Here is my Mountain Laurel Designs Duomid Review based largely on my experiences using this shelter during the 13 day TGO Challenge, this year in Scotland. Andy Howell has also published a review of the cuben fiber version, which I also suggest …
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Ode to the Mountain Laurel Designs Cuben Fiber Duomid: A Long Term Review and Goodbye
I sold my Mountain Laurel Designs cuben fiber Duomid last week. It is a great shelter and at 12.6 ounces including guy lines, it is insanely light. But I wanted a more comfortable shelter with a bathtub floor, so I bought a …
Read More »Backpacking across Scotland with Philip Werner in the TGO Challenge by Martin Rye
This tale started with an invite to walk in the USA with Philip in the 100 Mile Wilderness – in return, I offered to walk with him in the UK on the The Great Outdoor Challenge in 2013. Plans hatched, routes plotted, …
Read More »Hiking in Scotland: The TGO Challenge
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 …
Read More »Backpacking Across Scotland in the 2024 TGO Challenge
I’ll be backpacking coast to coast across Scotland in the 2024 TGO Challenge next May for the third time. The TGO Challenge is an annual backpacking event started in 1980, where 400 backpackers, hiking solo or in small teams, attempt to hike …
Read More »Planning a Cross-Country Hike
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 …
Read More »Hiking the TGO Challenge – Our 2020 Route Plan
I’m headed to Scotland again in May to hike from the west coast to the east coast in this year’s 2020 TGO Challenge. This is an annual backpacking event, now in its 41st year, where 400 backpackers, hiking solo or in small …
Read More »Challenge Gear Testing: Stove, Mobile, GPS & OS Maps
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, …
Read More »TGO Challenge Trip Report – Part 3
From the Hills to the Sea After wild camping at Shielin of Mark, I started the last phase of my journey across Scotland, leaving the hills and mountains behind and walking through glen and farmland to the sea. I was sad to …
Read More »TGO Challenge: Route Planning Tips for Backpacking Across Scotland
The TGO Challenge is an annual backpacking event that lasts for 15 days and involves backpacking coast to coast across Scotland, a distance of 180-200 miles. It’s been held for 40 years and is organized by The Great Outdoors Magazine which is …
Read More »Hostile Habitats: Scotland’s Mountain Environment
About two years ago, I started to become a lot more interested in the flowers, trees, animals, bugs, fungi, and geology that I encountered on my backpacking trips. I became an amateur naturalist. This added a whole new dimension to my walks …
Read More »Best Mates Backpacking with Mick and Gayle Blackburn
How long have you been a couple? We met at work in 1999, became a couple in 2000 and got married in 2003. Were you both backpackers before you met? Neither of us was a backpacker before we met. In fact, Mick …
Read More »TGO Challenge Trip Report – Zero Day
Planters at the Columba House Hotel in Kinguissie, Scotland (Meindl Boots) Taking a Zero When I was planning my original Challenge route, I built in an rest day into my schedule, called a zero day here in the states. My plan was …
Read More »TGO Challenge 2013 Trip Report – Part 2
Days 7-13 (goto Part 1) Although our stay in Aviemore was brief – just the one night – it was good to get a hot shower, dry out my gear, and refuel at the Indian Restaurant next to the Youth Hostel. Aviemore …
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