TGOC'24 Prequel- Travel Day May 8-9, 2024

 I always include my travel day when talking about the TGOC, because it does take so long and is quite involved. I do talk about this a lot, for some reason the US airlines do not make it easy to travel to Scotland. This year was no exception. I needed to fly from St Louis (home) to Dallas (650 miles southwest... the wrong direction) to catch my transatlantic flight. As I am so used to arriving early to airports I took advantage of some of my frequently flyer mileage to get a day pass to the American Airlines lounge. This would be good for St. Louis, Dallas and hopefully London Heathrow, if there is time. The lounge in St. Louis is not large, but quiet this time of the morning and does a good job of breakfast items. 

I only ever check items to fly that can't be carried on, so my hiking poles, stove, tent stakes and any food for the first few days. I keep with me all the essentials things to do the trip, that way if my bag is lost, my trip is not ruined. Nessie and I are ready. 

The spirit of this trip is "couch to trail" that represents the total amount of training I have done to prepare. I am a bit apprehensive ! 

my airplane arrives.

There was weather moving into St Louis, but we made it out ok and arrived in Dallas on time.

I did use the lounge to sit away from all the crowds in the terminal area and I might have had a cookie or two. 

I will be crossing the ocean in a 777-300. This is kind of the "chevy" of the transatlantic fleet. I am sure it is nice for the few upfront but this plane is really a cattle car for those of us in the back

walking past the posh seats on the way back to steerage!

My normal seat is an isle, but for long flights I do take the window as it provides an added place to rest my head if I can sleep, not something I do well on planes. This flight is a beautiful one from a scenery point of view, as you get most twilight for the 10 hours of flight time.

 

We had a significant delay sitting on the plane as the tailwind across the Atlantic would put us into Heathrow before 6 am. Heathrow has a curfew and no planes can land before 6 am. Waiting on the ground is preferred to circling overhead, at our destination, for an hour! 

We landed safely at Heathrow and I would like to say I had pictures, but in my almost 2 hours of time between landing and taking off for Scotland, it was taken up with customs arrival and moving between terminals at Heathrow. By the time I got to the shops and restaurant area, my gate was up on the board and it was time to go and board. It was a fine flight from London to Glasgow on British Airways and we landed on time. 

It is now May 9th. I always underestimate the amount of time I have when I land in Glasgow to get to the train. I generally have about 3 hours of time and Glasgow airport is small, no problem getting your bags and the bus is always right outside that takes you directly to downtown and Queens Street train station. I always have to run to the post office to mail my duffle bag and clean clothes to the end in Montrose and the outdoor store for fuel, but I still always have lots of time to just sit or sightsee a bit at the train station. This time was no exception, I hurried needlessly only to get back to the train station with 90 minutes before my train.   

I met a few challengers at the train station and we chatted and caught up. One of them, the esteemed David Albon. In fact, we sat together on the train for 3+ hours and just chatted like magpies the entire time. He is delightful. More about David's adventures later. 

The train ride up through the Highlands is always a treat the farther North you go. 

My starting point this year is Lochailort, however when I started planning my hike the hotel in Lochailort was closed. It didn't reopen under new owners until just before the Challenge, and too be fair at very expensive prices. I had found that in the small village of Glenfinnan, there was a train car right next to the train station and for 50£ a night you could stay in this old fashioned train car. This actually worked out well as the end of my first day of walking was scheduled to be in Glenfinnan, so booking two nights meant that I could finish day one and have a nice place to stay. In addition I would not need to carry a full pack. I could "slack pack," with just some emergency gear and a lunch. This turned out to be a great idea. 

This area is where they filmed much of the Harry Potter films. you will recognize the iconic viaduct and later Dumbledore's island. These were taken out of the train car window (which was dirty) so not great photos. 

Arriving in Glenfinnan the sleeping car is directly behind the working train station and it also has a separate restaurant car right next to it. 

coming into the train car to the drawing room

The kitchen area. 

And who should be there already but Mr. Andy Walker. Andy had decided, despite some back issues, to try and cross again this year. Since we're starting in the same place and the room I booked had bunk beds, it seems like a good idea to share accommodations the first two days. Andy was good enough to get us dinner from the dinning car before it closed and also to bring me a canister of fuel to save me some time today. 

The hallway of the traditional train car layout. it has six state room with different bed configurations. it was actually full with mostly challengers and one additional couple that come up here every year.

Our room with the bunk beds. 

Wash room and toilet area. It has a separate shower room.

There is a local brewery that makes a beer specifically for the train car. It was nice to finish off the evening with it before the Challenge starts tomorrow! 

So ends 6000 miles (9656km) of travel in 36 continuous hours.