Day 13 - Wednesday 18th May
Tarfside - North Water Bridge
(26km / 260m ascent)
Another lovely day starting with bacon butties (Phil only just woke me in time before the bacon was to run out!) and mugs of coffee. We settled up our tab which had run to two pages and did a bit of washing up before we toddled off into Tarfside.
The playing field had been pretty full of tents and most were being packed up and stuffed back into overfull rucsacs. It's strange that when you have time on your hands to pack the thing properly it always looks as though its done twelve rounds with Joe Bugner - squished in all the wrong places with anoraks, shoes and fleeces bursting from the lid.
We ambled along in no particular hurry, enjoying the tranquillity of the place. No maps were needed (none were needed in fact since Glen Feshie as I had been over this ground before), but each time I come this way I notice something new or different. We passed Cortina Cottage - each time the Cortina is a little bit more dishevelled but still amazingly rust-free for a Dagenham dustbin. The cottage is slowly slipping into the same state of disrepair as the car, but I find it faintly re-assuring, as I am certain the occupants see the same Challengers walk past each year and cannot help noticing how they get older and more worn out with each passing year.
We stopped at the usual streams for our usual brews, comfortable with the silences we share with each other - we all know it's almost over for another year but we amble along prolonging the pleasure. There is a lot of talk about what I shall be doing this time next year as I will have to take a year off. There are promises of postcards from The Fife Arms while I will be holed up in a restaurant in Tuscany with the Lynnie! I shall be supping Chianti and Barolo instead of Ardbeg & Tallisker.
Still - there is still Edzell to enjoy and before too long we are all sitting down in the cafe knocking back the lager and fish & chips before we head off to the Panmuir Arms for a few drinks before the plod down the Airfield road to the campsite. We stay a little longer than expected as we bump into Peter Lumley of the DQMI brigade (Didn't quite make it) and have a good chat over a beer.
One last job before we leave the village - to get the carry-outs for the campsite. The girls at the village shop have seen most of us before and pick up the conversations where we left off last year. We swing down over the suspension bridge and head off for the Airfield Road. I always love this road as I do enjoy the look of despair on my walking companions' faces as they realise that they cannot actually see the end of the straight! Just before the end of the road it started to rain, which was a bit of a disappointment as it could hamper the party atmosphere at the campsite.
The campsite is bursting with Challengers, but the mood is subdued because of the weather, so Phil & I sit in his tent with a bottle of wine and some cheese and biscuits after a good meal, then its back to the tent to bed.
