Louise's Big Adventure

Shame

2012-01-30T12:57:00.001Z

I’ve lifted this comment from my local newspaper. The subject is a serious one (although, actually, in this case the full story is a strange one) but sadly I found my self giggling my way through this comment.

Escapee apostrophes all over the place, amongst other things.

“I saw one so many occasions teacher's shouting at children for petty issue's with no regard that parent's were in full view and just to observe the body language of the kids when this yelling was going on was so sad. I think the aggresive ,dimissive behaviour of the teaching staff should be ashamed of themselves but then again this is a behaviour learn't. the phrase children should be seen and not heard springs to mind. As mentioned does'nt surprise me with this school”

Too much time on my hands

2012-01-30T12:14:00.002Z

Laura posted a question a while ago and my answer to it made me think. She was asking about camping pillows and people’s solutions. I usually have two Buffs with me, a winter and a summer and I stuff them both with my spare clothing and use one for my head and one for my knee, shoulder or hip, depending on how I’m lying and how I feel. It then occured to me that I had had a problem during last year’s Challenge when I’d needed to wear my winter Buff as a hat in my sleeping bag.

Whilst I was rooting around in my t-shirt drawer yesterday I found some fabric that I’d forgotten I had. It’s an extremely lightweight, fine fabric but very soft. A light bulb flashed on in my head, cartoon stylee. A lightweight pillowcase! As I am still recovering from tonsillitis, I’m keeping myself occupied with gentle activities to ensure I don’t go walking again too soon, so out came the sewing machine and this is the result.

Empty

Stuffed, with my size 5 Brasher Hillmaster alongside for a bit of scale.

I have stuffed it with my Montane down jacket and as it is quite a snug fit, it makes quite a firm pillow. It measures 35 x 28 cm and weighs in at a mighty 18g.

I don’t think it will be overly robust, but I have plenty more of the same fabric, so could easily knock up another if need be. I’m not sure if I’ll carry it in May or not, but as it weighs next to nothing and takes up no real space, so it would provide a solution with little inconvenience, it’s a real possibility.

My first (and probably only!) MYOG!

Now, just to get rid of these white spots and nasty cough.

(“What happened to the nice cough you used to have?!)

RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch

2012-01-28T12:29:00.001Z

It’s that time of year again when we are all asked by the RSPB to spend an hour watching and counting the birds in your garden and then submit the results via the website or snail mail.

I feed the birds year round and am often rewarded with a wide variety of visitors. Long-tailed tits, Black Cap, Chiffchaff, Pheasant, Moorhen, Yellow Hammer and Sparrowhawk are the more unusual ones.

Every year on the last weekend of January, I make sure the feeders are full to overflowing with seeds and peanuts, sultanas are scattered and a fat cake is in the feeding cage, then, I wait.

And wait.

Usually, my regular visitors disappear off the face of the planet, just for the weekend that I’m trying to count them, but this year they were more cooperative and I can submit a count far more representative of my normal garden bird activity.

Don’t forget to do yours!

A walk, at last

2012-01-22T18:23:00.001Z

I haven’t been doing much other than my regular walks since New Year, but David and I decided we should make more of an effort when he comes home for the weekend. In order to get up early on the Saturday and head off into the hills, our bags must be packed and no wine consumed on the Friday night. Mind you, if like this week the weather forecast is a little grim, the bags can wait till the morning, wine may be consumed and a closer, more low level walk will be enjoyed. Hence, yesterday, we found ourselves parking the car at Revack Lodge near Grantown-on-Spey just before lunch . This was basically a rerun (or re-walk…) of the route Laura and I took in December, but with a couple of minor alterations.

It was quite windy and gusty and there were varying amounts of precipitation, so I was quite glad I’d voiced my doubts of a high route this time! The path was mostly good but at times very wet and muddy and in some places there was lying, slippery snow. Last time, Laura and I found that the stile we had been expecting had been removed, but as we’d backtracked to use a gate we’d just parked, we found a friendly fellow who explained the new fencing and that alternative access was soon to be in place.

Shame about the state of the track at the new signpost

Well, we found a new signpost this time, at said gate, that was not locked. Of course, as soon as we had to make a break into the open here, we were caught in a heavy shower, but we were soon back into the shelter of the forestry, making our way up the steepest (and least used) part of our route. The path here goes alongside an old dyke (stonewall, in English) and at the top, I decided to seek shelter behind it to have my smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwiches. A good move.

Looking back

At the top of the hill, the track eventually joins a forestry road and then another, slippery, muddy path downhill through the trees to join another obviously more popular route.

Before reaching Castle Roy, this path was wet, snowy and slippery. I found myself lying on my side in the mud and snow. With a sore bum. Still, a walk with me would not be a walk if this didn’t happen at some point…

Last time, where the track meets the road, Laura and I toddled carefully along the road a way before lunching in the church yard at the castle. This time, we took the Bacharn Trail towards Nethy Bridge. This kept us away from the roads and nicely sheltered. After a while wandering along quiet forestry tracks, we found ourselves joining the road at the castle, just a few yards from our intended track to join the Speyside Way.

This was a bit more interesting than last time. David and I were walking along, discussing the rights of access at this particular point, as the track takes you between some farm buildings before reaching the (new) gate giving access to the Way. A tractor was driven through the yard ahead of us, as if to prove a point, and at the gate, the farmer got out. He hailed us and asked after our day and then asked where we had got the information from to say that we could use that track for access. He’d often seen walkers using it but not had an opportunity to ask before and was concerned for their safety in what is a busy, working environment. I had in fact downloaded this route from a site I often use, which I explained, but as we had been questioning the use of this particular stretch I sympathised with his concerns and offered to contact the site on his behalf. (It is perfectly feasible to access the Way just over a kilometre further on, by the Youth Hostel, so that was the suggestion I gave in my email.) He was most grateful and we went on our way.

It is an easy walk back alongside the River Spey towards Revack Estate from here, but as we cut back up to the road near Auchernack, we took another slight detour. Laura and I had walked a short way along the road and then up the winding drive way to the car park. This time, David and I took a punt that the track leading from the road at roughly NJ 028 456 would take is to, or at least close to our intended destination, so off we went. It was a bit muddy and wet in places and there was a small fence to climb, but we soon found ourselves standing by the side of the car, stripping off waterproofs and wet boots.

It may not have been the day in the hills that David was after, but it was a nice walk and great fun. Roughly 14.2km, 305m ascent taking 3 hrs and 58 minutes (including rests). This is even more of a rough guestimate than usual as the batteries in the GPS ran out part way round the walk. There are only two pictures because the batteries ran out part way around the walk!

Planning update

2012-01-09T16:39:00.001Z

Why? To let you know I’m still here, but not much has been going on!

Not much walking was done over the Festive break, partly due to the weather being slightly grim and partly due to the family of frogs that have moved in since my slight cold. (I’ve learnt through bitter experience that if not enough rest is taken during a cold, the resulting illness lasts much longer to recover from!). We had hoped to take a stroll up Bynack More on New Years Eve, but I muttered concerns over the high winds forecast and my frogs and the walk was cancelled before we even set foot out of the door. I then sulked for a couple of days. Very constructive.

So, not having done much for nearly two weeks, I’m taking it gently. I’ll be doing my daily, short, brisk walk for a week or so, gradually adding in the odd slightly longer but equally gentle (boring) walk until the end of the month, by which time I should be fit enough for something more strenuous. David will be home for a weekend soon and if the forecast is good, we’ll make an early start and head out into the hills, somewhere.

The planning? Well, accommodations for the start and finish of the TGO are booked. I’ve also booked a couple of nights in hostels, just for that hint of comfort. All the food and meals that I intend to buy in advance are listed and sourced, although not bought. I don’t really need anymore gear now (need?), especially as a very kind Santa gave me the overmitts I had my eye on for Christmas, extremities Tuff Bag. I may, however, invest in a new dry bag for my beautiful sleeping bag. I’ve even printed off my route, which is perhaps a shade keen. All that’s left is to book the campsite which opens at Easter, contact a friendly steading and book my train tickets and send off one or two parcels. OCD has a lot to answer for.

So does not having gainful employment…

View from Sgor Gaoith

Bonus!

2012-01-03T10:49:00.001Z

Well, it’s not very often things work in our favour, but if you take a look out of your window, it probably looks pretty grim. So grim up here in fact, that there are no trains or alternative transport south of Perth.

Shame!

David will just have to stay home another day.

Gutted. Not!

So, how was it for you and what’s next?

2011-12-28T12:42:00.001Z

This year has been a funny one, kind of average interspersed with the odd event.

It all started well, when David was told we would be here till the end of his career. A week later, we were told he was moving. Great.

In May, I did my first Challenge. I’d first heard of the Challenge in 2008 and started planning. I knew I was in no way experienced or fit enough to enter in 2009, so David and I took an unexpected opportunity and entered as a pair in 2010. Unfortunately, we weren’t successful in the draw and didn’t manage to stumble off the top of the stand by list, so had thought we would have to wait until the children were much older and could be left to fend for themselves. Until I wondered out loud if I could possibly manage alone… My entry was successful and in May, I set off from Shiel Bridge for my own little adventure. I had a blast.

During the summer, our eldest took her Standard Grades and got five 1s and three 2s. How proud we are!

As a family, we had a fantastic holiday, staying in a luxury cottage on Orkney. There was wildlife, tourism, a little walking and a bit of geocaching. Fabulous.

There was then a bit of a quiet time whilst I entered and then waited for news for Challenge 2012. My successful entry and Rhiannon’s sixteenth birthday was all around the same time, so there was plenty to celebrate and then planning to finish off before submitting a route.

As for Christmas, David was able to get home in good time, just as I started with a cold. Luckily, that peeked on Christmas Eve. Unluckily, I was struck down with a migraine on Christmas Day, but late on, so at least I didn’t miss any of the festivities.

So, on to the New Year, and what’s going to be new?

We’ll continue to ‘manage’ with David being down South, although I have to say it’s not much fun. He’s going back to his OU studies, to pass the time and to give him another string to his bow. Oh, and he’ll have a Significant Birthday in April…Rhiannon is studying hard for her Highers, so I’m sure she’ll have great success there. Aedan is doing extremely well in both his archery and shooting, as well as maintaining his studies, which doesn’t come so naturally to him. Ciara, well, Ciara smiles and the world smiles with her and Conall seems to jog along in the same way.

I’ve decided on my next OU course, but I won’t start it until after May. It’ll give me something to do in the post Challenge downtime instead of planning my next route! The Challenge? Ah yes, I’m really looking forward to that. This route will be more testing, of both my abilities and my character, but I don’t feel anywhere near so nervous or doubtful this time. Now I have all my accommodation booked (didn’t I mention that?) all I need to do is buy a few supplies and I’ll be ready. Oh, and the getting fit bit, might have to work on that.

So, there you go. And so does another year, gone, just like that. How was yours? All the very best for 2012 and maybe I’ll see a few of you somewhere along the way!

All the very best

2011-12-25T12:14:00.002Z

Happy Christmas everyone!

Best boots, calorie counting, frustrating forecast and rear reducing, not necessarily in that order

2011-12-07T16:16:00.001Z

(The calories and the rear are not necessarily connected in this particular post!)

The frustrating forecast forced my favourite friend and I to forego our foray into the fresh air until next week, if the forecast is more favourable.

(On a roll!)

The slippery, slushy conditions have caused me to concentrate considerably on every step, thus producing a rear reducing regime.

(I’m bored now.)

I have also been spending time on subjects more Challenge related.

I am determined to wear my Merrells on the Challenge next May, but every day I walk in my Brashers and I love them so much, I am expecting a little wobble come D day! Every day I put them on and it’s like the bestest, comfiest slippers. They are just my favourite footwear, but I know there’s a good chance of a repeat mega blister on my tricky heel, so I must wear my Merrells, equally comfortable, lighter and they will dry more quickly in any wet conditions I ‘might’ encounter. Merrells it must be. But I do love my Brashers!

(I feel disloyal.)

Calorie counting has become a little bit of an obsession. Not from a rear reducing point of view, I might add! After my Challenge in May, I realised I had a couple of days, well, a few maybe, when my mood had been affected by ‘something’. As I thought about this in more detail, I realised a common theme.

The first day I’d noticed a downer was day two, the day dear Hugh enquired as to how my day was going and I burst into tears!

“Do you have any chocolate? Eat chocolate!” was his advice and whilst I had initial misgivings, he was, of course, proved correct as my mood improved.

Half way through day five, I suffered another downer, just as I met David and my replacement rucksack. The reaction of my TTS? to feed me. Mushroom soup, Baby Bel, fruit salad and Jaffa Cakes. A short while later my fighting spirit had returned (although, initially it was a determination to prove my shoulder hurt too much, ahem) and I strode off into the distance, a spring in my step.

Our arrival at Tarfside was another obvious food failure day, despite having stopped for hot soup at lunch, along with my lunch staples. We stepped into the teeth of the storm with renewed vigour, but didn’t have shelter enough to snack on the way and arrived at Tarfside decidedly droopy. The mug of hot soup thrust into my hands to warm them soon filled the hole in my tummy before I launched into my evening meal which perked me up.

So, I have been looking more closely at my body fuel and decided it is lacking, but finding the right things that I might fancy and eat (rather than lug across Scotland because they’d be good for me) is proving tricky. I’ve currently totted up 2323 Kcals per day weighing in at 1.579kg for two days, plus the next day’s lunch and snack. So I’m still working on another 700 Kcals per day, preferably without adding too much to the grams!

It’s important though, so I’ll not be skimping. Maybe just imaginative.

So far, so good

2011-12-06T11:50:00.001Z

Just visualise the little green tent in a sheltered spot

Well, I had an email from John this morning, I am vetted, yey! My route has drawn some compliments, “an interesting” and “really nice” route and the sort of helpful advice and tips you’d expect and hope for from people far more experienced and knowledgeable than me. I’m delighted! Nothing to change and lots to look forward to.

I_am_so_excited!

Now, who’s turn is it to organise the weather?

An ‘L’ of a day

2011-12-02T14:35:00.001Z

I was, as usual, a little late, but as Laura drove up the, er, drive behind me, I was pleased that we had both timed our arrivals to perfection! We parked at Revack Lodge, a little south west of Grantown on Spey, donned walking boots and gaiters, hoisted our day packs and off we went.

This was a bit of a magical mystery walk, not entirely planned by myself, but with a little help from a site I sometimes use, Walkingworld, I’d simply mad a linear walk to Nethy Bridge a circular, by linking with the Speyside Way for our return. Easy.

We were too busy chatting to take the short track to the viewpoint, so continued on. We were soon consulting maps and GPS to pinpoint our location, not entirely where we were expecting, but not lost. We soon arrived at a signpost we were expecting, but found a new barbed wire fence without the expected style.

Useful (although the fence probably doesn’t show in the photograph)

We’d passed a gate with a track leading in the right general direction, so we backtracked to take that. A truck and trailer arrived noisily, the driver of which got out and proceeded to open the gate and Laura, being the friendly type, engaged the rather handsome young man in conversation. He explained that they had ‘had’ to replace the fence and providing an access point was complicated by those requiring access with wheels, so a gate was going to have to be inserted near the vehicle access, which would normally be locked.

It was a beautiful day

We soon found ourselves crossing a little bridge, slithering our way up a track to then climb the grassy, slippery hillside to join another forestry track, with a couple of noticeable erratics, all the while discussing our last Challenge, routes for our next, gear, Laura’s recent trip and family.

The path eventually reached the road to Nethy Bridge, so we turned west and headed to Castle Roy, where alongside the remains of the castle there is a pretty little church and church yard.

Castle RoyLaura photographing Castle Roy. Note the professional pose

The views south, to the hills

Pretty church

We decided this was a good place to lunch and whilst this bench looked like a lovely place to stop in the sun, we rather fancied this little shelter in the graveyard.

Cosy

This wasn’t the only advantage to taking a picnic with unusual company.

Convenient!

Well, it saved us from finding a handy bush on the side of the Speyside Way.

Along the road a tiny bit more we took a farm track to join the Way and headed back east. This was an easy stroll back to the lodge with great views of the hills and of the Spey, looking a little full and fast flowing.

We passed another interesting feature, left behind by the long since disappeared railway.

