Point to Point 2026

I’ve had a tradition for a little while now to go wild camping at the start of Spring every year.

It started when I was staying at Glenmore Campsite and saw someone just casually walk in coming from the direction of Cairngorm and pitch their tent nonchalantly. It was clear they’d been up the mountain and were just stopping for an evening before heading on their way again. I had no idea where they’d been or where they were going, but over the next few months I romanticised the idea that this person had just walked across the whole range, travelling completely alone and relying on nothing but their own abilities and preparedness to survive. Completely self sufficient.

The idea sparked something in me, and it percolated over the next year into a full blown desire to following in this persons footsteps and prove to myself that I could survive with only what I could carry on my back. I wasn’t planning a major excursion, nothing that would actually put me in any danger but I was desperate to know if I could actually manage it.

So in April 2025, after planning my route, gathering my gear and finding some new boots, I hopped on a train to Aberdeen and proceeded to walk from Ballater to Aviemore.

Although it only took a few days, it was still one of the most nerve wracking things I’ve ever done. It was a brand new experience - being completely alone - heightened by not having any phone signal or means of communication the majority of the time. I never realised until it was gone just how dependent I was on having that lifeline of communication. Just being able to dip into internet and know what was going on in the world, or even to have access to information and entertainment at any given moment. As soon as it was gone it felt like I was missing a limb and it made me realise how utterly dependent I had become on that access for feeling safe.

Despite that however, it was easily one of the most rewarding things I’ve done too. I set out to prove to myself that I could do something, and I had. And while I’d been doing it I’d made some incredible memories. I wanted to do it again. And so I promised myself that at least once a year I would.