Day 10: Braemar to Ballater

I was a little sluggish to get going not least because I figured Humphrey needed a good night's sleep. Mistake! Humph is a famous early riser and by the time he was up and about he'd gone.

I strolled down to the village to try and find some cash; the Challenge had drunk the ATM dry over the weekend. I bought some provisions in the Coop and they gave me £20 cashback. By the time I set off for Ballater it was about 9.30.

Ballater is about 18 miles away as the crow flies, probably nearer 20 by the time you've walked the tracks. Although long it's not hard as effectively you're just following the Dee downstream. After a slog down the road I entered the Balmoral Estate. There are worse ways to spend a Sunday than walking through Balmoral.

The first part of the walk takes you through some lovely Caledonian Forest, bought by Queen Victoria simply to preserve it; I'm certainly grateful. I navigated by simply taking the track that seemed to run closest to the Dee. Perhaps I was deceiving myself but there seemed to be far less foliage in the estate this year and the Dee was far more prominent than I remember it in other years.

The forest slowly morphs into a more managed, agricultural landscape. There is a lot of evidence of horsey stuff here. Ponies grazed in fields, the tracks passed stables and in one field a small gathering seemed to be inspecting some young ponies for purchase. One thing you notice is just how well everything on this estate is maintained; I guess there are maybe not such pressing financial margins here. The Royal Estates preference for sustainability seems to be everywhere in the estate fittings and furniture. I even crossed a couple of wooden cattle grids.

Balmoral Farming!

After the Princess Alice Memorial I was on new territory, never having walked this way to Ballater before. During the early part of the walk the weather was quite annoying. It couldn't decide whether it wanted to rain or for the sun to shine. The arms of the Third Element jacket were on and off over and over again.

As you get nearer the main house signposts begin to appear, just in case you decide to get lost I guess (as I had done on my first Challenge after trying an oh-so-clever short cut). At a major track junction I met a group of Challenger having their lunch and was pleased to find vetter Mr Grumpy and his wife Avril. They seemed to be travelling light. They'd walked to the Invercauld Bridge the night before and then hitched a lift to Ballater. This morning they'd left the tent and had taken the bus back to the bridge and were now having a gentle amble through the forest. Seemed a sensible idea for me.

When you're night quite sure which route to take it is handy to have a vetter on tap. Grumpy weighed up the options. Go straight on for the tea rooms, but they may sting you for the price of admission to the house. Avoid the tearooms, walk to Easter Balmoral and you avoid the charge. Seemed sensible to me.

The track took me up through woodland before arcing back and down towards a cluster of smart and picturesque cottages which I presume was Easter Balmoral. A group of younger Challengers were picnicking on a lovely grassy site. The sun had well and truly beaten off the rain.

Estate Cottage

I continued down a track looking for somewhere that would make a greta lunch stop. I came across a tree which must originally have had two trunks running from the same base. One of these branches had broken and had been chopped down. This left a little seat, just perfect for one _ and a perfect height for my back! I sat in the sun and enjoyed one of the best lunch breaks I'd had on this Challenge. Grumpy and Avril ambled past commenting on the splendid nature of my perch.

Soon I was off the track and onto the old tarmac road that runs down to Ballater above the South bank of the Dee. It was now very hot and the road long and miserable. I took a few minutes break on an old stone wall. Tarmac walking is no fun. I was beginning to give up the will to live. My morbid daydreams were broken by the clatter of walking poles and around the corner came Kate and Tim Wood. I was meeting them for the first time on this Challenge and it was good to walk with them and to catch up on things.

I say it was nice to walk with them but this was something of a Challenge in itself. Kate and Tim and both in their seventies. Kate had been through a very bad year with a serious health fight on her hands. Apparently the thought of this year's Challenge drove her on to recovery. Not only was Kate looking very healthy but she was bombing along at a pace of knots. Tim and I struggled to talk and keep up with her at the same.

"She's not doing bad" I ventured. Tim grinned from ear to ear. We both looked ahead at this little dynamo pacing us along the tarmac. We looked back at each other and laughed. It is a great experience seeing someone winning their own personal battles with such guts and style. It was fantastic. Kate was in charge. We stopped for a few minutes rest when she called it and followed on at pace when she started again, with all the obedience of a set of troups on a military exercise!

Tim and Kate were staying at a B&B at the top of Ballater. At Dalhefour Wood they took a track down towards the river. I was headed at the campsite and continued on the road which, rather annoyingly, decided to climb up a hill just when the sun was at its hottest.

I emerged from woodland into a wide open and lush agricultural landscape framed by a series of beautiful cottages with wonderful flower gardens. At the Bridge of Muick I inspected the large memorial cairn and clocked the route to Mount Keen. Actually, route finding would be quite easy. A sign hung from a post which said 'Mount Keen".

Towards Ballater

Ballater is entered over a fine and sturdy, stone bridge. It is a lovely village and I could immediately see why some Challengers prefer this to Braemar. There is a lovely street of charming shops leading from the bridge into a lovely, grassy, church square. Ballater looked as if it was ready (once again) for the best-dressed village in Scotland competition. I passed by a traditional butcher shop which hailed its own pies and sausages. This must have been the place that Phil as aiming for. Without doubt, this place would have provided him with a higher quality of meat product that he was used to.

