Friday 9 October
Where was Bertie? He spent the night at one of his regular haunts: Broxden Park & Ride, Perth.
When Mick's appointment for his eye ultrasound finally came through (after a delay due to the consultant failing to request it) for late on Thursday afternoon, we realised that we would be able to make it up to Newtonmore for the TGO Challenge reunion weekend. So, Bertie was packed and on Friday morning we set out, with the SatNav set to Perth.
Pauses were had for fuel (funny that 195.9/litre can result in an exclamation of cheapness, after weeks of not seeing anything below 199.9/litre), and LPG, plus a short lunch break. Otherwise, it was just a day of driving, ending with me declaring once again that Perth is about an hour too far for me to comfortably travel in a day. If only there was somewhere equally handy a bit further south.
We settled into the Park & Ride car park, which was as busy as ever, and a bit noisier overnight than I recall it being before. Perhaps we don’t usually find ourselves there on a Friday night.
Saturday 10th
Where was Bertie? He spent two nights parked on a back road in Newtonmore.
After a parkrun to start our day, and more fuel put into Bertie’s tank, up to Newtonmore we came. Bertie was parked in the same spot that we used on our previous visit, it being the nearest Bertie-sized parking to Ali & Adrian’s house. I was all for walking the long way around, in view of the wet grass, but Mick thought we would be okay just walking down the field. He had returned to Bertie for his forgotten glasses when I slid in some mud, fell and managed to spectacularly cover myself with mud and slurry. I was wearing both the jeans and shirt that I intended to wear for the dinner that night, and didn’t have any alternative clothes with me - unless I wanted to go in leggings and t-shirt (and, in all honesty, I doubt anyone would have batted an eyelid if I had).
We often turn up at friends’ houses and request to use the shower. This time I turned up covered from shoulder to toe in foul smelling filth and asked to use the washer and dryer too. By late afternoon, I was outfitted again.
Around 40 people came along for the reunion dinner, and we knew all bar a couple - I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing, as it does demonstrate that not many new Challengers come along to these events.
It was a late night, but for once Mick and I weren’t the last standing (I’m claiming that, even though the other contenders for being last to leave were just heading up to their rooms as we stepped out the door for the dark walk back up to Bertie.
Incidentally, bar the 2 October when I wore longs, I managed to stay in my shorts until 8 October, so warm was it at home. Scotland has been a bit of a shock to the system, putting me straight from summer into winter attire.
Sunday 11th
Where was Bertie? He spent a second night in Newtonmore
We’d intended to move to Kingussie on Sunday, but after I’d met up with Ali for a short walk up the glen, we convened in her kitchen to plan the TGOC East recces that are needed for the 2027 event. Time then passed by over many cups of tea, during which we all sat down to catch-up on Saturday’s Strictly, followed immediately by the results show. Then, suddenly, it was bed time, at which point it didn’t make sense to move on.
By the end of the day, Ali and I both felt like we were coming down with colds. I clutched at the straw that, in my case, it was just a mild reaction to the dog.
Monday 12th
Where was Bertie? At the motorhome Aire in Kingussie, at a cost of £10.
My day started with the realisation that I’d made a significant packing omission: I’d brought my bike, but forgotten a bike helmet. Ali to the rescue - although I didn’t stay for long when I picked it up as she now decidedly had a cold.
We needed to be in Kingussie by 11am, when Mick had a meeting at the Railway cafe, but we arrived an hour early, so had time for coffee and a crossword before I left him to talk shop with Sue & Di.
I’d like to describe all the active things we did to fill the rest of the day, but I felt so ill-inclined to go out in the cold that a walk through the village and a quick trip to the Coop was all we managed. I did, however, come up with a route and itinerararary for this trip that should see quite a few of the TGOC East recces accomplished and hopefully a few hills bagged too.
Tuesday 13th
Where was Bertie? He spent a second night at the Aire in Kingussie, mainly because it has an excellent phone signal and I had a video appointment on Wednesday morning.