A railway relic

The lowering sun

As luck would have it, we got back to the cars mid-afternoon and the shop and cafe were still open, so we moved the cars closer to the entrance and made our way into the warm. The shop was full of sparkly Christmas decorations and bling jewellery, but the call of a hot drink was louder. Quite how we ended up with a free coffee and mince pie with brandy butter a piece is a long story, but it certainly made for a cheery end to a wonderful day!

According to the GPS it was 7.6m, although the map suggests nearer 8.4m. It was around 894ft ascent. We walked at about 2.3 mph for roughly 3 hrs and 19 mins with 1 hr and 28 minutes resting. Near enough.

I had a great time.

It’s the little things

2011-11-28T15:29:00.001Z

I went on my usual Monday Girly walk today. It’s nothing special, but it’s usual a good time for a chin wag. I was a little surprised when, as Alison was walking ahead of me, I saw a small, furry creature scurry across the path just behind her heels.

I squatted down and peered into the undergrowth and sure enough, there it was, just nosing about, minding it’s own business. It came back out into the open, despite us having a very badly behaved beagle with us (she was a rascal today) and wandered up the track a little and back into the undergrowth.

It was obviously a vole of some sort and when I consulted my reference books, I concluded (without too much difficulty) that it was a bank vole, but a very relaxed one!

On the downside, the neighbours opposite our home have decided it’s time for Christmas decorations. Every outdoor surface is now bedecked with multi-coloured lights and a flashing Merry Christmas sign.

Joy.

Starting to walk

2011-11-25T16:41:00.001Z

A very good friend of mine was telling me the other day about her young grand daughter starting to walk. As I was out walking today in the somewhat foul weather, I got to thinking about this and went off on a bit of a tangent.

When did I start to walk?

I don’t mean as a toddler, I mean as a Walker. Could I even remember my first Walk?

Well, after a bit of pondering, I think I can. And, oddly enough, it may have been in Scotland.

When I was about four, we came to Scotland for our summer holiday. We stayed at a farm house, which would have been a B&B or Guest House (and may have been around Aberfeldy?) and at a Guest House in Kingussie, which I believe is still there.

I remember quite a lot about this holiday.

I remember dad parking the car by the road near a loch and taking me with a little fishing net to, er, get wet probably (there is a bit of a history of certain family members throwing themselves into various bodies of water and then needing to be hauled out. I wasn’t the only one…). I remember a tiny frog in the fishing net, which had probably been surreptitiously placed there, and running back through the heather to show mum, who’d stayed at the car. Needless to say, I fell over (a lifelong habit) and the froglett escaped. I don’t think it was squashed. I was devastated. I don’t know where my siblings were.

We went on a walk that may have been on some kind of nature reserve. It was marsh and bog, with plank bridges over the worst of it. My brother gave me a fright, shouting “Stop!” at me as I was crossing one of the little bridges.

I screamed.

It turned out I had been about to step on an enormous, hairy, black caterpillar.

I recovered.

I think the caterpillar survived.

Later on, my siblings were running ahead on a track through forestry, despite having been told not to. I doubt I was doing as I was told, I just couldn’t keep up. At some point, my sister tripped or slipped and twisted her ankle, tearing a ligament. Ouch. We got a lift back in a landrover. Or tractor. Or some other robust vehicle. (I was only four, remember) and the holiday was quite quiet after that.

A couple of years later, we went to the Yorkshire Dales. For seven out the following eight years we stayed at the same Guest House in Bainbridge, the proprietor of which was recently a WI judge for Masterchef. She was pretty good in the kitchen department.

We walked in the Dales. To waterfalls. Around abbeys. Along rivers, Gunnerside Gill being a favourite. Buttertubs Pass, Askrigg Common, Malham Tarn, all over. The next most memorable walk would have been around the Ingleton Waterfalls trail.

It seemed like quite a long way to my little legs, but I didn’t mind. Until it started to rain. It really rained. Really wet stuff. We wouldn’t have had proper walking gear, it would have been trainers, jeans and a t-shirt, perhaps a towelling hoody (remember those? Mine was stripy!) and cagoule. The pack-a-mac type. The sort that isn’t really weather resistant. We got wet.

The five of us piled into dad’s Astra when we got back to the car park and proceeded to remove wet clothing, all those arms and legs everywhere, a bit of writhing. No wonder the local bobby tapped on the steamed up windows to enquire “Is everything all right sir?”

Nothing much seems to have changed when I walk…

…And breathe…

2011-11-20T20:45:00.001Z

So I found out on Friday via a link on the TGO message board, and then officially by letter yesterday, that I am lucky enough to be on the Challenge next May.

I am very excited.

But I am doing my very, very best to remain calm and in control.

This is in keeping with my motto for next year’s Challenge:

More Style, Less Drama Queen.

We’ll see how that goes.

I have managed to get a little ahead of myself however. Knowing that accommodation at my intended start point can be hard to come by, I’ve booked a room already. I could camp that night, but I don’t really fancy starting the walk with a wet tent, which is, after all, a possibility!

My route sheets and admin form are filled in and poised. I’m trying to resist clicking the send button. I’m going to force myself to go over my distance and ascent calculations with a fine tooth comb before sending them off with an apologetic email, but I’m sure there won’t be that many other sad obsessives ready at this point. Maybe?

I’ll try to restrain myself…

So looking forward to seeing all my new friends and making some more along the way. It’s going to be fabulous!

Happy Birthday!

2011-11-14T16:11:00.001Z

Sixteen years ago today, our beautiful little girl arrived a month premature, looking like a skinned rabbit, weighing in at 5lbs 13oz.

These days she’s a bit bigger, but just as beautiful.

Happy Sixteenth Birthday!

Oh, p-lease!

2011-11-11T16:30:00.001Z

The day started so well! Well, sort of.

No ‘plop’ on the doormat when the postie delivered the post, but at least a present and card for the eldest daughter’s impending 16th birthday on Monday.

I dared myself to go online and check the message board, no one else had had one either, phew!

On my brisk morning walk I made myself pause to finally identify the bird who’s song I hear regularly. Sure enough, as the little bird darted through the branches of the pine trees, the sun eventually peeped out from behind the clouds for a moment long enough to make the little bird’s crest glow. A gold crest! Thought so, good stuff.

When I returned, I had time to anoint the Christmas cake that I baked yesterday with brandy before the two minute silence and when I popped it into my dark, cool cupboard, I happened across another Christmas pudding! I thought I only had two left, bonus.

So, on to buy a couple of books with my National Book Token.

Oh, if only! Nope, you can’t buy books with them online. That is not convenient.

Eldest son has asked to go skating with friends in town on Sunday, but it clashes a little with the parade that Ciara is going to, being a good Guide, so I thought he could go by bus, virtually door to door. Well, apparently not on a Sunday. Going by train means I’ll have to drop and collect him from the station, my trips onto town have now doubled. Ho hum, so much for trying to be green (and save cash).

But none of this distracts me from the fact that every available digit is still crossed…

(Life’s a bit dull around here, can you tell?!)

Wow!

2011-11-02T15:30:00.001Z

Today I saw something totally unexpected that I’ve wanted to see for a long time.

As I was on the return trip of my morning brisk walk, a creature ran across the road ahead of me and into the undergrowth. It was around two feet long with short legs, a very bushy tail and a deep, rich, reddish brown colour with a pale blaze on it’s chest.

I’ve been trying to convince myself otherwise, but the only conclusion I can reach is that it was one of these

A pine marten

WOW!

Who’s a Mrs Grumpy?

2011-10-21T13:19:00.001+01:00

David managed (was strongly encouraged) to take last minute leave this week, so as the children were in the middle of their Tatty Holidays, we thought it was an ideal opportunity to pop down to visit his family in Fife. His dad has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and is quite poorly, so it’s good to visit from time to time as they can’t travel up here so easily. An added incentive was that his middle sister was away for the weekend and happy to loan us their house so we could enjoy several short visits over a few days, making for a more leisurely weekend.

When we returned, we hoped the weather would be good enough to do some walking, but perhaps not as much as I would have liked. I would have loved to visit Glen Affric this time of year and take a stroll around the loch, but it’s a long journey from here for a day out, so to warm up our legs on a low level walk, David and I stayed local for a walk on Wednesday around Romach Hill and the loch there that we’ve done before. It was a pleasant enough day, not too cold, but with an unexpected snow shower! A total of 13.5 km, 315 m ascent and 3 hrs 32 mins, so a reasonably quick sprint and nothing remarkable, except none of the children could be bothered to get up and join us!

Yesterday, we attempted our third assault on Bynack More. Again, I thought we were being a little ambitious. It’s a walk that David and I could do very comfortably and even with the start of winter in the hills, I wouldn’t have been too worried. We could easily have set off at 8 am to make an early start in the hills. The problem was, this was supposed to be a family walk…

Needless to say, we didn’t set off from Glenmore Lodge until nearly 10.30 am, so it was fairly clear from the beginning we weren’t going to achieve our preferred goal. We should have made for a different venue given we didn’t make the early start we’d wanted, but we merrily made our way towards Ryvoan Bothy before turning off for Bynack Stables and stopping at the bridge for lunch.

Ahead of our leader

Our leader, bringing up the rear after a GPS battery faff

Looking south-west towards the Chalamain Gap. I’ve been there!

Looking north, towards Abernethy Forest

Meall a Bhuachaille, my favourite Corbett

Heading for that path in the distance

It was not a bad day at the start, bright, a light breeze although chilly at times. There was low cloud around and snow on the hill tops with the risk of some precipitation and this was all going to be taken into account.

We passed several people out and about, this is always a busy, popular area. Lots of people seem to mountain bike out to the foot of the hills and then make their way on foot to the summit and back. There was a chap and a couple out with their dogs, a large group of men and a second group of a father and three teenagers, all equipped for winter camping and a couple with their two children. Our children all carry a small rucksack with food, water, waterproofs and a few extra layers. I took the opportunity to try out my Exos to carry a few bits for them, given the conditions. I like them to carry their own gear, but not so much that it puts them off. The young family we saw had no kit with them except a small rucksack carried by the father. Maybe I tend to be over-equipped.

Looking south along Strath Nethy

There were plenty of red grouse seen along the way and the resident herd of reindeer were seen in the distance. On way up the path, Conall suffered a clothing malfunction. The popper on his waistband un-popped and wouldn’t stay popped, thus allowing the zip to unzip and the trousers to fall down. Not good. Luckily, in my rather well equipped first aid kit, I have a couple of safety pins that were used to effectively resolve the issue. Still heading up

Catching up after the clothing malfunction

We didn’t make it all the way up the hill.

We reached a point where the boys both stated they’d had enough. I was pretty sure we weren’t going to make it off the hill before the weather became more moist and I’m never in favour of cajoling the children much to continue as it becomes painful and miserable for all. I think maybe David, Ciara and I have the determination and the boys aren’t really fussed.

We turned back.

Around 11.62 km, 275m ascent and 4 hrs 18 mins.

Today, poor TTS is spending a miserable day in the city, waiting for the car to be MOTd and serviced.

So, who would be Mrs Grumpy? Well, it was me, briefly, yesterday, when our walk had a different sort of outcome from that intended, especially as this was our third attempt. I don’t want this hill to become some kind of nemesis, I have visions of just ‘having’ to pop up it as I pass by on my route, if I’m lucky enough to get on the Challenge next year.

All in all though, it was a nice couple of walks and I now know that my new Exos is indeed comfy and stays on my hips where it should be, one of my main objectives. My Paramo was also comfy and effective, but I still haven’t tried it out in torrential rain. I’d like the confidence of knowing it can cope, just in case I have to deal with conditions similar to this year’s Challenge again.

Oh. That didn’t help

2011-10-13T13:09:00.001+01:00

I have still been pondering rucksacks. I took the advice offered about trying out a rucksack with all my gear on board, but felt weak at the idea of doing this in the shop. I still have confidence issues and I knew I would feel too self-conscious. However, I came up with a plan.

I like to use websites that offer free P&P including returns. On this occasion, the best site I could find offered free P & P excluding returns but at a good price for both the Exos 46 and 58 in Ember (I don’t like the green). After a quick perusal of the Post Office site, it was still cheaper to pay for a return than to travel to my closest dealer (Aviemore or Inverness) and pay parking (ok, so I can find free parking in Aviemore). So that’s the option I took.

Ordered Sunday afternoon and delivered this morning, not too bad for the north of Scotland. I felt a little nervous at first and put off loading them up by doing some housework (must have been absolutely desperate!)

I tried the 46 first, but perhaps was a little too gentle and couldn’t quite fit it all in, so on to the 58. Everything fitted in neatly and logically, but I had a little room to spare. Bum!

Back to the 46, this time using a pack liner (another dilemma, liner or cover?). It still didn’t all fit, although I was more brutal (tricky when being careful) but I’m still not convinced I could, even with a bit more squeeze.

There’s nothing included that I didn’t take on this year’s Challenge, although there have been one or two swaps. I’ve packed my tent into a smaller bag and it is now quite a bit smaller. The only two bits of kit that would warrant change are my Prolite mattress and my tent. Despite the bulk, I love my Prolite, it’s comfy and robust. I would be paranoid using a Neoair or the like, especially at the cost. My tent. I’m not planning to replace Bill (my Coleman Kraz) anytime soon. He has his faults, but they are all minor and easily dealt with. He’s comfy, cosy, watertight and suits me. I don’t intend to buy another tent until David and I can Challenge together when Maisie will be replaced (I’m not hoofing even half of Maisie across Scotland, she’s no lightweight!) That could be another eight years hence. (By which time, I might need a new, smaller rucksack!)

So, a decision must be made.

It all fits in the 58 although there is unnecessary extra space. I can’t see me happily squeezing everything into the 46 to save 90g and I’m not likely to pack in extra items just because I have extra space. I have a list and I stick to it. (I have a thing about lists…)

I’m going to sleep on it (the thought, not the rucksack) and make my decision in the morning.

I hate decisions.

An unexpected find

2011-10-05T12:19:00.001+01:00

I’ve had a fairly random start to my day today.

For the past few weeks I’ve been missing the swifts screaming around the house tops as they hunt and the swallows twittering as they swoop around me as I stroll across the marshes, but they have been replaced by the geese as they gradually arrive in ever increasing numbers and gather in the estuary. It’s all part of the changing seasons. Sadly, with the geese come the men in camouflage with their shooty bang sticks and I tend to take a different route straight up the cycle path and back to avoid being shot!

Yesterday I was hacked off to find two of the wildfowlers’ vehicles parked on the cycle path, leaving room to squeeze by but, nevertheless causing an obstruction. I took a photograph on my mobile phone and carried on my walk, grumping to myself.

Today I passed one of the cars parked in a different place, but the other was again across the cycle path. I thought nothing much of it and continued on my way, somewhat grumpily.

As I returned about 30 minutes later (a short walk!) I could see the car had gone. Imagine my horror as, when I passed the spot they’d been parked, I find a gun, discarded by the side of the track onto the marshes!

What to do.

This was urgent, but perhaps not an emergency? 999 seemed extreme.

I don’t (but will soon!) have the local number for the police in my phone, why would I ever need that?

I couldn’t raise the occupants in the cottage across the road (they are always in, why not today?!)

If I took it home to keep safely whilst contacting the police I would then be illegally in possession of a firearm. Not good.

So, I rang TTS for advice.

He contacted the RAF police for me and they arrived about ten minutes later. They in turn contacted the local plod and we sat and waited. And waited. And waited.

After about ten minutes, the wildfowlers returned, claiming to have been horrified at finding a gun missing and returning immediately to find it. They realised they weren’t going to get away with this ‘mistake’ as soon as the local bobbies arrived.

About an hour after my find, I was “Free to go” and made my way home.

It was a totally bizarre situation, I would never have thought I would find a gun, just lying on the ground. I felt quite sick at the thought of what could have happened if it had got into the wrong hands.

And I’d always thought it a bit of a dull walk…

Distraction techniques

2011-09-26T17:43:00.001+01:00

Having finished planning my route for a possible future Challenge, I decided to step away from the maps before my tweaking went a tweak too far! I’ve worked out distances and ascents, food parcel drops and accommodation.

Instead, I took a sideways step towards gear. Oops.

