It’s a beautiful morning for my last day of hiking in 2025, following the long road to the sea across Kentra Moss, a vast area of blanket bog ringed by snow-capped hills.
I make a few friends along the way.
The Monster Midge is a traditional milestone for round-Britain coast walkers.
The road ends in Ardtoe, a quiet village with fine sandy beaches. The headland is too challenging to scramble round given the limited amount of daylight, so I’m content to meander and enjoy the day. A lone seal bobs out in the sea, and there’s another fine view of Eigg and Rum.
The return journey is exhilarating, the mountains shimmering in the crisp air and winter light.
What a fantastic way to end the year.
Jessica Guo, a 30-year-old, recently became the first woman to complete the Continental Divide Trail and the Great Divide Trail in one year, covering 3,550 miles from the Mexican border to Canada, averaging 30 miles a day, through scorching deserts and snowbound mountain passes. Why?
“I’m hiking it because it intimidates me, and I want to push the boundary of what I think I’m capable of.”
I’m somewhat older, and my challenges are more modest, but she expresses eloquently what drives me on.
Here’s to an adventurous 2026: The Tour du Mont Blanc, Knoydart, and The Small Isles.
Happy New Year!
Total distance: 5,509 miles.
Beautiful photos as usual…………..Happy New Year Tony……….. 🥳
Happy new year Tony
Gorgeous.
Have a great 2026 Tony.
Beautiful scenery – and I love the Monster Midge while loathing his irritating little cousins. Happy Hogmanay!
A beautiful area and a fitting end to 2025!
It was indeed. Happy New Year Janet! 🙂
Lovely to see that area in the snow. I remember passing the Monster Midge too.
Good luck for 2026 I hope you have many more lovely walks. I enjoyed Knoydart a lot and I think you will too.
I did the first couple of sections of the Tour de Mont Blanc in September and really enjoyed it, a spectacular route but you do need a head for heights (which I think you have) as I remember quite a few places where you have to climb up ladders with a sheer drop on one side. I hadn’t planned to do the whole route and in any case I left it a bit late in the year as most of the cabins were closed for the winter by then, as were many of the cabins. Though I was impressed to find one open which did me a good lunch! This meant I had to walk up from the Chamonix valley and back up the next day which was quite tough! I expect you will organise to stay at the many huts on the way and I hope you enjoy it. I hope to go back and complete the route at some point, but probably not in 2026.
Thanks Jon. I hope 2026 is a fine year for you and your international coastal hiking. My daughter is planning the Mont Blanc trip with a few of the family. It will not be camping!
Wonderful photos, especially that last one. I’m surprised the old red phone box is still there, so many have been removed now.
Happy New Year!
Thanks. It’s always nice to find the old phone boxes in unexpected places. I even found one that still worked. Happy New Year!