Weather: What bizarre weather! Monday had seen a daytime high of 12 degrees. Tuesday was the same, but in between the night was a steady 15 degrees between 10pm and 6am. The brief spell of warmth ended as a band of heavy rain came through.
My first recce was in Glen Feshie, and surely no one has ever complained about an outing in that glen? Where best to park (taking into account the size of Bertie vs the size of the roads into the glen)? We opted for Uath Lochans on the basis that it gave me a shorter bike ride that would take me further up the glen (to the bridge at Stronetoper) than if we parked on the N side of the river.
Mick wasn’t able to join me as we only have one bike, but in any case, he had now come down with the cold (I was still feeling vaguely coldy, but not enough to stop me doing anything), so once he’d retrieved my bike from the boot whilst I faffed with my pack, he spent the day resting.
I had a good outing, getting the info that had been requested for the TGOC East routes. Glen Feshie really is a lovely glen, and I was blessed with sunshine for much of the first two-thirds. Alas, it then rained until just before I got back to my bike. It had been far less showery than forecast, but that one shower went on far too long to be classed as a shower in my book!
The one eye-opening aspect of the day was seeing people tackling the ford of the Allt Garbhlach. To me the approach was obvious: walk across the ford, with the water slow moving and only up to ankle height. I must have witnessed another dozen people, all bar two of whom opted to cross further down where the water was narrower, but faster and the bed much rockier. A few managed to cross on a fallen tree trunk, but the consequences of a slip or loss of balance half way across would have been more significant than the wet feet of using the ford.
As for the two who also used the ford, I’d come across them stymied on the west bank when I’d arrived. I simply walked across, then offered to throw my walking poles back for them to use in turn. It was only after they were safely across that I realised that they’d still need to get back later, and I commented that we’d just need to time our return journeys to coincide at that point. “We will be about an hour and a half” they said.
My outing was 4 or 5k longer than theirs, but as I came back past Ruigh Aiteachain bothy, they joined the path just ahead of me. I was moving faster, but I also needed to walk a few loops on my way back. I thus met them three more times, not always going in the same direction. They were thirty seconds behind me by the time I crossed the water, and thus with some more walking pole flinging, we all got back across securely and without drama. Impressive timing!
As I’ve done so many times before, I spent the outward ride thinking there was a surprising amount of downhill, wondering why the flat bits were so hard, and slightly dreading the return ride. Once again, the return ride turned out to be predominantly downhill and the reason the morning’s flat sections were hard was because they were uphill. I really have some slant perception issues! I’d been 35 minutes on the outward ride, but it only took me 19 to get back, whereupon we scurried to get the bike away, as the next rain was just arriving.
If it hadn’t been for my need for a good phone signal in the morning, we likely would have spent the night where we were, but as it was we returned to Kingussie.
Wednesday 14th
Where’s Bertie? A third night at the Aire in Kingussie.
Not much to say about today. Mick was feeling rather poorly, so after we’d packed away ready to move, and were within 10 minutes of the noon depart-by time, he decided that what he’d like to do today is absolutely nothing. I thus extended our stay.
Another motorhome has joined us this afternoon and chose the spot right next to us. On this occasion, this is a good thing (even though all other spots are empty), as the wind is gusting over 50mph this afternoon and he’s providing a good wind block!
It’s due to calm down as we go into evening.
We are definitely moving on tomorrow - I’ve booked and paid for a night at a campsite.
Talking of which, there’s a real dearth of campsites in these parts (three in Aviemore, one in Blair Atholl, one in Pitlochry). We had no plans to go to Aviemore, but as it’s not too far away and as we’d welcome some electricity, I looked to see how much they were. The most expensive was over £47. The cheapest £42. Is it just me who thinks that’s ridiculous? We decided we can manage without electricity for one more night … and that Bertie’s leisure battery is probably reaching the end of its life.
Most of the photos I took were of the things I was recceing, rather than of the views, but here are a couple of nice sunny glen shots, taken before the rain came:
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