I happened to heft my Karrimor Wildcat 60-65 at the same time as David’s Jaguar 65 the other day and realised that, despite being of sightly lesser capacity, mine is heavier. A whole 400g heavier. No wonder I felt relieved when I swapped packs at Laggan! So, I started vaguely casting about for a replacement. I had been considering Deuter and Osprey packs and decided Osprey was the likely winner. That was the easy bit.

I like the women specific packs, Ariel 55 and 65, mainly because I have a problem with hip belts. Due to my shapeliness, I tend to find it tricky to keep a hip belt in place and I thought a specific one might help. I also like having a separate compartment for my sleeping bag. However, neither of these packs are lighter than my current pack, the 65 is obviously a similar volume, so they were duly discounted.

That left me with the Exos 58 or 46. I’m concerned that (despite my guide kit list weighing in at around 10kg, it’s quite bulky,) I’ll never squeeze it all into a 46, so the 58 may be a better bet and is still over a kg lighter than the Wildcat. However, it has been pointed out to me by a far more sensible and less impulsive person, that spending that amount of cash warrants taking my kit to a retailer and trying one. That’s the plan.

To further distract myself I’ve been reading up a few previous Challenge reports and on Shirley’s I found a reference to this hostel. I haven’t changed my route, just my stop over that night!

Still at Shirley’s, I found myself investigating her favourite bits of kit. Quite how that led me to this isn’t immediately obvious, but I then made another sidestep from a new pack to a new tent! A particularly tempting offer on both the one man and two man versions, so I need to go and cook dinner. Now!

All in aid of distracting me from my annual fasting blood test tomorrow.

Pathetic.

C’est la vie

2011-09-14T12:04:00.001+01:00

Or divine retribution for the world’s worst daughter. (Well, I have been practicing for 43 years!)

We survived the first weekend, but not without trials and tribulations sent to test us. Aedan’s D of E expeditions were cancelled, due to his group not having completed their camp craft training. (I knew this to be the case, but why did it take until the afternoon before for someone in charge to realise? Poor communication and organisation is always a disappointment.) Ciara was off colour for a few days, after she perked up, Rhiannon was off colour with something else. The boys managed not to kill each other, mainly because Conall left Aedan to sleep on his bedroom floor and decamped onto the girls’ bedroom floor, so all four children were disturbed, deep joy. I then lived up to my lifelong reputation of world’s worst daughter and caused major upset with a difficult decision. Hmm.

We survived a weekend camping with the Guides at Brodie Castle. I only have one Guide, but as I’m a disclosed Brownie Assistant that doesn’t mind camping, I have become useful at Guide Camp too. Sadly, the boys had to come this time, as David was not home to look after them. They loved it! They were given the job of looking after the camp fire and they built and maintained the most magnificent example ever. My boys! I had a frustrating time with two Guides who, when they couldn’t find the bin compound to dispose of a couple of bags of rubbish, decided to hurl them into the undergrowth! I was incensed, discarded rubbish is one of my most hated things and so they were route marched to the scene of their crime to reclaim the bags and then shown where the bins were. To annoy me further, they giggled through their reprimand, if a child of mine behaved so disrespectfully and with such bad attitude I would be disappointed and ashamed. The fact I had the beginning of a cold by then did not improve my mood. We returned home with nine gnat bites (all mine) and a tick (unattached and crawling up a leg, not mine!).

David had managed to get home Saturday night, so we planned another assault on Bynack More on Monday. As luck would have it, there was Torrential Rain and Strong Winds. I didn’t have to feel guilty that we couldn’t walk because of my cold, I was a poorly girl! Instead, we whiled away a few hours wandering around Aviemore, drooling over gear and savouring soup and jacket potatoes at the Cairngorm Hotel (highly recommended).

At the moment I’m struggling slightly. I should have been for a gentle stroll (cold almost better) and done a small pile of ironing, but I am suffering the recurrence of the trapped nerve in my neck. As I type, I have my warm cherry stone bag against my shoulder blade and neck to try to relieve the inflammation and prevent the muscle spasms which cause the real problems. With some gentle exercises my physio taught me last time, things should improve.

Although, obviously, I probably deserve it…

A short intermission

2011-09-01T12:05:00.001+01:00

Sadly, not because I’m going anywhere nice.

I have a visitor this weekend, (the weekend that is intensely busy what with a practice D of E expedition, mending a puncture, preparing for Guide Camp and other ‘stuff’) and whilst I can happily blank out the sound of children taking lumps out of each other as I merrily browse the internet, the Subtle Huffing and Tutting from the corner tends to hack me off after a while. It’s easier (and far less painful) to catch up in a few days.

Dare say you won’t even notice.

Now, where’s the gin stashed?

What fun!

2011-08-30T14:10:00.002+01:00

EDITED

As David had a Bank Holiday weekend and the children were at school, (well, they were until the senior school didn’t open due to a burst pipe…) we had intended an assault on Bynack Mor. When we eventually set off (late, again) the weather was quite interesting. The forecast had been for buffeting winds, showers and low cloud until the afternoon, but we decided to drive down anyway and adjust our plans accordingly.

I could barely see the top of Meall a Bhuachaille as we passed and Bynack was lost, so after a comfort stop at Aviemore (middle age gets you) we consulted the maps and decided on a lower route from the car park NH 985 074 through the ‘Chalamain Gap’ to join the Lairig Ghru, back north to Rothiemurchus Lodge then hot foot it along the north side of Loch Morlich and back up the road to the car.

So, off we went.

Looking south from the footbridge

And north

There was a lot of faffing during the first part of this walk and very little of it was done by me, apart from a few photographs! David soon stopped to don his Paramo. The couple ahead of us left the path to look through the gate to the reindeer enclosure, returned to the path and went ahead, faffed, then returned to the gate, an elderly couple behind us faffed with waterproofs, then we both faffed with our waterproof trousers. It could be a long day.

On we went, the elderly couple never caught us up. It’s quite a nice, well looked after path and I daresay with less cloud, there would be some lovely views. I felt the drifting cloud and ever changing views added atmosphere and mood.

Couldn’t see a lot behind us at this point

Looking south along a moody Allt Creag an Leth-choin

We wended our merry little way and soon came across a small group of people crossing from the north of Castle Hill and making their way onto our path. Interesting looking route they had taken, but they didn’t pass us so we didn’t get to know why. They were wearing jeans. It was a very pleasant path.

The Chalamain Gap

Looking at the Gap from a distance, I had commented to David that it was difficult to imagine a path through. How prophetic.

Meall a Bhuachaille, from the Gap

Still hoping for the path on the map

“I think we find our own way.”

Camouflaged!

As we got closer it became clear this bit was going to be ‘fun’. As we scrambled our way over the boulders I giggled and called to David, “Two years ago, what would I have done?” “Cried, sworn. Turned back.” Very amusing to think that here I was now, relatively happily picking my way round and over these enormous rocks, almost enjoying myself! I say almost, I did, but as you can occasionally catch a glimpse through the gaps in the rocks to the depths, I found it a little unnerving. But fun!

We were eventually overtaken by two ill-equipped young men (no daysack, waterproofs or map…), but the elderly lady behind us was in difficulty and we think the couple turned back. The two young men disappeared ahead only to return shortly after to take the path up Castle Hill. Maybe a map would have helped?

As we made our way through the Gap, we occasionally thought we heard a dog barking. As we passed the foot of Castle Hill we did again. Never saw a dog, so it was a bit odd.

The path continues on and down, eventually meeting with the Lairig Ghru. David was ahead of me at this point and I was a little concerned when he headed south down the path, but when I spotted the large rocks placed neatly by the burn, I realised his sandwiches must have been calling to him from his pack and he’d spotted the *perfect picnic spot. We lunched.

Looking south along the Lairig Ghru

North

We then headed north. The path was a but rocky and muddy at this point, but then improved. Sadly, we opted to leave it soon after to take another rocky, muddy path to the Lodge, but at least once we reached there, we were on good tracks all the way to the road.

Rocky and wet

Better

There were occasional breaks in the cloud, but I wouldn’t have wanted to head south today. There was a distant, but familiar sound as we made our way north, a rescue helicopter hove into view. It tried to head south at first, but they must have realised they couldn’t as it circled round Carn Odhar and came low past us.

Someone needed help

It circled around by Castle Hill and up the Ghru a few times, but then we didn’t see it again. We hoped they found who they were looking for safely.

The track from the Lodge is straight forward but I had never seen anything like these before.

Brightly coloured, plastic bee hives?

It became a bit of a route march from this point as, as usual, we were up against time and as we’d been a shade tardy, again, we were running late for a couple of evening activities. Not to mention trying to fit in an evening meal. Oops.

It felt a long way on the road up the hill to the car park, but our concerns for the lost someone were heightened when a car drew up along side us and the driver asked us our names. Actually, he asked us three times, I caught it the first time, but because the man was not asking us what David had expected him to (“Would you like a lift?”) he couldn’t comprehend the question. (Age thing again?) The chap had hoped we were the people the Mountain Rescue were looking for who had been heading up Coire an t-Sneachda. Not something I’d have thought wise in the rotten conditions. We couldn’t help as we hadn’t been that way, but we haven’t heard any news. I hope they were safe and well.

All in all, I loved it. Towards the end was hard, because we had to pick up the pace, but yet again, I found myself doing things I would never have done before, or would have found challenging and perhaps even refused to attempt.

As to my kit, I wore my new Merrells and my new Paramo. The boots were surprising. Despite the odd wet, muddy patch, my feet remained dry and comfortable, however, they were never fully submerged. I suffered no discomfort or hot spots at all, not even on my funny big toes (funny peculiar, not ha ha). I did notice a slight ache in my arch, which I used to always suffer before I invested in my green Superfeet. I am using these in my Merrells, but maybe I need something more in them. However, the ache didn’t last and my feet were fine when we got home. I think maybe my feet need to get used to the souls of these being thinner than my Brashers. They were lighter too and although my right hip grumbled briefly, it settled again. This could have been down to the weight of the boots, perhaps.

The Paramo was great. The weather didn’t rain persistently or heavily, but enough to get one wet, but I wasn’t. It dried quickly in between damp times. I was comfortable at all times (until the route march) with long and short sleeved merino tops on. I think we will be happy together.

EDIT

Forgot the statistics (age again?)

Roughly 16.8 km 517 m ascent and approximately 4 kph

* Well, it would have been the perfect picnic spot if there hadn’t been the rubbish left behind and just before we left, we discovered somebody had felt the need for the toilet in rather a large way just in the gap between two rocks, a few feet from the burn. Lovely.

Why? I will never, never understand.

I have taken to taking other people’s rubbish home if I have the means to carry it

A filthy day

2011-08-29T08:26:00.001+01:00

Aedan is doing his D of E practice next weekend so we took him out yesterday for a little navigation refresher.

It was a wet, windy and generally miserable day.Discussion

I wore my Paramo with a couple of merino layers (I knew there would be a lot of standing around!) and I was warm and dry, but I want to wear it for longer in filthy conditions to be fully confident.

Maybe a day like today…

Has anyone seen the forecast?

2011-08-28T09:50:00.003+01:00

A couple of weeks ago, I booked our annual boat trip with Ian and Sam at Gairloch. David is home for a long weekend due to the English Bank Holiday weekend, so we had decided to take advantage of extra family time together.

During the past week the weather forecast for the the north east of Scotland had been looking a bit grim, but as we were heading over to the north west, it all looked fine. It still looked fine on Friday night when we went to bed, but as we got up on Saturday morning, the forecast had changed and the amber weather warning had been extended. Ah. Sam phoned about ten o’clock and asked if we were on our way and if we could get there any sooner as they would have to cancel the three o’clock sailing but could fit us on the twelve thirty instead. She kindly agreed to delay the sailing to allow us a little extra time to get across and just after one o’clock, we boarded the boat and began our cruise.

It was actually a lovely trip, not too rough and with good light for spotting. As we are later in the year than usual, the nests have all emptied so there wasn’t a huge amount of birdlife, we saw Great Skuas, Shags, Red Throated Divers and a few Comorants. There were three pregnant Grey Seals and a real treat of Common Dolphins! Ian was a star and as we’d made the trip just for his boat trip, he gave us a little extra time to get a good view of the Dolphins.

Moody Torridons

(Spot the Slioch, Beinn Dearg and the Horns of Alligin, I think)

Great Skua

Red Throated Diver

Grey Seals

Trust me, it’s a Common Dolphin fin!

As we’d not had time for a catch up with Sam before boarding, he invited us to their home for tea and cake, which was lovely and Sam baked a fresh cream and raspberry sponge especially. A boat trip and cake, what more could a girl want! We had a lovely time and I look forward to going back next summer (at a more leisurely pace!) and spending more time in one of my favourite places.

Here we go again

2011-08-20T18:30:00.002+01:00

Well, the October copy of TGO Magazine plopped onto my doormat this morning. The wrapper was duly ripped off, pages thumbed and the entry form carefully torn out. It has been filled in, (much easier this year!) the cheque signed, popped into a stamped, addressed envelope and posted.

I know there’s no prize for getting the form in quickly, it’s more of a ‘strike while the iron is hot’ thing. After two and a half months of consideration and asking “Do you really want to?” TTS agreed to my application, on the understanding that I can cope with crushing disappointment if I don’t get on.

Speaking of The Challenge, the observant amongst you may have noticed a new button on the right of my blog. I have now made a separate page for this years Challenge, a time consuming copy and paste procedure and uploading each photograph in blogger (I usually write in livewriter, but having read Alan’s comments here felt this was the best option for me). No longer will anyone who might happen along have to read my account back to front!

And another

2011-08-20T15:27:00.001+01:00

David found himself on a weeks adventure training at Grantown on Spey this week, so rather than return south with ‘The Boys’ on Friday morning, I drove down to collect him en route to another big hill, this time Carn Dearg, 945m on the edge of the Monadhliath.

The weather was promising at the start of the day, but as we made our way to Newtonmore it became more cloudy. It was still warm however, so I didn’t need to don a jacket until we reached the cairn and it only rained towards the end of the walk. We were a little later setting off than I would have liked, due to my own lack of planning, but we soon found ourselves parked in the same place as we had last year when we tackled the children’s first Munro, A Chailleach.

There were midgies as we faffed by the car, so whilst we were faffing, Smidge was applied. This seemed quite effective, there were still midgies, but not so much nibbling.

Off we set.

This time we left the car park and crossed the bridge over the Allt a Chaorainn, then before the bridge at Glenballoch, we took the path heading north westish, following the Allt Fionndrigh. This is not a bad path and we made good progress until we stopped for lunch after crossing the river by an unmarked bridge. One of those interesting types.

Looking south east (ish) along Allt Fionndrigh

Looking ahead, the two pimples just off centre are our goal

Not keen, but crossing regardless

Lunch spot

There is a large rock, just off centre on the above photograph, where we perched for lunch. We watched an eagle soaring above Creag na h-lolare opposite.

I knew once we set off again that the path would soon disappear, which it did, and we then had to navigate some ‘rough ground’ along Gleann Ballach to the foot of Carn Ban. It involved a bit of bog trotting. Quite a bit, but if we hadn’t had such a prolonged dry spell at the beginning of spring, I think it would have been worse. (Or maybe, having the crossed the bogs that I did in May, it didn’t seem so bad!) We squelched our way along for a while before we started the climb towards Carn Dearg. Somewhere in the middle of this bogginess, I found a lizard. We also started to see quite a few frogs.

Still looking happy at this point

You can see the uphill stripe we were heading for

David got well ahead of me, it was the nose wiping faffs what did it

Views from the top look promising

The much bogginess we’d crossed

The moody views towards Sherramore and Aberarder Forests

There doesn’t appear to have been a photograph of me taken at the cairn, it was chilly and breezy when we got there, so we only paused briefly for me to don my Paramo and then we were off again, descending the southern side of Carn Dearg in search of a path. As we paused, I was a merlin chasing a small bird. Wow! David missed it.

We headed for Loch Dubh, en route to which there was a lot of discussion as to the best way. Some bits were steeper than I’d expected, even though I’d acknowledged the closeness of the contours.

We bashed on and found one or two vague paths that took us to the head of the loch, but the hut or bothy marked on my map did not appear. Not in itself a concern, but I’d hoped it would help us locate the path we were looking for. No path materialised. This meant we struggled on for what seemed like an eternity, following the Allt an Lochain Duibh along Gleann Lochain. It was hard going, we occasionally found a vague path that would then peter out and this continued well into Glen Banchor and along the River Calder. It started to rain as we made our way along the river, but I tried to think of it as trying out my Paramo! (I liked that I didn’t feel as hot wearing it as I had on the Challenge in my Dynamo and Quattro, but I accepted at the time, I was over-wrapped!)

