One step closer

Well, today is the day I leave Glasgow for my start-point, the town of Oban.

When I awoke this morning I was greeted by a welcome omen: the sun was shining and no rain was falling. After packing up my gear for the Challenge, I rounded up the rest of my belongings and checked them in with the hostel front desk. My train left at 12:20, so I was near an hour and a half early getting to the station. When I arrived, a small band of challengers had already accumulated. The first person to approach me was Dave, another first-timer who recognized me from my rucksack. It so happens that Dave is also using Golite's Pinnacle. After meeting several more challengers, including uncle Roger, our coordinator, and a pint of beer courtesy of Dave (thanks again), we headed for the train : Dave in the back half bound for his start-point, Shiel Bridge, and me on the front half, bound for Oban.

At 9 tomorrow morning i'll head down to the Youth Hostel to sign the official TGO Challenge logbook, and then the challenge will officially be on.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Greetings from Glasgow!

Greetings!

I have arrived in Glasgow and am getting prepared far the hike. So far, not one kilt...

It rained most of the day yesterday as well as today. I hope tomorrow will be a little nicer, but I can handle the rain.

The next leg of my journey starts on thursday morning, when I will travel 100 miles by train up the west coast to Oban. at 9 am friday morning my hike will officially be underway.

All is well so far, and everything seems to be falling into place nicely. I still cannot believe this is actually going to happen!

Farewell for now
Shawn
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Scotland 2009: Final Farewell

Well guys, this is it. In a matter of hours I will be arriving at the airport, getting ready to travel halfway around the world. Check this out:

180 miles my car. 4883 miles by plane. 10 miles by bus. 104 miles by train.

250 miles by foot. Talk about some travel.

It certainly has been an experience so far. I'd me more than satisfied having it just be over now, but I find that would be a waste (and I'm too excited!). We all know something like this isn't easy to pull off, logistical or physically. Shortened semesters, too many work hours, late nights planning routes, gear tests (the rain suit test in the shower was probably the most fun), worry, panic, calm down, panic five minutes later. Its been a long time coming, but now the trip is here. It is finally time to say my goodbye.

And with that I wish to thank everyone whose helped me with the project. I thank everyone whose let me complain about my problems to them. Without you guys, I'd be even more of a nervous wreck.

I do plan on updating this blog during the trip. I may also do some twitter along the way. Should you need me, I hope it can wait till June!

Sianara,
Shawn

High Track, Low Track: Experience Either Way

Google Maps

The above link takes you to probably the most time-consuming part of this Challenge. It details, in full, exactly where I plan to walk once in Scotland.

The map here shows the Main Level route. This is the route that I hope to take the most often, as it is the longer of the two, and contains the most challenge. After clicking the above link, you'll find another one for my username (grun0177). Clicking that will take you to the other two maps for this Challenge.

The second map is my Fowl Weather Alternative. Should the weather close in on me and make hiking a little more dangerous, I'll stick to this Route. My FWA is almost always the quickest way between two points, and never exposes myself or goes above 600 meters. It'll function as a backup plan in case the Main Route becomes infeasible.

The third maps is place marks. You'll notice, the usual. Hotels, cities, airports. There are, however, a series of blue and yellow marks. The blue marks represent a Munro I expect to climb, while the yellow marks represent a Corbett. The Munro's are the common name for mountains above 3,000 feet (910 Meters), while the Corbetts are between 2,500 feet and 3,000 feet tall. In total, there are 284 Munros and 220 Corbetts.

You'll also notice that my path is in no way a straight line. In fact, it is rather like a semi-circle. This is partly due to a series of rather wide mountain ranges being in the way, but really because its more fun this way!!!

Food List: Light and Fast (delicious, too!)

Traditionally, you think of backpackers with these gaudy freeze-dried meals of things like lasagna and beef stew. However, these meal are not only expensive, but heavy and inefficient. The taste is all right, but still more on the side of cardboard...





A method that I adopted from one Andrew Skurka is much more efficient. Referred to as the 'calorie drip' method, it is designed to keep food in your stomach and give you calories throughout the day, instead of just all at once. While food is something personal that all backpackers need to determine for themselves, I feel that this system would work very very well for just about anyone!

From the chart above, you can see the full breakdown. Here's a brief explanation:

I start out in the morning with hot cocoa, two oatmeal packets, and a Snickers bar. The hot cocoa is main just because hot liquids after a cold night feel amazing. The Snickers give me a real quick shot of sugar and fat, just long enough to keep me energized until the more complex energy stored in the oatmeal can kick in.

About every two hours, I take a 5-minute break and have a snack. Every meal, save breakfast, is designed to be eaten on the move, minimizing the time I am forced to stop. First comes an Attain bar fro Melaleuca, which gives me an all-around nutritional input. At the same time is a serving of GORP(peanuts, M&M's, and raisins), which gives me an extra boost of energy for the day. Twice a day I have 3 ounces of Pringles, which equates to a can a day. Some of you may be going "wait, Pringles? Why on Earth?" Pringles have an extremely high calorie-to-ounce ratio, making them extremely efficient. In addition, the contain a good amount of both sodium and fat.

You may notice that I have no dinner. I find dinner time is a pretty poor time to be eating food. When you eat large amounts of food juts before you fall asleep, you body cannot fully metabolize the nutrition. While eating before bed may help keep you warmer, it also produces a great deal more body fat, effectively wasting those nutrients.

While I will be consuming nearly 4,000 calories a day, this food will not be enough to maintain by body weight. In fact, I anticipate that I will lose somewhere between 5 and 10 pounds in these 14 days. However, I've analyzed every piece of this list, and am confident that this layout is exactly what I need to get me across Scotland.

