If you were wondering why there have been no post since the 19th, here's why..

I left the Moray Way on the 19th of May due to an injury on Day One. The injury would have not gotten progressively worse IF I hadn't been walking 12+ miles a day for the next few days after falling.  The night of the 18th, I could barely lift my left leg due to the pain in my hip. I was able to get to a GP on the 19th and without doing an MRI which would have been a large medical expense for me, he diagnosed the issue as bursitis as a result the slip and fall onto my hip that first day due to the rain.  Now that I had a diagnosis I was told to STOP walking, take lots of ibuprofen (3 Advil is the equivalent of a prescription dose), rest and see my doctor when I got home and even have some follow up PT depending on any tests results.  At this point I called the shop elf to tell him my plans which were to rest on Thursday and on Friday take a bus from Grantown to Inverness, then the train from Inverness to Inverurie, and then a taxi from Inverurie to Mike & Elisa's.  I also called Elisa and gave then the update and my expected time of arrival in the early afternoon. I did rest and prepared my pack and overnight bag for the next day, strolled around the town and walked across the street to a great pub for dinner; afterwards I had a lovely evening in the lounge talking to the owners. On Friday all went well despite being slow to walk and having some issues standing up and walking up and down stairs with a pack and a small suitcase. 

Looking back, I will say that despite the injury I had a wonderful time even though it poured on Monday and I had issues with the trail markings. IF I had continued I knew to be more attentive to them and direction changes. 

Now I will discuss what I did right and what I did wrong.

• Training - this I did right and some wrong. All the walking really helped me get my legs use to that much movement. What I did wrong was not hitting that 12+ mile training walk nor being prepared for the large hills I went up and down. IF I had walked on a treadmill with inclines, I could have gotten that training in and been better prepared.
• Clothing/Boots - I was properly clothed as it was cool and raining especially that first day so that was what I did right. My boots kept my feet dry; the Gore-Tex rain jacket and pants were well worth the money; my walking leggings also were of the correct weight so they kept my leg warm but not hot as did my REI super wool mid-layer long sleeve, 3/4 zip pull over.  What was kinda wrong? I did need the shorts I brought though maybe in July or August I might have used them.  I did not use the base layer clothing but if it had been cooler I certainly would have and that Puffy jacket I got from L.L. Bean was perfect in the mornings when it was very cool and until I warmed up. Then there is the black toenail; was it the boots being to small? My socks that day being too thick?? The steep downhills? Or all of it, who knows but it happened and so I am moving on and not worrying about it.
• Backpack - after seeing what others were using, my initial thoughts about it being too big (and thus I filled it with too much stuff) might be justified as everyone else I saw (5 other people) had about 35 L packs and mine was a 44 L. BUT it worked brilliantly and I have no regrets about trying 2 others to get a good fitting one and not settling for something that kinda worked.
• Food and Cook Stove - mostly wrong but some correct. I planned and purchased food to eat on the trail and even planned for snacks because I was afraid I would not be able to either purchase food in each town, easily or if I ordered lunch to go from the B&B it would not be adequate in terms of caloric need. Again after talking to other hikers and seeing what I had, I could have or should have done this. Additionally NONE OF THEM carried a stove for a hot lunch or beverage along the way; for a hot cuppa they had thermos' which I had thought of but decided at the last moment not to do. Then there was the rainy day - I really could have used a hot lunch that day but between the rain and wind and falling behind timewise, did not stop to cook and proceeded to snack all day. On the second day, I stopped for a nice lunch in Aberlour. Carrying the snacks was the correct thing to do, planning to cook lunch on the trail, not so much.
• Hiking/Walking Pole - THIS I DID RIGHT. I almost did not bring it as I was not enjoying walking with it during my training but this pole really did help especially when I needed to stabilize. Two would have been better and I understand why.
• First Aid Kit - I got this mostly right. I did not get blisters but was prepared and one of the women that I met on the trail had some baddies; I gave her some of my mole skin (she had not heard of it before) which really helped her. Overall I had the right stuff incase I did get a cut but I had too much of everything except for the ibuprofen and the topical lidocaine cream.
• Electronics - The phone with the GPS and the GPX trail maps was brilliant except that the screen would go wonky in the rain.  Note: I did have maps and a compass too. When I was deep in the wood and had no cellular service I did put it in airplane mode to save the battery. When my phone battery got down to 50 % I would plug it into the battery bank with internal solar charger I had and it would get topped up; the charger could last more than a day of walking but I did top it up every evening. The other electronics I had with me, in the pack was a small android tablet which I used for email and writing blog posts each night but I have to say that I hate the app for writing the posts and it is not as fully featured as using a full blown web browser and it would crash and close and not have saved what I was working on many times.

