Backpacking in Scotland ’24 – Stopped in My Tracks

My backpacking trip to Scotland this May did not go as planned. Two days into my hike, I came down with what was probably Norovirus. It kicked my ass, and it took me about a week before I began to feel myself again. Ironically, I’d just published an article about How to Avoid Norovirus on Backpacking Trips. I’m unsure when I caught it: maybe on the plane or the train to Oban, my starting point, or at the bed and breakfast I stayed at for one night before the trip. Hard to say.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the carbon fiber frame stayed holding my hip belt on my $400 Zpacks Arc Haul ultralight backpack broke, so at the time, I thought I’d have to buy another backpack in Scotland, a pricy proposition if I wanted to continue after my recovery. It then took the gear manufacturer several days to get back to me and multiple emails before they sent me replacement stays and a fix for the problem. I’m still trying to decide whether I will continue using that pack. I like it a lot, but I’m ambivalent now. Frame stays shouldn’t break, especially on such a new backpack.

But given other scheduling commitments, I decided it would be best to bail and fly home early to recover further and prepare for my next adventure, which also had a calendar deadline: completing the White Mountains 4000 Footer Grid. Bailing in Scotland was a disappointing experience, to be sure, but you have to roll with the punches. I know I’ll be back for more backpacking in Scotland, and next time, I plan to give myself a much longer time window to handle future mishaps.

The plan had been to thru-hike coast to coast, about 200 miles, in 15 days in early May, coinciding with the TGO Challenge (click for info), an annual event that’s run for the past 40 years. I’d completed this crossing twice before and planned to finish a third time. There is no set route—you plan your own—but it must be completed in the 15-day time window in which the event occurs.

But on the second night of my route, I was erupting at both ends and felt like bloody hell. Imodium had no effect at all. I was about 8 miles out of Bridge of Orchy and felt so bad that I even considered calling for aid, but ultimately, I decided to walk out on my own steam. Then, a mile from town, I heard a pop, and the carbon fiber stay on my pack snapped clean through. That, on top of my illness, was pretty demoralizing. I plodded on and hitched to the local train station when I got to a road. Wheeled transportation is a disqualifying event on the TGO Challenge, and I knew my participation was through (technically, I could have resumed from where I got in the car, but that would have been nearly a week later).

Within a few hours, I was in a modest hotel in Glasgow, keeping hydrated and avoiding solid food. My condition gradually improved, and as my strength returned, I took a few days to explore Glasgow. It’s a wonderful city that’s easy to walk in and has lots to do. The last time I’d been there for any length was in 1984 when I took the GSAT.

Then, I flew home early. No decision like this is easy. There were some other mitigating circumstances, such as hip and knee pain, that I’d been coping with at the time. But I’ve overcome that issue with some simple exercises, and I’m well into my next project, hiking a Long Trail side-to-side in Vermont.