Scotland Gear: You Ain't Got No Alibi (But I Do!)

With only 4 days before I leave Duluth and start my Journey to Scotland, my brain is on overload and my body can;t take much more stress. I remember the six month mark, and even then I was worried about time. Not too worry, my brain can handle it!

However, I still have so much to do. Two group projects and a 20-page paper are still incomplete, and I have three finals to take on Thursday. In addition, it was recently finalized that I will be presenting a spotlight presentation on Scotland's Highland Culture for the Alworth Institute for International Studies here in Duluth on October 8th. Because of that, I have just another small stack of paper added to the slowly diminishing heap that is my desk.

I mentioned in my last post (nearly a full month ago!!) that I had two new pieces of gear. One was the Contrail Tent, which I already posted about, and the other finally made its way to my door. One of the minor oversights on made on the Superior Trail was not having a pair of gloves. In addition to warmth, gloves would have helped with the chaffing from the trekking poles (not very pleasant). Because of those two main reasons, I've spent the last few months trying on glove after glove, looking for one that is jsut what I need.

THE GLOVES
For this trip, I have decided to again go with a brand that is very familiar with the outdoors; Outdoor Research. While they make many fine gloves designed to keep your hands warm, they are all pretty bulky. The ones I settled on are the Alibi Gloves.

Pioneered for ice climbers, the Alibi has sticky palms that allow better grip rain or shine. Constructed Mainly out of Neoprene and Nylon, the Alibi hugs your palm and fingers tight enough to keep the water out while still allowing you to perspire and not feel waterlogged. The outside edge, along the pinky, is injected with a gel padding to cushion impacts and resist scraps. The cuff, made out of Neoprene as well, has been thermo-formed to contour tightly to the wrist, stopping water from entering there as well.

The Alibi Gloves also have pull-loops on the wrist to make them easier to get on. The velcro straps have a bite strip on the end, allowing you to still be able to put the glove on when your other hand is full. At 5.4 ounces, they are extremly light when compared to the 1 pound alternatives.

At first, I was concerned about their ability to keep my hands warm. However, I wore them for close to and hour in my apartment and my hands were starting to sweat. I suppose having the Neoprene that tight against your hand is what does it. After all, Neoprene isn't that thick of a meterial.

I'll make two posts before I board the place; one detailing my Route and another with the final farewell before I leave. However, both of these will ahve to wait till after thursday night so I can get my homework done!

Scotland Gear: (Tarp)Tent

Monday morning was a sight to see in Duluth; it was the last week in March, 25 degrees outside, and a fresh layer of snow had just fallen, recovering the brown grass for just a bit longer.

So much for out like a lamb.

None of that bothered me as I opened my mailbox to find the purple package slip was finally there. That's the sucky thing about living on campus; mail takes an extra day to reach me.

Success! I was first in line when the mail room opened at 2:00 and was quickly signing the dotted line. As I headed home, I had to resist the urge to rip apart the box and marvel at its contents. Not wanting to be stared at too awkwardly, I chose to wait for the privacy of my living room.

This was the piece of gear that I had never quite gotten around to getting... ever. In preparation to my Superior Trail hike, I never quite found a tent that fit my needs, plus my funds were extremely limited then. That led me to the tent I've been using since; a five pound bullet-proof Wenzel Ranger. While that tent is nice, it was/is WAAAY more than I will ever need for my style of hiking. I have to admit, I was rather disappointed that The One from Gossamer Gear wouldn't work out for me, but I think I found something just as good.

The Tent:

With no more crazy narratives, I give you Henry Shires' Contrail.

I discovered this tent a few months back, put wasn't planning on buying one because I had The One all lined up. However, after that situations change, this tent seems like my best bet.I know I've said that a lot, so I bet you want to know why...

The first good reason is because it's lightweight, weighing in at about 24 ounces. While a pound and a half isn't too remarkable, it'll be a lot better than the 5+ I was carrying. Another good reason I like it is because its a tent, but it also incorporates some great concepts from the tarp variety. Instead of having the traditional seamless four-wall and floor style, the waterproof shell is basically a staked-out tarp. The break-point in the front is created by pitching a trekking pole while the back is partially supported by two 12" struts. The bathtub-style floor is over 7 feet long and 30-42 inches wide, making it more than spacious. The bathtub floor then connects to the layer of big netting, which extend out to the shell. basically what this does is minimize the possibility of contact with the shell, which could result in water transfer.

The front also extends to act as a vestibule, allowing me to keep my gear there instead of at my side or feet. The picture above shows the foot-end open (did I mention it could do that?) as well as the shell has slightly off the ground. In windy, wet, or stormy condition (like Scotland), the rear struts can be lowered in order to bring the shell all the way to the ground, preventing water and wind from penetrating under the tarp. While the floor is 'waterproof,' I will still use a second layer groundsheet (Tyvek) to stop water and protect the tent itself.

The fabric for both the shell and the floor is a high-tenacity ripstop nylon that has been impregnated with silicon (commonly referred to as Silnylon). While not 100% waterproof, it will be waterproof under anything but high-velocity wind and rain (or if I pitch in a lake or river by mistake).

In addition, it does not need to be rolled, pampered, or babied like a normal tent does. It comes with a stuff sack that allows the tent to shrunk down to about 14" by 4" and dropped inside my pack.

normally, I would include pictures or the tent in action, or tell you how its better then it looks, yada yada yada. However, with the lack of space in my tiny 4-person apartment and a good 6 inches of snow outside, that hasn't quite happened yet. Hopefully within the coming weeks I'll be able to pitch it up and try it out for a night. Nevertheless, I fell very confident in this tent's attributes and abilities.