Speyside Way, Grantown-on-Spey to Aviemore

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Day 5 of 5 of Speyside Way is complete with our finish line reached in Aviemore, Scotland!

A pleasantly long 26km trek that included a tea break, a lunch break, fantastic trail, amazing scenery, loads of clouds but not a drop of rain – yahoo us! What an epic finish line day.

We started the day from the oh-so-cute Brooklyn Guest House in Grantown-on-Spey and made quick work to back track the couple of blocks to the Way where we would kick off our day on a forest track. Here we filmed our morning video, made some hot-spot compeed fixes on the feet and I did my usual brace strap adjustment process. Walk 20 steps adjust, walk 30 steps adjust, and then onwards and upwards kinda thing. Let’s go!

The first leg of the trek, a nice 9.3km (according to the trail book) took us to Nethy Bridge where we had our sights on a tea and scone with feet up and shoes and socks off. There is nothing better to a hiker than a mid day break followed by dry feet and socks to kick of the next leg.

The trail was easy going through forest and then onto the grassed-over rail track bed and finally some country roads past the Balliefurth Farm. This farm has a little shop in Nethy (where we were headed) but has been featured on menus where we ate in the last couple of days for their beef and chicken and lamb. I may have eaten their yummy friend at the Speyside Hotel the night prior as my Bangers and Mash entree and was a little worried the cows we passed would know. ‘Hey, that lass ate Barry’ was on the tips of their tongues I know it.

We loved that the Farm had a sense of humor with this sign posted at the first gate …

We did not see Fergus sadly, he is quite shy, but imagined hearing him as the steam train went by whistling it’s whistle. Good fun!

Once in Nethy Bridge, we did enjoy that tea and scone, shoes and socks off break and it was amazing. They may have given me too much cream for my scone but who is complaining!? Also what is too much cream?

From Nethy Bridge we were on our way to Boat of Garten, a further 7.7km away through the Abernathy National Nature Reserve. This may be my favorite section of the entire trail. Quiet forest track, well groomed with bird song all around, and we maybe say a half dozen humans! I like trees more than humans lol. I feel so grateful for the chance to hike these hikes and live this life especially when I am on track like this!

At Boat of Garten, after having our sweet (dessert) in Nethy, we grabbed lunch-lunch. A sandwich and small salad with a half pint. We sat outside in mostly sunshine watching hikers and bikers and steam train passengers bustle past the Hotel patio where we hunkered down. We could have stayed all day especially with a sock change and chance to again air out the feet while eating.

From Boat of Garten we were just 9.1km from our finish line in Aviemore. This too proved to be a fantastic section of trail! More forest track, a bridge tunnel or two, and we were walked pretty much along side or in sight of the Strathspey Railway (the historic steam train) almost the whole way.

Knowing we were in reach of the finish line, even if things hurt on the ole body a bit it was nae bother. The conversation was flowing, there may have been some spontaneous singing once or twice, and loads of laughs!

Coming into Aviemore, we headed for our finish for a ‘for the record’ selfie before heading for a celebration pint!

An amazing walk, no bad days to be honest. The usual up and downs, on trail and in our own heads or bodies, but smiles each day and just an overall sense of gratitude to have had a chance to walk the Spey together.

The stats:

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 5/5 Finished!
  • To/From: Grantown-on-Spey/Aviemore
  • Start/Finish time: 9:06am/5:59pm
  • Distance: 26.5km trail (28.6km All Trails)
  • Steps: 29,020
  • Terrain: flat mixed with undulating
  • Weather: 14C overcast not rain
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: tea w scone/cream/jam and a Brie bacon sandwich w salad
  • Dinner: noodle soup and a ham/cheese croissant
  • Pints: 1
  • Tonight’s home: Eriksay B&B and Glamping
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feet are sorest today, crazy heat rash
  • Highlights: the options to stop for a break
  • Lowlights: nothing open for dinner
  • People of interest: the B&B owner from
  • Brooklyn Guest House, just an amazing women so clearly in the right business
  • Funny bone: learning Rosa sings just as much as me
  • Spontaneous dancing: a wee bit
  • Deep thoughts: why wait, eat the cake first

Now we will take a couple days to try and get rid of the heat rash on both of my feet and under my knee brace, see if I can get the swelling down on my right foot so both feet again have an arch and just be plain old tourists for a day or two. Did someone say steam train?

See you in a couple of days when we kick off the West Highland Way. All 12 of us!

Brande

Speyside Way, Ballindalloch to Grantown-on-Spey

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That’s day 4 of 5 in the books for this crew and so far this was our most favourite stage of the Way! A longer one at 21km but with the varied terrain, great conversation and decent weather, so far as all day rain goes, we loved it

Today was animal sitting day, crazy how much we saw – must have been how far away from villages or towns we were most of the time.

