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.

OTSHAB HYOY March 8-10 2024

 A very interesting hike this weekend with members of the Ozark Trail Section Hikers and Backpackers (OTSHAB). This weekend was devised by Andi and Dean. It was given as just a spot (coordinates) in the woods and you had to figure out where it was and how you wanted to get to it. When Andi had laid out the event, (a spot big enough for 35 people) it had triggered a memory I had of a spot that was on a GPX track she had sent me for the North Fork section of the OT. She had put a note on a waypoint (campsite big enough for 25-30 people). I had a pretty good idea this was the spot she had picked and when the coordinates arrived, it turned out to be correct, a very nice spot along the North Fork section of the Ozark Trail. Now it was just a question of where to start. There had been a comment that you had to do a minimum of 7 miles, but that turned out to be just a suggestion! 😄

Noblett lake was a spot I had never been too and it was about 15 miles from the designated campsite. I arrived on Friday afternoon, planning to camp at one of the dispersed camping spots and then hike down to the coordinates on Saturday (we were suppose to arrive by 4pm) and then hike back to my car on Sunday. Noblett Lake is a really pretty primitive camping spots. I had called the Ranger station earlier in the week to verify I could park my truck overnight. 

The spillway at the end of Lake Noblett

The frogs were really "in the mood" Friday evening and they were quite loud down by the lake.

I had set up in the late afternoon for some car camping and hammock hanging for the night. It was cloudy and threatening rain, but it never really rained

I make most of my backpacking meals, the classic Skurka recipes are great, but I have been making a lot from Backcountry Foodie. These are created by a dietician and hiker and most are really good. I ordered a few that they make, in order to see if what I make is the intended result. This one I had not made yet, but it is Couscous Lasagna. It is neither the best of couscous or lasagna! 😏 I would skip this one. 

Dessert, however was great. I picked up this pastry in Houston on my way this afternoon. 

It had just gotten dark and I was just getting snug in the hammock when a car pulled into my spot. It was Andi and Jenny. They along with about 7 more of the OTSHAB "regulars" had decided to car camp here at Noblett Lake and were down in the RV loop. They invited me to come down and share the fire and hang out a bit. So I followed them down to the spillway area and hung out for about an hour or so to chat and keep warm by the fire. Then it was back up the hill to my hammock.

It was a good night, the temps dropped a bit and it was chilly in the morning, but I was up and signing into the trail register around 8:30 am. 

Needed all my clothes for the first couple of hours for sure. 38 F degrees! 

Jeremy and I had just walked the North Fork section of the OT in April '23, but this is a roughly 6 mile connector from Noblett Lake to the OT first. 

Missouri has been exceptionally dry this winter. We have even had a couple of forest fires. I can not remember the last time that happened. This was going to be a long day without much water and I started with just a single liter. This creek would normally have water, was bone dry! 

About half way, somewhere above Moss Hollow, I stopped for lunch and to air my feet out. There had been a wet creek crossing at about mile 2 and my socks were still a bit damp.  I had my usual tuna, cheese, and Fritos on a tortilla, that only took about 15 minutes. I had stopped at around 12 noon but the next thing I knew it was 1 pm. I had taken a little 45 minute nap after lunch.

Gathering my stuff up and getting back to walking I arrived at Tobor Creek about 3 pm. Andi has sent me a message on my Garmin Inreach that there was no water in the creek but their was water at the Tabor Spring House, just a half-mile down the trail in the opposite direction. 

The area is the sight of an old homestead and what I think was a "spa" using the water from the spring.

The spring is located in a "spring house" dug into the side of the hill containing a concrete cistern for the spring. It has plenty of water and also a dead frog! 😲 

There were several other hikers, from our group, getting water as well and everyone was careful not to disturb the small bat hanging just above the spot that you stood to collect water. I did end up going 14 miles today on just one liter.

After gathering water it was just under a mile (all uphill) to reach the camp spot, and a lot of people had come. I knew that 35 people had registered, but you never expect almost everyone to show up! 

It was a really great group of "regulars" and many new faces to meet. 

There was a great fire and of course alcohol that went on into the wee hours with a few of our group having a "really" good time with their drink... 😄

I need some practice with my tent as I don't use it much, preferring the hammock, but since Scotland is coming up in May, I chose to bring the GG The One and use it. 

The day and the evening had been clear and cool all day. The sunset was terrific, but this meant the temps would be even colder than last night. 

The morning dawned and the fire was relit. A few sore heads and a few cold butts, but everyone made it through and were in good spirits. 

I asked if I could tag along with Jenny and Gwen this morning for a ride back to my truck at Noblett Lake. I was not feeling the 15 miles trip back this morning. While I only had a Bailey's and Coffee last night, my stomach was a bit upset and I had not slept well. So I tagged along with the girls and to my surprise and relief, it was only 3.5 mile back to where they had parked the day before. 

Gwen had a fine beer for the end of the hike. We then drove to get my truck and then on to Cabool, MO for a very fine lunch of Mexican food at Cozumel's

Then it was the 3.5 hour drive home.  

Stats:

Day 1

Day 2