Thursday 17th May - Day Seven
Ruigh-aiteachain to White Bridge
15.16 miles
591 metres of ascent
Even though we couldn’t get the bothy warmed up very much we both spent the night cosy and dry on the sleeping platforms, our soggy kit was spread out overnight and had dried nicely by the morning too. Only having the sleeping bags and mats to pack away we were on our way in good time, the weather wasn’t great so we were togged up to the nines again.
The route was going to be mixed again, starting off in Feshie we’d enjoy more of the Caledonian forest but would soon find ourselves on an exposed and very soggy moorland, not forgetting the twenty eight possible river crossings for the day.
On our way
Heading south along Glen Feshie, Carn an Fhidhleir Lorgaidh centre of shot
The rain was on and off but progress was good along easy tracks
Climbing up
Once we reached the south west end of Glen Feshie the landscape immediately changed into a bleak and windswept hell hole, one of the guys at Fort Augustus lodge had already given us some warning but we didn’t really have an alternative route.
Going was really tough, constantly jumping over little streams and looking for dry land to step on, I think this was our coldest day too with a biting headwind that cut straight through our damp clothing. We’d reach a high point or corner every now and then only to see more of the same stretch out in front of us for as far as we could see, talk about demoralising. We found the remains of a wooden shelter after a couple of hours so we stopped to take a break, it only had two sides left so we huddled in a corner while we scoffed some food.
We finally started dropping down again and could begin to make out patches of woodland through the fog/cloud/snow/rain. We were both really struggling with our aches and pains as well as the weather and the soggy terrain, it seemed to take forever before we reached Geldie Burn and eventually White Bridge, a final river crossing was up passed the knees and nearly had us both for a swim. White Bridge was supposed to be our campsite for the night but when we got there it didn’t look too great, we knew it was popular with Challengers but today it was just another bog covered in water.
We pushed on for another mile or so, looking for a campsite which was high enough to be dry but also sheltered from the snow showers and cold winds. Mick found a nice little ledge next to a plantation, after eight hours of bog jumping in the wet and cold it looked good enough for us. We got the tents up in good time and that was it for me, I got out of my wet gear and dived into my sleeping bag, it was the first time I’d felt warm all day and I soon passed out. Three hours later I woke up to Mick shouting at me, we’d hardly eaten all day and he was making sure we didn’t try to sleep on empty stomachs. I stuffed my face with chilli and rice, a couple of cereal bars and a hot chocolate, then I passed out again.
Cold camp
No pictures from the moorland crossing, I was keeping my gloves on and the camera was staying dry.
Friday 18th May - Day Eight
White Bridge to Braemar
9.94 miles
248 metres of ascent
Thursday night was cold, much like the day had been, our pitch was fairly sheltered though so we managed to dodge most of the gusts that came through. I woke up a couple of times during the night and listened to the snow hitting the tarp, it was a different sound to the usual rain but I never bothered to look out and see how heavy it was. I’d chosen a pitch which looked okay at first but it wasn’t great for sleeping on, the tarp didn’t quite pitch as well as I would have liked because of the dip I was in. I found myself slipping down my groundsheet a couple of times too, waking up with my feet poking out of the end of the tarp. Overall I was pretty knackered when I woke, I was glad we had one of our shortest days ahead of us.
Snow turning to rain again
Heading for Braemar
Looking back to the west, our camp is centre of shot
As we neared Braemar it was great to get into the woods again, the Lin of Dee area is stunning and it was good to be back again. I told Mick about some of the hammock camping I’d done with Pete as we wandered along the track.
The rain was on and off but the day felt a lot warmer, we were encouraged along by the signs inviting Challengers to call in at Mar Lodge for tea and biscuits. Making our way up the drive to the lodge I couldn’t believe they actually invited stinky wet hikers in, but they did and they even let us use the drying room while we sat around the open fire in one of the trophy rooms.
Bridge over Lui Water, Lin of Dee
Mar Lodge
Victoria Bridge, a nice shortcut which is usually out of bounds
Shortly after we strolled into Braemar village, first stop was the pharmacy to get pain killers for Mick and tape and padding for my feet. We bumped into David and Sue again who were just about to leave for Ballater, both were in good form despite the weather.
We found a cafe on the main street and dived in for sausage and egg sarnies and a pot of tea, consumed with ease we headed back out and went to find the campsite, relieved again to pick up our third and final food parcel.
We spent the rest of the afternoon doing some admin, washing clothes and generally lolly gagging about the place, the evening was spent in the pub and sampling the brand new take-away which was opening that night. We chatted to various folk about their crossings so far, some had trudged through waist deep snow over the Lairig Ghru, some had been washed away trying to cross rivers and we heard about one chap who’d taken a tumble in Glen Feshie and had to be airlifted out.
Quiet campsite
Challengers for sure
A few more arrived as the day went on
A peak inside my shelter
