(Posted from Kingussie!)
Today: 18.6 miles
Total so far: 1245.4 miles
Percentage Completed: 74.6%
(Click map to enlarge)
Fettercairn is a smart little place; Post office, good local shop, excellent hotel, and a triumphal arch spanning the road. All is in good order.
Today is a biggish day with a lot in the hills, and I am soon climbing up the first ridge to pop over the top to drop down to Char Bothy for lunch. Three guys are there for the Bank Holiday, and one pops off for a spot of fishing as I polish off a pie and Irn Bru.
Then it's off to the Burn of Baddymicks and a bit of a scramble up a non-existent path through the heather to a ruin, then a rough track over the side of Mount Battock and down again for more rough & tumble down the heather and an up & over the peat hags to (eventually) find the path that drops down to the Water of Feugh. Somewhere in the peat hags my left leg plunges into a gloopy hole up to my thigh in cold peaty water.
I am quite tired when I reach the road-head, but the 'no camping' signs encourage a further plod along the very well sign posted route to the Fungle Road over the Mounth. It appears that the occupants of Birse Castle don't appreciate the company of walkers as the signage is excellent and takes you well away from the obvious route, which is right past their front door.
I camp on a lovely lush field just out of view from the castle, out of the wind and close to a stream. The sky clears, after a showery day, and it looks like it is going to be a cold night. Norwegian cod and potato stew followed by a Fettercairn scone washed down with 'Hairy Lemon'
What it is to suffer!
26th May The Angus Hills
Following your every move Alan.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.streetmap.co.uk/newmap.srf?x=351500&y=791500&z=3&sv=351500,791500&st=4&ar=N&mapp=newmap.srf&searchp=newsearch.srf&ax=364205&ay=777845
The photos you are posting are glorious. I wish I was there.
FYI
Birse Castle is a "shooting lodge" so all the people you are likely to meet are visitors. From £4k per week!