Scotland

If you want to hike in Scotland, you need to learn some basic Gaelic words so you can read a map. The maps of Scotland published by the UK’s Ordnance Survey are full of Gaelic place names like Lairg Ghru, Beinn Bhreas, …

Here is a working draft of my 2010 TGO Challenge Route across Scotland. I realize that this probably just looks like a bunch of Gaelic place names right now, but I’ll be expanding the detail considerably over the next few weeks, with …

Photos Courtesy of Martin Rye Walter Underwood left a great comment last week on my book review of the NOLs Wilderness Guide, where he was critical about the book’s lack of time control plan (TCP) examples. A TCP or Route Plan, as …

I toured the Borders Region in southern Scotland, about 50 miles south of Edinburgh, and just over the “historical border” from England (and the rest of Rome.) We had originally intended to hike the 60 mile St. Cuthbert’s Way on this trip, …

I think I gave the night porter a fright this morning when I came bounding down the hotel stairs before dawn. It was raining and cold outside as I set out, determined to climb Cademuir Hill just outside of Peebles, Scotland. I …

This morning I climbed Arthur’s Seat (250 m), an extinct volcano that towers over the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, at dawn. I climbed this same hill almost 26 years ago, to the day, after arriving here as a graduate student in 1983. …

Warning: Another big adventure in the works. I’ve decided to apply to the 2010 TGO Challenge, an annual, non-competitive, coast to coast hike across Scotland, sponsored by a UK magazine called The Great Outdoors (TGO). The walk is between 180-200 miles, depending on the …