So what's my final assessment?
I am very very glad I did it. I set a hard challenge for myself and in my opinion did fantastic.
Will I or would I do it again? Yes, but not that section of the Speyside Way; I would like to come back someday and finish the Moray Way but not right now as I need to heal and do some hiking in the USA.

I have 1 more week here in northern Scotland then I head to Edinburgh before returning home. 
​
A picture of the Moo and Blue (beef and stilton blue cheese) pie and chips I had for dinner. Scotch not shown ;-)

Grantown-on-Spey to Dava 8 miles / 13 km
Nope, didn't do it. As a matter of fact I made the hard decision to not walk the rest.

Why?

1. Today I was again/still very sore in my thighs, some pain in my left calf and then there is the bruise on my hip; its turning a lovely shade of puce with hints of yellow along the edges.
2. So could I do this for 5 more days? I think not, not without really hurting at the end.

​I am ok with this decision. I am quite proud of what I have done as well. My fellow walkers, that I keep meeting up with, are also saying that this is harder than they expected.

So tomorrow I am getting a bus to Inverness and then a train to Inverurie and then another bus to the wilds of Aberdeenshire.

​I did spend part off the day wandering the town, taking in the local museum; Grantown was an early planned town to better the living conditions of the tenant farmers which of course would result in better farm yield and more money in the pocket of Lord Grant. I did wander down the Speyside Way, which was wide and FLAT, to the river and had a wonderful relaxing time just listening and watching the water.

​Dinner was a steak and Stilton pie YUM.

Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey 13 miles / 21 km
After a good dinner and convo with other walkers i was in bed and asleep by 10 pm.
The day was clear but blustery as i set off down the.path thinking that.if it stayed like this my day would be good.

​Oh how wrong I was.

Soon I was walking up hill through woods and the past cows and sheep. And up it went I to the forest; how come no matter which way you go the wind is always coming at you. My legs were a little sore and no hip pain but I could tell that i was going to loose a toenail, as it just felt odd but I knew I didn't have any blisters.

I eventually came out onto a forest road and as i started down hill I checked the map and I had missed a turn back down through the woods. I backtracked about a half mile and I keep looking for a sign post which I found laying in tall grass. Down the path I went which seemed more like a groove formed from rain. I had to divert around more downed trees that were across the path. Eventually I came to a farm and walked across fields, through gates, across streams and then in another field where I had missed ANOTHER turn, in the middle of a field??!!! Again I backtracked and a half hour later found the post in a pile of field posts and a wrecked gate; my GPS said to turn left and waaaay up the hill I saw a gate (no marker at this distance) and went toward it; at the top was a marker pointing right so I did.

Back into the woods I went, and kept on walking and eventually I was on/in another farm. I had been walking for 6 hour and should almost be to Grantown but I still had 5 miles to go. According to the maps I was close to the main road that led into town and this decided to walk the road. Using the maps I followed the trail to a farm road and then to the main road. Once there I put my safety vest on as there was no shoulder and when I saw a big truck coming, I stepped into the bushes so they could pass with out being run over. Eventually I called the B&B for a pickup as it would be another hour of walking and my legs were done, my feet hurt, my hip was aching.

Craigellachie to Ballindalloch 12 miles / 19 km

​Lets be honest, after yesterdays walk, I could not move and I was very worried i had injured my left leg. This morning I was able to walk but my quads were very sore - I wasn't out of the game yet.

