Walking in Scotland

[rufus748]

Apologies for the 'W' word...

My daughters doing her gold D of E and fancies going to Scotland to get some practice in. I've never been that far north and would like some advice from the more travelled amongst us.

When the best time to go? (Trying to avoid midges etc if possible as they tend to feed on me)....

She's looking for a 5-7 day walk and has suggested the East Highland Way (I think it's only because she heard of it).

Any views on the EHW or recommendations for a different walk?

Flexible on camping/bothys or the odd B&B

Thanks in advance.

[ScotRoutes]

EHW is fine. Relatively flat, one wetter section. Easy logistics as there are railway stations at both ends. There are a couple of guide books on it and a very good website. Accommodation is a bit sparse between Roy Bridge and Laggan. That can affect your route planning but if you contact The Rumblie Guest House in Laggan they can pick you up somewhere between the two and then drop you off again the next morning. Signposting seems to be fine so route-finding should be easy (not sure how much the DoE expects you to do).

Weather/midge wise, everyone will say late April through May. There can still be snow around at that time but it would usually be confined to the higher levels. September has been really good these past few years but that might be a bit late for your purposes. As regards the midge; buy Smidge, buy a midge head net; keep moving in sheltered spots (they can't fly in winds above 5mph), they don't like direct sunlight either. In short, don't let them put you off. You should also invest in a Tick Remover and look for them every day.

I live in Aviemore, the Eastern terminus, so happy to provide any more info if you want it.

http://www.easthighlandway.com/

http://www.rumblie.com/

[Howard]

Agree with everything that ScotRoutes said, with 2 comments:-

1) Definitely buy a midge net whenever you go. It weighs about 60g and is worth many times its weight in gold
2) I've only stayed at the Rumblie once, and they were very welcoming (I was on a bike, my wife was on a horse!) and the rooms were very comfortable etc. However, I found the food posh rather than filling and I felt the prices reflected the fact there are relatively few places to stay in the area. Still a nice bit of luxury in the middle of the trip - more than you're allowed on an actual DoE expedition!

From memory, when my daughter did her Gold DoE, it was only 4 days so a 5-7 day trip is definitely good practice

[PeterC]

Have a look at the Cowal Way. Cowal itself is often overlooked as the hills lack altitude, but it has small but very rugged mountains, native woodlands, sea and fresh water lochs and so on. At 57 miles it should be doable in 4 or 5 days. Logistics might be a bit more difficult than East Highland way, but train to Glasgow, getting the Campbeltown bus, getting off at Tarbert and ferry across to Portavadie is probably most straight forward way to start.
Peter

[Cheeky Monkey]

I thought DoE expeditions were limited on the elevation they could go above (sadly a blunt application of H&S / risk assessment - lets not go there, hey )? My point being you don't need to really get into the mountains to do something akin to the final expedition. Go for it though if she's up for it A "proper" / unrestricted trip.

Secondly, big part of DoE is nav'. Following a waypointed route might reduce the amount of effort / practice, if that's important.

All sounds like fun though

[ScotRoutes]

The OP did say that this was only for practice leading up to the DOE expedition. It would be a good way of checking out skills while still having a safety net.

[whitestone]

I thought DoE expeditions were limited on the elevation they could go above (sadly a blunt application of H&S / risk assessment - lets not go there, hey )?

I seem to remember when something similar to this was first mooted there was a maximum elevation of 300m. We were living in N. Wales at the time and it was pointed out that the students wouldn't be able to get out of the car to cross the car park to the cafe at Ogwen Cottage

[Cheeky Monkey]

The OP did say that this was only for practice leading up to the DOE expedition. It would be a good way of checking out skills while still having a safety net.

Absolutely, I only mention it as it might open up wider / other areas that could be used for the practice. I'd do an epic and then the DoE trip[ will be a comparative cake-walk, although that might put them off entirely

Whitestone - a prime example of blunt-tool application exposing its own limitations.

[rufus748]

Thanks for all the help guys.
Not really worried about exceeding elevation, it's about a multi-day walk, great scenery (hopefully) in a place we've always wanted to visit.
Unless it's a marked trail she will be navigating and I'll have a gps backup.
Time of year was the important part.
Cheers

[ScotRoutes]

Just a thought - you could start the walk with a trip up Ben Nevis and finish on Ben Macdui - the two highest mountains in the UK. They would make fine book-ends to your trek.