Things get tough for our intrepid walkers as the weather turns…
We’ve had some tough walking since Newtonmore where I last blogged.
After leaving the town the weather began to turn with strong wind and dark clouds moving in as we made our way through Glen Feshie forest towards the mountains.
We spent some time deciding whether we should stick with our original plan to camp up high or go with our foul weather alternative and stick in the glens below. On the conclusion that we were well enough prepared we decided to head up to the tops.
As expected, things weren’t too nice up on Carn Ban Mor – low visibility, wind and rain. We sought out Loch can Cnapan, our planned end point for the day, and put up the tent. We stayed inside from 6 that evening until 10 the next day!
When we did crawl out, visibility was much better and our spirits were restored. We felt energised enough to climb up to the 1291m top of Carn Toul, which was only an optional ascent on our route. It was a good thing we did climb it – the summit was cloud-free and we had our best view of the trip so far. Our spirits were further lifted after a stop for lunch in Corrour bothy. By then the sun had returned so we sat on the bothy porch and dried out while we cooked.
That evening, we camped with a big gathering of TGO Challengers by the river at Derry Lodge, then the next day made our way down to Braemar together.
The Challenge has been superb so far. We’ve experienced the best of the Scottish landscape, had some of the wildest of wild camps and enjoyed bumping into other Challengers along the way.
Next, we’re heading to Lochallater Lodge where we hear there’s usually a sociable gathering of Challengers, and following that we’ll be climbing the 1156m Lochnagar. After that it looks like it’s downhill to our finish at Stonehaven!
