Here's a handy index to sift out the TGO Challenge posts from the rest of the blog. It pulls together all the posts for my 2021 crossing. You can click on each post - they're in chronological order - and the corresponding blog post will open in a new window.
It's taken me quite a while to get all 2021's posts put together and it's been fun. I hope you enjoy it as well.
If you're thinking of applying for the TGO Challenge for the first time and you have any questions you'd like to ask please feel free to get in touch. You can get hold of me by using the Contact Form at the bottom of this blog's right hand column. I'm always glad to help.
Here we go then - the last section is two days to the coast, leaving the hills behind and strolling through the glorious Angus countryside on my way to one of my favourite finishing points, Lunan Bay.
DAY 13 (19.5KM) and DAY 14 (17.4KM): CLICK TO ENLARGE
DAY THIRTEEN: TO BRECHIN
I've walked this route three years ago in 2018 with Phil & Andy and you can find a few reasons in that post for the route selection. You'll also notice that my walking companions this year are far more photogenic than the old lags I was saddled with then!
Even though the day is only a tad over twelve miles it's worth getting away with a clean pair of heels so that you can enjoy your arrival at Brechin with a trip to the pub before checking in to your B&B or campsite still in a timely fashion. Our route is on tracks and minor roads to begin with, with lovely views to the north of the hills you're slowly leaving behind. By and large the roads have plenty of deciduous tree cover - lots of beech trees unfurling their splendour - to give partial shelter from rain or sunshine. Today we were blessed with sunshine: Lots of it!
DESIRABLE RESIDENCE
THEY DON'T MAKE 'EM LIKE THAT ANYMORE!
The little hamlet of Fern really is a 'must visit' spot on the itinerary for elevenses or a second breakfast. It's a tiny bit of paradise here on earth, frequented today by three angels.
FERN CHURCH: JUDITH, LINDSAY & BARBARA
JUDITH, FERN CHURCH
LINDSAY & JUDITH, VAYNE MOOR WOOD
After this glorious wood there's a bit of foot-slogging to be done, and in the late June full-strength sunshine this afternoon felt like hard work. I suppose it was the sunshine combined with the culmination of the previous two weeks of walking. Whatever, I struggled this afternoon and was very glad indeed to be strolling down the hill into Brechin into the town centre. We hit the first pub for some welcome refreshment. I'd been here before with Phil and Andy so it felt like coming home.
JUDITH, BRECHIN
Then it was off to my wonderful B&B - Liscara - where I have stayed before, to get the sweaty washing done to make myself more presentable for the arrival at Montrose tomorrow. This was followed by a trundle up to the Northern Hotel to meet with half a dozen Challengers for some food.
Dinner included lively conversations on all manner of subjects, inevitably turning to the subject of the most useless gear Challengers have brought on the Challenge over the years. This included a discussion about modern lightweight gear and the inverse relationship between weight and price; the less your gear weighs the greater the probability you paid considerably more for it. This was felt by all to be downright iniquitous!
However, I pointed out that after many years of sitting with all the other husbands in Rigby & Peller whilst our other halves were being tended to, this was nothing to be surprised about. Less is definitely more.
And with that I strolled back to my Bed & Breakfast in the evening twilight, unaware of the furore that this would produce in a particular section of social media. I was serenely happy, knowing that this year's Challenge was now in the bag.
DAY FOURTEEN: TO LUNAN BAY
It's an eleven mile stroll to the coast today and with my entire wardrobe freshly laundered and my back teeth floating after a breakfast of champions, I meet up with Lindsay at the benches outside the Brechin Town House Museum, which are flooded in warm sunshine at eight o'clock in the morning.
LISCARA B&B, BRECHIN
This is a very good start. We've soon crossed the South Esk on the lovely old stone bridge and are climbing away from the town beneath yet more wonderful beech trees. We're in no hurry and take regular breaks to admire the scenery, which is so much better than expectation and simple map reading would have us believe.