  • We stood and watched 4 beautiful Roe Deer check us out, confirm we were not aliens here to harm them and then slowly make their way across our path and walk up into the forest hills. We saw another that stayed just ahead of us on our route for quite some time too.
  • We quickly stopped walking to watch a ‘richness’ of Pine Martens (about 6 of them maybe more) see us, check us out, move on into the grass, stop check us out again, repeat. These guys are officially my favourite – they are like little Meerkats the way they stand up to look over the grass.
  • We actually, believe or not, saw the Red Squirrel. This little guy is going extinct here in Scotland and there is loads of initiatives underway to try and keep them around. We were chatting with an older Scottish women the other day at breakfast and she has never even seen one. We feel so lucky and reported the sighting to the save the squirrels website thing.
  • We also saw quite a few pheasants. One male and quite a few ladies, they were pretty quick to run and hide but we were able to catch a few pics. This was the only sighting where we actually got a decent pic.
  • We of course also saw Sheep (used some of their fields as our path), Cows which we mostly skirted around their fields, and one massive bull that we gave a very very wide berth too. We also saw many a bunny and while cute the holes and tunnels they make in the ground can make for sketchy walking so boo them.
  • Not sighted, but hopes are still high, the hedgehog or the unicorn.

We saw as much of a mix in terrain today as we did the animal kingdom! The day started on a fairy magic path (the overgrown track bed where the railway line used to be) – so green and quiet!

From there we had to make our way up and out of the magical forest through farmland to a path that was so full of bracken and thistle we were well drenched and poked by the time we made it through. The cold rain makes the nettle sting hurt less so that was a bonus!?

We were then back to farmland which was ugh pretty slow going under foot for some time here. The local farmers have set up these corridors (corridors of hell now so named) where they leave about 5 feet between the barbed wire (or electric) fences of one field to the next and that little area is designated the path. Sounds lovely actually … if there was not a chain gate every 100m or less (which are fun the first few times but less so the 20th) and they were not filled with large boulders overgrown with grass on a rainy day.

Slippery, ankle-breaker paths make for slow work! We celebrated and picked up to our normal pace when the boulders were to the side, then slowed and happily grumbled when they were underfoot again.

After the corridors of hell it was time for our first break of the day, we found a sheltered spot under a nice tree to stand and eat a half sandwich, some chips for salt and a few Skittles for my dessert. Too wet and no where to sit for a proper break where you take off the boots, feet up, switch the socks. We will regret the lack of proper break later of course as all hikers do, but we are still smiling so nae bother!

From there we headed up and up through farmland, across a fantastic bridge, past Mr Muscle the Bull and back into our favorite place to be – the woods!

After the woods we headed back down (steep) through some farmland then into some more woodland which we stayed in for quite some time and then finally some more farmland to start making our way past the first civilization we actually saw today.

A little village called Cromdale – where the old train station has been reverted to someone’s house. We have seen most of the old train stations done up this way. So neat!

We were still not done. Channelling our inner Dori … just keep walking just keep walking! We had a fantastic (but felt long being the end of a big day) walk through the Anagach Woods that connects Cromdale with Grantown-on-Spey our home for the night.

Speaking of home for the night. We are at the Brooklyn Guest House and it is amazing! The lady who runs it is so sweet, the rooms are fantastic (carpet in the bathroom is weird but kind of oddly nice at the same time) and we both slept so well. Important stuff when we have 23km to cover on our last day!

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 4/5
  • To/From: Ballindalloch/Grantown-on-Spey
  • Start/Finish time: 9:48am/5:24pm
  • Distance: 21.1 trail (24.3km Hiiker App)
  • Steps: 29,020
  • Terrain: up then down then up then across slippery stones then a boardwalk then up then down
  • Weather: 12C rain all day
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: 1/2 Mature Cheddar Sammie w Prawn Crisps, Skittles
  • Dinner: bangers and mash
  • Pints: 2
  • Tonight’s home: Brooklynn Guest House
  • Mood: smiling
  • Body: feeling sore today, the knee is not impressed with today’s activities
  • Highlights: all the local animal sightings: sheep and cow of course but also pine martin, the elusive red squirrel, bunnies, row deer, osprey, pheasants
  • Lowlights: no sunny breaks
  • People of interest: the Old Man of Glasgow hiking the trail and wild camping that was just so chatty and kind (and maybe got lost once but found the trail and is again)
  • Funny bone: realizing that you maybe do like singing but no one should ever know
  • Spontaneous dancing: too soggy
  • Deep thoughts: why not do the good stuff first, just go, just do!

See you when we report in on Day 5 of 5! Today we have about as much chance of sunshine as we do seeing that unicorn 😉

Brande

Speyside Way, Craigellachie to Ballindalloch

/ runningforthegate / 1 Comment

Wrapped day 3 of 5 on the Speyside Way with a flat, flat, very flat walk from Craigellachie to Ballindalloch today.

