Why this route and what was the inspiration?
Background - why this and why now?
My daily care shift got long and I would dream about getting outside to a bright place without walls
My mother, Ada, had progressive dementia and her decline lasted about 8 years. As an only child, I was responsible for her well-being and took that responsibility seriously. She told me she did not want to go into a care facility, but things got to a point where she was not safe at home and would not allow care givers to assist her. At that point I had to move her into a facility, but as a compromise, I showed up every day for my 7 hour "shift". I would make sure she wasn't left in a common room and would try to do joint activities like eating, reading, listening to music, or looking at pictures.
Inspiration
I always imagined how cool it would be to walk the length of the UK.
My mother and I liked to travel together to exotic places like China in 1981, the Australian Outback in 1980, Africa, The Palace on Wheels Train through India, cross Atlantic ship crossings in storms and The Royal Scotsman Train through Scotland. When I looked at the walking route from Lands End to John O'Groats (from one end of UK to the other), I noticed it went through the center of the Island which was less intriguing than being close to water and hills. I spoke to a good friend living in Scotland who recommended hiking the West Coast and the Islands (appealing to my love of ferries). Then I read a book about hiking which focused on CairnGorm Mountain. About ten years ago I was able to walk part of Hadrian's Wall and vowed to come back. The route started to formulate....In addition, I wanted to do this for a reason over and above the physical. That's when I contacted The Alzheimer's Association of Northern California and got involved in The Longest Day Initiative. #alzscot,#alznorcalnornev, #endalz, #thelongestday
The Route
The route has 3 phases: Long distance trekking routes, ferries to the islands, Hadrian's Wall. 650 miles in all which equates to approximately 1,500,000 steps which I will aim to accomplish in 2 months, from June 13-August 15.
Phase 1: Long Distance Trails. This Phase covers the following long distance trekking routes: East Highlands Way, Great Glen Way, John O'Groats Trail. Then I make my own trail west to Cape Wrath. From Cape Wrath I proceed south to Ullapool which ends Phase 1. This Phase will include attempts to hike both the CairnGorm and Ben Macdui mountains.
Phase 2 island hops and combines ferries with trekking: Ferry over to Stornaway on the Isle of Lewis/Harris, walk Stornaway to Leverburgh, ferry Leverburgh to Berneray on North Uist. Then I walk from Berneray to Lochmaddy where I take a ferry to Uig. I bus over to Stein where I take a day round trip to St. Kilda. Back at Stein I have to bus over to Rubha Hunish where I start my trek along the length of the Isle of Skye on the Skye Trail. At the base of Skye, I walk across Broadford to Armadale and ferry from Armadale to Mallaig, then from Mallaig to Lochboisdale on S. Uist. From there I walk from Lochboisdale to Eriskay and Ferry from Eriskay to Ardmhore. I'll be walking from Ardmhore to Castlebay and catching the ferry to Oban, where I futher ferry to Port Askaig on Islay and walk to Port Ellen via: THE LAIPHROIG DISTILLERY!!!! Assuming I can still walk, I get to the ferry terminal and catch a ferry to Kennocraig. I walk from there to Claonaig and catch a ferry to Lichranza on Arran. On Arran I walk to Brodick, take the ferry to Ardrossan and take a train to Glasgow and on to Carlisle to position myself for
Phase 3: Walking the Hadrian's Wall Trail. Assuming I am still functioning, I walk along the Hadrian's wall trail to Walls End.
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