Sunday, June 15, 2008

Off to Cowal

I'm in Glasgow just now, been catching up with some friends. Tomorrow I'm doing a trip I've done a few times before, taking the train to Gourock and then the ferry across to Dunoon, the town nearest to where I stayed when I first came to Scotland. I'm spending the night in Dunoon before heading out to Portavadie in the morning to start walking the Cowal Way (I would link to some pages here but the computer I'm using isn't letting me see all Blogger features, so will have to wait).

The Cowal Way is a 47 mile journey. The book I have outlines it as a 6-day trip but I'm going to do it in 4 days, possibly 3, as I know my fitness is such that I can do 15 miles a day over the terrain of some of the route even with a heavy pack. My pack will be heavy enough because I'm going to camp along the way - hostels are non-existant and even B&B's and hotels aren't plentiful. Plus, with a tent I can just stop walking at the end of the day when I feel like it and don't have to push myself onward just to get out of the elements for the night. I've picked up a small tent, a sleeping bag, and a foam sleeping mat (for comfort) from Tesco for £27 altogether. I'll use it for the remainder of my trip and then pass it on to someone else. The cost altogether is less than a night's stay in a hotel, afterall.

Just checked the weather forecast and it's improving. Tuesday, my first day of walking, is now predicted to be light rain, whereas it was heavy rain when I checked a couple of days ago. And it looks like it's clearing up some the next days. One can only hope.

So I won't be near any internet until probably the weekend, when I will report on the walking.

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