After a nice breakfast of eggs, toast and smoked salmon, I headed up the road to the Speyside Cooperage to see how acorns are turned into oak casks. It was all very interesting to see the process, learn about the 4 year apprenticeship, other cooperages around the world, and the history of this cooperage.
​
Having to walk up and down stairs was not easy during the tour but todays walk was relatively flat and so I decided to see what i could do by walking the 1 mile back to the Speyside Way and go from there.

I headed south along an old railway bed, along the river where there were lots of highland cows and sheep grazing in the fields; i was doing well but I had no energy.

At about the 5 mile mark i came into Aberlour and took a break on a bench by the river and watched some fly fisherman. I went to get up and i couldn't as my quads were so sore and weak I could not lift myself up; I know I was done for the day and that walking another 7 miles, if I could, would make tomorrow even more uncomfortable.

I decided to treat myself to a nice lunch and then call the taxi afterwards. we arranged to meet at the town square in 30 minutes and soon we were off to my hotel.

I am hoping tomorrow my legs will be better, we shall see.

Fochabers to Craigellachie 13 MILES / 21 KM
Yesterday after I settled into my hotel I went for a walk around Fochabers with the desire to locate the Speyside Way. I eventually found the community paths on the Fochabers Burn (a small stream or river) known as the Intake Path which did lead me past many wild flowers as well as the river Spey and the Speyside Way. i ended up walking 3 miles

Today stared off cool and overcast so i was wearing legging and a tshirt with my mid-layer shirt and the puffy jacket.

i headed out to the Speyside Way which was road waking and soon found myself in a cul-d-sac so i checked the map and had to backtrack a half mile to where the blue GPS said the trail was; the way marker was hidden by bushes and was not easy to loacate -ok, moving on!

After about an hour i was on a dirt track and heading into woodland and passed a field of sheep and gathered some wool caught on the fences. Two women caught up with me and we walked together to Boat-o-Brig and we turned right; I was following them. After passing cows they stopped at a road junction and realized we missed the turn off A MILE back so that was 2 miles added to the day. We found the trail marker and headed up into the woods, and up we kept going for almost 6 miles. Some where in here it started raining and never.stopped; it wasn't heavy but a good drizzle with no end in sight and i got a little we trying to get my rain gear on.

​As we went into the forest there were lots of downed trees from Storm Arwn and many were being cut up fot lumber, it was stacked everywhere. The greenery and birdsong was wonderful but the muddy track was not and in my attempt to avoid i slipped and went down wrenching my leg at the groin. Eventually i had to apply a lidocaine patch buut my pace really slowed down since it was painful to walk - i may have strained my groin muscle since it hurts to lift my left leg.

Eventually I made it to my B&B but what should have taken 6 hours in good conditions turned into 7 hours of actual walking but i was out there 9 hours and walked 14.9 miles.

Time for a hot bath and aspirin
​

​Arrive at Fochabers
​Today i arrive at my starting point and to get there or here, as i am now on Fochabers, we drove north and turned west when we.got to the coast of the North Sea. Along the way we saw lots of gore, a yellow flowering bush with nasty thorns, fields of rape seed, baby new born lambs, cows, horses and wind turbines
​Then it was on to Portsoy where we had ice cream and walked around a small pond which is still called a loch watching the ducks and looking at more 100 year old trees that were blown over in Storm Arwen which had 100+ mph winds and took out whole groves of trees.

Next up was Cullen and a walk along the beach followed by a Fish and Chip supper and more walking and picture taking.

Here is a video of the bay. https://youtu.be/6YYWqtMz2C8

Then it was on to Fochaber and to check into my hotel.
Now i am off to gwt dinner and a relaxing night.

​Tomorrow i expect to be out on the trail by 8 am.

Today I did a beta-test of packing everything; my pack and the overnight bag.

I started by pulling everything out of my suit case, pack (which was in the suitcase), and the bags o'food I assembled for each day and placed everything on the floor of the living room.

Next I piled like things - stove, fuel, lighter/matches, sit-pad, and food; clothing - rain gear, base layer, mid layer, underwear/bra, going to dinner clothing and shoes, wearing on the trail; first aid, bug spray, bug net, anti-itch cream; toiletries; electronics; trail hygiene,  etc..