We decide on a spot for an early lunch at the top of a hill opposite Fithie Wood and so make our way steadily onwards in the warming sunshine. I'd decided to take a route across Rossie Moor this year to avoid any difficulties with path diversions at Renmuir that we had experienced in the past.
We hopped over the gate to leave Fithie Wood behind us and within a hundred yards found a wonderful grassy spot sheltered by large gorse bushes at the start of the track that climbed the gentle ridge. It was heavenly. I may have dozed off. Snoozed most probably. A lunch of crusty cheese and tomato rolls, pork sausage rolls and fresh fruit seemed just the job. All was not just well with my world, it was bloody fabulous. We had watched fields of barley swept by warm breezes into gentle rollers sweeping down the hillside. Buzzards were mewing and larks and all manner of LBJ's tweeting their hearts out. We must have spent a good hour doing bugger all and it felt wonderful. After all the difficulties I had experienced over the past two weeks this finally felt like a wonderful holiday.
But we did need to get it done. So staggering up in the very bright sunshine we slowly ambled off, only to bump into a lovely bloke who was doing a nature survey of Rossie Moor as one of his his retirement hobbies. He's done all the Munros and Corbetts and spoke fondly of the TGO Challenge. Route finding across Rossie Moor? No problem he said, with a smile, though the paths are no longer where we'll think they should be, but we should have no problem...
Okay. Perhaps that should have been a warning, but it flew right over my very smiley bonce. Within two hundred yards we came to an abrupt halt. Ahead of us was a phalanx of solid gorse at least fifteen feet high, interspersed with youngish silver birch. We scouted this way and that and decided on a right. Then we clambered through a double barbed wire fence to try to get back on track, always looking out to see if we could collect the track that had disappeared. The going became increasingly squelchy underfoot. This could not be right... So we doubled back, still intent on finding the track that only existed in the cartographer's drug-crazed fantasies. After a good three quarters of a miles of tussock, bog, forcing our way through gorse and tightly packed birch trees we eventually found ourselves at a gate at the far side of Rossie Moor. We sat down, both utterly fed up and knackered in the heat!
Here's a tip: Don't ever even think of taking this route!
HERE BE DRAGONS
Out of mild curiosity after I had returned home I found where I had been from my Google Timeline, which I shall share with you below.
Utter madness.
FROM MY GOOGLE MAPS TIMELINE
Still, as my old mother used to say, "it's all character deforming".
MAULES WOOD
At half one we decided upon a second lunch at a side track off a minor road before crossing the A92. You can't be too careful. We wouldn't want to feel giddy with hunger or dehydration. The sun was properly belting down - it was the height of the day and even the mad dogs had found shade, leaving just us Englishmen out in the midday sun.
REST STOP
REST STOP
We had a couple of miles to go and so we kicked ourselves back into gear and began the gentle descent to the Lunan Bay Cafe.
THE NORTH SEA: LUNAN BAY
Lunan Bay is now a hive of catering and hospitality with a hotel and cafe to cater for our every conceivable need. We passed on the hotel's offers and made straight for the cafe. Unfortunately the blasted Covid regulations dictated that we could only take our cakes, coffee and cold drinks out on trays to sit outside. I'd rather fancied sitting down on a chair, with a back, in the Great Indoors for a change. I'd had rather too much of the other doors recently. Even so, it was lovely to be just sat on the decking, with coffees, beers and cakes. A rather nice lady offered to take our picture with my phone. This is as good as it gets, you know.
LINDSAY & ME, LUNAN BAY CAFE
I'm not sure how Lindsay saw her mini Challenge, as she'd originally only bummed a lift to Scotland to do a bit of walking and perhaps bump into her Challenge friends. In the event, she had inadvertently picked up a struggler who she nursed across half of Scotland. What an amazing girl.
However, for me this had been a momentous walk, taking both my sister Megan's and my brother David's kidneys sightseeing across the very best bits of Scotland. I had had some pretty torrid days through a combination of being woefully unfit - not having had any time to get fit after my transplant - and still quite weak from the surgery, with a blood count in the low 120s.
