After some bumps in Rosa’s travel plans (thank you airport power outage in Calgary), Rosa and I have finally arrived together in the small coastal town of Buckie, Scotland where we will start the Speyside Way tomorrow!

The Speyside Way is a 106km (66mile) ramble from Buckie on the North Coast of Scotland down to Aviemore, a fantastic little ski town in the Cairngorms mountain range. The route is never far from the Speyside River which feeds the many distilleries along the Way. A wee dram for ye lass? Yes please!

I have the pleasure of walking this one with Rosa my sis-in-law-law and we are here in Buckie staying at the Straun House B&B (so cute, they even have teddy bears!) getting out gear ready for tomorrow – our first day on the trail!

Our next 5 days on the Speyside Way looks a little like this:

• Day 1, Buckie to Fochabers, 16km
• Day 2 Fochabers to Craigellachie, 23km
• Day 3 Craigallachie to Ballindollach, 19km
• Day 4 Ballindollach to Grantown-on-Spey, 23.5km
• Day 5 Grantown-on-Spey to Aviemore, 26.5km (the finish line!)

Tomorrow we have a nice 8km walk along an ocean path where we will hit a dolphin centre that boats dolphins, otters and seals … and a cafe where I will be looking for a cuppa (tea or coffee) .. and then another 8km along the Speyside River to a small town of Fochabers. A nice warm up to the days ahead.

The weather is looking fine for tomorrow’s walk, 50% chance of rain (that’s basically a dry day for Scotland) and a high of 17C (perfect hiking temp). We will be sure to have our rain gear on hand when we head out in the am.

I will be posting a before we start walking, highlights from the trail video and after we finish walking videos on the Running for the Gate insta and new YouTube – see ya soon!

Brande