I cant beleive its only eight weeks today until I take those first steps on a journey that will take me from Sheil Bridge on the west to Montrose on the east!

Challenge fever has well and truly taken hold of me now and I know these next eight weeks will fly by!

Being a first time challenger I was careful to select, how would I put it- a reasonably tame route through glens and over a few passes.

I started my outdoor addiction at the age of nineteen bagging the Munros and Im still at it yet- not wishing to storm through them all in a short time, I still have 19 to go.
Last couple of years I've found another addiction in the form of backpacking- weekends away in the hills and glens staying in Bothies and wildcamping whenever I can. Its been great to explore those remote glens further that I've only touched on during my Munro bagging exploits and taking things at a slower pace carrying a big pack finding some lovely idyllic spot to camp in a glen somewhere.

I've never done a walk this length, and really looking forward to this- savouring the scenery and meeting likeminded people along the way.

My partner and I submitted our route fairly quickly and being accepted for the challenge and in recent weeks our attention has turned too getting out and putting in some miles at the weekend carrying big packs.

We are pretty much all prepared for the challenge, apart from perhaps sorting out the small items like our wash kit and small odds and ends.

Food has to be sorted out too and I need to get my order in for a batch of dehydrated foods.
We will only have to carry two- three food supplies at a time as we will be passing through Fort Augustus, Newtonmore, Braemar and Edzell. We have thought about leaving a food parcel at each of these towns, but since our family is based in N.E Scotland, we thought it would be great if various members of the family could meet us and drop our parcels to us which is currently the plan.

My footwear choice has not been finalized- Im not an Ultralight backpacker by any means, but Im slowly heading that direction, but still intend to wear boots for the challenge.
I used to swear by leather boots, but as I started backpacking- I felt they were to clumsy and too heavy. I now wear Meindl Minesotta Pro GTX fabric boots which have been a revalation to me, but Im going even lighter and a pair Salomon X ultra Mid 2 boots are on their way to me as I write this. These boots are based on a Salomon trail shoe but with the addition of a high ankle cuff.
Im going to see how I get on with them over these next few weekends before deciding what to wear.

Accomodation- I purchased a Scarp 2 tent last Autumn after having enough of our Terra Nova Polar Lite 2 tent. This was a great tent, small two person 2.1 kilo tunnel tent- It could stand a gale no problem, but when I say it was small- perhaps that was an understatement. The interior space was tiny and not great for being cooped up in bad weather!
The Scarp two is great- plenty of room for two and a porch each for us both.
I have the optional cross poles for four season mode, but hope to do away with them for the challenge depending on the long range forecast- but they would be welcome in high winds, but again at a cost- an extra 300 grams which takes the tent up to 2.3 kilos.
I have been looking online at mods people have done to this tent, so I will be adding extra guylines for the main pole and guylines for pole lifters at each end which will add to stability.

Jacket- I love my Paramo Velez Adventure light and it normally is taken on all my trips, but I feel I could go lighter and I have bought a Rab Event jacket and compared to any other waterproof I have owned- it seems to weigh nothing, so this will probably be the jacket of choice- then again... I'm so attached to my Paramo!

Not long after being accepted for the challenge, we decided that this would be a good chance also to raise some money for a good cause and we have chosen SARDA.

The Search & Rescue Dog Association Scotland:

Is a volunteer organisation which trains dogs and their handlers to search for missing persons
Is used by Police and Mountain Rescue to locate missing people in the mountains or low ground areas, including children and people with dementia.
Has handlers who are experienced mountaineers, and trained in casualty care.
Covers all of Scotland, 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

We have started a just giving page for this very worthwhile charity- see our link below:

https://www.justgiving.com/Lynn-GavinTGO


Finally, we hope to arrive at the Kintal Lodge on the Thursday evening before the challenge and we look forward to meeting other challengers there!

Like your write up. Like you my wife and I starting our first challenge at Shiel Bridge to St Cyrus.
Yes, the preparation and planning is significant as is kit choice.
Tent wise we are in a Hubba Hubba HP and cooking on an Alpkit gas stove, a big departure for me as I've spent years using MSR Dragonflys.
All in all we can't wait ....

Hi gavin,oh! I remember that feeling of my first challenge back in 1990, your rightup brought it all back to me,
All that I can say to you is to enjoy every second of it,the rain,wind,snow.and the misery sometimes!
and a little bit of Scottish holy water at the end of day works wonders, Be in the moment all the time!,

Terry.Your message brings back many happy memories of the 80 and 90 Challenges.
Many, characters of those times are now watching from above.At 88 my Challenge days
are over. I still do 60/80mls trips,wild camping as it's called now. BUT the pace
has left me. Nice to see you are still in there . Waldo.