But I'd done it. I'm not sure that I could have though, had it not been for bumping into Lindsay and latterly Judith and Barbara. But, I'D BLOODY DONE IT! This was by a country mile the hardest TGO Challenge of my twenty five crossings.
*****
During my walk there had been a first-time Challenger who had been a regular on the TGO Challenge Facebook Group who had begun to get on my tits: He regularly handed down tablets of stone, airing his opinions, one of which was that the only way to do a Challenge properly was to wild camp all the way across, camping late and camping high. If you weren't doing that, you were doing it wrong and were in effect an oxygen thief, stealing the air from someone else who could have taken your place to do the thing properly. Prior to setting off, I had pointed out that the Challenge was a broad church, with a huge variety of experience, ability and challenges that individuals should set for themselves. This was met with a blank denial. The chap seemed to be on some bizarre crusade, setting himself up as an authority on How It Should Be Done. I had attracted my own personal stalker who seemed to have taken against me, and he popped up on a few occasions during the walk to take some deeply unpleasant and personal swipes.
I let this lie. I was not going to let an idiot spoil my walk. Straight afterwards, when I found out other stuff he had posted that I had missed, I was pretty brassed off and would have offered him this advice: Never get old. Never get unwell. And never need help. Who knows, somebody might cross the road to help you but during the Challenge I was pretty sure it would not have been me. However, I've had almost a year to reflect, and my attitude has mellowed. I now pity him. And I would probably take pleasure in getting him back on his feet and urging him on eastwards should he ever need that support.
I have always seen the TGO Challenge as a family that is supportive of those who are struggling. We each of us know that simply to arrive at the west coast and point yourself in an easterly direction has taken a huge amount of planning and effort. We look out for each other to help as much as possible in order that *everyone* gets across and enjoys the event as much as possible. It's a life affirming event and long may it continue.
*
So, once again, a huge thank you to Ali and Sue who are the present event coordinators and their team of volunteer helpers, without whom the event could not take place. Those thanks extend all the way back to the very first TGO Challenge team over forty years ago.
*****
On arrival at the Park Hotel in Montrose to sign the Finishers' Register, I was handed a parcel. Lord Elpus and Miss Whiplash had sent a rather nice bottle and a lovely card.
THE LINKS HOTEL, LETTING MY 25TH CROSSING SINK IN
Phil won't be walking the Challenge this year (2022) as he has medical problems that make it impossible. Since 1999, when he first agreed to walk across with me, we've done at least a dozen Challenges together. Phil has completed fifteen Challenges in total. He has planned, virtually single handed, this coming Challenge that I'm now about to attempt without him.
Phil seems fairly certain that he has walked his last TGO and I'm going to miss him like hell.
In a few days time I was to have a bit of a leg-stretch with a hand-picked team of veteran TGO Challengers on the annual PreWalkDaunder in the Yorkshire Dales. The route had been agreed (well, I had agreed it and in my book that's what counts) and all necessary arrangements put in place. Even the weather forecast looked decent for an amble up north. All was well in my world.
But life's not like that and six weeks or so ago, out of the blue, three sessions with surgeons spread over a seven week period sneaked ahead in the list of priorities. This means that I've found myself with some unexpected time - a period of isolation between PCR test and hopefully the final session of surgery - to get back to the more important things in life and finish last year's stalled TGO Challenge write-up. Silver linings and all that.
*****
Four months or so ago I abandoned you in the Clova Hotel, after I had been cajoled and encouraged over Jock's Road by the excellent Lyndsay. Your shameful abandonment does have an upside as I left you in the dining room; by now you'll be as fat as a pig, having feasted on the kitchen's excellent fare. It's now time to haul your bulk from your chair and re-join my walk as I head eastwards towards the east coast of Scotland once again.
We're back in TGO Challenge time now, and last night as I lay on my huge hotel bed with all my belongings strewn around, hanging from picture hooks, radiators, the shower screen and chair backs, watching some mindless television I realised that I was shattered. It seemed I had bitten off more than I could chew taking on the Challenge just three months after my transplant. To be clear it wasn't impossible but some of my bigger days had definitely been a bit of an ask. Today had been difficult and tomorrow's route involved clambering up the side of Glen Clova at Rottal and ridge walking in a general easterly direction. To be honest I didn't fancy it at all as I drifted off to sleep.
