Day 9
Saturday 19th May - Braemar to Glen Builg
In the morning I was delighted to meet our senior Challengers, Bernard and Margaret, who after an early night showed much more energy than I could. After a leisurely breakfast and a phone-in, I visited the local outdoor shop and bought a cheap foam sit-mat, which I then cut into strips to attach with duct tape to my shoulder straps for padding. This looked "orra", but solved my problem for the remainder of the Challenge.
Then onwards and upwards through Invercauld Forest. As in so many such places which are under constant development for leisure walkers, there are far more tracks than on my map, and I foolishly turned up out of the trees slightly too soon. Fortunately, the weather had cleared and the mistake was easily identified and corrected. Higher up, just as a blustery shower began, I came upon an unlocked wooden hut in good condition, for excellent shelter. Then as I considered the option of a smaller footpath, I met a couple - John Mackay, accompanying his Corbett-collecting wife who had almost completed the total. They advised against this footpath; they also passed me Dave Beaumont's rucksack cover, which they had found near a top, after seeing him unsuccessfully hunting it! They had arranged with the estate to take their car in to a spot near Loch Builg, and I walked with them to it and waved them off. The track along above the shore of Loch Builg, on a golden evening, with dunlin playing on the shore, was one of the loveliest of my walk, and I camped in the sun just by the second ford of the Builg Burn.