After a near full Scottish Breakfast (missing the haggis and black pudding), we left the Highlander Inn and walk literally a few steps to join back up with the Speyside Way where we left it yesterday.

The day started flat and stayed flat for us ALL day – a speed bump would have been exciting! But no complaints here, it was a well groomed path along the river (in some places so close you could hear the water rushing over the rocks) that connects small village to the next and made for such easy walking!

To make the 19.6 flat terrain a little more entertaining we started to map ahead the number of kilometers to the next milestone – a bridge, a tunnel, a train station turned into someone’s home, a church, etc! Definitely some gems enroute!

We stopped at Dailuaine Halt for our 11-sies break. This was a train station in year’s past but there are no longer any buildings although it still boasts a very nice picnic table that we enjoyed. Then we stopped at Tamdhu for our 2-sies break which was also a train station and still has buildings but they are now a classy whisky tasting room.

As we were wrapping up our walk we crossed a long, amazing aqueduct bridge – so long and really just a great finish to a long day.

We arrived at our pick up spot, Ballindalloch Station (now someone’s home), 30mins earlier than the arranged time. Luck was on our side though, the taxi also arrived early just a few minutes later! We are staying at the same place as last night, The Highlander Inn, so will taxi back tonight and tomorrow the taxi will drive us back to the Station to start again!

The threat of rain was real all day! We lucked out through, despite a few short stints of mist and pretty ominous clouds all day breaking up across the blue sky, we stayed dry all day! The strong winds kept the clouds moving on. Perhaps this explains the heat rash on both feet and under my knee brace 😦 booo!

We wrapped up the day with a pint on the sunny deck at The Highlander Inn. Maybe a nap, maybe some reading, maybe some social media scrolling and for sure some fish and chips followed.

The stats:

  • Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland
  • Day: 3/5
  • To/From: Craigallachie/Ballindalloch
  • Start/Finish time: 10:09am/3:31pm
  • Distance: 19.6km trail (20.1km Hiiker App)
  • Steps: 21,046
  • Terrain: flat, flat, so very flat
  • Weather: 14C Overcast w Wind
  • Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast sans Haggis and Black Pudding
  • Lunch n Snacks: banana, cookies, 1/2 Mature Cheese on White Bread with Prawn crisps
  • Dinner: Fish and Chips
  • Pints: 3
  • Tonight’s home: Highlander Inn
  • Mood: happy big style
  • Body: feeling great knee does not hate me, rest of the body is loving this but the heat rash could tone it down a little please
  • Highlights: taxi arriving at near the exact same time we did end of day (30mins early)
  • Lowlights: Rosa feeling all blah
  • People of interest: the nice old gramp that recommend the vanilla and raspberry scone, told us it has no calories; and the distiller dad at the bar chatting up how fantastic his kids are
  • Funny bone: discovering you are sitting next to a cabinet of whisky bottles that all cost a 1000bucks then you proceed to elbow the thing putting your sweater on
  • Spontaneous dancing: stay tuned for tomorrow on this one

We are off to Grantown-on-Spey tomorrow!

Brande

Speyside Way, Fochabers to Craigellachie

/ runningforthegate / 3 Comments

Today is day 2 of 5 on the trail for us, walking the 21km from Fochabers to our new place to stay in Craigellachie at The Highlander.

A day of classic Scottish weather for us. Aka you don’t know what you are going to get from one minute to the next but you at least know the rain is never quite done with you. Keeping on eye the trail and one on the sky today we made our way across 10km of minor roads and the rest 11km rest forest track and woodland path. Putting on and taking off our waterproofs as often as the trail switches from flat to steady incline.

We started the day back at the Speyside Way path just a couple of blocks from Gordon Arms Hotel in great, only overcast conditions. T-shirt’s and sunnies! The first long stretch of minor road was ahead of us first, about 6km I would say. A nice wide section with almost 0 cars making for easy walking and great conversation as we walked along.

From there, the path turned to take us along some farms, a fantastic country mansion (who rudely didn’t not even notice us passing or invite us in for a tour and a tea despite our thinking they most definitely should) and then into forest track for a lot of kilometers.

There was a great view point along route called Earth Pillars where you could look over the Speyside River and compare how it looks today with a photo from the exact spot in our guide book from 1983. Still impressive but wow so different. There was a fly fisherman in the picture and one today … thinking it’s not the same guy or has at least gone home a few times between then and now for snacks.

Before heading up, up, up hill into the forest we first passed Boat O’Brig Bridge. The bridge was named over 400 years ago when the bridge of the Spey River collapsed and the ferry had to float over the bridge remains .. boat over bridge. We took a micro break at this spot and even got to see a train cross this beauty.

The ever climbing, most gently and some sections not quite as gentle, took us up to the shoulder of Knock More and then Ben Aigan. Don’t be too impressed yet. Yes, a Ben is a Mountain here but they are not what our Canadian readers would consider a mountain, aka the Rocky Mountains. Ben Aigan is just 471m high. So a fantastic workout but not anything sketchy for this gal who hates heights.

