Stefan Durkacz

Easy walking in easy weather: the walk ended pretty much as it began five weeks ago in Angus. Bar one slightly wet morning, there was no rain and hardly any wind for the final week. I stayed at the campsite in Strathyre for a couple of nights. I pitched by the river and lay around a lot in the sun watching the large gang of resident ducks patrolling the grass. My sister pitched up next to me for a night and we had a few beers and watched football in the Strathyre Inn. The fine weather held. From Balquhidder Station I negotiated forestry brash then boggy moorland over to the head of Glen Ample. Beinn Each and Stuc a'Chroin followed as I walked long into the evening to a wonderful high camp by Lochan a'Chroin. The Stuc was the final big mountain of the trip. Familiar landmarks were spread out below: Dumyat, Longannet power station, the Forth estuary, the Campsies. On this last day in the mountains the wildlife continued to thrill: a ring ouzel, and fox cubs amongst a jumble of bo...

The hardest part is over. It's downhill all the way now, give or take a few large intervening bumps. So I was thinking as I left Tyndrum after a few days of rest and time with my family. In fact I had two of the hardest days of the walk during this stage, long days in foul weather over Ben Lui, Beinn Oss and Beinn Dubhchraig, and two days later over Stob Binnein and the Braes of Balquhidder. Yet the stage finished in a heatwave as I crossed Meall an t-Seallaidh and sweated my way into Strathyre. Ben Lui added midges to the misery of a very wet camp. The inside of the tarp was black with them, and I was wracked with coughs as I inhaled midges. There were dozens of orchids and a lovely burn though. A nice spot nonetheless. The previous day was a relatively easy one, out of Tyndrum by the scars of lead mining, over Meall Odhar and Beinn Chuirn. Next day it rained and rained as I slogged over the Ben Lui group. After Beinn Dubhchraig a missing footbridge meant wading a swollen river, t...

I awoke to the sound of rain drumming on the tarp. Opening my eyes I could see the midges massing on the mesh of the bivvy bag's face panel. I was camping at Ben Alder Bay on Loch Ericht. The previous day I'd fought my way over Bheinn Bheoil face first into driving rain and mist. Cold and wet and wary of lightning I'd retreated from Ben Alder to camp by the loch. Eventually hunger and a full bladder forced me to unzip the bivvy bag and emerge to let the midges have their fill. This was the stage of the walk where I began to run up hard against limitations, most notably the weather, time, terrain, and my fitness and stamina. The close brush with lightning had also affected me more than I realised. On the hill I was constantly on edge. It was threatening to spoil my enjoyment. It quickly became clear that I wouldn't be able to walk every step of the watershed as I'd hoped. Instead I tried to thread together a route that was challenging but achievable within those li...