Then I proceeded to divide the clothing for what I need for the trail and will wear vs. what will go into the overnight bag. 

I did the same with the food - one bag for the pack the rest into the overnight bag.

Having the majority of the items for the overnight bag I packed that up - food on bottom, extra hygiene and first aide supplies in the middle, clothing on top.

Next I packed up the dry/stuff sacks - rain gear, mid layer with hat and gloves, base layer, puffy jacket, backup clothing (socks, undies) in case I get soaked, stove, 1 days food and a few extra supplies, first aid, electronics and laptop, etc.

I was now ready to assemble the pack - in went the water system with sip tube; the thermos and silicone water bottle went into the side pockets; the collapsible cup and my SPOT GPS tracker were hung on carabineers on some of the pack loops; BBH and the days food put in the stretchy outside pocket; trail hygiene, head lamp, anti-bug spray, itch relief, electronic accessories, and bug net in the brain pocket on top; then the laptop and all of the other dry sacks went into the main compartment. 

It took two tries to get it pack so I was happy where everything was placed but it's done. I grabbed the scale and weighed me then me and the pack and it come to (wait for it...) 21 pounds without the water bladder being filled and it will be lighten up as the day goes on due to the food and water being consumed. When I entered my gear into the LighterPack website it came out to 35 pounds thus proving that the changes I made to what I was planning to carry were correct in reducing my load.

And that folks is it - come Monday morning I will choose my clothing for the day, put my electronics in the brain pouch, fill my water bladder and head off down the trail. Stay tuned as there will be pictures and video!!

Speaking of Video, here is a link to the YouTube Playlist I created which is where you will find them, when I post them. There are 2 short ones there now of the area where Mike & Elisa live.

It is now Wednesday and I start the walk on Monday morning and there are still things to do.

This morning Mike and I went to the local Tesco, a 20 minute drive, so I could purchase the last few things I did not carry over, ship a head, nor did I purchase them via Amazon.co.uk and have delivered to the house for my arrival.

I needed to purchase a few extra items for my lunches; in a few towns I will be able to purchase items the night before IF there is a shop or even a restaurant but it will be hit and miss as to what I could find so I felt it best to have 9 days of food in my suitcase and IF I can find some that is local and different (like the pub known for their pork pies) I will get that to each on the trail. 

After we got back, I proceeded to divvy up the nuts and assemble piles for each day - Nugo protein bar, Cup o'Soup ix, dry sausage, cappuccino mix, an instant pasta/noodle/rice, a salmon/tuna package to add to the pasta/noodle/rice, a Propel electrolyte mix, and the solid fuel for the stove to make the coffee, soup, or main course of my lunch.   Each day is in it's own bag so I only have to grab it out of the suitcase and put it in my backpack.

I then found a highlighter and I marked the route on the OS maps that cover the area; so I don't have to wonder where the route is as it is a bit hard to see and there are side spurs to avoid. I don't think I will need them as I have my phone which will be my GPS but in the strange instance where the phone dies and my battery bank does not work a paper map is the safest tech to have as a backup backup plan.

Now that this is done I can actually repack the backpack and the suitcase which I will do tomorrow.

After 29 hours and 4 countries I am Finally in Scotland!
Grab a wee dram of Scotch, put your feet up and enjoy my travel adventures.

It all began at 3:00 am as the alarm went off and rose from the bed to depart to the airport. Because my plane left at 6:30 am AND I was flying internationally I had to check in at the airport 2 hours before said departure which meant that I had to leave the house by 3:30 am to get there in time. The shop elf and I were out the door at 3:25 am and we arrived by 4:25 am and the place was busy!  I got my suitcase up on the curb, kissed my sweetie good by and went inside to check my bag and the shop elf drove off into the pending sunrise.

