Aviemore Wednesday 10 June 2015
Start: Linn of Dee
Finish: Aviemore
Miles walked today: 27
Total miles: 873
What a day!
It's been perfect. Weather, scenery, donations (hit the target!!), phone calls, people, and a Kenonymous gem of a beer. What more could I want?
6.15 am saw me walking from the youth hostel in Braemar, and concerned that I would have to walk the six miles back to Linn of Dee. After twenty minutes or so I was distracted by a herd of deer crossing the road. There must have been in excess of fifty, all jumping the wire fence on one side and wandering off into the woods opposite.
A new shiny silver car came along, and I did my best with my thumb but to no avail. Fearing the worst, I heard another vehicle, who pulled in a little further up the road. The driver of the mini bus was having a quick smoke, and agreed to take me as far as he was going (school run - they start early) but after asking me about my day's walk took me all the way to Linn of Dee. A good start to the day. Thank you Eric Middleton.
The Lairig Ghru pass is an easy walk if the weather is kind, and nothing compared to what Munro baggers get up to, but it's still quite a challenge. I met two women who I'd seen in the hostel last night. One was carrying a large, heavy crowbar. It turned out that Martine and Dani were repairing the path above the Corrour Bothy, work which would take several months. They would spend a few days at a time doing the work, walking up into the mountains each morning, and returning the hostel in Braemar at night, before having time off at home in the west of Scotland and Inverness. A good job on a day like today - the sun was out and there was no wind. Lovely.
I passed a party of twenty or thirty young people - Duke of Edinburgh's Award I think - who didn't seem to be enjoying themselves as much as I was. The mountains were magnificent. I lunched at the Pools of Dee, and soon after walked across snow.
As I decended towards Aviemore, I got a call from Christian at the Basingstoke Observer. I could be in the next issue! He was very positive and asked lots of questions, which could generate some more donations. This is all down to Kenonymous who has been busy drumming up support.
The Youth Hostel is quite big at Aviemore, and busy. Groups of young people are cooking and having fun. Which is nice...
Lots of donations today:
Thanks to Pete - I hear you're a married man now.
Thanks to Susan and Jim who were cycling near Aviemore.
George and Chris at the hostel kindly donated - thank you both.
And a special thanks to Derek & Lynne for pushing the total over the target of £1000
Kenonymous is keeping up the sterling work on the beer front. I can't name today's beer, but a photo of it is below...