Waking up to the television news I did feel less gloomy and more willing to man-up and get on with it.
The Challenge Circus was back in town, as was the usual melee of huge breakfasts, bill paying queues, with abandoned rucksacks, walking poles and boots filling every inch of floor space. Everyone was cleaner, brighter and smelled of hotel shampoo and skincare. Life was good once more and animated discussions of today's routes and weather filled the lobby.
Outside, a wet mist closed in on the glen like a lid. The forecast promised a clearance later in the day, so Lyndsay and I tumbled outdoors to start our walk down the road to Rottal. Memory's a funny thing but I can't recall how and when we were joined by two Challenge legends, Judith and Barbara. Both had had long days yesterday and so seemed happy to walk at my less than ideal pace.
As we stood at the point where we were to leave the road and head into the hills my heart wasn't in it. Lyndsay was supportive, as she always is, and then both Judith and Barbara also decided that an easier day might be a better option. If you take a look at the map below we followed the route shown by the little red flags, As is always the case on the Challenge our overnight spot needed reasonable privacy, good pitches and clean water. Happily I knew of an excellent spot within reasonable striking distance that Phil, Andy and I had used a few years earlier, so that was that and we headed off, I believe each feeling happier that a more sensible option had been chosen.
DAY 12: REVISED ROUTE [CLICK TO ENLARGE]
It was only a matter of time; Lyndsay had remarked a week ago as we'd walked away from Kingussie how these passing places had added potential. Today it was sunny and the tarmac dry and warm. An excellent spot to pass.
LYNDSAY'S OPEN TO SUGGESTIONS
Having now decided upon our easier day the pressure was finally off. From the second day of this Challenge there had always been a heaving swell, or perhaps an undercurrent, of having to get through that particular day so as not to make the following day even worse. I had never, ever felt this way before on a Challenge, and this was my twenty fifth! Of course, the next day might have been an easier day anyway, but I found myself imagining that that easy day had been planned in to ease the pressure for the next, more difficult day. I know; looking back at this bizarre logic in the quiet of an isolating Easter Bank Holiday it's hard to credit how I'd found myself in this bizarre self destructive loop.
To fall in step with three Challengers that I have known and respected enormously for so long was a colossal boost to morale. Stupidly, I had been embarrassed swapping my lovely hill route that Phil and I had planned so carefully together over the winter months. I thought I was being a wimp. I was perfectly capable of getting up there, and enjoying the curlew, larks and ravens. However, the truth of it was that I was wrong. And happily I was now walking and chatting and thoroughly enjoying myself. It was a massive boost.
JUDITH - A CHALLENGE LEGEND, WITH TWELVE CROSSINGS UNDER HER BELT.
It's always a boost meeting Judith on a Challenge. She's a bright spark. Articulate and with a hinterland I discovered by chance that is jaw droppingly impressive. All her Challenges have been solo affairs, which can be enormously tough when things are going awry. However, it's a measure of her character that it would be almost impossible for an observer to notice.
Rest stops were happily numerous and I tried to make inroads in the ridiculously large food parcel I had received at the hotel.
BARBARA, ANOTHER LEGEND - SEVENTEEN!
I first met Barbara in 1999, when she and her other half, Peter, were on their first crossing. I remember with huge affection a moment at the Tarfside playing field where we were camped up alongside each other. It was mid evening and Peter was reading out loud to Barbara. Now, Barbara swears that my memory's playing tricks on me, but I swear Peter was reading poetry. It was wonderful. Even if I've got this wrong, and Peter was reading a Haynes manual for a Ford Anglia it's something that I'll always treasure.
LYNDSAY
Nothing more needs to be said about this lady, but I'll have a bash: Unsquashable. Determined. Vivacious. Great fun, and massively caring. She's one of the Challenge's leading ladies.