We rambled along the shoulder of Ben Aigan for quite some time rewarded with great views over lush farmland with far views of the coast where we started our day just yesterday.

Some kind soul put a picnic table along the route tucked nicely off the track – the sun was shining as we passed so of course we had our 2-sies stop here. (2-sies is afternoon or second break and often around 2pm. Not to be confused with 11-sies which is morning break and often around 11am and may or may not be the favourite break of hobbits).

We took full advantage of the bench and break in the clouds to get the feet up, get socks dried or new dry socks on, and give my bum knee a little time off too.

From there we had a long, gentle decline along forest track and then minor road for the rest of the afternoon. This section, as warned by the guidebook, did get a little monotonous but great conversation, random dance moves, short bursts of song lyrics, taking off and putting back on rain gear, and munching on naked Skittles broke it up quite nicely.

As we came back into civilization at the end of the day we stumbled upon the Fiddichside Inn. This Inn was built in 1842 and first served as a place for refreshment (think whisky) for rail workers, then expanded to an Inn and is now still a tiny wee pub (maybe 20 x 10 feet) with a huge deck with picnic tables for those rare sunny days and an Air BnB on the backside.

A great decision to stop! The gran (Gail) behind the bar was so fantastic. She was telling stories about the bar’s history to us and in such thick Scottish with all the ken’s instead of know’s and dinnae’s instead of did not’s and w’ instead of with and more. Love!

We tried to get a photo with Gail but she would have no such thing and instead took a photo of us behind the bar – Rosa got to get up close and personal with the whisky she was tasting! I on the other hand discovered Speyside Way Lager. Yummy!

After our pints, we walked the 500m along the River path to our accommodation and accidentally had another pint on their porch before some dinner, showers and a tuck into bed to rest up for our walk to Ballindalloch!

A few stats for ye:

Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland

Day: 2/5

To/From: Fochabers/Craigallachie

Start/Finish time: 9:28am/5:36pm

Distance: 21km trail (21.1km Hiiker App)

Steps: 27,653

Terrain: gentle climbs and declines (forest track, 10km of minor road)

Weather: 14C Overcast w Rain and Sun

Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast

Lunch n Snacks: Mature Cheese on White Bread with French Onion crisps and baked Skittles

Dinner: Mac & Cheese

Pints: 4

Tonight’s home: Highlander Inn

Mood: happy

Body: feeling great but getting grief from the right knee

Highlights: The Fiddichside Inn

Lowlights: road walking

People of interest: Gail the barkeep at Fiddichside Inn, and Whiskey the poodle

Funny bone: Ordiequish the Octopus

Spontaneous dancing: seldom, damn rain

Deep thoughts: a good marriage includes remembering your wife’s Starbucks order

Brande

Speyside Way, Buckie to Fochabers

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We kicked off the Speyside Way today and could not have asked for a better day! After a full Scottish Breakfast at the Struan House B&B in Cluny Square of Buckie, we left our front door at 930am and literally walked steps to the official start of the way!

After a brief photo shoot and video upload to Instagram, we started the first 8km along the coast, skirting between side streets to stay close to the water as we searched the waves for bottle-nose dolphins, and minke whales. We didn’t find any of those but found a Mecca of harbour and grey seals – did you know they sing? It’s amazing and really unsettling actually it sounds so mournful. But so cool!

We wrapped up the coastal portion / half way in our day with some time at the Dolphin Centre were we enjoyed the hospitality of a warm cafe with such kind servers. We loved the scone with clotted cream and raspberry jam they served us. Washed down with a hot pot of tea, of course! Perfect warm up before heading out again to finish part 2 of the day.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, 8kms and about 3 hours kitted out in waterproofs but we were not bothered. The temp was great and the rain was only moderate not the torrential sideways stuff this country is know for! The rain started almost as soon as we left the Dolphin Centre so we even had a nice warm, dry spot to get our waterproofs on!

The afternoon had a fantastic detour (about 300m off trail) to this very long and neat aqueduct bridge! We loved it and just had to spend a bit of time taking some very cool photos. We had the place to ourselves which was fantastic!

After the bridge, we were on a well covered and flat forest path with loads of pine trees, rich ferns and some beautiful wild flowers that stood out so bright against the grey sky and green backdrop. Rosa snapped some of her epic flora pics!

We wrapped up our second 8km at just after 3pm when we arrived at our accommodation for the night, Gordon Arms Hotel, just a block of the trail. A tired but neat and clean 18th century hotel with creeky floors and ghostie vibes!

Along our way we met some great locals. The man walking Suki the greyhound / husky dog who told us about the seals in the harbour and whereto look for them; and the nice lady in the dream home built on the water who gave us the history of how she received the land from a fisherman’s bothy owner; and the amazing lady at the Dolphin Centre who was so kind and dropped off Rosa’s hiking poles to is at the hotel! She was not even coming through Fochabers but made a detour for us!