Eventually, after I’d started to stumble and fall a couple of times, we got to something like a reasonable track before we found ourselves crossing the bridge at Glenballoch house and heading back towards the car park.

The head of Loch Dubh and the threatening skies

I had enjoyed the first part of our walk and even the climb to the summit. Getting to the head of Loch Dubh was ok, but after stumbling along the rough ground for a while, my patience was wearing thin. However, even I noticed some remarkable advances in my attitude to walking. Just a few years ago, I found going ‘off piste’ quite disturbing. Being an Englishwoman, it felt decidedly wrong to stray from a path and I would be worried we were doing something wrong or unacceptable. Yesterday it didn’t even occur to me, I didn’t feel remotely misplaced or disturbed by it. My approach to fording is vastly improved. I might still prefer to find my own route across rather than following David, which is quite normal for anyone, but I will then cross with much more confidence and with barely a second thought. Much less time wasting!

Roughly 18.6 km 767 m 3 kmph

(About 12 km across rough ground and bog)

(Very roughly, still not good with metric, but I’m trying!)

Full marks

2011-08-12T12:46:00.001+01:00

During the Challenge, my Rab gaiters had developed a fault. One of the rivets at the bottom of each gaiter holding the hook on had come out, so the hook was swinging. Strangely, over time, David’s pair had developed a different fault.

Last week I finally got around to packaging them up and returning them to Webtogs from whence they came last November. I received an email to say they had arrived and been forwarded to Rab for investigation. I had assumed that David’s would be repaired and returned and that mine might have to be replaced.

Imagine my delight when I received a package this morning containing two new pairs, ten days after I first posted the original pairs! Excellent service I’d say and this happy customer will be returning to make more purchases sometime in the near future.

Another success has been the purchase of a Gram-Counter Gear Side Guy Kit from Ultralight. Again, a very quick service (I love free P&P, especially living in the north of Scotland, some companies seem to find it an outrageous £20 of difficult to reach!) and I’ve experimented by attaching a Grip Clip to my Kraz and pitched it in the garden to see if it helps with the saggy bottom (the tent, not mine!) Success, a very useful bit of kit and the second one (they come as a pair) is light enough to carry, with a length of guy and the spare peg, if my long side ever decides to get overly flappy in a stiff breeze.

Before

After

Of course, still not the best pitching ever, but I was limited by the obstacles…

Happy, happy, happy.

Inconvenient

2011-08-04T09:24:00.001+01:00

We’re suppose to be boiling our water in this locality, e-coli has been found. I found out accidently using the BBC red button just before I went to bed last night. About 10.40pm, a little man shoved a warning card through my letter box. “Useful,” I thought, “How many people will rise in the morning, clean their teeth, eat their breakfast, then leave for work and find the warning as they go to the front door?” I at least managed to take a mug of previously boiled water into the bathroom to use to clean my teeth. Shame I forgot about it until I left the bathroom.

Mind you, at least their kettle and mug cupboard won’t be being guarded by an enormous spider…

Flying visit

2011-07-31T15:54:00.005+01:00

David came home for the weekend on Friday and the forecast looked good for yesterday, so we thought it might be nice to pop up a big hill with our three children that walk. It was decided to return to Cairn Gorm for a second and hopefully more successful attempt, so off we went.

There were clear blue skies and blazing sunshine when we left home, but there was some high cloud when we arrived at the National Park. No matter, it was high enough not to obscure the views. We were actually a little tardy yesterday and didn’t leave much before lunch, I shared in the children’s disappointment that we didn’t nibble on a sandwich before we left the car. At least we were able to park in the top car park this time and there would obviously be no snow to plough through, which made the going a whole lot easier.

The unmissable path

Without hesitation, so David wasn't quick enough to catch me!

Ok, the stream is neither wide nor deep, but the rocks are set quite wide apart for those of with shorter legs!

A rest break looking towards Meall a’ Bhuachaille

Toiling upwards

We toiled upwards, it was a warm day with a surprising lack of a breeze all day. The couple ahead that we had been playing leap frog with peeled off and took the cliff edge path, Ciara and I thought we’d prefer a more gentle ascent, taking the path that goes towards Ben Macdui, then cutting across to the Stob Coire an t-Sneachda path at around NN983 011. We were really able to truck along on this easy part of the walk and were chuffed to be eathing lunch at the Stob when the couple that had taken the high path came down and past us again.

Really trucking along

Then it’s a case of picking your own path through the boulders for a while before a more obvious path once again becomes clear to the foot of Cairn Gorm.

The new Paramo, briefly deployed over lunch

No path

Why is Conall going the wrong way?

It’s good to know that when you get to the foot of Cairn Gorm, it’s just a short burst of steepness before you reach the top. It was even better when there was a faint path to follow through the boulders and then we were there!

Path again for a while

The weather station

The boys are not that tall!

There are cairns marking the route off the top. Lots of cairns. A ridiculous amount of cairns! There’s also a horrible ‘tourist path’ down to the The Ptarmigan, then we took the main track from there. It just about killed my knees at this point, I even had to resort to Ibuprofen, which is rare for me (I’m not supposed to take it…) but we could see the car in the distance and the thought of a cold drink and an ice cream spurred us on.

You might not be able to work out the ridiculous number of cairns

Horrid path!

View towards Loch Avon

Views towards the car and Loch Morlich

The boys both got a headache, with Aedan particularly this can lead to difficulties, but they both mentioned it in time for the paracetamol, crisps and extra fluids to be distributed with no further issues. Ciara struggled, but persevered, so was very proud of herself in the end. I was hot, a really hot thing, but not as unfit as I’d expected, considering the almost complete lack of exercise since the end of May. I’d remembered to strap both my heels to protect the new skin there after my humdinger of a TGO blister and had no problems at all. The only other mishap was accidently clicking the disc in one of my hand warmers whilst administering first aid to the boys. Oops!

So, that’s four for me and two for the children.

All in all, a good day! Around 8.85 miles, 2683 ft ascent, 2mph average 4 hours 21 minutes walking, 1 hour 47 minutes resting.

When I dropped David at the station at lunch time today, I discovered a sale. At an outdoor retailers. I found myself inside said shop, admiring a pair of Merrell Chameleon Arc Mid boots. They were £20 cheaper than the pair that I ordered online (from the same retailer) that are on their way. (They are coming with a pair for Aedan, the price of which was unchanged) So, I bought them and I’ll return the other pair when they get here. Comfy they are too!

New boots!

A paraprosdokian is a phrase with an unexpected ending

2011-07-29T13:20:00.001+01:00

Not the sort of thing I would usually post here, but it made me smile, not something I expected today!

Some of these are clever..............
Ø    Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
Ø    Going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.
Ø    The last thing I want to do is hurt you. But it's still on the list.
Ø   Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
Ø   If I agreed with you we'd both be wrong.
Ø    We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.
Ø    War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
Ø   Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit; Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Ø    The early bird might get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Ø    Evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening', and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.
Ø    To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism. To steal from many is research.
Ø   A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station.
Ø   How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

Ø   Dolphins are so smart that within a few weeks of captivity, they can train people to stand on the very edge of the pool and throw them some fish.
Ø   A bank is a place that will lend you money, if you can prove that you don't need it.
Ø   Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?
Ø   Women will never be equal to men until they can walk down the street with a bald head and a beer gut, and still think they are sexy.

Ø   Behind every successful man is his woman. Behind the fall of a successful man is usually another woman.
Ø   A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
Ø   Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.
Ø    Hospitality: making your guests feel like they're at home, even if you wish they were.
Ø   Money can't buy happiness, but it sure makes misery easier to live with.
Ø   I discovered I scream the same way whether I'm about to be devoured by a great white shark or if a piece of seaweed touches my foot.
Ø   Some cause happiness wherever they go. Others whenever they go.
Ø   When tempted to fight fire with fire, remember that the Fire Department usually uses water.
Ø   You're never too old to learn something stupid.
Ø   To be sure of hitting the target, shoot first and call whatever you hit the target.
Ø   A bus is a vehicle that runs twice as fast when you are after it as when you are in it.
Ø   Change is inevitable, except from a vending machine.

Uh oh

2011-07-29T09:13:00.001+01:00

That’s not a good start to a day that could get ugly.

Today we do the annual School Shoe Shop. I hate this day. The children hate me hating this day. It will be tense and it will be ugly.

This morning I woke up around 5.30 am and couldn’t get back to sleep. Until, inevitably, I nodded off just as I decided it was time to give up. And then woke up late. Not good.

I made my customary cup of tea which I left to stew whilst firing up the PC before embarking on the day properly awake.

I returned to the kitchen to put milk in my tea. The milk curdled.

This is really not a good start to the day.

Edited:

And then! It’s a good job I was cleaning the bath before I had my shower. If' I’d been in the shower when I found the tarantula hiding behind the shampoo I would have been in a really tricky situation, with only my teenage son to rescue me!

In my haste to leave the bathroom I locked myself in…

An unwanted adventure

2011-07-28T17:45:00.001+01:00

Or, how to put your teenage daughter off bus travel for-e-ver!

Or how to spend an afternoon having a lovely drive through the countryside.

(Or, next time, just give her a lift!)

Recently I’ve been instilling a little independence into our offspring, Ciara is doing a lot of baking, Aedan is using his bike, a lot, and Rhiannon is catching the bus to see friends. From here to town is easy.

Today, she caught the bus into Elgin to go to ‘The Pictures’ with a friend to see Harry Potter. (Again.) She bought her return ticket and watched her film, then returned to the bus station and jumped on the bus.

Sounds good so far.

About 3.30 pm I received a telephone call.

“Mum, I’m on the bus, but I don’t know where I am.”

Ah.

It dawned on my she’d got on the right bus, but heading in the opposite direction. The bus station is in the middle and the same bus goes both ways.

Ooops.

My advice was, tell the bus driver you think you’re on the wrong bus.

I rang her back a while later, she’d told the driver and he was returning her to Elgin, but she didn’t know if she would have to purchase a new ticket. I opted to rescue our traumatised daughter from the bus station.

It is, admittedly, quite a while since we were living without a car and used the local buses regularly, but I did think they’d gained enough bus experience to know what to do. Maybe not.

Zooming in

2011-07-23T12:29:00.001+01:00

As suggested by Alan, I’ve done a little zooming, but as they were really, excruciatingly bad photographs, the results are unsurprisingly dreadful!

Female hen harrier

And, believe it or not, a (sharpened and zoomed) short-eared owl

I did warn you!

A few Orkney short walks (and some aimless planning…)

2011-07-23T12:13:00.001+01:00

We did a few (very) short walks whilst on Orkney, the first being an all inclusive walk. We perused the Standing Stones of Stenness and the Barnhouse before strolling around the nature reserve to the Ring of Brodgar and back. There was wildlife and we also collected two geocaches en route.

Ring of Brodgar

2.88 miles, 48 ft ascent, not long!

(I did say short walks, didn’t I?)

The second was very pleasant, walking along cliff tops heaving with wildlife to the Kitchener Memorial and returning along deserted country lanes, and with no geocaching.

The Kitchener Memorial

4.08 miles, 430 ft ascent, a bit longer. There was much dawdling.

The third also manage to encompass most of the above (no real history bits) from the house to the Loch of Kirbister and back and was even shorter.

2.23 miles, 101 ft ascent, not long.

The next walk at Mull Head I thought was a bit longer, but was actually slightly shorter again, but there was history and wildlife. The geocaching was drive by.

Deer Sound

3.8 miles, 640 ft ascent, quite a while, there was lots to look at.

Finally, there was the Earls Bu, Swanbister, Breck circuit, again shortish, but nature, history and geocaching was ‘enjoyed’.

I’m a Challenger, I can do anything, ahem…

3.42 miles, 178 ft ascent. A little while.

Sadly, since my return, I’ve been feeding my habit. My map habit that is.

I’ve been planning ‘possible’ future TGO routes. I was quietly congratulating myself for having completed a rather nice route (nothing new to most, but a progression for me) when I suddenly realised the flaw in my plan. This was a step up. A bit more adventurous. It required not one, but two FWAs. Oh dear.

The first was not too bad, but if there continued to be a problem with the weather, I’d need a second. That one was more tricky. It would be much longer and I’d probably lose my rest day. Not a complete disaster, but not my preferred option.

A solution (or maybe wimpy option) would be to do a different first FWA that would then avoid the need for a second and retain my rest day, but it bypasses the main reason for this route, Nethybridge.

A dilemma to ponder…

Now for the geocaching

2011-07-19T15:52:00.001+01:00

Now, geocaching is really just a cheats way of making exercise and nature seem like something completely different. Having said that, we usually only manage to persuade the boys to come with us. The girls even stay in the car when we do a drive-by cache, there’s no fooling them, although Ciara will join us occasionally.

We discovered there was a short walk that neatly included three tourist bits and a couple of caches, so off we went.

The Standing Stones of Stenness

This was the start of the walk, then on to Barnhouse

Barnhouse

The first cache was by the road, near a single standing stone

Aedan’s first find

There were views of Hoy and wildflower meadows set aside for corncrakes en route for the Ring of Brodgar

The hills of Hoy in the clouds

Lots of wildflowers

The Ring of Brodgar

If you’ve ever seen Billy Connolly’s World Tour of Scotland, this is where he danced in and out of the standing stones. Naked.

David and Aedan, doing a poor impression

Moments of arty farty stuff

I apparently forgot to photograph the second cache

Third cache

This one was so close to the house we just walked down the road a mile to find it. It was also the day I took the dreadful photographs of the owl.

Fourth cache

This one was a tricky drive-by after a ‘short’ walk at Mull Head.

I managed to forget to photograph the next two caches. I’d had a hard day.

Seventh cache

I’ll come back to this one. It was the first of a group of three on a short walk along the coast which included a little archeology too.

The Orkneyinga Saga Heritage Centre

Earl’s Bu and church

Eighth cache

Ninth and final cache, phew!

Geocaching seemed like such a good idea, to give the younger members of our group something to do to keep them interested whilst we get to do a bit of walking. It also gives them some experience using the GPS, which might come in useful one day. However, I find it incredibly frustrating, the seventh cache in particular.

The GPS gets you within a few metres of the hidden cache, just as you’d expect. You are given clues or hints to help you find the exact spot. The clue for this one, ‘under stone’. Very useful when the entire area is covered in grass and weeds over two feet tall! Ha blooming ha. It took us half_an_hour and I would have given up if it wasn’t for the fact that I knew I’d be furious with myself if we did. When we got home and I logged in to record our finds, I read the comments for this cache. We were not the only ones to have had difficulty, it turned out, so I left a rather pithy comment myself.

Still, keeps them occupied.

Some Orkney Wildlife

2011-07-19T15:07:00.002+01:00

There’s a lot of wildlife on Orkney and I have a lot of dreadful photographs, so I apologise in advance, but they’ll give you the general idea. I hope.

We watched a lot of hares from the windows of the house

It’s a seal, not a rock

Definitely not rocks!

This is an arctic tern

Another one with a fish!

A juvenile common gull (I've been told. Not so exciting...)Another juvenile common gull, sadlyA meadow lark with a nice juicy green caterpillar in it’s beak

Fulmar and chick. There were lots and lots of theseThis beautiful little puffin knew he was being watched

RazorbillBlack guillemot

Kittiwake, I think, but I haven’t taken a closer look yet

Butterflies are not my strong point, but I think this is a painted lady

Magpie moth

Caterpillar of what I have no idea, but it was huge!

Jelly fish, in a loch?

Grass of Parnassus

Orchid

Another orchid

Northern marsh, early marsh, maybe a cross? They were all a bit past it, so it was hard to tell for someone without expertise.

Lousewort amongst crowberry

Yellow rattle

And my favourite sightings, but worst photographs…

Trust me, it is a short eared owl

This is a hen harrier

Yes, it is. It’s a female hen harrier and we saw lots of males and females all over the island, including from our lounge and kitchen windows.

I didn’t manage to photograph the otter at all, but it’s long since been my ambition to see one and I was delighted!

