Chrissy

I love hiking and have just completed my first long distance walk. Sadly work and family commitments mean I can't go out hiking as much as I'd like. Sometimes my pug will join me on some of my hikes, but he can't walk too long or he has to be carried.

Other interests include travelling, reading, crocheting, watching Kdramas and learning Korean.

#hiking #dogs #AdventurePug #Kdrama #Korean #LanguageLearner #LongDistanceWalk #travel

Pronouns: she/her
Location: UK

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NIP-05 Address

chrissy_at_mountains.social@momostr.pink

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Last Notes

2024-09-14 07:08:46

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Enjoy, that sounds amazing!

2024-09-07 07:20:11

I loved my hiking holiday, but chilling in Kefalonia with my husband isn’t too bad either.
#Greece #holiday #Kefalonia #sunset #sea #beach
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2024-09-06 11:37:30

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It looks so peaceful!

2024-08-03 19:48:12

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We decided to stay at the hostel for two nights, so the next day we went into town with our American friend and bought some supplies. We visited a little craft store as well and bought a few (light) souvenirs. After we came back and had lunch, my son and I went off to the west side of the island to see the beach there, which was supposed to be beautiful. It was about an 8km walk to the beach and we got drenched by a surprise downpour on the way, but once we reached the beach we realised it was all SO worth it.
The beach looks like you're in the tropics. White sand, azure and cyan water that could be from the Caribbean. We spent hours there, just drinking in the view. Once the storm cleared and the sun came out, the beach was even more beautiful. I could have stayed there all day. We had the beach all to ourselves and if it had been just a little bit warmer, I would have suggested swimming there.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 19:42:35

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Upon arrival at the hostel, we could immediately see why people love it so much. It's right on the water overlooking the Sound of Harris. It was already busy with lots of cyclists staying there, but we found (and claimed) two beds and then joined the others in the large kitchen/sititng room. At first, the noise and chatter was overwhelming after not having spoken to many people in the last couple of days, but we soon were chatting away with everyone.
After dinner, we were even more delighted to see our American friend from the very first hostel walk in. He was equally delighted to see us and we traded stories. He was complaining about the bogginess of the route. His trainers were no match for the wet and he was very jealous of our still-dry feet. His hadn't been dry since day 1 and he wasn't sure whether he could finish the walk.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 19:35:54

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It was raining all night and the next morning, so we tried to decide whether we wanted to walk another 18km over boggy ground. Several people had told us about a youth hostel on Berneray which was worth going to, so we decide to skip the next two section of the route and take the bus from Balivanach airport to Berneray instead.
We walked about 12 km to the airport and on the way we sopped at the local distillery, Downpour Gin. My son was too young to drink alcohol, but I tried a few samples and bought a couple of bottles to be sent home, as well as a small gift pack of 3 little bottles for later.
The bus from Balivanach airport at that time doesn't go all the way to Berneray unless you call at 5pm the night before to schedule it, so I was stressing out about how to get to Berneray from Lochmaddy. Luckily the driver had been booked to pick someone up at Berneray, so he could take us all the way to the hostel.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 19:30:41

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When we got back to the camp, we got soaked by the rain and had to hang our pants up in the camp kitchen to dry. We met a woman who was walking with her dog (a red setter/poodle cross). The dog was super happy and had the time of her life.
The camp kitchen had electricity, a kettle and chairs, which was welcome as it was really raining outside and we could only lie down in our tents, so being able to sit in the dry and relative warmth of a building was very welcome.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 19:28:02

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The next day we were on our way to the next island, Benbecula. The weather was cold and windy, but the route was beautiful along lochs and hills and not too boggy underfoot. We saw lots of sheep roaming around and when we made our way to a small road, we saw loads of horse droppings. Eventually we came upon the horses - small ponies which also roamed around freely. It wasn't quite the wildlife we had hoped for, but still fun to see them.
We stopped in Creagorry for groceries and then made our way to Liniclate where we'd booked a spot at a campsite. It started raining as we put up the tents, so we quickly finished, shoved our gear inside and went back on the road to a restaurants a few kilometres back for a hot, cooked meal.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 19:18:54