The stats …

Trail: Speyside Way, Scotland

Day: 1/5

To/From: Buckie/Fochabers

Start/Finish time: 9:30am/3:19pm

Distance: 16km trail (18.9km Hiiker App)

Steps: 28,557

Terrain: flat (forest track, tarmac, trail)

Weather: 16C Overcast AM, Rain PM

Breaky: Full Scottish Breakfast

Lunch n Snacks: Scone w Clotted Cream and Raspberry Jam, Sour Kids

Dinner: Steak and Ale Pie w Chips

Pints: 2

Tonight’s home: Gordon Arms Hotel

Mood: happy as all heck

Body: feeling great, right knee (torn PCL) misbehaving only a little

Highlights: seals singing!

Lowlights: lost poles

People of interest: Suki the dog) and her owner who told us all about the seal on the coast line

Funny bone: ‘special’

Spontaneous dancing: at least a few times

Deep thoughts: walk for the walk, the sights, the feels, the smells .. not for the finish line

A day to be grateful for and we assure you the gratitude was running deep! We had fun, we feel good, we are reminded of human kindness and the amazing places we are so blessed to hike through. Wow, what a day!

Tomorrow we are off to Craigallachie!

Brande

Speyside Way Starts Tomorrow

/ runningforthegate / 2 Comments

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

Loco Local – 2 Weeks to Go

/ runningforthegate / 3 Comments

We are in the 2 weeks-to-departure window now folks!

This close to departure my excitement meter goes way up and, full transparency, I also experience a few moments here and there of anxiousness too. All part of the process I think! It helps to focus on being prepared. So, this last pre-departure stretch will be about packing, confirming travel plans, figuring out why British Airways has changed my seat on a 9hr flight from the one I paid 100 bucks for, and making sure all the things I leave behind are left in order.

Seems I also need this next couple of weeks to pick my lip up off the floor and figure out a little adjustment to my approach to the 400km I have on trail ahead of me … why?

Sadly, frustratingly, madly, grumpily, growly … I am fast and furiously wrapping my head around a new injury. I messed up the PCL in my right knee in a soccer match. Noooo!

Honestly, the knee has been misbehaving for a while now. Ever since I tore the ligaments in my right foot last year (dramatic details here) I have been landing quite differently when I jump. To protect my sore arch, I am landing flat footed which is jarring my knee. I have had some pretty sore days following soccer and volleyball matches. A jumped to head the ball in a soccer match a couple weeks ago and it did me in I guess. When I landed, I felt a rip (not a pop so that’s actually fantastic news) and yikes a good amount of pain. The PCL in my right knee now has my full undivided attention!

What is a PCL you ask?

Posterior Cruciate Ligament (PCL) is a ligament ‘is a band of tissue that crosses inside the centre of the knee joint. It connects your thigh bone to the bone of your lower leg. The PCL keeps your knee stable when it moves forward or backward.’ (thanks HealthLinkBC.ca)

I mean let’s think about this … is knee stability important? Sure. Will I be moving my knee forward and back as I walk 400km? Most of the time. Is it a 6-12 week recovery and I only have 2 weeks before departure? Yes. Am I sad but also mad and pouty as heck? Also yes!

The good news, my PCL is intact it’s only a tear. My knee doesn’t feel too hugely unstable – just not right on inclines and declines and stairs, and a misstep over extends it quite easily. And, also good news, when hiking – unlike soccer and volleyball – I can watch exactly where I put my feet. Heck I won’t be doing anything but watching these dogs for the next month! Also good news, there is a brace on the market specifically for the PCL.

The ‘bad’ news, I had to shell out a bunch for said brace (think the equivalent of my entire spending money budget for the trip in the UK for 30 days – I am gonna need a bake sale before I go so I can refresh my pint budget). More worrisome, I am breaking my most cardinal hiking rule – never ever EVER hike in something you have not trialed at home. Nothing gets packed unless it is tried, tested and true and a BUNCH of times before you depart. Well not this time B – we will adapt on the trial with a smile and as many spontaneous energizing dance parties I might need!

Stay tuned – lots more to come as I wrap my head around this turn of events and a brace a around my rebellious knee. So much to think about but also not over think. I got this! Right? Right! Absolutely!

Brande

PS the injury has also caused a Baker’s Cyst on that same knee (lovingly named jumbo prawn thanks Lana) which I hope just magically goes away and I never have to blog about! A girl can dream …

Loving Local-ish – 4 Weeks to Go

/ runningforthegate / 2 Comments

Just wrapped up end of my 4 week countdown of the 2023 Scotland Trifecta and things are getting really, real!

First, let’s get the skinny of what was on the training list since my last post Living La Vida Local – 6 Weeks To Go. As we get closer to departure the training ramps up but in a couple weeks it will also ramp down to ensure I am for ready for and also rested for this 400km challenge.