The Orkney Tourist

2011-07-19T13:20:00.001+01:00

Well, we did some tourist bits, but there’s loads left to do, we’ll just have to go back…

3rd July

Replica of Skara Brae

Hole perfectly sized for a 10 year old boy, but no lock and key

No hole big enough for a strapping 14 year old

The remains of the real thing

Skail House

Kayak graveyard in Stromness

What?!

5th July

The Italian Chapel

An interesting WII PoW story, but I won’t go into the details here.

Astounding interior

One of the wrecks as we crossed the Churchill Barriers

Bronze Age site at the Tomb of the Eagles

The Original Visitor Centre

Recycling at it’s best…

One..

…by one…

…they disappeared!

My interior photographs are not very good.

10th July

Bishop’s Palace, Kirkwall

St Magnus Cathedral, well, bits of it

Inside the Earl’s Palace

11th July

A terrible photograph of The Gloop

It was a tunnel from the sea into a cave until the roof collapsed. Or it could have been a blow hole.

The nice steps going to the Brough of Deerness

The slightly less nice steps…

There is currently an archaeological excavation at the Brough, but I didn’t get any photographs.

We made our way to the trig at Mull Head and carried on to complete a circuit. Well, for a little while, before we turned back to try to find an alternative route. The resident arctic skuas didn’t like us much, poor Aedan was dive-bombed! If I had realised they were nesting there, obviously I would have found the other path straight off, but we’d grown so accustomed to seeing them patrolling the cliff tops, I hadn’t paid attention. As soon as I saw it swooping along the moorland skyline towards Aedan, I realised my mistake and we beat a hasty retreat to find the less distinct cliff top path. Ooops. Added a little excitement to the day.

12th July

The causeway to the Brough of Birsay

This trip has to be well planned, there is a four hour window which allows you to walk the causeway to visit the Brough

The orange ant in the middle is TTS going back to the car to retrieve the picnic

14th July

The Broch of Gurness

15th July

Waulkmill Bay

Who needs the Med?

Next, the Nature Bit

A good start

2011-07-17T19:57:00.001+01:00

We got off to a flying start when we set off, leaving the house just before 8 am. That’s pretty good for us!

Getting on to the ferry at Scrabster

A beautiful day as we leave the mainland behind

We’re soon passing the Old Man of Hoy

And we arrived to find a beautiful house, Burnlee

Where we could watch the wildlife from our armchairs

On our first night we watched a short-eared owl hunting over the moorland in front of the house. On the second, we watched a hen harrier. We saw them both regularly during our stay and others on our journeys around the islands. We watched dozens of hare as we ate our meals or lounged in the evening. As we explored the islands we saw seals, fulmar, puffin, gannets, common and black guillemots, shag, eider duck and just briefly, a merlin and an otter.

We did a lot of tourist stuff, a little walking, a lot of eating, a bit of shopping and some geocaching. More of that later.

(There’ll be more. I’m still organising over one thousand photographs, groan!)

Did you miss me?

2011-07-16T21:52:00.000+01:00

Yeah, sure you did. I can hear the stampede of bloggers rushing to read the new post... Well, you can wait a while longer, I've lots to do before I can spend time writing up our activities, not least charging the camera battery so I can download a million and one photographs, then choose a couple to punctuate the post. Onwards!

It was an accident, cough.

2011-06-23T11:08:00.001+01:00

Well, sort of. After The Challenge, I’d decided that my waterproof jacket needed a rethink. I love Montane, all three of my main jackets (waterproof, soft shell and down) are Montane and they are great, but I felt the Quattro didn’t perform as well as I would have liked. Mind you, they were challenging conditions, so I shouldn’t have felt too let down. I just felt a bit damp.

I think the main issue was breathability, which actually could have been my own fault as I was determined to keep my Dynamo on underneath the Quattro. The Dynamo breathes brilliant, but when really, really wet, the Quattro, struggled, so between the two was damp, although my base layer was fine (merino, of course!) I should have taken off the Dynamo perhaps, but the strength of the wind made me feel cold (psychological, I’m sure). I came to the conclusion I needed to change something and as I love my Dynamo so much, it was the Quattro that had to go. At least into my day pack rather than for longer trips (if I get to do any more, honeybun…)

The plan was to try out David’s Paramo before buying one for myself. It’s obviously too big for me and that probably adds to it feeling so heavy, but I was lacking in wet weather, somewhat surprisingly, to really try it out. I had to make do with testing it’s breathability in warm, damp conditions and as it was, it seemed ok. Then, there came an opportunity and lo and behold…

Oops!

I don’t know how that happened.

Fortunately, I still had my birthday money from mum to spend. It’s neutral, so it won’t clash with any of my black gear or any of the other stuff that, er, clashes with each other.

Obviously, the reflective stripe works. Excellent.

So long as I don’t fall into a drift of grubby snow, I’ll be fine.

I don’t do things like that. No, not me. Never…

Trivia

2011-06-20T14:48:00.001+01:00

Whilst on the Challenge, I had many pleasant chats with a lot of people, but one in particular has been bugging me ever since. Fairly near the end of my walk, on the way from Tarfside to North Water Bridge, Laura and I walked a short way with a group of chaps we’d both bumped into intermittently along the way. I walked and chatted with one of them who was being sponsored on his Challenge, (I think his name was Andy, but I’m rubbish with names) and we were talking about a small market town in Lincolnshire, Louth. We got to talking about well known figures that came from or who had lived there or had connections in the area and I mentioned an actor who crops up all over the place and has recently played a professor in the Harry Potter films, but I couldn’t think of his name (no surprise there then…)

His name came to me in a blinding flash whilst I was in the hotel room at The Park, but of course, the moment had passed and the information was now immaterial. Now, however, I can’t get the name out of my head! I’m hoping that once I’ve declared it out loud, it will leave me alone.

Jim Broadbent.

There you go.

Hopefully, I can happily forget it again now.

Icebreaker reviews

2011-06-16T16:39:00.002+01:00

I have been asked by the Nature Shop to review two garments from Icebreaker.

Original specifications

Tech t lite petal £49 (Photograph pinched from the net)
Versatile Superfine can be worn solo in the heat and layered in cooler conditions. A lightweight system of fine layers designed to travel across seasons and continents, Superfine regulates temperature, is highly breathable, doesn’t hold odour and takes less energy to produce than cotton.
Our lightest ultrafine merino t-shirt is soft and gentle against the skin. This Icebreaker favourite - now with a stunning floral design - has classic styling and keeps you cool, dry and comfortable, whether you're trekking through a tropical rainforest or running along a beach in midsummer.
New Zealand's tree daisy - featured on this cool new design - is a flower that naturally attracts.
Regular fit
Crewe neck
Set-in sleeves
Icebreaker Zephyr Hood £89 (Photograph pinched from the net)All season lifestyle sweaters, perfect for urban living and travel.

Keep out winter winds with the brand new Zephyr Hood. We're expecting the Zephyr to become one of Icebreaker's most popular styles, thanks to its cosy fabric, shaped hood, essential winter colours and beautiful, nature-inspired prints.
Shaped hood
Set-in sleeves
Forward side seam
Single running stitch graphic embroidery
Icebreaker pip label

Both of these garments arrived in excellent condition. Once removed from their packaging, they could be worn immediately with no worries about creases. There were no problems with the stitching nor any loose threads.

The tech t lite petal t-shirt is a relaxed, shaped fit, suitably styled for active or casual wear. It is soft against the skin and feels light to wear, barely noticeable. The fabric gives excellent temperature control in warm or cool conditions. I wore the t-shirt almost continually for a fortnight for trips to Tesco, gentle strolls, brisk walks and general lounging around the house with no undue effect on the appearance of the garment or any unpleasant odour. I also happily layered this top with the Zephyr Hood. Weight 106g, weighed on my digital kitchen scales.

The Zephyr Hood is a shaped fit suitable for active or casual wear. Again, it is soft and comfortable to wear in warm and cool temperatures. I regularly layered the Hood with the tech t lite petal t-shirt during similar activities and never had a bundled or restricted feeling and remained at a comfortable temperature. The Hood kept its shape well and remained odour free. Weight 315g, weighed on my digital kitchen scales.

In the end, I washed both of these garments for the purposes of this review, rather than because they needed to be washed. They both washed well and dried quickly. It was my choice not to iron either garment and to wear them again straight away. The t-shirt was a little crumpled initially, but ‘ironed out’ once worn, but the Hood, being a slightly heavier fabric, was un-creased.

Tech t lite petal after first wash

Zephyr Hood after first wash

I received many compliments from friends about both of these garments, the styling and softness of the fabric were the main talking points. I have been delighted with both of these tops as they easily lived up to the my expectations of Icebreaker garments. If there was anything I might change (other than being more adventurous with colour, I must stop being so safe!) it would be the cuffs of the Zephyr Hood. Part of this is just personal preference, I’m not keen on a big cuff, but I actually think it would fit the styling of the top better if they matched the hem and hood of the top.

Cuff against hem

Cuff against hood

However, this is a minor issue and I still loved both of these tops and I know they will play an integral part in my wardrobe, both for everyday wear and as part of my walking gear. They are both already on my kit list for my next Challenge! I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend either of these garments as I think they are versatile and practical as well as excellent quality.

As to Nature Shop, using their site is easy, payment straightforward and delivery prompt. The items were packaged simply but effectively, there was no damage or unnecessary creasing to the garments. All round an excellent experience and thank you to Katarina for having given me this opportunity, it was actually great fun!

My kind of day

2011-06-10T12:19:00.002+01:00

It was a beautiful start to the day, perfect Challenge weather, so, rather than entertaining TTS’s suggestion that I cut the grass today, I decided to go for a stroll. It was, after all, the perfect day for a bit of bird spotting.

I strolled to the post office first, primarily to post a Thank You card to Val, Tina and Sarah at Cougie Lodge. They were party to me not giving up on the second day of my Challenge (what a wuss, I ask you…) then on I went to the marshes. As I’d hoped, the burn was low, indicating a low tide, so I ambled on to the marshes, binoculars at the ready.

What a glorious day, blue skies with the odd fluffy, white cloud, plenty of warm sunshine, a breeze just light enough to keep off the flies, but not enough to chill when pausing to enjoy the view.

There were acrobatic swallows, charming goldfinches (ho ho! Sorry), bubbling curlew, tuneful skylarks (I’m deliberately avoiding alliteration here…) insistent oystercatchers and plentiful meadow pipits, not to mention the less exciting gulls and corvids.

I crossed the burn, past by the Three Bears’ House (old defence turret thingy/pillbox) and I made my way to a handy tree trunk made for perching my bum on and waited.

And waited.

My patience (which is unusual) was eventually rewarded when I spotted two osprey, fishing in the bay! They were way out and tricky to see, one disappeared when I took my eye off it momentarily, but I saw the other one dive and the huge splash as it hit the target. Judging by the way it was mobbed by the local gulls, I suspect it was successful and disappeared off to enjoy the catch, or feed it to an expectant mate or maybe even chicks! (No camera, of course.)

There was another bird, behaving in a suspiciously osprey like way, but I didn’t see it dive, just flying to a perch on the opposite river bank and staying quite a while, typical of a bird enjoying a meal. Trouble was, it was at quite a distance and the water haze made it difficult to pick out any detail, so I couldn’t positively ID it as an osprey. My guess would be yes, but that maybe because I want it to have been one!

A far better way to spend my time than cutting the grass. That’ll still be there in the morning.

On days like this, I love my world.

A life more ordinary

2011-06-07T09:25:00.001+01:00

Firstly, I went for my regular Monday walk yesterday, not only was it rather pleasant and not at all painful, it was the first time I’d worn my Brashers since my return and they were back to their old, comfy selves. Brilliant.

Secondly, whilst on my regular Monday walk, I was able to pop to see my osprey nest. I’d been worried about the nest due to the dreadful storm we had while I was Challenging. I was delighted to find an osprey on the nest, possibly still incubating eggs or maybe on chicks by now. Excellent!

I’ve made a decision on my new footwear. You may remember, if you pay any attention at all (and I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t , I don’t!) I had purchased a pair of Keen Shasta boots. Sadly, after only twenty miles, these had developed a defect, the mesh was fraying in several places, so I had to return them and decided not to replace them straight away. The shoes I actually want to replace are Merrell Siren Sport Ventillators and they have been great, but a shade snug for anything more than a stroll, although I do wear them constantly for pottering, trips to Tesco etc.. I have come to the conclusion that these in a bigger size would be perfect. On investigation, I’ve come up with three models that I’m going to take a close look at, all mid boots, the Ventillator, the Chameleon and the Moab. Almost sorted!

I now know when I’m going to get to play with my beautiful, new PHD sleeping bag. I’ve been asked to help at another Guide camp (groan, what was I thinking?!) so this will give me an ideal opportunity to try it out, I can’t wait! Kind of.

So, there you go. Back to dull, dull, dull!

Life after

2011-06-04T17:44:00.001+01:00

So, I’ve been home a week.

Usually, when I can’t get something out of my head, it’s something bad, something annoying, something I wish I’d done differently, better, or not at all. It’s a continuous, tortuous nightmare that goes round and round my head, driving me to distraction and much itching (my eczema tends to be stress related…)

This time, it’s a good thing that I can’t get out of my head, I think about it so many times, everyday. It’s driving me to distraction, but not itching. (It doesn’t help that I’m catching up with other peoples’ reports and photographs, it gets a bit obsessive!)

Get the feeling I’ll be back.

Especially as I’ve already had a vague look at a couple of routes, not the ones I’ve already saved, new ones. Oh dear.

The healing is going well. I was able to remove the Compeed from my heel whilst I was still at the hotel, much to Laura’s delight, but I haven’t yet tested the new skin out much, it looks a bit delicate still.

I think the yellow bits surrounded by red are where the depth of the blisters were

I’ve realised that I probably didn’t feel them as I should have done because I was taking painkillers for my shoulder injury at the time and it obviously dulled the pain in my heel. Still, that meant I could keep going because I was oblivious. Was a bit of a mess according to TTS who had to patch it up in Braemar. Good lad. I have noticed a lack of sensation in that area though. Hopefully, that’ll improve in time.

The shoulder is appears to be completely better. I’ve had no pain or discomfort since last weekend, so that’s good.

I’ve been looking at new kit. I have decided, however, that most of it will not be purchased for a year or two yet, if at all. I will replace bits as and when they need to be, for instance, my waterproof jacket. I like my Quattro, but I think I need something more substantial or maybe just different for a Challenge experience. I’m researching.

Oh well, back to real life.

Something new to try from Icebreaker

2011-05-29T20:14:00.001+01:00

I’ve been approached by the Nature Shop to do some reviews for them of Icebreaker garments. I’ve received two Icebreaker tops to take a look at, a Zephyr Hood in Blizzard and a Tech T Lite Petal in Pewter. They both arrived when I was on the Challenge and TTS brought them to Laggan for me to see before bringing them with him again to Braemar for me to take a closer look.

My first impressions are that they both arrived in good condition. When unwrapped, they both felt as I would expect, soft and cosy. I was able to put them both to good use, as the weather was a shade inclement and I felt cold, in need of something luxurious to make me feel better. I tried both independently before wearing them layered, along with my Icebreaker Infinity top. They were both smooth and easy to wear alone and when layered, I did not feel at all restricted or bundled, there was no bulkiness.

I have returned from my trip and I am now wearing both tops, alone and together as required, to test durability and odour resistance. They are both crease free and fresh in the morning and this is the third day of use, counting the one and a half in Braemar.

The trial continues and I will report further when they have been worn for longer and perhaps during exercise and after having being washed.

Final thoughts

2011-05-29T14:17:00.001+01:00

My Challenge 2011 has been an extraordinary experience. There’s no one thing that could sum it all up.

The incredible kindness and support shown by complete strangers was astounding, new friendships born out of adversity. I learnt that I can push myself further than I’d ever imagined and I can probably push myself further still, I can achieve more. I met some lovely people, those that I knew ‘virtually’ and finally met in the flesh and those that were completely new to me. I also heard some interesting things about people, some about myself that took me by surprise. *

The weather was unusual and at times, extreme. I have witnessed extreme weather, I remember well being lashed by the tail end of a hurricane just a few years ago here in Scotland, but I didn’t venture out in it. The weather that particular Monday was quite extraordinary. By the time we reached Tarfside, I felt quite exhilarated by it, we survived our beating with style! And a little help from some kindly gentlemen that happened our way.