THE AIRLIE TOWER [CLICK TO ENLARGE]
Back to the walk! As you can see from the photos we walked in a mist haze for most of the day, resulting in humid and still conditions. This was not good as on occasions the black fly were out and coupled with the midges it could be pretty horrible. One of the downsides to walking in the latter half of June is the bracken. In May, it's struggling to uncurl and is never more than knee-high. However this time of the year it can be neck high, and I'm six feet tall. Any likely breeze is totally smothered by the bracken and so midges, black fly and ticks have a field-day! The section immediately prior to the style shown below was a long uphill through head-height bracken, that got steeper as you approached the style. I couldn't see my feet as the rutted path was completely covered by the bracken. It was the most miserable kilometre of my life. I was desperate to get it over.
AWKWARD STYLE 😁 WITH THE AIRLIE TOWER
All unpleasantness finally comes to an end and the next two stages to Hornihaugh and through Dowelly Dell was wonderful.
THAT'S CONLAWER HILL, WITH THE WOODED TOP
DOWELLY DEN
Don't relax yet though, as there's a sensationally boggy section to come, just past Midtown that even after such a dry spell was still a bundle of fun.
As our camping spot hove into view we came across a peculiar set of events. Two guys dressed in camo outfits with an expensive-looking glossy pick-up with all the boys' toys added on, were parked exactly where we wanted to stop. They were carrying what appeared to be a crossbow. The noise it made certainly sounded like one - a slicing hissing - that I heard twice. They realised that company was approaching as a bit of a surprise and almost scrambled comedically back into the pick-up and zoomed off with wheelspin and a very bouncy exit from the scene. Whatever they were up to, it smacked of no good.
However, their hasty exit provided us with an unencumbered campsite with an abundance of soft green grass and copious supplies of fresh clean water. It was bloody lovely to lie down in the (poorly pitched) Notch and doze for an hour or so. It had only been a 22km day, but I was bushed.
Today we're taking on Jock's Road, a lovely walk over to Glen Clova in great weather, which is helpful. It's by no means the most difficult route out of Lochcallater Lodge, but it's not a route to be complacent about as it rises to over 3000ft for quite a distance and so is very exposed in poor weather. Amazingly we leave without a hangover, which is highly unusual!
Oddly, Lindsay & I are not the last away this morning and we're soon strolling alongside Loch Callater in warm sunshine, on our way to Jock's Road. Before too long some younger and fitter types (Jess springs to mind here) flew past us as we make our way past the huge bowl of Coire Loch Kander and around and into the morraines at the head of Glen Callater.
A decent rest is taken, with plenty of rehydration and the water bottles filled to the brim. This next section is always hard work and today will be tougher than normal because of the heat. Over the years I must have been this way three or four times and have invariably missed the crossing point of the burn to collect the zig-zags up the grassy headwall. It's the same today but it's just a matter of heading up the centre of the grass until you hit either a zig or zag, so that you can continue with decent footholds on the very steep path.
THE START OF COIRE LOCH KANDER
LOOKING BACK FROM THE MORRAINES DOWN GLEN CALLATER
LOOKING BACK TO THE CAIRNGORMS
I tell myself that it's important to take plenty of rests as this is the grunty bit of the day and it's best to get to the top without blowing a gasket. It's an opportunity to take some snaps whilst your heart tries to burst out of your chest cavity. Lindsay's very patient and together we make our way to the break of slope, which seems to take considerably longer than it used to.
But make it I do and the girl kindly takes a rare snap of me before we head off up the moor to find the old fenceline that steers us to Crow Craigies. As it hoves into view we spot the three Challengers who had passed us on the way up disappear over the horizon, not to be seen again until the hotel in the evening..
VIDEO FROM OUR LUNCHSPOT ON CROW CRAIGIES
It's an airy amble from Crow Craigies with the occasional steep descent where care is taken, but the sense of space and freedom is all consuming. From their cries, crows, buzzards and larks seem to fill the sky yet few are seen. This is glorious hill country. We meet quite a few walkers coming the other way, one a Challenger from a few years ago. One such meeting that has stuck in my mind was a father and young son heading up at a cracking pace. The boy was all smiles and Dad was trying gamely to keep up.
