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Day 8 - Friday 13th May

Allt na Cuilce - Braemar

(43.3km / 850m ascent)

You may look at the figures above and not believe your eyes, dear reader, but it is true! It was not quite what was planned but it happened - and here's how!

We both woke quite early and Phil told me how during the night he was having a pee when he noticed a whole lot of lights on the other side of the glen with roaring engines and shooting going on - lamping - must have been the guys in the camouflage - I suppose it takes all sorts... I had slept blissfully through this, but later on in the walk we were to hear that John & Viv had had a narrow escape as one of the monster trucks had narrowly missed their green tent that they were asleep in, in the headlong rush to go killing things. There are some scary people out there.

So - Phil was knackered and my feet were tired of bog hopping - neither of us had any blisters but we just fancied a break from wild stuff. Our original route was to nip up though the head of the valley and pick up the very headwaters of the Feshie and follow it down to the Geldie. I had lost my enthusiasm for this plan this morning and mooted the alternative of heading north east toward the Feshie where we could wade it and join the trade route to Braemar, still stopping where we had originally intended, at the bottom of the Geldie. Happily, Phil agreed and so we were off quite smartish up the hill.

It was another beautiful morning and when we picked up the track through the woodlands it was just about perfect - cool breezes, warm sunshine and peat beneath our feel the consistency of cooked chocolate cake - warm and soft. It was perfect for tired feet. The track lead down at a wonderfully gentle angle through the woods on a carpet of moss - There is no better walking than this.

Before too long at all we had caught up with Norrie & Gus - The very Reverend Father having just left for the day. They had found a delightful camping spot at Lochan an t-Sluic. We delayed their start a little more by getting them to put the kettle on for another cup of tea while we had a lie-down in the sunshine. There is nothing like an unexpected Challenge brew.

All good things come to an end so Phil and I left the old devils packing up and sauntered off down thetrack to find a spot to wade the Feshie, where we promised to return the compliment of the brew for Gus & Norrie.

Lying in the sun with the kettle on, we were hailed by Morpeth (Pete Shepherd) and his good friend Mick. We offered them a brew, but he answered 'Naylad - weajustagootgawin!' or some such other Geordie expression - he had his teeth in too! Mick looked forlornly at the kettle but was brow-beaten back onto the track by herdsman Morpeth. Others passed by too but all declined our offers - what's the rush with these people? Norrie & Gus are gentlefolk and took pleasure in taking tea with us.

We toddled off and made for our morning coffee stop past the sylvan beauty of Glen Feshie. Feshie really is a lovely place - it seems to swallow challengers so that you have it all for yourself. We soon made Ruighe nan Leum for coffee and spotted a notice hammered on a stake into the ground - saying something about the Cairngorm Partnership and the landowner 'improving' the track in upper Glen Feshie in order to get more deer out to preserve the environment.

Well - What a mess. What a disgrace!

Four wheeled drive vehicles have obviously been mashing the poor peaty soils into oblivion, crisscrossing the old narrow walker's path, causing ghastly quagmires. There is no attempt of any sort to control where the vehicles should go and it all ruined completely the wilderness experience of Upper Glen Feshie. Has this wily landowner also obtained grant aid from Westminster / Europe / wherever in his bid to totally destroy this environment?

He should be taken out and put up against the wall and made to explain himself to the thousands who have ever taken the simple pleasure of walking through this wild tract of countryside. Ownership is not a good enough an excuse to vandalise and desecrate this wilderness.

Enough of my rant - but I was incredibly upset (and still am.)

However, we bowled along at a really good pace and bumped into John & Viv, Mick & Morpeth, and Bernie & Pauline at various times over the rest of the afternoon, taking tea and sharing whisky, biscuits and real cheese!

It wasn't long before we had reached our evening's stopping point at the bottom of the Geldie, but Phil's Leg was holding up remarkably well and so I was persuaded to take a few steps further to make it to White Bridge, where it was only a short days walk into Braemar the next day. It seemed like an excellent plan, so we bowled along further. It was still early when we got there, so Phil suggested that we should make the Linn of Dee, from where we could have a lie-in and still be at the pub for opening time on Saturday. That seemed an even better plan. Enroute to the Linn of Dee we bumped into the Very Reverend Father and Tom & Eddie (Gavin Meldrum & David Hamilton) already camped up for the night. We shared tales and drams and moved smartly on in the warm early evening air.

It was at the Linn of Dee where Phil's true plan finally made it up to the surface. - 'Al' - he went - 'Its Five past Eight - we could be in the bar at the Fife Arms by quarter past ten supping fine ales in the company of one of the finest top shelves in Scotland'.

At Twelve minutes past ten in the dying light of a Scottish summer's day, I was at the bar ordering four pints and four packets of peanuts as Phil was checking us in at Reception. Just as I was paying for them, up strolled Michael Gray who announced that today he had just compleated his Munros! So now we had a special reason to celebrate!

What a wonderful day.