Torridon amongst the giants of Alligin, Liathach and Eighe, an area that I fell in love with last summer, before journeying diagonally from north-west to south-east to finish with my toes in the sea at Lunan Bay on the east coast, a beach where I spent much of my childhood running amok. Between these two special places, I picked out some Munros that I wanted to explore, including an overly ambitious traverse of the Strathfarrar hills and a crossing of the Cairngorm plateau to take in Beinn Bhrotain and Monadh Mor. The usual suspects of Newtonmore and Braemar are in there, although I strongly suspect they will be a lot quieter than usual during the TGO fortnight.

8. Mark Storey (51) from Gloucestershire

CHOSEN ROUTE: Kilchoan to Dunnottar Castle PREVIOUS TGO CHALLENGES: 14

The Ardnamurchan Peninsula is one of my favourite starting points for the TGO Challenge. Kilchoan is in a wonderfully remote part of Scotland. It also has a lovely hotel for a final night of luxury before heading east on foot. I like starting from there because it allows for so many different coast-to-coast route options. I recommend heading west on day one to visit the lighthouse at Ardnamurchan Point – the most westerly point of mainland Britain.

It’s a rather nice idea to then aim for an east coast lighthouse: Scurdie Ness lighthouse, close to Montrose, is a good option.

After leaving the lighthouse, it’s a good walk north to the spectacular Sanna Bay before finally heading east along the amazing remote wilderness of the northern Ardnamurchan coastline. There are then plenty of different route options available: a northerly route up to Glenfinnan or heading through Cona Glen, Glen Gour or Glen Scaddle to pick up either the Corran or Camusnagaul ferry east over Loch Linnhe. The latter takes you to Fort William and opens up a multitude of different walking options east: Glen Nevis, the East Highland Way or even the Monadhliath Mountains.

Sometimes I enjoy walking high-level ridge routes with a few new Munros, but usually I like incorporating an unwalked long-distance path somewhere on my route – and it’s amazing how many of them there are to choose from. One year I included the entire Speyside Way and then finished with the Moray Firth Coastal Path to Fraserburgh, finally finishing at Kinnaird Head Lighthouse. Another very enjoyable option is to walk from a west coast castle to one on the east coast.