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As we were making dinner, two other people showed up: a German woman who'd been staying at the hostel for a few nights and an 81 year old German man who was cycling the Hebridean Way and who had started his cycle journey in Venlo weeks ago (making his way from the Netherlands to Harwich in the UK and then over to Scotland and then the Outer Hebrides). He had no food, so we shared our dinner with him and then played a few rounds of Scrabble with him in three languages: English, German and Dutch, which was super fun. All the while he told us about his cycling adventures all around Europe. What an inspiration to be still cycling that much at his age!
Staying at the hostel and meeting this man was one of the highlights of our trip.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 19:15:52

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Because the previous day had been so hard (mostly psychologically), we decided to take it easy today. We walked 5km to the nearest town which had a museum about the history of the Outer Hebrides. We spent a few hours in the museum. It wasn't big, but very interesting. The people of the Outer Hebrides, especially the crofters, had a very hard time and lots of them were shipped off to Canada of all places. It was very good to learn a bit more about the places we were visiting on our walk.
After the museum we were lazy and took the bus to Howmore where we'd planned to stay at the Howmore Youth Hostel. It's a very old building and every blog and guide spoke very highly of the place, so we couldn't miss it. We claimed two beds in an empty dormitory and went exploring the ruins of a chapel nearby. Then we went to the nearest church before going to the beach again.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 19:09:24

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We finally reached the town where we bought food for the next few days, including pizza for dinner. It was another 4km from the town to the pod, which seemed like an eternity. The pizzas felt unnecessarily heavy and we slowed to what felt like a crawl.
Eventually we made it to the pod and we dumped all our stuff, took a shower and promptly set out again to explore the beach, our previous tiredness forgotten. We had to go through a field of cows, who didn't look interested in us, along a track full of rabbit holes with fields of rabbits on either side (must have been hundreds!). The beach was lovely and we spent some time just admiring the view.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 19:04:59

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We set out the next day expecting a shorter walk. We'd rented a pod (a luxury) and we were excited to get there and put our feet up for a bit. The past two days had been hard going due to the bogginess, but luckily our feet were still dry, despite sinking into the bog up to our ankles in places. We were very happy we'd brought our Altbergs, which were fully leather with gusseted tongues so very good at keeping the water out.
This day was the opposite of the previous days: the weather was sunny and even too warm at times. The path was rocky and dry, and difficult to walk on, but at least it wasn't boggy. The closer we got to Daliburgh, the more rabbits (and rabbit holes) we saw. Our optimism about the "shorter" walk evaporated as we kept walking kilometre after kilometre without seeming to get closer to the town where we'd pick up some supplies. We ran out of water and were hot and grumpy.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 18:58:59

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We'd originally planned to wild camp on Eriskay after the ferry, but our Dutch friend had told us about a campsite another 7km away on South Uist, so we decided to walk there over the causeway. That campsite had washing facilities and I was keen to wash my very muddy trousers, so it was worth the extra km walking.
We were quite tired as we left the ferry around 4:30pm, so we took it easy as the way wound along the beach on Eriskay, over the causeway into South Uist and over the road to the next campsite. When we finally got there, we were glad to see that there was plenty of space on the tent field, so we set up our tents and I went off to the camp kitchen to do laundry before we headed across the road to the beach.
Later that day, our Dutch friend showed up as well and we spent some time chatting with her before turning in.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 18:53:15

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My knee was still bothering me the next day and more hill walking was on the official schedule, so I taped my knee with Leukotape and we decided to substitute part of the route for road walking. The roads were very quiet anyway, and this way I could nurse my sore knee a bit.
We ran into our Dutch friend as she came off the first hilly part and we walked together for a bit before parting ways again. We made it to the ferry from Barra to Eriskay with two hours to spare before the ferry would leave.
At the ferry terminal we met up with the couple with their child, who'd missed the earlier ferry by a minute and then had to wait 4 hours for the next one! We exchanged stories and plans for the next few days. There are very few walkers on the Hebridean Way so it's nice to connect with the few walkers we do meet.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 18:49:01