Here is 5 Weeks To Go training looks like on my tried and tested 20 Week Training Plan:

  • 1x 6km Hills (with 15lb pack)
  • 3x 7km (with 15lb pack and poles)
  • 2x this week let’s get some muscle on:
    • 50 squats
    • 25 lunges
    • 40 calf raises
    • 20 fire hydrants
    • 10 donkey kicks
    • 15 cat/cow
    • 35 double Ds
    • 60 second plank
  • 1x slow flow yoga for flexibility

Last week, at 4 Weeks To Go, there are a couple of subtle differences as this is a ramp it up week:

  • 1x 15km (with 15lb pack and poles)
  • 4x 7km (with 15lb pack, poles optional)
  • 3x this week let’s top up the muscle:
    • 50 squats
    • 25 lunges
    • 40 call raises
    • 30 fire hydrants
    • 10 donkey kicks
    • 15 cat / cow
    • 40 double Ds
    • 60 sec plank
  • 1x flexibility session (stretching, yoga)

Of course, for each hike there should be some gentle stretching as your warm up, and some post hiking stretching too. And to be clear that means more stretching than just the reaching my arm across the bar for a cold pint – add in a calf stretch with your toes on the leg of the bar stool while you do it for extra pints .. I mean points!

My bestie was visiting a couple weekends ago and we had to chance to get in a few of my training sessions with local walks or hikes on a little weekend adventure to Vancouver Island .. hence the local-ISH.

Westsong Walkway

The Westsong Walkway is fantastic, flat and easy walk along the Victoria inner harbor!

A mix of paved path, some boardwalk and a few rock trails that gives you fantastic views of the water, float planes landing and taking off and, if you plan it right even offers a chance to quench your thirst at a fantastic local watering hole, Spinnakers.

We walked about 5km. You can add some additional kilometers if you walk from Johnson Street to Esquimalt and back around the harbour over to Fisherman’s Wharf. Basically, it’s beautiful Victoria and walking all the places is just a total joy!

Thetis Lake

We also had the chance to hit one of my favourite hikes from when I lived in Victoria – Thetis Lake! Instead of the regular (busy but beautiful) lower and upper Thetis lake trails we did some meandering on Phelps Trail, Trillium Trail and more on the outskirts of the park. We were able to cobble together about 12km. It’s been a while since I have been to Thetis and I am still amazed at just how beautiful a hike surrounded by city can be!

Pre-hike energy loading may have been a most fabulous, delicious, amazing Pork Belly Eggs Benedict from Six Mile Pub and post-hike celebration may have been a refreshing flight .. or two … from Herald Street Brewing in Victoria. All the yumminess! This day was pretty close to the daily activities I will be experiencing over in Scotland. In Alba, the day will start with a Full Scottish Breakfast transition into a hike then transition into pints. They do say your training at home should be as close to the real deal abroad! I am just following great advice 😉

Juan de Fuca Trail, Mystic Beach

Completing the entire Juan de Fuca Trail is on my to-do list but not on this trip. This trip was more around getting some kilometers on the training dashboard and ensuring my bestie from land locked Alberta got some max ocean views in! Hello Mystic Beach.

After a great drive from Victoria to Shirley, BC and a stop for breaky at Shirley Delicious (which was most surely delicious) …

… and a quick waltz down to the Sheringham Point Lighthouse, which was so picturesque and barely a soul around …

… headed to the China Beach trailhead / parking lot and walked the well marked 2km trail down to Mystic Beach. This short trail had all the things we love – suspension bridge (Lana loves those not me), boardwalks, bridges, some up and some down, and enough people to keep the bears away! We saw a bear on the road just before starting our hike so we may or may not have been on high alert!

We spent a good amount of time down at the beach just taking it all in. The sound of the waves, hot sun and views you cannot even believe are in front of you makes it easy to stay a while.

Once we tore ourselves away from the view, and humped the 2km back to the car – where we may or may not have discovered just how bad my misbehaving knee / leg / foot / is feeling (more on that later) – we made our way back to Victoria. Well, not before a quick post hike refresh at Sooke Brewing Company! Yum!

Back in Victoria, we parked the car and accidentally headed to a couple more local breweries. You sensing a theme here? Including Whistle Buoy Brewing in Market Square – so delicious! That pretty blue one on the end was a perfectly sour Gose to cleans the flight-pallet!

That’s a wrap on our weekend all about training and filled to the brim with pints and laughs and more laughs!

Stay tuned for Week 3 and 2 To Go training updates – we are in the the final stretch to departure now folks!

Brande

Living La Vida Local – 6 Weeks To Go

/ runningforthegate / 4 Comments

Officially in the 6 week countdown window to my next adventure in Scotland! On this visit to majestic Alba, I will be meandering Speyside Way, West Highland Way (for a second time) and East Highland Way. A little 395km walk from a full Scottish Breakfast in the morning to my next Haggis Neeps and Tatties dinner with a pint in the evening. Nae bother!

