DAY 91: Ruigh-aiteachain bothy to Kingussie

Wednesday 30th May 2007
(Posted from Kingussie)
Today: 10.7 miles
Total so far: 1313.6 miles
Percentage Completed: 78.7%

(Click map to enlarge)

Another day of non-stop rain, but my mood is bright and cheery as I am being met enroute today by Derek Emsley - who has been one of my LEJOG 'Angels'.

The bothy was left clean & tidy by the lads from Batley. They are a credit to the Duke of Edinburgh awards system: Good fun, courteous and they have excellent bothy etiquette.

I left latish for me, as I was a bit ahead of my schedule and was soon sauntering down the Feshie and quite surprisingly I am met by a posse of Challengers! Well, a couple anyway – Derek Emsley & Brian Reid. Brian first took up this Challenge business after running a hotel in Newtonmore and looking after countless Challengers for years, before Derek finally persuaded him to take the plunge himself.

We are in no hurry and wander through the RSPB sanctuary for a while before making Kingussie, where I am staying with Derek & Marian.

As I write this, my clothes are washed and in the dryer and I am on my second Cairngorm Wildcat. I am catching up with the bloggers and find I have made it to a joint tie with Humph on Andy Howell's “Style Prize” for the Challenge! Joint Tie? What’s that all about?

The nice lady (Debbie) at O2 has telephoned and left a message to say that the O2 servers are still not playing ball but should be repaired soon...  So then I will have my work cut out copying and pasting all these posts for over a week onto the blog - no mean feat in itself – almost tougher than the walking!

I am looking forward to dinner tonight as Brian & Eileen are coming round and Derek is fettling his wines... Ooh Err! It could be a late one!

All is well with the world!