THE TGO CHALLENGE 2014.....DAY 9 (The beachend boys are in town)

I courted that girl on the banks of the Dee,

I made up my mind she was fashioned for me,
Soon I was thinking how nice it would be
If she would consent to get married to me.
The day we were wed, the grass was so green,
The sun was as bright as the light in her ' een.

Day 9 - White Bridge to Braemar 10 miles

Probably the shortest day of the trip, a Saturday, Scottish cup final day, if the mighty AFC hadn't been knocked out in the semi final, today would have been a nightmare. My plan somehow would have involved a return trip to Glasgow from Braemar, the Deeside Reds bus would have been my target today, probably a bonus that we are crap.

 Sausage wrap and brown sauce again, I don't think I've looked at a sausage since the challenge finished. 
The spot I bivied up in last night is between the Geldie burn and the Ruigh na Clach wood, its about the forth night I've spent at the spot this year, its dried out quite a bit since the start of the year. 
On one of my earlier trips four stags came down to the river at dusk, right opposite where I was sitting having a brew,one of the magical moments that happens every so often in the back of beyond. On another trip the woods were full of roosting Capercaillie, the most i've ever seen, there's actually lek a few hundred meters from where I was. 

The general area is pretty open so the woods are also quite handy for other needs...

The walk in towards Linn of Dee is quite fine for a well beaten track, as i was heading along it I bumped into quite a few day walkers heading in the opposite direction for a day in the mountains.  
About half a mile past white bridge you pick up a really good mobile signal, so I made a call to see where Mrs Mctoogle was, she was just passing Ballater, so we were pretty much on target to meet somewhere between Braemar and Mar Lodge.

I love the old Caledonian forest, the next few days will see me walking through some of the best bits, they're just magical trees. Hopefully the huge re-forestation programmes currently taking place around the country come good, and all the bastard wind turbines fall over or get stuck out in the North Sea, ach well we can dream.

Walking along the road towards Mar Lodge I was joined by a couple of lads who arrived on the road from the Lairig Ghru track, they had lost one of the party, the father in law I think it was. They were hoping to find him at Mar Lodge, I haven't heard any news reports on the subject so I presume they were in/out* of luck

*delete as applicable

The mighty Dee, the car park and area around the Linn of Dee was its usual Saturday busy.

The majestic Mar Lodge, I didn't stop as I had a hot date, maybe next time (except I plan on going via Ballater next year, maybe..)

Oops, hot hatch, twisty, up and down country roads, what's the bets on "a stag ran across in front of me mylud"

Two words you don't often see in the same sentence.

I was fairly hacking on and eventually at Arderg I bumped into the brains of the family, she'd parked up at the hotel and wandered out to meet me, she executed a swift pirouette and we headed off towards Braemar. She forgets I had a rather big bag on, so a polite "slow down please" message was sent forward.

Before the challenge, I had planned to cut up through the An Car wood and into the village via the show grounds, but the walk on the road was actually quite enjoyable, especially with fine company and someone to have a chat with.

 I later heard that a couple of navigationally challenged challengers/bloggers with a liking for cheap supermarket brand whisky got lost for days in this section, so maybe I escaped lightly giving it a miss. 

We were booked into the Fife Arms, so we went straight there to partake in a swift pint or two, after satisfying the thirst it was along to Gordon's for a panini, carrot cake and coffee. We returned to the Fife for a couple more drinks and to get checked in, the rooms in the hotel are huge but maybe a bit dated, the shower is a touch sketchy,  alternating between just right, Jesus f@@@@n Christ cold and third degree burns.

Mrs McT was a tadge bemused when the tent was hung up in the bath room, but really was most impressed when I washed out my socks and top (pants were heading home to Aberdeen in a sealed bag for incineration), wait until she finds out I can knock up a mean sausage wrap as well, it seems I've turned into a domestic god while I've been away .

After getting the admin squared away, we took a walk through the village to the Braemar lodge restaurant for some supper, it was very good, the whisky bar in there is a cracker, I had my first and second (maybe even third) bottle of Cairngorm black gold on the whole crossing, try it, a truly wonderful brew.


 After a great meal we wandered back to the Fife for the night.

Day 9 Thoughts and Impressions

Second day without a cuckoo, I'm starting to miss them. Wife's aren't just for Xmas. 

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