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It was a very windy night. I think it's safe to say that White Bridge is not a pleasant place to camp in those bitterly cold Easterly winds.
We left early and found those fellow Challengers who'd decided not to join us at White Bridge camping alongside the river a mile or so from the Linn of Dee. As we hit the tarmac at the Linn again we met Christine and another Challenger who looked as if they'd been camping in the woods themselves. As we ambled along the lane, past the Invery Hostel, I realised that there were a number of pleasant camping spots here, through the woods and away from the road and bordering the river. Something to explore another time.
Linn of Dee Wild Camp
Linn Rainbow
Last year I'd gone from the bothy in Feshie to Braemar in one go and was feeling murderous after walking into the village. This shorter walk was far more pleasant and we entered Braemar at about 11. We headed straight to the Old Bakery for some lovely coffee and cakes.
The campsite at Braemar is another of those fabulous sites, with lovely comfortable pitches and wonderful facilities. Our food parcel was, once again, waiting for us. Making camp here is a bit of a performace as you get instructed on how and where to pitch your tent, at the office, when you register. Pitches are numbered. Campers have to align their tent with the number. Having told the office I'd been here before I went and placed the camp between the number marks. Ant and Maurice were here. I swore when I realised I'd pitched wrongly. Maurice laughed and said that the tent was more or less in the right place; relax. But - having pitched and unloaded the packs - I decided to pitch again, following the rules. 10 minutes after finishing the new pitch the warden was up and inspecting the tents! I'm glad I'd moved; you could tell there would have been trouble.
There was a bit of excitment here at the campsite. There were two Henry Shires Tarp Tents at the site. One was obviously Colin Ibbotson's Contrail but the other was a Squall belonging to Rob Waizenegger from Germany. We also bumped into self styled "Challenge Legend" John Jordan who while not on the Challenge had walked up from Blair Atholl to join us all. John has done 15 Challenges and the event is obviously a big part of his life. But John's health as been poor; he'd had a number of serious operations and told us all that he was battling cancer. He didn't look like a man who should have been walking at all, but then the Challenge obviously grips people like this.
At the Fife Arms we found Lands End to John O'Groats walker - and blogger - Alan Sloman, settling down for an afternoon and evening of holding court. Colin Ibbotson was with him. A small group of us had a delightful afternoon with Alan who willingly playing the role of Challenge Legend, recounting all kinds of stories from his 11 or so crossings. Alan had been one of the folks who'd passed us at White Bridge. He'd had John Jordan with him who he'd found in a bad way, tired and disorientated, on the walk. Alan had paced John into Braemar and he and Colin had put up his tent. John was headed for Montrose. Alan got him to promise that he'd continue his journey by bus.
Alan Sloman and his box of electro. gadgets!
We had a lovely afternoon with Alan and Colin. Braemar is the main place for catching-up with Challenge gossip. We heard that Phylis La Borwit and fallen on day one and had broken her wrist and had to abandon at Fort William Hospital. I'd only met Phylis last year but I knew that she'd be gutted. We also heard about poor Darren. Darren had been very ill on the hills during the first couple of days, was very sick and became very dehydrated. Luckily, it seemed, Darren had been walking with Phil Lambert who'd managed to get a call to help to the Mountain Rescue Service who then airlifted him out. Darren then spent a couple of days on a drip in hospital but it seemed he was now back at home. Darren had been blogging about this trip for months. I just hoped he wasn't too devastated. Listening to Alan I realised that Darren's route hadn't involved the easy start to Inverie but had involved hitting the high hills immediately. I guess there was no margin for comfort here and that it was impossible to walk through the illness.
Eventually we left the Fife Arms by late afternoon. Last year the Fife had been bought by one of the large coach companies and I'd found it quite an un-welcoming place. The hotel had taken quite a bit of stick on the net. But this year the staff were very welcoming and the atmosphere was transformed. I'm sure somebody from the hotel had been reading the comments on the web! In all honestly we left the pub because we couldn't keep up with Alan. I can't remember the last time I'd drunk so much in an afternoon!
That evening we decided to spoil ourselves and we booked into the Gathering Place, a little bistro opposite the chip shop and next door to the Bank of Scotland. We had a thoroughly nice evening here. The welcome was very warm and the food nicely ambitious but not too silly. Portions were quite adequate for hungry challengers. Well recommended.
We managed to resist the urge to go back to the pub. We had all day tomorrow. And we suddenly realised we were out and about well past our bedtime.