Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
Information => Outdoor News and Events => Topic started by: suspectmonkey on May 03, 2011
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Hi folks,
Well it's now less than 10 days until I set sail for Scotland and begin my 200 mile coast-to-coast trek as part of the 2011 TGO Challenge (http://www.tgochallenge.co.uk/). As part of the event I am trying to raise as much money as I can for Abaana (http://www.abaana.org/), an African children's charity. Abaana is based locally in Bangor and my brother spent some time volunteering for them, so I know the money is put to really good use and truly changes lives.
I have setup a JustGiving page and would really appreciate it if you would take the time to visit the page and donate. I also have a sponsorship form if you would prefer to see me in person. I know it can be hard to raise money these days, but whilst we all think we are struggling in a recession we need to remember that we are all extremely privileged and that the majority of the world live in complete poverty in comparison. I have fully funded this trip myself, so every penny raised will go to Abaana.
www.justgiving.com/jonpatterson
Many thanks, Jon
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Hi guys! Sorry I've barely had a chance to check in over the last week or two, been absolutely up to my eyes. Today was a complete last minute rush to pack for the TGO Challenge and finalise all the details, but I think I've just about finished now. Time to get some much needed shut eye before the long journey to Mallaig tomorrow.
I've added a "Follow Me" (http://www.jonpatterson.co.uk/follow) section to the blog, which is a map that should get updated periodically with my location. It's all a bit of an experiment, so may not even work, but it's worth a try! It's also highly dependent on phone signal etc. so don't be too surprised if it either a) doesnt work or b) doesnt get updated very often!
Will try and check in one way or another at some stage, hopefully Kat will be able to update you on my progress. Looking forward to catching up with you all in a couple of weeks time :)
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good luck jon, enjoy!
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Good luck mate.
Hope you get good weather
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Any updates on Suspect i don't think the follow him link on his website is working?
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Thought better pop in for a quick update! Basically it all went a bit "Pete Tong" to say the least. Had a great first day walking through Knoydart to Sourlies bothy. A lot of people spend the first night here, but I pressed on with a couple of other Challengers heading for Glendessarry. The weather turned as we set off and was absolutely miserable, but by 9.30pm we were approaching the bothy. Literally about 10 metres from the front door of the bothy was an old rusty piece of wire deer fence running through the long grass, which of course I tripped on and ended up going head first into a boggy ditch. When I finally got back to my feet I knew I had bust up my left arm and couldn't do anything with it at all. Unfortunately, being in the middle of nowhere, I just had to try and get some rest in the bothy before walking out the following day to get it checked over. Long story short I set off the following day for Glenfinnan, which took about 7 hours, before hitching a lift back to A&E in Fort William. They diagnosed me with torn ligaments in my left forearm and said it needed rest for the next few days. Knew I couldn't go any further on the Challenge as I couldn't tie my shoe laces, couldn't get the rucksack on and off my back, couldn't pitch tent etc. Would have just been too dangerous to carry on solo, so had to withdraw :( I'm back home now, absolutely gutted and more than a little embarrassed about the whole thing. I've to return to the Fracture Clinic in the Ulster hospital this week as I've since had a specialist look at the xray and they feel there is a break in the arm as well as the ligament damage. More xrays required, but either way I'm going to be out of action for a few weeks :(
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Thats shit mate. There's always next time.
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I'm really gutted for you. I know how disappointing it is to be looking forward to a big walk and then having to pull out ... although I've never done it with such style ;) Seems to be quite a few people have had arguments with fences and walls this year (Sloman's hand and Rye's head to name but two!). Hope your arm recovers quickly and you put the whole thing behind you and get back in the saddle.
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Thats really bad. There is always next year. Have a speedy recovery
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Sorry to hear it went so dramatically south! Nothing you can do though, carrying on with an injury like that would have been really dangerous and there's always next year!!
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That's terrible news. Your experience in the outdoors seems to have helped you be rational about getting yourself to safety. I can't imagine who gutted you are after all the preparation.
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Sorry to hear it went so bad, but at least you now have a great campfire story, reminds me of when I broke my collarbone on the first day of a donegal holiday and had a 2hr drive to hospital on those potholed roads!
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Cheers guys! On a plus side my route planning for next year will be a lot easier :)
I do have some photos etc. from Day 1, so will try and get a trip report put together for the two days that I was walking at least!
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You did tell TGO you had left Scotland and there not looking for you right now ??? ;)
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No way man - PITA!
Gutted for you after all the prep and time taken off :(
As you say, good excuse to try again and all the prep wont go to waste.
Here's to a speedy recovery for the TMB.
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Sorry to hear that but I wish you a speedy recovery ,
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bad luck dude, my Kerry trip was also a total bummer. ...... drove all the way down, set off walking, about 3 hours later I had a serious dental emergency and thought best to return rather then wander on ( i still had at least another 5 days walking ahead) ...... I was also a bit concerned that the dog would keel over with heat exhaustion, as it was really really warm !
but I learned from it, I learned next time I get a little despondent, i'm not going to 'quit', i'm just gonna muster on... and i think its easy to say that, but experiencing a total 'failure' is an experience that stays with you - and motivates you - i think...