The campsite in Ballater is one of those sites in a wonderful location, sitting on the banks of the Dee, a wide river now which flowed on gently and majestically to the sea. The site is a municipal site and I mean that in the best sense of the phrase. The site was well maintained, the backpacking tent grass flat and comfortable with tables and benches to sit around and eat from. The toilet block and showers were large, clean and more than functional.

By the time I arrived most others Challengers had already arrived. Grumpy was already installed of course, and he was soon joined by fellow vetter Alan Hardy. Humphrey was pitched down by the river alone with Jane Eggleston and a 'friend' who'd joined for a weekend of walking. The site is perfectly situated on the banks of the Dee and provided for yet another place for the weary walker to dip their feet into the waters. It was a pleasant end to the afternoon, nattering and catching up with news and hearing Jane renewing her vow to never walk on so much tarmac again.

Back at my tarp I found a small rock and drove my V stakes into the slightly rocky ground. This bought tears of amusement to Grump's face as he obviously considered this must have been something of a necessity with such light kit. He took a photo of me and the stone! To be fair, Grumpy is something of a man with a lightweight pedigree, twice I think having crossed Scotland in just a bivy — once in splendid weather and last time in dreadful weather. He told me that some years before Avril had made him a tarp construction which looked a little like the Duomid although with the supporting pole outside of the tent. That would have been interesting to have seen.

Grumpy had heard about my back and was concerned that everything was OK. He looked more than doubtful when I told him I had planned to head over Mount Keen although was now beginning to have my doubts. As only a vetter could, Grumpy ran through a number of other, flatter and less strenuous route options.

Humphrey (as I'm sure I've mentioned before) is a bit of a hiking gourmand. He announced that the Alexander Hotel served fine food and he had particularly fine memories of its steak and ale pie. We decided to hit town in style and indulge ourselves in a three course meal.

The bar of the Alexander is quite small and this being a Sunday evening they seemed to be struggling with the number of Challengers that had appeared. Humphrey had already told me a tale of conflict with the Dalwinnie Hotel; he's a man who expects quality service even when appearing in a smelly form and wearing a cashmere jumper with more holes in it than Blackburn, Lancashire.

"Can we eat" enquired Hump.

The woman behind the bar didn't' quite say yes. I think she meant to say that the place was full and that people were being turned away to return later. But it didn't come out like this and she seemed to be saying we'd be lucky. I could see Humph's indignation building. Then — just as I was preparing myself for a major diplomatic incident — the couple behind me got up to leave. We were in the seats like a shot. Humph grinned back at the bar with the most devilish expression.

"Can we eat now?"

We now settled down to a fine evening. We thought we recognised the Brakes Brothers menu but it wasn't too bad. We both had a home made pate to start, the said steak and ale pie and a desert. All washed down with a decent, Spanish red.

It was a fine evening talking about business, plans for future and all manner of other things. As usual we compared notes about our reading. humphrey had just bought a 'Stalin's Nemesis' that I had recommended, a fine account of Trotsky's exile in Mexico. You don't often have the chance to discuss things like this on the Challenge. In return Humphrey told me to ignore the Seig Laurson thrillers I'd just started reading. Joe Nesbo was the man, a Norwegian crime writer who also played bass in a punk band, just the right kind of credentials for Humph.

By now the atmosphere had really thawed. the landlady who'd been so odd when we came in now recognised Humph from the year before. Once again she fell for that old Wexford charm!

Humph moved on to his latest plans, to buy two Icelandic Ponies with which he and Mary his partner could ride across Scotland. Apparently Icelandic Ponies are very hardy and like to winter outdoors. And they can carry quite decent weights. 2011 will be Humphrey's 10th Challenge and he'll be back with his for that. But after, I reckon we're more likely to find him cantering across his beloved Monadhliath!

I decided to retire a little earlier than most. By now Humph seemed to have charmed the whole bar. Back at the tarp I wondered whether to study the alternative routes that Grumpy had suggested. Nah, I'd just see what tomorrow would bring!

Braemar to Ballater

The walk through Balmoral is quite straightforward. The map shows a mass of paths through the estate and these can be quite confusing. But on the ground simply follow those closest to the River and you'll have a lovely ramble through the woods. Enter the estate by the track at NO 183 910.

All tracks lead to the key junctions. Princess Alice's memorial is the place where the track around the edge of Lochnagar sets you on your way to the Gelder Shiel or Sheilin of Mark bothies.

At Easter Balmoral keep heading down tracks in an Easterly direction and eventually you will have dropped down to the old road into Ballater.

Kate and Tim's track through the wood crosses the Dee to enter into the top of Ballater. This route involves a little walk on the main road but avoids the hills that are a feature of the old road.

Ballater Caravanning and Camping site is easily reached. Cross the bridge and immediately double back towards the weather, underneath the bridge itself. You will find a track tat runs along the bank of the river and into the campsite within a few hundred yards or so.

Ballater has all major ammenities and the Alexander Hotel is good place for a nosh.

Here me talking about Ballater

Audio Introduction