Certainly my choice of gear played a part in my experience and on the whole, I feel that what I chose suited me and performed well.

My tent, though basic and cheap, was solid and water tight. I know of others, far more expensive and well respected, that failed. The sleeping system worked for me. I love my Thermarest and Gayle’s Rab sleeping bag was just brilliant. Thanks again Gayle!

My various merino items were, as usual, the best thing since sliced bread. My beautiful, hand knitted flip flap mitts (Alan, they are beautiful) kept my hands mostly warm and functioning. Even on That Monday, my hands were still working despite being lumps of ice. I certainly didn’t have to resort to the handwarmers. My three Montane jackets, especially the Dynamo and Antifreeze, were brilliant. I may consider changing my Quattro for longer treks, but I think any waterproof jacket (except perhaps Paramo, which were highly praised) would have wetted out in those dire conditions and my baselayer did remain dry and warm regardless.

My boots got a good soaking, there’s no doubt and I did suffer a cracking blister on my right heel, but this is the heel with the dodgy lump on my Achilles, so I’ll reserve judgement.

I had little food left, a few hot drink and soup sachets, along with some trail mix and oatcake crumbs, so I’d managed my food well. I love my Jetboil Flash, there were a few people envious of that! It was easy and efficient .

What else is there to say? I’ve been asked so many times, during the Challenge and since, would I do it again? Initially, my response was '”Not on my own, I’d rather be with The Trusty Sidekick.” Having completed the Challenge in those exceptional conditions, I’ve come to realise that I could probably do it again, alone, so the answer now would be “Probably.” Maybe that application form will be finding it’s way into the post in a few months…

Thank you to anyone and everyone who helped and supported me with this, my Big Adventure, before and during the event. Your advice and encouragement has been invaluable and is greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

*Apparently, there was a chap I never met, proclaiming that I was an ‘irritating first-timer, latching on to unsuspecting Challengers’. This amused me as it couldn’t have been further from the truth. I may be irritating and a first-timer, but I didn’t ‘latch on to’ a single soul. Two solo walkers elected to keep me company, on separate occasions, and look after me as they felt I needed it (I was pleased to have company to ford a tricky burn in spate), a lovely couple asked me if I’d like to walk with them a while as they enjoyed my company and Laura, well we walk together anyway, so as she had to change her route and went my way, it would have been churlish not to! I didn’t appreciate the misrepresentation, but those that got to know me (and therefore matter) know better, so that’s that! (Of course said chap could have been misquoted…)

TGO Challenge The End

2011-05-28T23:00:00.001+01:00

Friday 27th May, 2011

Today was the day to go home. Laura decided to join me on the train and so off we went to the station. There were many other Challengers, but they were going the other way.

Photograph wars

Then there were none

They went that way

TGO Challenge day 13

2011-05-28T22:55:00.002+01:00

Thursday 26th May, 2011
The Park Hotel

Much milling about, eating, retail therapy, drinking and celebrating went on today, not least because it was my birthday! I don’t think there’s any need to go into great detail, but I was touched by people’s kindness, especially Gayle and Mick and Barbara and Hugh for their cards and bubbly and Laura for my beautiful TGO fleece. It’s purple and soft and cosy and I love it! Thank you all.

I went to the meal in the evening, delighted to be able to sit with Mick and Gayle, slightly worried to have been asked to present Roger with his handmade card as a representative of all first timers. Thanks so much Alan, what a treat, over 300 people sang Happy Birthday to me, not at all embarrassing.

Cheers Roger

There was eating, drinking, clapping, cheering, speeches photographs. In fact, it’s all pretty much a blur. I finally met Martin Banfield in the bar, along with a few others, like Roger Boston. I’m sure there were others, but we’ve already established I’m rubbish with names. It was gone twelve before Laura and I made our way to bed.

TGO Challenge day 12

2011-05-28T22:45:00.003+01:00

Wednesday 25th May, 2011
North Water Bridge to St Cyrus
8.21 miles 605 ft

We made a good getaway from the campsite, aided by the edge of a rain shower which saw all the tents disappear as one. Jon Hancock and Colin joined us and we wended our merry way along country lanes towards the sea. Colin took an alternative route as we headed over the Hill of Morphie, Mick was following his nose for a tea room. It failed him.

How did that one sneak in?

On our way to the sea

Guess

When we reached the village, we headed for the beach, joined by Mervyn. First we climbed down the cliff face. We dipped toes, we congratulated one another, we hugged, shook hands and photographed.

Toe dipping

Think that hat is wearing me

Mervyn, Jon, Laura, Gayle and Mick

Then, we climbed up the cliff face. That took a while. On the way up, we met more Challengers. Mick was absolutely gutted to find the tea rooms he'd so looked forward to had closed down. Disaster! Instead, we joined an ever growing crowd of Challengers in the queue for the bus. The driver was not so happy to see so many single fares with £10 notes.

We made it to the Park, where we were greeted by Roger and handed our certificate, badge and t-shirt. Tea and biscuits were enjoyed before I decided to enquire after a room for an extra night. Success! Then Laura got one. Then there was a bit of bed juggling and Mick and Gayle had Laura’s room and I sub let my twin bed to Laura.

Many Challengers arrived, there were kisses and handshakes, tea, beers. The evening meal was arranged and after some ablutions, a group of nine went for a curry. We were joined in the restaurant by several other Challengers.

There are rather a lot of bottles there

Curry night

Upon our return to The Park, Laura and I retired to our beds, the excitement was just too much for us. I believe others may have indulged in more drinking.

TGO Challenge day 11

2011-05-28T22:25:00.004+01:00

Tuesday 24th May, 2011
Tarfside to North Water Bridge
16.9 miles 682 ft
Surprisingly, the next morning, most of our kit was about dry. I was impressed, seeing as my rucksack had been soaked through and my boots were just ridiculously wet, again. I used David’s big woolly socks that were padding my collar bones to stuff my boots and they successfully sucked up a vast amount of water. My dry bags also appear to be excellent at their job and my borrowed sleeping bag had been dry when I’d climbed into it the night before.
It was a nice day today, all day. Even the breezy bits! We left Tarfside just before 8.30am, Mick and Gayle having already vacated the room and headed off about 7am. They like an early start. We soon reached the Retreat where we stopped for breakfast. Yet again, I just couldn’t quite manage to eat. Damn these nerves of mine! Colin joined us, but managed to finish and leave before us as we took a last moment to enjoy with porcelain. We were soon on our way and successfully found the track down to the bridge across the river. It was a very different river today.
A great stop for breakfast
Not so raging
We made good progress all day, had the odd snack, water, gear faff and got to Edzell in time for a late lunch at the Tuck Inn, which was smashing. We bumped into lots of Challengers, Colin, Frank, Jim and all the boys whose names I have forgotten. It’s an age thing.
After lunch, we had to negotiate the Unsafe Bridge we’d heard tell of. Sure enough, there were barriers, but we soon scaled those and made our way across, oops! The loose board was right at the other end, I found out. There followed a bit of a road slog to North Water Bridge, but I didn’t really notice as I was behind Laura so wasn’t focussed on the long straight road.
Well, we got to the other side
Tent village
Tent city
There were many Challengers at the site and yet another pleasant evening followed with showering, washing, dinner, chocolate, spectating table tennis (oh Mick, that was sooo close!) maps perused, plans made and route agreed. Me, Laura, Mick, Gayle and Jon would head out together to finish in St Cyrus, a day ahead of schedule for me. Amazing.

TGO Challenge day 10

2011-05-28T22:00:00.004+01:00

Monday 23rd May, 2011

Allt-na-giubhsaich to Tarfside

15.4 miles 1837 ft

We could hear the wind during the night, but the woods were very sheltered and we had been able to enjoy the conversation between a pair of Tawny Owls as we’d nodded off to sleep. It began to rain lightly before we got up, but it was nothing compared to what we could see along the exposed track towards the Loch Muick visitor centre. Ah.

We broke camp in good time and made our way along the windswept track by 8am, only to take a break at the visitor centre. We enjoyed the use of the temporary loos and a hot orange drink before persuading ourselves we really had to get on with it and made our way up Allt Darrarie.

Oh my, talk about in spate, it was wild. There was much wet and plenty of bog. And there’s that flimsy, side-less bridge to cross. Deep joy. Onwards.

We knew we followed the stream until it split, then follow the right hand stream, negotiating the end of it (bog) through the gap and left again to find the Shielin of Mark. There it was! It was a bit wild getting there, the river was full to bursting and the rain came sideways. As we approached the bothy, there was a group of chaps across the river. They shouted to us, offering help to cross the raging torrent. This was a sensible option, but we needed shelter for lunch, of which there would be none until much further on and we needed to eat. It was before midday and we felt sure others would be along to help and if not, we would shelter at the bothy. We thanked them and reluctantly, they left us there.

We took shelter and had lunch. The bothy was dark and cold, not a place to linger. Soup was on the menu for both of us, along with oatcakes and anything else I could find! I took my jackets off and put on my down, bit daft but a sure way to warm up. We were soon joined by two chaps, Lee and Tony, who also brewed up, then Emily, John, Carrie and Dominique.

After a bit more faffing, we were outside, with Lee and Tony, pondering the raging torrent in front of us. After first going upstream heading in to the gales, we turned downstream to find a crossing point. I admitted my nerves, I’d never done a crossing like this before, but the boys were brilliant, finding a place they thought we could all cross, Laura and I with their help. They went first, followed by Laura, then me, fully dressed, no point in deploying the sandals this time. They encouraged my every step, constantly reassuring me. When I reached the opposite bank, there was one step into deep water, then I was hauled out by our heroes.

Laura and I poured water from our boots and wrung out our socks before continuing on.

Tony and Lee went on ahead, waving in the distance from time to time to show us the way. I carried on quite happily, even though it was uphill bogginess. Laura was flagging a little, but having a ball nevertheless. The weather was fun, apparently!

When we eventually caught up, we urged them to carry on at their own pace, but they refused to leave us until we had crossed the next burn at Stables of Lee. As we continued on up Muckle Cairn, the winds just got ridiculous. I have never been outside in anything like these conditions and I will never forget them. Laura was blown over, but managed to right herself and we continued up and then down the hill, being buffeted and blown and rained and hailed upon.

We reached the LRT and continued down the hill where we found the boys were right. We did indeed need help to cross the burn, but it was easier this time, narrower, so over more quickly and maybe not quite so deep. Confident we were safe, they left us and we had a brief break in the Stables. When we carried on, the wind was worse. It came from all directions, stopping us in our tracks, throwing us around, pushing us forward. We were soaked, had faces stinging from hail and were beginning to tire. I was glad to get to the road after Kirkton and the decision was made not take the footpath, despite being a mile shorter, as the road seemed to offer more shelter.

It felt like a long road to Tarfside. I began to worry about our condition and situation, we needed to find shelter and soon, but I did at least feel sure that if we just kept going, we could get there.

When we did, oh the relief. No matter that St Drostan’s was full, no matter there was no power, there was still hot food and friendly faces. Mike Knipe met us at the roadside and guided us inside, Mick, Gayle and Colin were soon at our sides, helping to unclip, remove gloves, coats, boots. A mug of hot soup was soon pressed into my hands by Gayle, horrified to find my hands replaced by lumps of ice. They’d also decided to share their tiny room with us, although in the end, Laura shared with Pat and Frank and I with Gayle and Mick.

The Fabulous Ladies of St Drostan’s conjured food and everyone that wanted was fed. We were reminded to be extra careful as the hostel was overfull, but there was an easy, friendly, relaxed atmosphere as we were all safe and well. There was some anxiety for others that we knew were still in the hills, we hoped they all had shelter.

Today was strangely exhilarating. The conditions and the way it affected the landscape was extraordinary. I’ve never been in such punishing conditions before and at times, I’m not afraid to admit, I was frightened, but at others, we laughed, “Pah to the wind!” we said. You had to laugh or you’d spend the whole day sobbing and distraught.

We took a risk and survived.

Surprisingly, there are no photographs of the days events…

TGO Challenge day 9

2011-05-28T20:59:00.002+01:00

Sunday 22nd May, 2011

Braemar to Allt-na-giubhsaich

14 miles 2207 ft

Today, I set off with Laura, because this is her neck of the woods and she knows the way! Actually, more because I enjoy her company, but I wasn’t going to let on.

It was another funny day, sunny, showery, breezy, warm turning to quite chilly. Actually, the breezy became more like really windy at times. We bumped into lots of people and Colin walked with us for a while.

Invercauld House

The woodlands of Braemar estate are jolly fine and we took a lovely break amongst the trees, followed by a bit of a gear faff by me. Soon, we struck out into the open to find a shed for another break, having decided we would bypass Gelder Shiel. It was quite a long slog up the hill before turning a corner and making our way down the other side, which included a river crossing where sandals were deployed. It was really quite gusty in the late afternoon and we were beginning to have difficulty at times.

Lunch stop

Sometimes it was nice

An unusual view of a rainbow

We came upon a tent village at Allt-na-giubhsaich and after much milling and discussion, decided that we would also camp in this naughty place. By this time, it was obvious any other shelter would be hard to come by. Although it was quite early, at 4 o’clock, it would probably have taken at least another two hours to find alternative shelter and given the worsening conditions, this could have been quite exhausting. Little did we know…

We were in bed by 7pm, maybe a little extreme, but there was little to do and we hoped for a good sleep. My heel was feeling much better since David had doctored it the night before. This was the only night I felt a little chilly in Millicent, but not for long.

TGO Challenge day 8

2011-05-28T20:38:00.002+01:00

Friday 20th May, 2011

Mar Lodge to Braemar

4.79 miles 458 ft

I was right, I spent a lot of the night fretting about my heel. It was throbbing, hot and disturbed me numerous times, but that could have been my over active imagination!

When I got up and ventured downstairs, we were all up, but plans were again being slightly altered. The weather was miserable, it even appeared to be snowing from time to time. Mick and Gayle delayed their departure so that they could ‘pop up’ Morrone, some of us decided on a more sedate plod to Braemar, Pat left early regardless of the weather, doing a fine impression of Nanuke of the North! Much tea and coffee was consumed in the meantime.

We were soon all on our way, although more Challengers were discovered enjoying the pleasures of the kitchen before we left, including Stan.

Mar Lodge, from the front

As Robert and I strolled along the road, chatting, we caught up with a slow moving, green rucksack cover with legs. When, for a brief moment, the rucksack cover turned to the side, I recognised the profile. “Laura!” “Who’s that?” “It’s Louise!” “Hello!”

Quite a nice day

So the three of us chatted and strolled into Braemar in search of coffee and cake, which we found after Pat sent us on a wild goose chase. Then we found Mick and Gayle, then egg and chips followed by the outdoor shop. We decided it was time to make for the campsite and I got such grief for wanting two pitches.

How dare I want two pitches?

Hardly stuffed to the gunwales. Yet.

We made our way back into the village and ended up in the Fife Arms only for David and the children to arrive mid drink. We retired to the campsite to pitch both tents and consume chicken curry. I didn’t fancy much wine, I was too cold and ended up going to bed, tired but happy.

TGO Challenge day 7

2011-05-28T20:20:00.002+01:00

Thursday 19th May, 2011

Ruigh-aiteachain Bothy to Mar Lodge

18.7 miles 1991 ft

We left the bothy before 9 am, after Pat and Steve?, but before Bill, Mary, Fiona, Ann and Alvar, (they’d stopped further along the Feshie). We made our way along the glen, which is really pretty, but there are some slightly tricky landslips. We saw a golden eagle above the skyline opposite and ‘wild’ horses across the river. Emma wasn’t for stopping and we stepped along for quite a while, burns were forded, bridges crosssed and bogs hopped, (not too many of those really). It was a nice day mostly, but breezy and occasionally showery. On and on we went, until eventually I decided I was stopping for a ‘late’ lunch and Emma stopped too.

Looking back along the Feshie

Feshie rushing by

Some of these bridges are such fun

A lady Challenger appeared out of nowhere, “Is it one of you ladies that had a new pack?” “Er, yes!?” “Can I have a photograph?” What? How on earth?

Ann and Alvar caught up with us and we all walked together as a loose group for a while. Alvar and I chatted at quite some length. Alvar tried to be the gentleman and pull me up out of the peat when I slipped. Emma and Ann laughed and took photographs that will be published, apparently. Kind. We saw an adder, my first.