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Sorry to learn of your mishap. It'll make you more determined to get there next year. At least you were there. Hopefull you'll qualify for some TLC?
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Toothache is a nightmare, I'd imagine it would totally ruin any trip.
bad luck dude, my Kerry trip was also a total bummer. ...... drove all the way down, set off walking, about 3 hours later I had a serious dental emergency and thought best to return rather then wander on ( i still had at least another 5 days walking ahead) ...... I was also a bit concerned that the dog would keel over with heat exhaustion, as it was really really warm !
but I learned from it, I learned next time I get a little despondent, i'm not going to 'quit', i'm just gonna muster on... and i think its easy to say that, but experiencing a total 'failure' is an experience that stays with you - and motivates you - i think...
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dont want to hijack suspects thread or steal any of his sympathy !! ;)
but basically that walking holiday consisted of walking and eating, and with eating looking problematic, it wasn't gonna be too much fun!
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I think doing an endurance event is different to a walking holiday. Basically if I'm taking some of my well earned hols for some outdoors fun I want to be enjoying myself and if I was carrying an injury that made me pretty uncomfortable it would ruin it - I'd be looking for some sofa / movie recuperation time instead.
dont want to hijack suspects thread or steal any of his sympathy !! ;)
but basically that walking holiday consisted of walking and eating, and with eating looking problematic, it wasn't gonna be too much fun!
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Was that the Kerry Way you were planning on walking Mike? I'd love to give it a go sometime as I got a book in the Cicerone sale called "Irish Coast to Coast Walk". It links up the Wicklow Way, South Leinster Way, Munster Way, Avondhy Way and the Kerry Way to form a 370 mile jaunt! Mind you my record on coast to coast walks are now CTC 1 - Nil Jon :D
Cheers for all the messages guys, really appreciate it. On a positive note I really enjoyed the two days of walking that I had (bar the slight discomfort on day 2!) and it definitely showed me that I should be heading to Scotland a lot more often! I was able to get from Belfast to Glasgow for £25 and from Glasgow to Mallaig for £14. You are then spoilt with excellent walking routes through some amazing areas, and if you finish somewhere like Glenfinnan can be back on the train to Fort William and headed for home the following day. Perfect for a Bank Holiday weekend! On top of that I passed four bothys, all of which were excellent, so you wouldn't even need to take a tent if you didn't want to.
Oh, and I spent 5 hours on the train between Glasgow and Mallaig chatting with Mr. Ronald Turnbull! I did mention he had developed a slightly cult following of bivvy fanatics and custard cream munchers in Northern Ireland ;)
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Oh, and I spent 5 hours on the train between Glasgow and Mallaig chatting with Mr. Ronald Turnbull! I did mention he had developed a slightly cult following of bivvy fanatics and custard cream munchers in Northern Ireland ;)
Name dropper ;)
it definitely showed me that I should be heading to Scotland a lot more often! I was able to get from Belfast to Glasgow for £25 and from Glasgow to Mallaig for £14. You are then spoilt with excellent walking routes through some amazing areas, and if you finish somewhere like Glenfinnan can be back on the train to Fort William and headed for home the following day. Perfect for a Bank Holiday weekend! On top of that I passed four bothys, all of which were excellent, so you wouldn't even need to take a tent if you didn't want to.
Interesting. A few Qs - How long in total to get to Mallaig from Belfast and do you have to pre-organise bothies in any way?
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Name dropper ;)
It's sad, most people idolise football players etc. and I'm more interested in meeting Mr. Book of the Bivvy :)
Interesting. A few Qs - How long in total to get to Mallaig from Belfast and do you have to pre-organise bothies in any way?
I took the 11.45am boat from Belfast to Stranraer. Arrived in Glasgow at 4.30pm before taking 6.20pm train to Mallaig which had me there for 11.30pm. Obviously a pretty long day of travelling, but to be honest I don't mind travelling on the boat or train as you can chill out and chat to people, read book, listen to iPod, dander about. Also the West Highland line is a spectacular railway to travel on! Of course you could travel a much shorter journey and still get decent walking, for example the train passes through Corrour on the way to Rannoch which has a superb youth hostel and sits at 1350ft above sea level!
No need to pre-book bothies or anything like that, just need to follow the Bothy Code (http://www.mountainbothies.org.uk/Page.asp?page=bothy-code.asp). Only downside is that if you arrive and the bothy is full then you are a bit stuck, so it would be sensible to have some kind of alternative shelter with you such as a bivvy bag. Most bothies have good areas outside to pitch which is handy, as you can socialise/cook etc. inside bothy before retiring to your tent.
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I added Day 1 of my trip report to the blog, along with a few photos if anyone is interested. Obviously it's going to be a fairly short write up given that I didn't get any further than Day 2 ;)
http://www.jonpatterson.co.uk/2011/tgoc-day1/