Walking

The Speyside Way – day one

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A Curling Club in summer

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Don’t miss this turning on the right (below) at NGR NJ 06982 28725 – I did – it is the path down to the disused railway track that makes up the path as it passes Cromdale. If you walk over the bridge over the old line you have gone to far. Watch out for the bridge sign on the right – the path markers are not very prominent,

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Lunch, tuna with BBQ sauce and tea with some cashew nuts and banana chips. I found a convenient, and comfortable pile of logs, in a sunny clearing.

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I was charged by a deer (above) – which leapt the fence on the right to avoid me.

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I got caught in a shower during the afternoon but it had stopped by the time I reached the campsite at Cragganmore and I got the tent up in the dry – and got a chance to dry out my rain jacket. The site is free and has a toilet, a stand pipe for water, a bin and a couple of picnic tables which made unpacking (and packing) the rucksack very easy, as well as having somewhere to cook and eat in comfort.

One other thing the site had was midges – lots and lots of midges.

Having got my tent up, I was just sorting out the brewkit for a mug of tea when I was joined at the site by another lone backpacker, Emily. So whilst she put her tent up I made us both some tea. We then spent a very enjoyable couple of hours chatting, and sharing bits of our evening meal – her contribution was chilli flavoured olives and some milk sachets from the B&B she stayed in last night, mine was fruit and spice oat cakes and introducing Emily to whiskey in her tea! (She also let me use her midge spray – she borrowed my compeed stick.)

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Great Glen Way

Having dropped Jeremy and his friend off in Inverness, so they can spend some money, I am doing a few fast miles along the River Ness using some of the Great Glen Way path.

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River Ness, Inverness

Before setting off I quickly checked out the two largest outdoor stores in the city centre. I still need a waterproof case for my iPhone, transparent on. both sides so I can use the camera – I could have got an Aquapac,but as the previous PVC free model I got has deteriorated, so much I cannot read the screen of my iPhone through it anymore I did not want to waste my money. So it looks like for my overnight backpack trip tomorrow I will be using a zip lock food bag to protect the iPhone from the rain whilst taking photos.

I would have bought a new pack for tomorrows trip – but I have my heart set on a Golite Jam and I could not find one. There were several rucksack special offers that almost tempted me but I had to keep reminding myself that the Jam weighs less than 900g!

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Morning Coffee

The weather has finally taken a turn for the better – so I was able to get outside to make some fresh coffee using the Crusader stove and my coffee maker. Jeremy saw a “camping gadget” the folding java I think it was called, basically a fold up reusable coffee filter, that was held over your mug on three plastic legs, for that individual coffee experience. Mine is a plastic tea strainer, 19p from Asda. Gently pack in two heap tea spoons (mini spork) of coffee, press it down with the back of the spoon and then dribble hot water through it. Job done.

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6.30am coffee Dunbar

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Lunch Overlooking the Firth Of Forth

It finally stopped raining! For all the waking hours since we pitched the tent on Saturday it has rained, soft rain, hard rain, drizzle you name it, we had it! But at about 8am this morning it stopped.

We have spent the morning exploring the coast and stopped for lunch down by the Forth, at Ferry Ness, sitting in front of some World War II beach tank defences.

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We also tried some Polish pate for lunch, chicken and tomato, it was very good and so I have added it to my hiking food list. A can of this and two packs of Italian crackers would make a good sized snack for lunch or with noodles an evening meal.

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Trail Snacks

We bought something different, from the supermarket, for breakfast last week.

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When the packet was opened I realised the chunks would make a great smack for walking. They are bite sized and the mix of caramel and peanuts are very tasty and the oats should pack some slow release energy. Eat too many of them and they can be a bit dry – but they are breakfast cereals meant for milk.

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Next Overnight Backpacking Trip

I have another trip planned for a couple of weeks time in Scotland. I plan to walk from Grantown-on-Spey to Charlestown-of-Aberlour with an overnight stop at Cragganmore, following the Speyside Way. The family are staying in Aviemore at the Scandinavian Village for a week in August so I will desert them, get a bus to Grantown and then get picked up the following day. My son and I will be camping for the week before and week after the family week – so I will only need to take the backpack with me to enable me to overnight as I will have the other equipment with me.

When I started looking for a campsite somewhere between the two towns I discovered there was a free site at Cragganmore – just to be sure we are going to take a drive out to check what the site is like before I commit to stay there.

Food

Today we were stocking up on some camp supplies and so I also have stocked up on some backpacking supplies.

Following the trip the other weekend I needed to add to the food I am taking

  • “No fridge” salami snacks
  • Crackers – eight portion packs of Italian Crackers (I will probably carry four packs)
  • Nutella portion pack – a bit expensive but convenient and can be used with a pack of crackers.
  • Extra bag of cashew nuts

    Backpacking Food
    Backpacking Food

Tomorrow I am going to pick up some dried banana flakes, from the market in the Lincoln, for trail snacks.

Fuel

I will be carrying two 100ml bottles of meths, one bottle will cover the evening meal and breakfast, the other will be for hot drinks during the day – I’m on holiday so I expect to stop several times. I will also pack two solid fuel tablets for spare fuel.

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