Onwards until, surprisingly, the temperature suddenly dropped. We reached the dangerous building at NO 002 869 where we found Bill had already pitched. Ann, Alvar and Emma all decided to pitch, but after so much mincing, my legs were glad to be stretching on the LRT, so I elected to continue. I’d already decided that I was unlikely to stop at White Bridge as planned, which was lucky as I totally missed it when I crossed it! I continued on. I almost leapt off the hillside as a chap on a bike approached me from behind and spoke, but managed to regain my composure for a brief chat when he told me we weren’t far from Linn of Dee. Mar Lodge was within reach, so on I went.

I used the GPS for the first time on this trip to check the GR of the turn off, as I do not know this neck of the woods at all. I soon found myself approaching the impressive Mar Lodge and was then in a quandary. How do you get in? As I pondered this dilemma, another likely looking Challenger approached from behind and he seemed to know the way, I fell into stride along side him and we chatted. As a second time Challenger, he recognised my inexperience and was happy to steer me in the right direction to the rear of the building where there was the door to my shelter for the night.

Approaching Mar Lodge from behind

Our approach must have been observed, as a chap soon appeared through the glass door to our left. A chap I recognised. As he opened the door, I exclaimed “I know you!” “Louise!” “Mick!” What an absolute treat! Gayle duly appeared by his side and an enjoyable evening began. My companion turned out to be Robert and when we went into the kitchen with the promise of tea, I found Pat was already enjoying his evening meal.

We were soon both allocated a room and both took time for a kit explosion before revisiting the kitchen to make the most of an electric kettle to boil water to rehydrate our evening meals. Tea, coffee and chocolate were all enjoyed with much chat and catching up. Gayle gave her approval of my recently purchased (and now received) PHD bag which I was grateful for.

I sent Robert off for his bath/shower so that I could then have mine before retiring straight to bed. The shoulder had been much better. However, by now, my heel was not pretty and in fact, during the course of the evening I had become aware of an unpleasant odour emanating from it’s general direction. Before bed, I’d had a closer look, trimmed the current Compeed and applied more where necessary. All I needed to do was get into Braemar, then the heel could have a rest and TTS could give his valued opinion.

I knew it wouldn’t lead to a good night though.

TGO Challenge day 6

2011-05-28T18:13:00.002+01:00

Wednesday 18th May, 2011

Newtonmore to Ruigh-aiteachain Bothy

14 miles 1174 ft

This started as a very positive, bright day. I tried, yet again to eat breakfast, but as had happened at the Kintail Lodge and Cougie, it appeared I was finding this tricky. Nerves, I think, although not the sort that was going to cause trouble, just a little natural anxiety. Doesn’t help much with the eating bit though.

When I’d stuffed all that kit back where it belonged, I settled my bill and set off for Glen Feshie. I was going to enjoy today, my first day alone again, I had hoped.

The cyclepath

Not far out of Newtonmore, my heal was giving my grief. I had to have a Compeed faff, which was a bit of a pain and during the delay, Emma caught me up. We sped along the cycle path to Kingussie and to my dismay, took the right turn to Ruthven Barracks without first visiting the High Street to find tea and cake. Oh dear.

Onwards, over Tromie Bridge and to Drumguish before entering the woodland which had been snowbound when TTS and I were last here. The forest track was much improved and Emma and I eventually stopped for lunch in exactly the same place as the TTS and I had before, before turning the corner into the wind.

Ruthven Barracks

From Tromie Bridge

Looking north

Looking south along the Feshie

Another Challenger passed us by, cutting the corner and continuing without stopping to say hello. We were soon battling with the wind as we followed the clear, narrow, exposed path along the Feshie. We crossed the burn with ease that had bothered me before and soon, Ruigh-aiteachain Bothy hove into view. A man stood at the door, disappeared and reappeared as we got closer. It was Pat! “Water’s just boiled, help yourselves to tea!” was his cheery welcome as he manly battled to chop wood with a handleless axe.

The tea was most welcome before we explored our new surroundings. I’d heard tell of the ‘toilet’ and it was duly explored. The bothy itself had two rooms. Pat was in the second room, with a sleeping bench and the wood burning stove. We took the first room, after Emma had eventually decided not to camp outside. This had a wall of sleeping platforms and plenty of space.

The bothy

The facilities

The instructions for the facilities

Enough said

Unusual place for a beautiful door

Pat’s room Our sleeping platforms.

We had a jolly pleasant evening, during which others arrived, all of which decided to camp. Mary and Fiona popped in to say hello, as did Bill, but, yet again, I’ve forgotten a name as there was another chap too. Oops.

The shoulder was much better today, still some pain and discomfort, but a definite improvement.

TGO Challenge day 5

2011-05-28T17:45:00.001+01:00

Tuesday 17th May, 2011

Melgarve Bothy to Newtonmore

18.4 miles 1136ft ascent

What an odd day!

I knew I’d have a big day as I hadn’t made it to Garva Bridge, but it should have been quite easy as it was a mostly level and even surface, but as I walked on, my shoulder, neck and back became more and more painful, shooting pains into my spine at times, others times just achy and horrid. It was seriously getting me down as the day went on.

The Spey from Garva Bridge

The walk itself was actually quite nice. I don’t mind road walking as I do quite a bit of it on a daily basis and I find my feet quite comfortable. Except the blister, but I’ll come to that. It was quite a nice day too, not too cold and I don’t remember many showers.

Soon, David hove into view and I cried. TTS had come to my rescue. We said goodbye to Barbara and Hugh as they were staying at the Monadhliath Hotel and made our way to Laggan and the infamous Laggan Stores. I plopped down onto a bench further up the hill and continued to blub, like the pathetic heap that I am. David’s response? He force fed me. Mushroom soup, more oatcakces, Babybel, Jaffa Cakes, fruit salad and painkillers. What a star. He nagged me into emptying my Wildcat and filling his Panther and once I had it on my back, I discovered I was in much less pain. My plan of escape was disintegrating. Another Challenger stopped and offered painkillers before giving some really useful advice. I was to happen across him several times and I’m not sure, but he may have been Andrew Wright. Sorry if you weren’t!

At the Stores, we bumped into Ann and Alvar again, and Hugh and The Cowboy. After picking up a few supplies, I agreed to walk to Newtonmore to give the rucksack a far trial, David would drive ahead then walk back to meet me so that I could decide. It was really nice, even though I was strolling along a busy road, and it was even better when I met up with David and we chatted. Soon, Newtonmore came into view. I made my way to the campsite and upon arrival, decided it wasn’t for me. I collected my parcel and the lovely lady was very understanding when I decided to seek a comfy bed to rest my shoulder again.

On my way again

We found the Glen Hotel and enquired after a room. The chap was a little puzzled as to why a single was required for a two people, but we explained and acquired a room. David waited whilst a kit explosion and change of clothes ensued, so that he could join me at the bar for a pint as I ate before he left me to my fate once me. My hero.

Another kit explosion

Using an old trick to dry washing

I wasn’t alone for long as Emma appeared out of nowhere and joined me. When we’d both eaten, I had to take my leave. I was suddenly overwhelmed by tiredness and had a desire for a warm, relaxing bath before bed. Bliss. My blister needed attention and I was quite concerned by the condition of my heal, so photographs were taken on the mobile and sent to TTS, Compeed were applied and I did my best to put them out of my mind as I tried to watch the news to get the weather, but had to give up to sleep. The best night’s sleep I’d had for quite a while, although still somewhat fitful.

TGO Challenge day 4

2011-05-28T17:05:00.002+01:00

Monday 16th May, 2011

Fort Augustus to Melgarve Bothy

12.3 miles 3046 feet

(Some really rubbish photographs!)

I was in some pain in the morning, so a few pills were popped, but I got off to a good start, getting packed up in time to dry the tent out draped over the rope by the toilet block. I also met Ian Shiel by my tent that is green (I’d briefly seen him in The Bothy) and we spoke. I think.

Kit explosion

It was a breezy, damp day, which did not improve. We made our way to the Corrieyairack Pass, which started the way it meant to go on, a stoney, unpleasant path, quite steep on the way up. Steep on the way down too.

The last view of Fort Augustus

We enjoyed a break at Blackburn Bothy, quite a pleasant place, or maybe it was just the shelter it provided at the time. Colin dropped in too and we bumped into him several times during the day.

Blackburn Bothy, quite sweet

Barbara and I toiled up the hill and Hugh waited and encouraged us. He was very gentle with us. It was quite a long day that became more miserable and it became apparent that Barbara was struggling more than previously. The wind was strong and gusty and threw rain at us from the side most of the way. There were burns to cross and boulders to sidestep.

As we got closer to Melgarve Bothy, I became suddenly freezing cold. I was ahead of both Hugh and Barbara at this point and I desperately needed to carry on to warm up or get into shelter. I had to go on, but felt bad not waiting to tell them. I also had Allt a Mhil Ghairbh to cross by myself. There was a bridge with a few missing planks which I’m sure others would have strolled across, but I preferred to ford. I picked my route and struck out. I made a really good job of it, until the last step. Whether my pole or foot slipped first, I’m not sure, but I suddenly sat down hard (ahem) on the rocks behind me and watched as my right foot floated in the river in front of me. Pants.

Turned out it wasn’t just a wet foot and a bruised ego, I later discovered a fist sized bruise on my bottom. I also upset my already sore shoulder, so I wasn’t a happy bunny. My soggy foot and I soon found ourselves outside Melgarve Bothy and Colin was a welcome sight, shepherding me to the back door of the bothy with the promise of a fire and hot water for tea. What a star!

Inside, I found others, sheltering from the dire weather. Pat Deane, Peter Molenar and John and Helen Dixie were enjoying tea and hot food, and I whipped my jacket off and waterproof trousers round my ankles to I warm myself by the fire. Bliss. Colin kindly kept an eye out for Hugh and Barbara, I was worried they may not realise the bothy was open, as the door at the front was padlocked. In between times, he helped me sort my kit and find somewhere to sleep, as I decided Garva Bridge was no longer beckoning me. He also ventured out into the elements to find fire wood, without suitable tools. He was a real star.

Pat, Hugh and the Dixies

Peter

John, Alvar and Colin

I rather liked the rainbow with the table and accoutrements silhouetted, although you don’t really get it in this photograph
Natasha, Jayme with drying clothes and a pile of wood
The roaring fire

When the others arrived, Barbara was evidently exhausted and unwell. She managed a little to eat and drink, but was soon tucked up in a warm sleeping bag, sleeping.

Soon, we were joined by Jayme Morgan and Natasha Gahoojamanian and another couple, and I believe Emily Rodway’s team stayed close by, although I think only John Chivall popped into the bothy and did some extremely useful wood collecting aswell. It was a while before the names of the other couple were mentioned and I suddenly realised they were my vetters, Ann and Alvar Thorn, who weren’t supposed to be at the bothy either, but at least I was on my route, if a little short of my proposed stop. All such lovely people! This was beginning to become a bit of a theme.

A very pleasant and relaxing evening ensued, before I retired to my bed. It’s been a long time since I shared a room with an older man other than my husband.

I had discovered earlier that, if I hung far enough out of the window upstairs, I had a signal. I phoned David and asked him to meet me at Laggan with rucksacks, on the pretext of changing mine to help my shoulder. I intended to ask to go home…

So, my first ever night in a bothy!

TGO Challenge day 3

2011-05-28T16:15:00.002+01:00

Sunday 15th May, 2011

Cougie to Fort Augustus

16.7 miles 2066 feet

Just before we left Cougie, I slipped and fell on the decking outside our chalet door. I sustained a shoulder injury which was to plague me for the next few days.

Spot the wet decking

A small group of us opted not to follow the forestry track to Hilton Lodge and down the landrover track, but instead to go ‘over the top’, following a path along the Allt na Muic. The Stuarts, Stan and Emma were much faster movers, whilst Hugh, Barbara and I brought up the rear with a little bog hopping and squelching. We found the gate through the deer fence onto the forest path before taking a break.

Checking the map

Soon, we reached tarmac and made our way to Torgyle Bridge, where the fast group had just had lunch. We preferred the picnic bench at the start of General Wade’s Road to Fort Augustus, although there were a few midgies around.

Not too nibbled

We had a pleasant walk, at least some sort of track most of the day, although the forestry track was somewhat chewed up. The weather was mostly kind. We soon found ourselves heading down to Fort Augustus, a welcome sight.

Nearly over the top

Not a muddy bit

I soon found myself buying supplies for breakfast and lunch then heading to the campsite for a shower and hot food, before meeting Barbara and Hugh in The Bothy for a well earned pint. (Which reminds me, I still owe Hugh a pint and poke of chips. Next time!)

First glimpse of Fort Augustus

The shoulder was increasingly sore all day, but I decided to buy some Ibuprofen in town (which I rarely take without TTS around) to get some relief.

TGO Challenge day 2

2011-05-28T15:53:00.003+01:00

Saturday 14th May, 2011

Glen Affric to Cougie

9.5 miles 1394 ft ascent

It was a very wet and windy night, but the tent was solid and didn’t leak. I was very pleased. Jane, however was wet. Her, her sleeping bag, her spare pants. She’d also stopped short of where she’d wanted to be and had a lot to do in the next two days. I started to fret that I was holding her up unnecessarily, especially as we’d crossed the burn the had been worrying me and I was now quite comfortable. We set off after a panic pack and everything was just wrong. There was much floodiness around and what had been a tiny stream was now full and wide. My pack wasn’t on properly, I’d forgotten to take my medication, Jane disappeared ahead of me before I had a chance to tell her to carry on without me. I began to feel more stressed, but eventually managed to catch Jane and told her to carry on alone.

Wet

Sputan Ban

After sorting my pack and medicine, I happily carried on along the familiar path along the side of Loch Affric. After a short while, however, I started to feel quite homesick, how absurd! I desperately wanted to phone home and beg to be collected from the car park, but I had no signal. I felt demoralised and questioned why I’d ever imagined I could complete the feat ahead of me, what had I been thinking!

Eventually I happened across a couple and a chap having a break, Hugh and Barbara Emsley and Stuart ? and they cheerfully greeted me and asked “How’s it going?”

I burst into tears.

This may not have been the reaction they were expecting.

However, they boldly carried on and made brave attempts to cheer me up.

“Do you have any chocolate? Eat some.”

Why hadn’t I thought of that. So, I did.

They made me promise to meet them in Cougie and went on their way.

I ate more chocolate. Then I followed and soon found them having a lunch break, sheltered under the bridge before the turn off to Cougie. I joined them, in much better spirits and we were in turn joined by Patrick, who was having a hard time. He’d somehow pulled his back and seemed to be in quite some pain. He had blisters too.

The Emsleys and Stuart ? left and I followed shortly after, taking the signed path up the side of Allt Garbh. This is quite a seriously boggy path and continues uphill for quite a way. I met Mike ‘The Cowboy’ again and another chap who turned out to be James Boulter. At the top, I trusted my instincts and memory and headed ‘left’. When the lochan came into view I was quite pleased with the decision. This is quite an easy track with lovely scenery and a feeling of remoteness. It did seem to take a long while to reach the forestry where I was expecting to find Cougie, but I found the foot and hoof prints and piles of horse droppings reassuring that I was still headed in the right direction.

The right track

The first of many ‘interesting’ bridges of the Challenge

There is a tiny green tent in a nice pitch

I eventually found a steading and made an educated guess that this was the oasis of Cougie. Sure enough, when a young lady appeared from the back door and I enquired as to my whereabouts, I was ushered in to find a table laden with food and tea and surrounded by Challengers. Jane was standing in the kitchen and greeted me with a huge hug. When she’d arrived earlier, Val and her family had swung into action and dried all her soaked belongings whilst she’d sated here appetite for tea and cake.

I soon found myself seated with a mug of steaming tea. Hugh and Barbara left to make themselves comfortable in their room, Stan Appleton chatted amiably and there were others. It soon became apparent there were beds available. Stan succumbed. Then I weakened and asked about pitching my tent. Suddenly, Virginia mentioned there was a spare bed in their chalet. Could I? Should I?