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Once we had descended the boggiest path, we thought we'd made it down the hill, but the route took us over a steep rocky path up and down before finally spitting us out onto the beach. We walked along the beach for a while, then did some road walking before we finally found a campsite where we could pitch the tent.
The campsite had a camp kitchen where we could charge our phones and use the kettle for our MRE dinner. We took a well-deserved shower and then ended up chatting with a couple from New Zealand who'd moved back to Scotland and were cycling the Hebridean Way. Our American and Dutch friends from the hostel also made it to the campsite so we caught up with them. They were both planning to walk longer days the next day, so we didn't expect to see them after today.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 18:41:21

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We took a little break when we got to the first hill. The guidebook mentioned that this was the hardest and steepest hill of the walk, so we were prepared, but it was still very hard. We hadn't expected the ground to be so wet and boggy and it seemed that the higher we climbed, the boggier it became. This didn't just make the ascent difficult, but it killed up on the descent. Soon my legs started shaking and my knee started hurting. Because of the mud and the bogginess, we had to walk very carefully and I was very grateful for my trekking poles which prevented me from wiping out a few times. I still slid on my ass once, but luckily I wasn't hurt (only my pride was).
We did remember to stop frequently and look back to admire the amazing view.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 18:35:24

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The next day was the first of our great adventure. First was a bus ride to the start on Vatersay. We met a couple with their 9 year old on the bus who were also going to walk the way. We chatted a little bit once we got off the bus, but then parted ways as we each walked at our own pace. My son and I walked to the beach before making our way to the starting marker and taking some pictures.
The first part of the Way was walking on the road (I knew there was quite a bit of road walking on the Hebridean Way, so I wasn't too surprised). The bay (as well as the beach) looked gorgeous and the weather, though grey, was dry for now. A good start to the day!
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay
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2024-08-03 18:27:28

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We played a game of "spot the other Hebridean Way walkers" on the boat and we chatted with one woman (from the Netherlands) who confirmed she was also going to walk the Way. She was staying at the same hostel as us in Castlebay, so we walked there together. Her pack was a LOT bigger than us, but she was also hiking longer: she'd started on the West Highland way and would walk all the way to the Butt of Lewis whereas we'd end in Stornoway.
At the hostel we had a private garden room assigned to us, so we got settled in and took a shower before walking to the store for some dinner. We met another Heb Way walker at the hostel, an American who seemed a bit underprepared with just trainers. We felt smugly superior in our Altbergs.
#hiking #backpacking #HebrideanWay

2024-08-03 18:23:41

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So here's a bit more on our walk of the Hebridean Way.
We arrived in Oban on Friday 19 July after a night train to Glasgow and a 3 hour train ride to Oban. We had time for a quick lunch and then it was on to the ferry. A 5 hour ferry ride to Castlebay on Barra awaited us, which was initially bit daunting as we were both very tired on account of not having slept too well on the train. Luckily the ferry was very quiet and had a few good spots where we could nap a little. We spent a lot of time outside as well, taking in the fresh air and the beautiful surroundings. We were awarded with a view of some dolphins swimming alongside the boat, jumping in the wake of the boat, which was incredible. The first time either of us had seen dolphins in real life!
#HebrideanWay #hiking #backpacking #ThruHike
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2024-08-03 13:21:46

And I’m back from walking the Hebridean Way. It was absolutely fantastic. I’ll do a more detailed report of our trip a bit later, but just wanted to pop in with a quick hello. We walked over 160km, which is less than the official route but with sections flooded and me pulling a muscle in my back I think we did really well. We saw dolphins, ravens, red grouse, a golden eagle and lots and lots of sheep. The weather stayed good for us with only two days of constant rain.
#HebrideanWay #hiking #backpacking #LongDistanceWalk
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