Day 9: Blair Atholl to Bynack Lodge
28.1km and 597m of ascent. Total distance so far: 227.3km
Woken by the %^&*ing crows, I decided to not try to go back to sleep, and instead opted for an early start (0650). Due to an oversight, there was no porridge for breakfast this morning, and a hasty meal of Quaker’s porridge bars was consumed on the hoof.
My route to the Glen Tilt track was very inefficient, and a closer inspection of the map would have saved me some distance. But at least this time I didn’t have a horrible mucky patch to negotiate like last time.
There were also people about (for once) and greetings were made. I stopped at 6km and sat on a rock just before one such exchange. Then at 12km, having not had coffee before setting off, I found a patch of shade and used it for a brew up. While I was doing this 3 people passed with the look of Challengers.
This may have encouraged me not to linger overly and to attempt to catch them up. One of them turned out to be Kevin who I met several times last year, and the other two were friends joining him for a few days. It was just nice to finally see another Challenger, let alone one I already knew.
I pushed on ahead as they stopped for a break, and they almost caught me at my 19km lunch stop, shortly before the Falls of Tarf.
I’d forgotten quite how tortuous the path becomes after the Falls of Tarf. My pace really slowed, and the first twinges of the lower leg/foot pain that would plague the rest of the crossing started to make itself felt.
Just as the path levelled out to cross the watershed, I spied someone coming towards me – moreover “I recognise that stick he’s using” I thought. Yes, it was Jeremy who I spent the whole of day 6 with last year. I pointed out he was heading the wrong way down Glen Tilt, which then turned into a discussion about his route to Arbroath, and the general pleasures of stupidly long routes.
About 1km before Bynack Lodge, I met a chap having a rest at a big rock and we chatted for a while. Not a Challenger but he was aware of it, and seemed well informed about it.
I pushed onto the Lodge, having decided to stop there if there was a decent pitch decently away from the guy I’d just been told was already there. Otherwise I’d push on to cross the Geldie Burn as had been my intention for most of the day.
The other chap was pitched up right in front of the lodge, and so I headed into the “back garden” to find something. Not perfect ground for a tent, but I found something workable and which actually turned out to be really comfortable, even though it was lumpy underneath.
I settled in for a quiet evening to contemplate what to do after Braemar. For some days now, I’d been wanting to get the crossing done as simply as possible, whilst also thinking it might be my last Challenge, leading to thoughts of rounding it off properly (ie finally do Lochnaggar!). My notebook bore evidence of the dilemma.
Day 10: Bynack Lodge to Braemar
20.6km and 137m of ascent. Total distance so far: 247.9km
A surprisingly comfortable night, considering the unevenness and bumpiness of the pitch.
I wasn’t in a massive hurry today, with a relatively short distance to cover, and a route I knew well. and aside from that I couldn’t check into my pod at the campsite until 3pm.
I set off at 08:45 and very quickly stopped to chat with the other guy camped at the lodge.
With the burns low, it was easy walking down the track and across the Geldie Burn, although it was into a fairly stiff headwind.
I reached Linn of Dee and took a short break on a rock, turned off airplane mode and caught up with the world.
Now for the somewhat tedious walk along to Mar Lodge. Somehow, it seemed to pass quicker than it has before. Maybe that’s because I’ve de-sensitised myself to boring road walks with what I did at the start of the Challenge.
Met Anna and Torr at Mar Lodge, and fought the desire to linger for ages, that popping in there seems to bring on.
The final stretch was along the road to Braemar. Generally, I either put walking through Morrone Birkwood on my route card, or my vetter suggests it, but I NEVER do it, and today was no exception. I think the vetters may not quite get that when you leave Mar Lodge you usually just want to get to Braemar as quickly and easily as possible!
The road walk to Braemar was also less tortuous a process than usual. As I entered the village I pondered where to stop to eat: Gordon’s ? The Bothy ? I ended up at the chip shop.
I checked the opening times of The Bothy and the Post Office, then went to Green’s for some shopping – some lunch for the next day, some chocolate and a cool drink. I dodn’t really need food generally, because there was a parcel waiting for me at the campsite, and even some of what was in that would be going straight home again.
I checked in to the campsite, collected my parcel and called control to tell them I’d be taking the direct route to Ballater the next day, rather than my main route or FWA.
Day 11: Braemar to Ballater
30.2km and 244m of ascent. Total distance so far: 278.1km
I’ve done this Braemar to Ballater road (mostly) walk 3 times before (in 2018, 2022 and 2024) and so was very much dealing with a known quantity. But I had some time constraints: the Post Office opening at 9am and the need to arrive in Ballater early enough to be have a fighting chance of getting in somewhere (and ideally, the Alexandra) for dinner.
I was at Green’s in good time, and first in the queue for the post office. 10 minutes after it should have opened, it actually opened, with the queue halfway back through the shop. The person on the counter then proceeded to mistype the postcode, and I ended up having to wait again for her to finish serving the next person.
At 09:20 I finally started walking. Knowing how dull the road bit would be, and knowing that the guy behind me (Mike) in the PO queue was headed the exact same way, I tried to see if I could catch him up to no avail. I could see him resolutely 5 minutes or so ahead of me for quite a while.
With the new path through the woods, I managed to stay off-road all the way to Invercauld Bridge, albeit at the cost of some unwanted undulation.
As I approached Connachat Cottage, I came upon 2 guys in kilts and just after then a German couple, who I walked with to my traditional rest stop just by the point where the path to Gelder shiel breaks off. They were going that way, so I left them when I was ready to move, and just around the corner I found the 6 strong Spanish contingent. We chatted and walked to Balmoral together. I told them it was possible to actually go and have tea at the King’s house, and they broke off to actually call in at the castle.
I took the track/road past the golf course to Easter Balmoral, and to save that previous weird experience of exiting through the gift shop that I had once. I took a break on an old wall as I hit the road to the distillery.
Just around the corner was Mike, having a break. I stopped for a few moments to exchange pleasantries, but having just stopped and him being early in his break, there wasn’t much point hanging around, and so I carried on.
I very quickly reached the spot that Darren and I camped in 2022 and I took my final rest stop just past it, knowing I only had 5 miles left. Mike came upon me as I was sat there, had a quick break and then we walked on for the next 4km together. He then branched off to follow the Dee (unnecessary extra distance in my book!), and I ground out the rest of the walk, getting to the campsite just before 5pm.
I quickly found myself getting swept along to the Alexandra with Kirsten Patterson and Moyna, but I really wanted a shower before dinner, and so just went to book a table for later. 7:30 was the best they could do, but that at least gave me plenty of time to sort myself out. Back to the tent for the best shower of the trip.
A cup of tea, a snack and then back to the Alexandra for a really nice steak and ale pie followed by an Eton mess sundae. Ian Ford came in and we had a brief chat. I also spotted a couple of Americans, that I would see again later on in the crossing.
My right ankle has been hurting again, and some pains in my left shin too, showing that not sticking to my main route over Lochnaggar, or even my longer FWA, was probably a good call. I would need to just take it easy the rest of the way – no one wants to retire from the Challenge after Braemar, it’s so close to the end.
