I’ve been asked a couple of times now, by different people, why I’m heading back to Scotland for another hiking trip. The answer is both easy and complicated, like the answer to many questions. First, I love Scotland, it’s a beautiful country. That’s the easy answer. But to fully answer the question, I would first need to talk about why I took the vacation I did last year to Scotland. You see, I decided to stop waiting for “someday” to come. One of my cousins passed away and it really made me realize that life was short and it was important to live life now, not “someday.” So I stopped waiting for someone to take a walking/hiking vacation with me and just started to plan on going solo. Enter Scotland.
Scotland has long been one of my favourite places, even if it had been years since I last visited, and it’s a great place for solo travel, regardless of the type of travel. It’s safe and the UK as a whole has a great tradition of long distance walks and trails so it was easy to make the decision to venture back to Scotland for my first solo long distance hike/walk.
Why not Canada’s outdoors?
I love Canada’s wilderness and do tons of outdoor activities like hiking, canoeing and camping… but I’d really hadn’t thought of doing any of them solo. It’s not that I’m not comfortable with the idea, but more that I have always associated those activities with friends and family so when I thought about solo hiking, I was immediately drawn elsewhere. And if I was honest, while I grew up truly wild camping and hiking, over the past decade or two, it’s mainly been in provincial parks.
Of course, there are several long distance trails and backcountry hiking in Canada I’d love to do. The top three on my bucket list are the Confederation Trail in PEI, the Bruce Trail in Ontario, and backcountry hiking in Gros Morne National Park in Newfoundland, specifically the Long Range Traverse and Snug Harbour to North Rim. I’m just not sure I want to do them solo. And the poison ivy, which I’m highly allergic to, on the Bruce Trail (and pretty much everywhere in Ontario) has made me shy away from it a bit, although I started last summer with a day hike on a portion of it to try to rid myself of my fear of the stupid plant.
To complicate matters, I’m not overly comfortable with group tours or hikes with strangers. The few I’ve been on in the past always made me feel like I was forced to be social which makes it difficult for me to decompress and relax. So joining one as a single person, just isn’t comfortable for me but I keep trying because I’m sure there’s a hiking group out there that will work for me. But so far, I haven’t found it.
So with all that in mind, I planned a trip last year that incorporated a long distance walk – the latter half of the West Highland Way – and day hikes in the Highlands and Outer Hebrides. It was a fabulous trip and inspired me to return for more.
Getting back in the swing of things
I’m also using Scotland and its long distance walks to get more comfortable hiking solo, and to get back in hiking shape, so to speak. Because while I grew up camping, hiking, canoeing, and doing many other outdoor activities, I hadn’t done much other than camping in provincial parks and day hikes in years. And since I’m a planner in nature, and getting older with some minor physical limitations, I wanted to ease myself into long distance hiking and wild camping in a way that I could continue for years to come.
Last year, hiking the latter half of the West Highland Way let me know that I could do a multi-day hike carrying a day pack which was step one in my grand hiking plan. This May, I’m hiking the full Speyside Way, and its extra Tomintoul spur and Dufftown loop, with a scaled down mid-sized pack (no tent, sleeping bag or cooking gear as I’ll be staying in hotels and B&Bs). This is step two, as it’s double the hiking days – 8 – and I’m carrying more stuff. I’m also hoping to do a weekend solo hike or two closer to home in the summer to see if I can get over my (justifiable) fear of poison ivy. If all goes according to plan, I’ll do a full gear, multi-day hike and camp either next year or the year after.
The lure of hiking in Scotland
Yes, I’m doing the Speyside Way as much for the whisky as the walking. It’s why I chose the Speyside Way as my second long distance hike. I will have a chance to not only take the next step in my hiking journey but also indulge in my love of whisky, enjoy the beautiful countryside, and perhaps see a castle or two. Did I mention the whisky?
But the lure of Scotland is much more than just whisky and history, it’s the confidence of hiking without having to worry about poison ivy. I could pick other places in Europe for my hiking fix – and I will as one of my friends would really like to do Portugal next year – but I’m crazy allergic to the stupid plant so most of North America is a worry for me. And that’s one of the many reasons Newfoundland is as attractive (or even more so) as the Bruce Trail (which is much closer to home) as there’s apparently no poison ivy there.
And if I ever end up wild camping in Scotland, there’s no bears, so I don’t have to worry about hanging my food in the tree. Seriously though, one of the reasons I stopped hiking and wild camping in my 20s is poison ivy and I love having the chance to pursue my passion without the worry of it. It may sound like a small thing, but trust me, it’s not.
So long story short, I’m happy to be hiking again and Scotland has been a wonderful place to reignite my love of long distance walking. I can’t wait to do the Speyside Way in May!
Where’s your favourite hiking place or trail?
Rambles and Walks 