6 weeks out means the training is getting good and fun and tough! We are experiencing crazy warm temps right now (30C) so a bit challenging too! As far as I am concerned, some training that hurts the body at home = happy body and mind in the Highlands! Here is what Week 6 training looks like on my go-to 20 Week Training Plan:

  • 2x 6km hike w hills
  • 2x 7km hike
  • All hikes with 10lb pack, poles optional
  • Also some strength training, 2x each of the following at some point this week:
    • 50 squats
    • 40 lunges / leg
    • 40 calf raises
    • 20 fire hydrants
    • 15 cat/cow
    • 30 Double’s
    • 60 second elbow plank

Getting these training hikes in is such a great way to discover new places in the Greater Vancouver area to hike! A few new ones that have been added to my ‘done like dinner’ list (yes it is literally called that on my All Trails account):

Shoreline Trail at Rocky Point, Port Moody

A scenic, easy walking trail. Mix of gravel and paved path, loads of people, a touch of incline/decline with loads of amazing scenery! The path wraps around Burrard Inlet and a workout can be rewarded with 1 of many breweries right there at the start/finish at The Port Moody Ale Trail.

While I didn’t get a chance to hit the brewery (we walked early to beat the heat) I was rewarded with a 7km fantastic conversation with my local hiking / training bestie Amber! Next time a post walk pint is definitely in order for these gals!

Eagle Bluffs via Coquitlam Crunch, Coquitlam

A moderate hike that will have the thighs and buns burning! The Crunch is a lovely 500 stair torture device made worse by the ‘You Can Do This!’, ‘Almost There’, and ‘Pace Yourself’ signs that pepper the ascent. Can I do this? Am I almost there? By ‘pace yourself’ do you mean stop now and go grab a coffee and read a book? Likely not, so up and up and up I went.

After defeating the evil stair master, I meandered up and up and around the local neighborhood for a bit to eventually hit the, mostly uphill, trail to the Eagle Bluffs.

The trail is an old gravel access road and if you can ignore the power lines that run above much of this trail, it is still quite a nice hike – and sure a great workout with enough forest time to make me smile!

All in all it’s about 13km from the bottom of the Crunch up to the Eagle Bluffs first look out and back, and about 550m elevation! At my acceptable pace of just slightly speedier than turtle, I clocked it in at 3hours. That includes a sunny snack break on a rock at the top, of course.

This is a hike I will be using to gauge my training progress, not so much about getting faster more around if it gets easier. I did it a couple weeks ago with my bestie Bean and felt the burn, did it again this weekend and felt more like a smolder. Progress!

Sidewinder and Pipeline Loop, Burnaby Mountain, Burnaby

Loving all the things Burnaby Mountain lol right now – lots of trail to choose from, 20mins from work, 40mins from home, well trafficked, so green and great views!

The Sidewinder and Pipeline Loop are connected by Function Junction and Meil’s Trail making for a great work out. Lots of switch backs, good and long incline sections, and even a few sketchy sections that are good for my managing my ‘fear of heights’. I didn’t really need my fear of bears to be exercised though but it is a mountain in all.

This is another trail that I will be using to gauge my training progress. Less breaks on the incline switch backs, higher pace, and faster recovery – all signs the training is working. Especially if this happens as I increase the weight in my pack and how many times I do the loop.

I had the chance to hit up this trail a couple times last week. Once after work on Wednesday (amazing!) and again on Sunday morning (saw a bear, less amazing). The 1.5hr time on this 6.5km trail with 250 elevation gain is a perfect quick one or even to do a couple times in a row.

Ok off the plan the rest of my training hikes for the week. It’s a a long weekend this week – so maybe I can even get in a long one!

Brande

Embrace the Over Think

/ runningforthegate / 2 Comments

To all you over thinkers out there, can I get a hey-0! I see you! I feel you! I am you! I have taken over thinking to the next level when it comes to trip prep, planning and packing. And I am here to tell you sometimes, believe it or not, over thinking can actually be an adventurer’s super power!

Give me a beat to explain …

Overthink Your Toiletries

We all wonder if we will have enough shampoo, soap, deodorant, bug spray, all the things when we head out on an trip. You don’t want to bring too much and add extra weight (these are some of our heaviest items) or take up more room than necessary BUT you also don’t want to take too little and be in a lurch having to scramble to find what you need in another country. Where you might be lucky if you can find the brand you prefer or even what you need. If helpful, insert a mental image of me spending way too long looking for Tylenol in a Pharmacy in Wales passing shelves of Paracetamol over and over and over as I searched. BTW Paracetamol in the UK is what we call Tylenol in Canada. Thank you Google!

To avoid spending more mental energy than necessary worrying if I am packing too much or too little for toiletries, I do a little scientific overthinking! Ok more of a simple experiment or trial but saying it’s science sounds so much cooler. Basically, I pack to stay home!

