The challenge draws to a close

27th May 2016

We’ve finished! What a walk that was – two weeks of stunning wilderness and wild camps I’ll never forget.

We’re feeling pretty pleased with ourselves, not so much due to the fact that our feet have withstood 288km but because we’ve carved our own path and navigated all that way along it by ourselves without getting totally lost.

On the way we’ve experienced the amazing camaraderie amongst those taking part. I’m sure there’s nothing like it in the world. After we reached the sea at Stonehaven to complete our walk, we jumped straight on the train to Montrose. There, at the Challenge Dinner, we were reunited with just about everyone we had met over the last fortnight – from people we had simply said hello to on our first day to people we had joined for long stretches… and drunk many a whiskey with.

It was at the Challenge Dinner that I realised just how special this event is. Sam and I were massively proud to stand up in front of the whole room with the other 20 Challengers (including James who’s 77!) and then after that to cheer those who have crossed Scotland 5, 10, 20 times and more.

There was a fantastic speech by Hamish Brown, the founder of the Challenge who spoke about the feelings that come from a big walk; how two weeks on the Challenge is just about enough to unlock them and that we should ‘keep on walking’. It’s time to head back home now, but I’ll do my best to do so, and I’ll do my best to get back on the Challenge again, hopefully sooner rather later.

Keep an eye on this website over the next few days for more tales and images from my crossing.

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