The flight to Chicago was uneventful though the plane was full; I was able to nap midway through the 2 hour flight. After deplaning, I went to the international lounge and was able to rest there for my 4+ hour layover; I partook of the free food: coffee, breakfast sandwich, fruit, juice, and pastries. At the appointed time I headed to the gate for boarding the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner with Polaris Business class.   I chose a window seat (3L) so I could be a bit more isolated for the hop across the pond. Now I loving flying and on one trip eons ago I specifically planned a layover in Washington D.C just to get onto the new 777! The Polaris is configured without a First Class cabin, which is fine by me as the newer configurations are pretty good BUT I didn't like this mini-cabin setup as I felt claustrophobic! There is a little entryway you have to go through to get past the side "table" to get to the actual seat and under the foot platform there is a place to put a small bag and your shoes but with the sleeping pad, blanket, and pillow I found it was hard to organize where everything was. Then there are all the seat controls - recline, upright, flat; lumbar support, and leg support which are on the wall of the plane with very small markings of up/down arrows or plus/minus that I found hard to read AND there is no instruction in the magazine or in the seat pocket telling what everything was - very poor user interface if you ask me. 

But once I was settled and we took off, I had a nice Scotch and warms nuts to start. Found a movie to watch and had dinner.  Soon afterwards I went to sleep as I try to get my body to adjust to the destination time zone as soon as possible; I dozed for a small bit but never really slept so I read an e-book instead. 

We landed in Frankfurt 5 minutes early and I headed, like everyone else, to passport control

The German passport control is very picky - despite having sent my COVID vaccine info to the airline and they said I was "travel" ready I had to show the proof to the officer and I found out, if your passport is not signed (why wouldn't you but there are people who don't; maybe for nefarious reasons??) then you can't get into the country or the EU AND you are fined upwards of 2,000 EU and NO you can not sign it then and there!  Once I go the passport stamped I wound my way through the airport and went to the gate for my connection to Norway. I was officially in Germany a grand total of 55 minutes and had no qualms about leaving it. After boarding the plane to Norway I did fall asleep in my seat soon after take off and woke up in time to get some great views of the Norwegian coastline.  Upon landing I had a 6 hour layover before departing to Aberdeen and unlike Germany where you went through passport control before you could go the gate, in Norway you do that just before you go to the gate so I had six hours of being in Norway and in limbo; I found the international lounge and went in so I could relax, get some more food and COFFEE, and even take another nap as I felt loopy; to be safe I set an alarm to make sure I did not miss the flight.  At the appointed time I headed off to the gate, went through passport control and boarded the flight to Aberdeen technically arriving 15 minutes after we left due to flying into another time zone.  Once in Scotland, I retrieved my bags, went through passport control and found my driver for the 45 minute drive into the countryside to be deposited at the doorstep of Mike and Elisa. 

After alight meal of mushroom barley soup and a sandwich, I was asleep by 9:30 pm.

Yes, I am going say it - THIRTEEN DAYS until I leave and TWENTY-ONE days until I start the big walk. 

But this post is about my trip and why I have to be concerned about COVID. 
Yes, I know the airlines say I don't have to wear a mask, but I WILL. 

Would you risk getting it before such an amazing trip and YES, I got another booster but would you STILL RISK IT?

And there are other factors to consider.

Elisa and Mike (of Scotland, of course) are both at risk and over 70 years of age. Mike has diabetes, Elisa has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome PLUS a few other things.

Then there is that odd Frankenvariant floating around Europe and the UK, including Scotland.

So why would I risk bringing it into their house?? 

To prevent being a carrier of "the plauge" I will wear a N95 mask during the flight over and as I pass through various airports along the way. I am also carrying the home tests provided by our government so I can test when I arrive and hopefully NOT again in case I get any symptoms after I arrive during the week I will be with them before I start the walk. 

I will carry and use a mask while in pubs and restaurants while on the hike and I will use a home test again when I return to their home for the final 2 weeks of the visit.

While I am in Edinburgh I will again use my mask while I am in museums, galleries, and restaurants this will also ensure that I do not have a positive test result since I have to take a test 24 hours before I head back to the USA.

Then of course I will wear as mask on said return flight so I don't bring anything home to shop elf.

PHOTOGRAPH BY GETTY IMAGES