It’s one thing to take the road less traveled, but quite another when the route doesn’t actually involve any roads at all.
But now two Scottish adventurers can say they have done just that after completing a wild and challenging journey along the officially-recognised “longest straight line in Britain without crossing a road”.
Calum Maclean and Jenny Graham, hiked, climbed, scrambled and waded the route from the A9 to the A939 through the heart of the Cairngorms National Park.
Navigating using maps and GPS, following the route meant overcoming anything in their way, as going round any obstacles and straying from the line was not an option.
The Highlands terrain, with no paths or trails, included steep hills, mountain summits, forests, crags, gullies, river crossings, streams, a waterfall, bogs, peat bogs and many miles of thick heather.
The pair finished the 48 mile journey on Monday August 30 after walking for three days, camping out at night.
The hike covered steep ground ....
Jenny, a round-world record-breaking cyclist, said: “Walking in a straight line sounds like the simplest of all adventures but it turned out to be the most complex navigation of any trip I've been on.
“However, completing the route and sticking as close to the line as possible while exploring the national park in such a unique fashion was pretty special.”
READ MORE: Ramblers Scotland unveil 'best ever' hiking map of the country
Calum, a broadcaster and presenter, said: “Walking in a straight line did feel very unnatural. I had a mix of feelings, from monotonous and depressing to really joyful.
“Overall, it was quite gruelling. But, then, when we reached the summits and got the opportunity to gaze back from where we'd come, it was a real feeling of satisfaction.
“We could draw a line with our eyes, which linked the heather below our feet to the river in the glen below, the deep hidden gullies, rocks on far off hills and beyond into the distance.”
He added: “In those moments, I think the purpose of walking a straight line became a bit clearer.”
Calum, 32, of Aberfeldy, Perthshire, and Jenny, 42, of Inverness, are thought to be the first to complete the end-to-end journey of Britain’s longest linear walk without encountering a road, taking 83 hours and 56 minutes in total.
The pair reported that it was much harder than they imagined to keep a straight line on unpredictable terrain.
Jenny said: ”It’s really tricky to stop yourself veering from the bearing on rough ground. You think you know what a straight line is but then you look at the GPS and realise you don’t.
“You also have to let go of everything that is in your head. Sometimes this means not doing what appear to be the most sensible when looking at the terrain.”
Calum added: “We tried following a compass bearing but it wasn’t that accurate. Then we followed a line on our GPS devices, which was better but still difficult.
“Even a small gully is hard when you have to go in a straight line. Common sense says go round it, but we were determined to stick to the straight line.”
... and moors.
The pair were surprised by how slow their progress was. Jenny said: “We walked in a straight line for 11 hours and we covered just 10 miles on day one. They were the toughest 10 miles of my life.
“On day two, it took us 13 hours to do 13 miles. That’s a mile an hour. It was so tough on all the heather and with so many steep ups and downs.” Calum revealed that when walking through peat bogs on the first day they were reduced to a speed of “just 3km per hour. That is so slow.”
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Many miles of deep heather-covered hills, mountains and moorland made the going arduous. Jenny said: “At some points I was crawling up heather on my hands and knees.”
Calum added: “I was cursing every bit of heather on day two. But also the terrain was incredibly monotonous at times. It was a real slog.”
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