Outdoors with Karolina

One of of the great benefits of walking for me is how much it boosts your metabolism. And even despite all the whisky shots the night before- you may still wake up fresh the next morning even after having as many whisky shots as I did at Tarfside.

After leaving the village, I hit the tarmac and walked alongside the road passing Glenesk Folk Museum where some of the challengers were having their breakfast. Suddenly I regretted filling my belly with the porridge. Will know better for the next time. Not long after that I turned towards the River Esk and crossed the bridge. The year before I haven’t properly checked my notes- carried on towards the second bridge which was closed and ended up fording the river Esk. Water was cold and up to my thighs which actually felt great on a scorching hot day. Probably wouldn’t mind doing that again.

I have chosen similar route out of Tarfside as the year before. Just on a path, easy walking, highway to Edzell. Walking on this side of Cairngorms gets way easier- not as many ups and downs but also- there are way less places where you can get drinking water or pitch your tent. You can’t have it all, I guess.

It was another beautiful and sunny day, looking back now- it is quite unreal how lucky we were with the weather on TGO Challenge 2024. Do heatwaves actually happen often in Scotland? But when I was walking from Tarfside to Edzell I couldn’t help but think, the challenge was almost over, I was so close to the east coast. But there was a certain sadness to it, I didn’t want to come back home yet. ‘I could walk forever’, I thought.

I arrived at Edzell earlier than planned- wanted to visit the Rocks of Solitude but there were cows on the path and as you may know by now- cows are a massive nono to me. Having the full mobile signal back- I have called my parents assuring them I’m all good and headed straight to the Edzell’s finest- Sinclair Larder cafe that I remembered from the year before. Not only the food is delicious but they also sell little crafts from local artists- worth having a little look!

The road from Edzell to Brechin is very straightforward and rather monotonous but there is one moment that i remember clearly- just before the golf course there is a bridge over A90. Apart from cows, bridges are the other things that I’m terrified of. But somehow I decided to take a quick stop there. I dropped my backpack and stepped onto a bridge., Walk a little bit further. Stopped. Realised my heart wasn’t racing and my legs were not shaking. Started dancing like an idiot. Cars driving just below couldn’t know what have just happened.

Got to Brechin and that’s where the things actually went wrong. Or at least not according to the plan. Remember when I said I could walk forever? Probably jinxed it. First of all- I did believe in my luck as for most of my walks I have no problems finding somewhere to camp. Or to where refill my water bottle. So I haven’t planned it properly, believing I will find something. Maybe if I got some water in Brechin it would be a different story. But I left the town and just carried on walking trying to find some water but there was nothing for miles and miles. And when I finally found some- there was nowhere to pitch my tent, just fields and roads. So I carried on, getting closer and closer to the finishing line.

I have finally found a spot, just on the edge of Fithie Wood, 6 miles away from Brechin and pitched my tent with a relief. It was almost the same routine as every other other night- pumped my sleeping pad and the pillow, took the sleeping bag out, cleaned myself the best I could with the wet wipes, put my sleeping clothes on. Made some instant noodles, watched the fog roll over the fields. Brushed my teeth, turned the headtorch off and crawled into the sleeping bag. Closed my eyes and drifted away. It was almost the same as every other day. But somehow it was different. It was the very last night in the wild. The very last night of The Great Outdoors Challenge.

Route taken: Tarfside- River Esk- Edzell- Edzell Wood- Brechin- Kinnaird Park- Farnell- Fithie Wood (42km)