Ahead of your trip (aka WEEKS before you leave) fill those Goo bottles or travel containers or whatever you bought for travelling as if you are packing to leave right away. But, instead of just putting them in your backpack or suitcase, use them as if you are on your trip. As you use them, count how many days each thing lasts and compare it to the number of days you will be away on your trip. Then asses how that went! Did you have enough? Too much? Was the travel container you used totally annoying or did the lid break on first use? Then adjust accordingly for you actual trip!

I take this too far of course and literally have a little page in my journal to jot down for how long a razor lasts, how many shampoo washes, how many lathers my soap got me, how many brushes my toothpaste made happen, etc. So I can go total ‘science’ on my assessment and even have a little legend of my learning over a lot of past trips so I pack smarter each time.

If a trip is only a few weeks, I will pack all I need usually. Longer than that and I worry less about packing exactly the right amount of things I think I can find abroad and am not too picky about – this will save some room and weight. I.e if you are picky about your shampoo, but less so about your body soap – bring enough shampoo but a half bar of soap. I am very picky about my mascara less so about my chapstick – so bring the right size of mascara and only a few chapsticks.

A couple of tricks if you are running low on the basic toiletries while abroad:

  • Outside of the US and Canada, pharmacies tend to have the best selection of basic toiletries like Tylenol, face cream, body cream while grocery stores have shampoo, etc.
  • Keep your smaller travel containers after they are empty until you replace that item. It’s not easy to find travel size toiletries in some places, you may need to decant that shampoo you found at your destination into your travel container so it fits in your pack.
  • Check your accommodation for an honesty box or trail magic box for items people may have left behind. Often a hotel bathroom or pool area for shampoo, conditioner, body cream .. fill up your travel container!
  • If you are travelling with someone who has a preference for the same product as you – go in together on a full bottle. One carrying the shampoo and the other the conditioner to spread the love.
  • Figure out what 2-in-1 products work for you and only worry about one product and container instead of 2! I have a sunscreen moisturizer for my face that saves me carrying both. 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner is another good one.

Overthink Your Wardrobe

You might be surprised to hear me say I recommend you take the same approach to the clothes you intend to pack. Yup, more science!

Once again, literally pack your clothes for your trip – from undies to shirts, pants to socks – pack like you are leaving tomorrow. Then over the course of the next few weeks and months at home wear what you packed and evaluate. If you are going on a tourist holiday, wear your outfits around town, running errands, meeting friends, long car rides, etc. If you are going on a hiking adventure, wear your outfits on your training hikes.

Evaluate each individual piece of clothing AND each complete outfit against the below trust-me-you-will-not-regret-this criteria. Oh and please kick this experiment up a notch by making sure you get some photos of you in each outfit – cause on your travels guess what you will be taking a lot of?! Photos!

  • Did it feel uncomfortable, ride up, fall down, bunch up, slide down, itch or scratch? If yes, ditch it!
  • Did you adjust the clothing item often? Pull on it when you stood up every time? Stretched it out before you put it on? Kept pulling up the straps, folding the sleeve, twisting the ties? If yes, ditch it!
  • Did it make me feel ugly, feel bla, all ick, too big, too small, too one colour, too many colours, too bright, too dull? If yes, ditch it!
  • Did you choose not to trial that one article of clothing or that outfit because it’s just so special and you only want to wear it on the actual trip? If yes, ditch it! For real! Ditch it! Ditch it! Unless it’s a bloody wedding dress, if you will not wear it at home trust me you will not wear it abroad. Ditch it!
  • Did you look at the selfies and photos of you in that shirt, pants, shorts, hat, jacket and delete or sneer or gasp or some other form of not-so-kind-to-myself response? If yes, ditch it! (you have my encouragement to ditch the article item forever to second hand AND delete the photos too)

Ok so you have thought about each article of clothing individually, now I need you to think about outfits. I am about to suggest something that may be cringe worthy to the fashionistas out where, but trust me … trust me!

If you cannot wear every top with every bottom you bring .. wait for it … IT DOES NOT GET TO COME ON THE TRIP! If that shirt you love only matches one pair of the 3 bottoms you are bringing, bye bye shirt! That skirt and tank only look good together and with nothing else you are packing, bye bye skirt and tank!

This is when you need to channel your brutal side folks. Over thinking to the extreme! Embrace it! You literally wear every, single combo of every single top and bottom you are packing and if even one shirt does not behave with all bottoms OR or you answer yes to any of the criteria above – that is a HARD NO! Ditch that article of clothing, no trip for it!

The process of elimination can take a few weeks but trust me – you and your pack will feel lighter for it! You will thank yourself!

This idea of overthinking is also totally applicable to trip planning check out My Planning Process. All you do before you leave on your trip will make the trip all the better and all the more real!

Brande