The next stop was Davey's Bourach - the emergency shelter that has recently undergone a major renovation - and I was glad of the shade. The interior must now be three times the size of the original shelter. It's constructed from hefty timbers that support the metal cladding roof that is in turn covered by peaty soils and heather, to blend in to the surroundings.
INTERIOR OF THE ENLARGED EMERGENCY SHELTER
ENTRANCE TO THE EMERGENCY SHELTER
It's now a direct line that slices diagonally down the hillside, crossing a refreshing splash beneath a waterfall. This is a great descent but it can be very slippery in the rain and we're soon at the entrance to the planted forest. There's not much can be said of the forest - it's a traditional planting, with little light filtering down to the floor. The track is softened by the pine needles but it's straight, with occasional boggy and rocky sections to slow any racers.
VIEW DOWN TO GLEN DOLL
SOFTNESS IN THE HARD FORESTRY
We make the car park and picnic area and head straight for a bench for our last stop before the seemingly endless trudge down the road to the hotel. The sunshine is still warm and we spend an age luxuriating in not walking. Neither Lindsay nor I make any attempt to get up and get it done.
Eventually one of us cracks and we find ourselves easing back into walking mode. Any views are off to the right across the valley as to the left we have a scree fest with sour grasses. It could all do with a bit of a tidy up if I'm honest. Eventually the hotel arrives and we dive into reception, with lots of Covid precautions all over the shop.
Before too long I'm in my room and waste no time trashing the place and washing away a couple of days of trail grime. There's no phone signal, so I email Challenge Control to tell them all's well.
Then it's back downstairs to be organised into socially distanced dining. I know all this is necessary, but I hate it.
HOME FOR THE NIGHT
The Dining Room, it's fair to say, is mostly made up of TGO Challengers in varying hues of 'au de armpit' amplified perhaps by my own wonderful freshness. Of course everyone wants to eat together, which is anathema to an organised kitchen, but by dint of a miracle and everyone ordering similar food it sort of happens.
I'm not the greatest company as I am well and truly shagged after what for me in my present condition has been a big day. It's as much as I can manage to agree a time for breakfast with Lindsay before I head back up to sleep like a baby.
I owe Lindsay a great deal. I have been walking with Lord Elpus on the Challenge for over twenty years, and we know each other well enough to be able to tell when the other is not firing on all four and we each make allowances and cajole, bother, and beast each other as required. Lindsay, bless her, has looked after me at nowhere near my best and has done so with good humour, kindness and the occasional boot up the backside.
Yesterday afternoon hadn't gone exactly to plan, which was how I found myself in the Co-op mid morning on Sunday (today is Sunday) buying stuff for the next leg of the Challenge - from Braemar to Brechin over three days. After a cake lunch at the Hazelnut Patisserie I had, for once in my life, headed straight to the hotel rather than slip into the Fife Arms for a quick one and staying for more. I blame Phil. Now he was absent I slipped effortlessly past temptation.
With laundry performed and the room trashed with steaming washing, I lay back on the bed watching Wales vs Denmark on the telly, drinking tea and scoffing the biscuits. So far so good.
Then promptly fell asleep.
A hastily rearranged meet with Lindsay and the others meant that the food shopping had been missed.
******
I met up with Lindsay and seemingly half the TGO Challenge at the Coffee Bothy - attached to the excellent Braemar Mountain Sports - on a rather blissful sunny morning.
STEVIE, MORNING COFFEE AT THE BOTHY, BRAEMAR
It took me a while to fit the extraordinarily large bag of shopping into my pack. More pies and moist pastries.
Morning coffee sashayed into an early lunch, which was closely followed by a few beers and cakes as the sun rose to its zenith and the sun tan cream applied. This was more like it! This was decent weather for Provence, let alone Braemar.
