TGO Challenge 2013 – Crossing Scotland from the Atlantic to the North Sea

A great crossing and a great report, Manfred! I really enjoyed spending those last few days in Montrose with you – even though I was there early only because I didn't quite get to finish my own walk. Hopefully we'll have a chance to cross paths again – on either side of the pond.

Pushing the limit on the Allt a' Chonais bridge :-)

Stuart,

You are a way braver man than me :)

Manfred

The river was low, so I came half way across on the stones and then climbed onto the bridge. It would have been 'entertaining' had the river been in spate tho'…

Ah the New Zealand school of bridge design:).

Manfred,

Met Office has the May summary data available, and I prepared these images for our own Scotland May'13 trip report (coming soon). Thought you all might like to see them.

Left images are actual, and right images show Anamoly.

It felt awfully darn cloudy on our trip, but I see that 2013 May hours of sunshine was about average for May – averaging about 5 hours a day. Given that on May 15 in Torridon there are 16 hours of potential sunshine, the normal of 5 hours a day is, well, not like California in May.

Rainfall in the western part of Scotland was above average – in the 125-175% of normal for the month in most areas.

And finally, while we were hiking many locals told us that it was an unusually cold spring. When I look at the data though, May is not much cooler than usual. March and April mean temps were a couple degrees C lower than normal, but May temps are only slightly below normal in some areas, and close to normal in others.

These graphs, and many others, available here: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/climate/uk/anomacts/

What an amazing trip. Thank you for posting such a brilliant trip report!

Manfred,
Great report! Makes me regret not applying for it this year, but my son is still too young to do it with me.

For anyone thinking about planning a trip to Scotland or any other place in the UK – Ordnance Survey Getamap

http://www.magazine.ordnancesurveyleisure.co.uk/magazine/tscontent/editorials/getamap/os-getamap-home.html

is a great planning tool.

Hello

As a would be Challenger from a foreign country (Denmark), and never having done any walking in Scotland before, I found your report most informative. Your comments and insights are much appreciated from one who is looking to plan his own high level route. Hopefully the weather will be a little better in 2015.

Thank you

Niels

Manfred,

Thank you for sharing this wonderful trip report. It sounded like your TGO experience was a tremendous adventure. I enjoyed reading it very much and hope to undertake such a trip myself some day.