Yes! What a brilliant decision. A bed, a shower, hot food, breakfast, a packed lunch and brilliant company. In addition to Stan, Hugh, Barbara, James and Virginia, there were Stuart and Maria Scott, Janice Thomson, Emma Warbrick, Patrick, Colin Reid and The Cowboy. There were six bookings and fourteen of us accommodated in the end. (To my shame, I can’t remember the name of the tall chap that was also there, despite the fact that I came across him several times on my crossing. Sorry!)

In one night, this turned my Challenge around.

But near disaster was, again, just around the corner.

TGO Challenge day 1

2011-05-28T14:58:00.002+01:00

Friday 13th May, 2011

Shiel Bridge to Glen Affric

13 miles 2356 ft ascent

(All distances and ascents will be approximate and in statute)

It took a little time before we were ready to set off today. As I stepped out of the Trekkers Lodge, the damage caused by the recent wildfires became apparent. I can’t imagine how frightening that must have been. After I’d popped down to the water to dip my toe, I discovered breakfast was running late, which delayed my final packing for a while. Jane was busy collecting money so it was past 9 am before we left. It was showery all day on and off and breezy at times too. It started off warm enough, but cooled later in the day.

Fire damage

Before the showers

The obligatory toe-dipping

We had a few map conflabs, but it was mainly straightforward. Jane seemed surprised I appeared to know the route so well, but I had studied it quite closely, so there were no surprises for me. We heard the first cuckoo of the walk around Innis a Crotha, then started to make our way up the gradual climb Gleann Choinneachain towards Bealach an Sgairne. It’s a good path all the way and we met several Challengers on the way, including Mary Jones and Fiona Findlay, Mike Armstrong and Vanessa Ling (I think…). We were soon at the Allt Coire an Sgairne, which was in spate as expected. Jane tripped lightly across ahead of me, in her shoes that are designed for wet feet. I took my time and a little care, but fairly easily found myself on the other side, where I wanted to be. Onwards through the Bealach.

Looking back

Doesn’t really show the reality

This was a slightly more rugged path, but still quite clear and easy to follow. We agreed to drop over the top before a break for lunch, where I enjoyed oatcakes and a tin of dressed crab. Or perhaps lobster. It was lovely anyway.

Loch a Bhealaich

Once we continued down to Glen Affric, the path became less distinct and more boggy, quite a slog at times. We eventually arrived at the youth hostel and popped in to the porch to shelter from yet another shower before continuing on along the river to find my first wild pitch of the walk, just short of Cnoc Fada. Didn’t feel too bad at the end of the day, but had picked up a hot spot. Also found the tent was being invaded by tiny ticks, but I already knew Glen Affric was infested, so this was no surprise, just a bit of a nause having to find, squish and dispose of all the little blighters! I had to wait for a break in the showers to organise dinner and to use the en suite before bed. Not a bad first day, but still felt a little stressed, what with one thing and another.

TGO Challenge day 0

2011-05-28T12:41:00.001+01:00

Thursday, 12th May, 2011

We left home for Inverness before lunch, thinking I might have some last minute panic buying to do. By the time we’d bought a hip pouch (as I wasn’t using my Pinnacle, I knew I’d miss the hip pockets. I have an OMM chest pouch, but I find this tricky to manoeuvre alone), looked at various lightweight mugs and tried on a few soft shells, it was lunch time, so we headed for Girvans. We still had loads of time, so went on a crockery hunt (for home), bumping into an old friend in Argos, like you do. The last hour and a half were hard to kill, coffee was taken at Starbucks before returning to the car for the pack, panic pee, (not in the car…) last minute purchase of zip lock bags and water, in case of travel sickness then making our way to the bus station. The other Challengers became apparent and David chatted to a couple as I bagged a seat on the bus, then we were off.

No sign of Anxious Foot at this stage

It was hard to leave The Trusty Sidekick behind

A rough journey to Shiel Bridge, which was wet and shrouded in mist on arrival. I collected my key to the Trekkers Lodge, then got lost. I was eventually pointed in the right direction and found my room, unpacked and returned to reception to book breakfast and ask for directions to the bar! There I met John and Sally Dodwell who had been on the bus and they invited me to sit with them while we ate and had a beer. When David phoned to see if I’d arrived safely, he mentioned he’d been speaking to a couple who’d said they’d look after me and it turned out to be the lovely couple I was sitting with, we had a pleasant evening.

Jane Eggleston arrived in the bar and joined us, in between ‘chugging’ other Challengers. We chatted a while and she invited me to walk with her the first day as the burns and rivers were in spate and this was one of my concerns.

After a nice meal that I was too nervous to eat, I retired to the Lodge and found some more Challengers in the kitchen area, who I believe were Ted and Jenny Spiller. I went to bed, but would I sleep?

Just for Gayle, as promised

2011-05-27T16:01:00.001+01:00

Look what I found when I got home and I just couldn’t wait!

Snug as a bug.

The kit list

2011-05-11T20:00:00.000+01:00

I don’t like reading kit lists, it makes me paranoid, but I’m going to do one anyway.

Pack

Karrimor Wildcat 60-65 with waterproof cover

Shelter and sleeping

Coleman Kraz X1 in dry bag

Rab Quantum 400w in dry bag

Thermarest Prolite 3w

Clothing in dry bag

Smartwool longsleeve base x1

Icebreaker ultralight leggings x1

Icebreaker hotpants x1 (knickers to some of us)

Foothills Highlander socks x1

Montane Anti-freeze down jacket

Summer and winter buffs

Merino flip flap mits

Berghaus Paclite trousers

Montane Quattro waterproof jacket

Gaiters

Keen sandals (fording and around camp)

Cook system and food

Jetboil Flash and 100g gas canister + matches

Cosy pouch and two sporks

Up to 3 days food + hipflask( Tamdhu)

2l Platty

1l Platty soft bottle

Water treatment drops

Sundries

First Aid kit + handwarmers

Small washkit + small Lifesystems towel and wipes

GPS

Mobile

Camera

Purse with two cards and small amount cash

Petzl e+lite and midge headnet

Black Diamond walking poles

Suncream and anti-bac gel

Lightweight trowel and paper

Glasses/Sunglasses/case

Notepad/pencil

Maps in ziplock and compass

Wearing

Underwear!

Icebreaker GT longsleeve top

Marmot Screepants

Foothills socks

Brasher Hillmaster

Montane Dynamo soft shell

Tilley (hemp)

Not a massive amount, I don’t think, certainly no microwave!

Well, there’s a surprise

2011-05-11T14:57:00.001+01:00

A couple of things I wasn’t expecting, a good thing and an unfortunate thing.

I’ve been packing my, er, pack oddly enough, being the day before ‘the off’. My pack is a Golite Pinnacle, which I bought specifically for this type of trip. I used it just four weeks ago on my trip to the Borders with no problems, although I have found it’s difficult to keep the hip belt where I think it is intended to be because of my shape. I have an unusually narrow waist which is not helpful.

My kit list has changed very slightly since the Borders trip. I’m now using a Jetboil Flash which is a more compact and a lighter system than my Campingaz Twister with gas and two Snowpeak tins. I’m not carrying the Travel Tap which is bulky as well as difficult for me, as a wimpy female, to use. This is replaced with a Platty Soft bottle and some water treatment drops, lightweight and less bulky. I’ve also trimmed my wash kit slightly and decided not to take insect repellent as I rarely have a problem, although I am carrying my midge head net.

My sleeping bag did not seem adequate in the Borders and having panic bought another, a kind fellow blogger advised me differently and offered to lend me a spare bag. I gratefully took the advice, returned the new bag and accepted the offer of a bag loan. This bag is definitely better than mine, but is slightly bulkier to pack, so is obviously taking up a bit of the space I’ve vacated with other kit changes.

However, I was not expecting to find that I could not now fit it all into the Pinnacle. How strange and a little frustrating! I decided to try my trusty Karrimor Wildcat pack and low and behold, it all fits. Because I have changed a lot of my kit since the last time I used this pack and the general weight of my kit is down, this feels lighter than it used to, so I think I shall be happy to carry it, despite having wanted to go lightweight.

The nice surprise also includes weighty issues. I while ago, I had concluded that it was not only my pack that needed to shed a few pounds, but it would be good if I did too. However, nothing much was happening on that front, I was at least relieved it wasn’t going in the wrong direction. After the Borders trip, I discovered I’d lost five pounds, woo hoo! I did put on a pound after my return, but I think that was re-hydration and it wasn’t joined by any friends. I was pleased to discover today that I’ve lost another two pounds! Now that’s a nice surprise. I suspect there may be a little more loss over the next two weeks, I’m expecting my trousers to be a little too big by the time I get to Montrose.

Result.

Santa’s on holiday

2011-05-10T21:49:00.001+01:00

I fancied some company on my walk today, so I fired off an email to Laura, just in case she had enough time to fit in a little adventure. Oddly enough, she did! So, off I went to find the car park near Mains of Inverourie. I was late. So I panicked a bit when Laura wasn’t there either. She was either in the wrong place or late as well. I panicked even more when I discovered I had no mobile signal and couldn’t get in contact with her. Yikes! After a bit of aimless wandering and finally establishing I was where I wanted to be, I was debating what to do for the best. In drove the silver campervan and all was well again.

We set off (after a bit of obligatory faffing) along the road to Milton, where we crossed a bridge and made our way over a couple of fences and through some trees to rejoin the path to head up the hill.

Not keen on side-less bridges

We slowly made our way up the hill on a dull and threatening day. The drizzle eventually turned in to more meaningful rain and strong winds, so waterproof jackets and covers were donned and we continued. With some difficulty at times. The path ran out and we navigated our way, with Laura’s GPS, over dry bog and rough ground.

Views

We kept coming across these little chaps and eventually, one was close enough to investigate. It turns out it’s a heavy-ish metal pyramid standing in a metal tray that collects and dispenses water, presumably for the game birds.

It was quite tough to reach the top, the winds were strong and mostly head on, so we were blown about as we staggered along. Eventually, the rain stopped, never to re-start. The wind didn’t drop though.

A welcome break in the weather

We eventually reached Creagan a Chaise where we took shelter behind the rather substantial Jubilee Cairn to have first lunch. (I didn’t get a picture because my Reynauds was playing up at the time and I forgot.) Soon we were off again, having to find our way down quite a steep slope before finding a vague track that followed the line of the county border.

Ben Rinnes

What can I say?

We were soon at the next cairn, another impressive construction, dedicated to King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra (is that right?) when bonfires were lit to mark their coronation (I think).

The cairn

We were over there before

At this point, the path varied between vague to non-existent, but we yomped on over the heather, jumping the odd stream and avoiding holes in the main. Some of them just yearned to be fallen down. In the distance, behind us, an ATV appeared. It paused awhile on the horizon and appeared to sound some sort of horn. We walked on. The ATV dropped down below the ridge out of sight and reappeared a few minutes later, pausing to sound the strange horn again. This is what we saw.

We couldn’t believe our eyes

On we went, heather bashing and navigating towards the path we wanted to join to make our way down hill. It took us a while, but eventually the scar on the landscape we’d been looking for hove into view and scrambled on to meet it. The track took us down hill on quite a steep path until eventually we were surprised to see the ATV coming towards us, up the hill. How on earth? He was a cheerful chap and he waved at us as he passed us by. On we went until we turned a corner and came across this.

Can you see what they are yet?

We got closer.

Scratching, not headless

Oblivious and perfectly happy

We chatted to the lady who owns these friends of Santa’s and found out they winter around here and summer on her farm in the valley below. They are part of the herd from Glenmore, but have been moved to lessen the impact on the Cairngorms. They may not look their best at the moment, but it was a lovely sight and really made a lovely end to a super day out.

We eventually made our way to the end of the track at Knock, where this poor, dilapidated building stands.

A surprising water wheel

Soon, we were back with the cars, enjoying a cup of Chai tea and second lunch!

Roughly 9.5 miles, 1962 ft total ascent, 2.2 mph moving average, 4 hrs 25 mins moving and 1 hr 32 mins stopped. A really enjoyable walk, worth the hard work at the beginning!

Bits and pieces

2011-05-10T20:55:00.001+01:00

Since reading that Martin had left his maps at home on his desk, I’ve been having odd dreams/nightmares and waking at a ridiculously early hour, unable to go back to sleep. The first dream I was in some sort of a hotel, unable to find everything to pack (!!), the second was awful and woke me. I was in mum’s car as she was driving along Newmarket in Louth, when suddenly there was a cat lying in the road, cleaning itself and we drove over it. Nice.

More interestingly, I’ve now worn my boots on a couple of walks, my usual Monday six mile saunter and a more interesting 9.5 mile yomp today. The boots, on the whole, were comfortable. I had no blisters or hotspots and my toes were comfy, except for a short while when the two end toes on my right foot were numb. I think this was pressure on the sole of my foot, caused by the depth and angle of the sole of the boot being quite different from my Brashers and it did improve after wriggling my foot slightly in the boot. They were grippy enough and although I didn’t immerse my feet, they managed the bogginess and heather bashing through bogginess. Sadly, I do have a problem with them that I shall come back to if I get the issue resolved. In the meantime, it’ll be the Brashers on the Challenge.

I have a feeling there were other bits and pieces, but I’ve forgotten them, so they obviously weren’t important!

Don't give the indecisive a dilemma

2011-05-07T12:22:00.000+01:00

I bought myself a rather pretty pair of Keen Shasta WP mid-boots. I did not buy them because they are pretty, but to replace my Merrell Siren Ventillator shoes which I have worn out. I thought these might make a nice summer boot instead of my Brasher Hillmasters, which I love, but can feel a bit heavy on a hot day.

I've been wearing them around the house for a few quiet days, the most energetic bits were probably trotting up and downstairs for forgotten stuff (it's an age thing) or hanging washing on the line. Then, I wore them to walk to the hairdressers, a round trip of 4.5 miles on level tarmaced cycle path and pavement. Not much of a test you might think, but it was enough to have produced a cracking blister the first time I did it in my Brashers, so a place to start. There were no problems at all, no rubbing, no over-heating and no discomfort in the arches or soles of my feet.

The next thing I tend to do is wear them for the standing around jobs. Now, I know I won't be standing around in them, but if I can wear them comfortably all day with a couple of hours ironing and the like, I can judge if they give enough arch support and cushioning to the soles of my feet. And so they do. I haven't managed to get into the hills wearing them yet, I may have a rough track walk on Monday and hopefully a low ridge walk in the Cromdale Hills before Thursday.

The dilemma will be on Thursday morning, before the Trusty Sidekick takes me to Inverness to catch my bus to Shiel Bridge. Common sense tells me I won't have worn them enough to know whether they will be a good choice, but they are a lightweight, being leather with breathable mesh underlays. They are described as waterproof and breathable, which certainly fits the bill for me too. But are they a risk? Trusted, comfy, heavyish Brashers versus lighter, waterproof, breathable, (pretty,) unknown quantity.

I feel a couple of tussocky hills coming on....

Ticking off

2011-05-06T13:22:00.001+01:00

Another item ticked off the list, this time, it was the parcels. I’ve hummed and hawed about this one, whether to post supplies to the campsites I’ll be staying at and decided I would. I’ve posted maps and Fuzion Freeze Dried dinners mostly, but I’m hoping to restock breakfast, lunch and snack items from the local shops as I pass through. I even remembered to pack an envelope in each box, postage paid, to post home the maps I’ve finished with.

I’ve also prepared a box for David to bring to Braemar, where he’s bringing the children for the weekend when I have a day off. It’s a few days before my birthday, so maybe they’ll bring a cake and candles. Or maybe not candles, not good in a tent.

I’m planning to send a box to the hotel in Montrose as well with a few of those items I’ll have really missed, like Chanel No5, maybe a bit of slap and my slippers. I might appreciate my fluffy slippers by then. Popping them into my rucksack to take onto the train won’t be an issue, I will have returned the borrowed sleeping bag to the, so I’ll have space.

Now I shall lie awake at night, paranoid I’ve packed the wrong items in the boxes…

Ooops

2011-05-04T15:58:00.001+01:00

I had every intention of waiting for my new sleeping bag. Waiting until I’d talked to lots of people, waiting for a sale, waiting till I’d saved up. So how did that PHD Minim 400 bag, with Drishell blue and left hand zip, find it’s way into my basket?

Oh dear.

So much for my good intentions and resolve…

(Alan should take some blame, he directed me (back) to their site earlier and I got, er, side-tracked. I blame him. Thank you, Alan!)