More and more Challengers arrived and before too long we had taken over the decking outside the cafe.
CHALLENGERS AT LUNCH AT THE BOTHY, BRAEMAR
As is ever the case, we hoisted our packs way later than planned and started the gentle saunter up the Golf Course Road. Today's walk is designed to place us in a position to make the day to Clova far more manageable, as it cuts six miles from an otherwise big day from Braemar to Clova. And of course, in a normal year it means that we get to spend the night at Lochcallater Lodge hosted by wonderful friends of the Challenge, Bill and Michael.
On the minor road section past the golf course I recall an incident with a Scottish knuckle-dragger supposedly in charge of a van who tried to run both Lindsay and the group behind us off the road. I'm glad to say that Lindsay doesn't take prisoners and he was told off soundly and roundly.
It's a lovely stroll up to Loch Callater and we were soon overhauled by Jess and Ian who had formed a partnership born out of similar pace - they both trundle along at warp speed. They were soon little specks in the distance. It's generally a Sunday for this part of the Challenge and as we walk up we are always met by a procession of happy walkers coming back down from their big days in the hills. This year they were bronze-limbed, clad as they were in shorts and t-shirts and smiley under a brilliant blue sky.
WALKING UP TO LOCH CALLATER
We were among that last to arrive. There were tents pitched down by the loch and scattered around the Lodge. It was such a shame that Covid had ruined the annual gathering at the Lodge this year as there was a wonderful bunch in attendance, marking their respect to Bill (and Stan) and Michael and the team that in all other years look after us all so handsomely.
LOCHCALLATER LODGE
NATALIE NOTCH
We were incredibly grateful that the bothy was unlocked as it was a still evening and the midges were out in full force. My supper was a dehydrated fish soup. It was supposed to be a fish curry but the fill line was woefully inaccurate. I suppose I needed the fluid.
Whisky was taken and a gentle evening had in the bothy until sleep called. I do sleep incredibly well in the Notch as there's a lot of head room when you're lying down compared to the Trailstar. It seems to make a big difference.
Kirsten was packed by 7:30 and so made use of her time by chivying Colin along. This brought back, with huge fondness, memories of walking with Maria van de Flugt for a few days back in 1998. She had formed the impression that Prof White and me were idle layabouts who liked nothing better than to lie either in our sleeping bags or down in the heather at every available opportunity. She would allow ten minutes before the encouragement to move along began. We generally had forty minute breaks. In fairness, she was not too far from the truth but we did actually cover long distances over some pretty tough terrain. I believe I witnessed young Colin receiving a 'full Maria' in this picture.
KIRSTEN, COLIN PACKING, WITH A WALL OF THE DUBRACH SETTLEMENT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE DEE
I've combined two days for the map, as both days are half walking days, just over eight miles to Braemar and six miles from Braemar to Loch Callater. This meant that I had plenty of time today - a Saturday, to get the food shopping before the shops shut and still be able to luxuriate in my hotel room, have cups of tea, get the washing done and go out for dinner. Tomorrow would be a nice lie-in, a decent hotel breakfast and a morning either in the pub or a cafe before heading off to Loch Callater to continue the walk and an evening with friends.
DAYS NINE & TEN. CLICK TO ENLARGE. BRAEMAR IS THE RED DOT ON THE PROFILE DIAGRAM
Combined Distance: 23 km
Combined Ascent: 510 m
Our happy band of walker's first pause was taken at the bridge at the Linn of Dee. It had a been a pretty dry first week of the Challenge and so there wasn't a lot of water in the Linn, but it's not a stretch to imagine the water belting along in spate.
LINN OF DEE, TAKEN FROM THE BRIDGE: CLICK TO ENLARGE
Being a caring soul, rather than over-stretching your mind, I've borrowed a picture of the Linn from the Facebook page for the River Dee (see link below the picture) of a fairly normal high flow. Earlier in the year the Dee was all but filling the arch of the stone bridge.
