Fife coastal walk - finale

Comments on the last post are answered on that post.

The walk was finished yesterday (Saturday) at 12:30.

I am typing this at home instead of using the fiddly iPhone. I still find accurate letter selection difficult and have to make many corrections. I enjoy correcting composition, and trying to achieve conciseness, but correcting typos is tedious and too time consuming at the end of a good day’s walking, so apologies for the many uncorrected bits in those posts.

The section from Leuchars was largely through mixed forest with hints of the sea to the right, and a glorious day of sunshine and blue skies. The scenery along the south coast of The Firth of Tay looking across to Dundee was notable - there were two enormous oil rigs moored there. There was no indication of the finishing point in Newport on Tay which is described on the website I was working from as The Pier Buildings which I found. A local shopkeeper said “well that’s Newport for you”. Some walkers I spoke to said they thought the walk has been extended a few miles further down the Tay  and the finishing point may therefore have been relocated.

It took eight hours to get home. A bus from Newport on Tay to Dundee. Rail from Dundee to Glasgow where I had to change stations by bus. Train from Glasgow to Carlisle. Bus (because of rail engineering works) from Carlisle to Oxenholme where my daughter met me with car.

Here are some photos to give a flavour of the walk. I find it difficult to remember to take photos on the iPhone, and the ones I did take are too dark to use - they could be improved using Photoshop, but not out in the field.

Forth Bridge

Two of the eight chains on The Chain Walk

Anstruther?

£125 a round on this Cambo Links golf course

I might still have been there!

The Tay Road Bridge

Posted at midnight after watching the outcome of The Masters.

Photoshop Painting - Clachnaben - The Fife Coastal Path

Clachnaben (589m) is a modest, but interesting hill which I climbed on my visit to Banchory last October. The interest lies in the granite tor on its summit and my painting shows the bottom north-east slopes, with the curious elongated globular rocks.
 

This photo looks up to the face in the painting

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Today I packed my rucksack for The Fife Coastal Path walk which I start next Tuesday. The weight, including food for one meal, is just under 20lbs (approx 9.25kg). I reckon I will never be far from shops and see no need to provide for more than one meal. My provisions consist of: eight packets of Cup-a-Soup (enough for the trip), one packet Smash (instant potato), one Mattesons Pork Sausage (vacuum packed), one small tin peach slices, about twenty tea bags, and a supply of instant coffee; I may add some powdered milk.

Inov-8 Roclite 400 GTX boots - review

I bought these boots for my forthcoming walk round the borders of Wales, and the17 mile "round the bay" walk, subject of my last post, was a suitable test for them.

My normal boot size has ranged from 10 to 11 over the years depending on the fittings of individual brands. Amazingly the best size for me with the Roclites was 9.5, so this is worth bearing in mind if you are shopping for them, and it may cause problems for Internet purchase. The boots are comfortable and caused no chafing or nipping over the 17 miles and 5.5 hours of walking. The overall feeling was one of neatness and nimble footedness.

I inserted Sorbothane insoles, and because of the lightness of the boots, without this addition I think they may be a bit hard on the soles of the feet - I was feeling surface irregularities through the soles to some extent by the end of the walk.

These boots will be ideal for path walking, but I would not use them for Munro bashing on steep pathless hillsides where a strong edging facility and firmer support are important.

Addendum - 23rd September 2011 - I walked round the Welsh boundary in the summer (over 1000 miles and 57 days). The Roclites, which were virtually new at the start had worn down to soft sponge rubber on the heels after 27 days so they are not really suitable for long distance work, but they were comfortable and light.                                                                                                                    

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I have had to change the start date of my Fife Coastal Walk to 5th April

Fife Coastal Path

The Fife Coastal Path starts from North Queensferry and finishes at Newport-on-Tay linking the coast between The Firth of Forth and The Forth of Tay. Different web sites give different total distance, but there is some consensus on 82 miles.

I have booked a rail ticket from Arnside to North Queensferry for  29th March.  This will be a valuable first backpacking trip of the year staying close to civilisation whilst providing apparently attractive walking - it should take less than a week, allowing me to make any required fine tuning before my Welsh border walk starting on 20th. April.

The route includes a short section called The Chain Walk utilising a series of chains and ladders fixed to the rocks. Due notice has to be taken of  tides.

Other than printing the OS 1:50000 map onto sheets of A4 I have made little other preparation.