Light at the end of the tunnel
David, Director of Thistle Trekking2020 has not been the year we were expecting or hoping for. However, with many lives lost around the world to Coronavirus, the negative effect of this crisis on a wee Scottish trekking company isn’t that important in the grand scheme of things. As much as we love our adventures they can wait. By keeping things in perspective we have managed to maintain a positive outlook throughout. Thistle Trekking is in good health and we feel fortunate to be able to say so.
After much deliberation and weighing up numerous factors, we have decided to draw a line under our 2020 long-distance trekking calendar and look to 2021. Our aim has always been to provide hassle free treks; well organised, stress-free and on a beautiful trail. Although the trails out there are as beautiful as ever, we felt that in order to keep our packages true to that aim our energies are best focused on making 2021 all the better.
We are fortunate to find ourselves on firm ground in a pair of sturdy hiking boots. Many of our customers chose to postpone their treks until 2021 and this has helped enormously – thank you for your loyalty to Thistle Trekking. It feels good to be looking to the future once again and relishing the prospect of getting back onto our favourite trails, as well as onto some exciting new ones. Some of next year’s treks are reaching capacity already, so if you are thinking of trekking with us next year please get in touch soon so you don’t miss out.
All those with bookings on our remaining open treks (August & September) have been contacted by email over the last 2 weeks. If you haven’t received your email update please get in touch as soon as you can at contact@thistletrekking.co.uk.
This has also been a tough year for our freelance guiding team. With this in mind, and in line with with the current phased easing of restrictions, we hope to be able to offer private guided walking and moutaineering experiences from August to October. We aim to make our guides, who are based all over the UK, available for private bookings for individuals, families or small groups. They are desperate to get back in the hills and on the trails, and to be sharing their love of the outdoors with you. Look out for updates on this and please get in touch if you are interested in hiring one of our guides.
As well as being a hard year for our guides it has been equally difficult for the places we stay on our treks. We foster close relationships with our accommodation providers and count many as friends. Lots of the places we visit rely heavily on tourism and it has been a difficult year for everyone in this sector. We look forward to working with our partners again in 2021 and will be forever grateful for their understanding this year.
So, although we won’t be out on the West Highland Way or the Cape Wrath Trail this year, we will be back to doing what we love best in 2021. And we can’t wait!
Keep an eye on our social media accounts (links in the footer below) for further updates on private guiding, newsletters, bargain deals, and our continuing blog series about our favourite walks.