I've walked past this lovely little post box at Inverey quite a few times over the years and I've always been interested in it because it's a wall box and not a fee standing pillar box - the wall being three slabs of granite clad around the box. However, Google comes to the rescue - of a sort - with this article, which a little unhappily doesn't quite nail the beast down. However, it does explain why it's a wall box and not a pillar box.
No. I'm not going to tell you; you'll have to read the very interesting piece. Expend a little effort, it's good for the mind. It looks to me to be a modified Smith and Hawkes No 2 size (WB78). I say modified, because it looks to have had a front collection plate at the top of the box that has been removed. Of course, these days there are no longer 'next collection' plates. Royal Mail is quite content for its customers to only know the last time of collection and so sadly the little collection plates are no more. That's progress.
SMITH & HAWKES SMALL WALLBOX OF AROUND 1861
We continued on our way, and the next point of interest was the monument at Inverey. It was erected to a man born locally, at Corrimulzie a few steps eastward, who emigrated to Bavaria and rose to become the Astronomer Royal. I've provided a link beneath the photograph which will provide you with all the gen.
MONUMENT TO JOHN LAMONT, PICTURE TAKEN FROM THIS EXCELLENT PAGE: HERE
And so onward to the next P.O.I. (Stick around, you learn things here) Which is the small cluster of refuse bins outside a row of cottages in Inverey. Some of the group - no names, no pack drill - made use of the public spiritedness of the kind folk of Inverey and emptied three tons of assorted rubbish from their packs into said receptacles. Okay, some of the stuff you learn here may not be right up the street of those not wishing to dispose of six weeks of backpacking rubbish, but in case they ever change their minds, here it is.
It's a long old road walk to Braemar but we had a delightful stop at the roadside overlooking a track that descended to the Dee.
Now here's the thing. From before time began I've been walking the TGO Challenge with the very dapper, ageless, Lord Elpus. When times got tough he has been my rock. Indeed when pitching Trinnie Trailstar and her inner, he has invariably finished loading up his Akto with all a gentleman could require for an evening, and then set about fetching the water. Seeing me still fixing the inner to Trinnie, he *always* very kindly fetched water for me. A proper gent. The little kindnesses - sharing his last jelly babies, not farting until downwind - all those little gestures of friendship; they mean a lot to a chap. But I've been walking with Lindsay for three days now, and I see that Phil might need to up his game a little.
When walking up the Feshie it suddenly turned squally and for the life of me I could not find my gloves. Not a problem: Lindsay had a spare pare immediately to hand. And now, at the side of the road the lass spotted a couple of rather nice log chopping blocks. She maneuvered the (quite heavy) blighters over to where we were sat to provide two very comfortable seats to make our rest more enjoyable.
I'll just leave this here, in case Elpus swans over to this place. Food for thought, Phil?
We decided against walking through the (delightful as they are) woods to the Tomintoul viewpoint, as the view is now blocked by fast growing birch trees and so plodded along the road, which has excellent views of its own, and eventually the metropolis is reached in the form of the Hazelnut Patisserie. This is not my picture - I swiped it from Google Maps. The accreditation is a link below the picture.
For older, experienced Challengers who may be confused by change (that's me) this used to be a wonderful emporium known as 'Taste'. I'm not sure what happened but the new business is jolly good too, with outside tables and chairs not shown in the picture - but of course this may be down to Covid and no one being allowed to sit inside.
Whatever, before too long there was a host of Challengers taking over the place. We noticed a sudden disappearance of the clientele who were here on our arrival. Perhaps it was the whiff of three days out in the hills? A high carbo-loading of sweet gorgeousness from the cake display satisfied my immediate cravings for decent food and I set off again to find my lodgings - the Braemar Lodge Hotel, to be looked after by its long standing proprietors, Ronnie & Fiona - to trash my room on arrival and lie on the bed drinking tea and scoffing the biscuits.
The evening was spent in the bar of the Invercauld Arms, which was being refurbished, with Martin & Sue Banfield and of course Lindsay. They weren't doing food so Lindsay and I managed to nab a table at the Braemar Lodge Hotel's restaurant and did it very well indeed.
