Day 8
I joined Thilou and Rob for breakfast at The Bothy, a restaurant associated with the Braemar Mountain Sports shop. They weren't under the same time pressure to finish, and were considering staying put for the day. I took my leave, headed back to the campground and packed up. Once done, I took my water bottle to the washing up sink to fill up, and then headed across the road and up into the hills.
It was warm. After a good climb the trail leveled out in the forest, and I reached for my water bottle. It wasn't there. I'd left it back at the campground. I considered my options, but there wasn't really an alternative but to retrace my steps. I stashed my pack in the woods and jogged back down the hill and to the campground.
Back at the campground, I found my water bottle right where I'd left it. I then fast-walked back up the hill, retrieved my pack, and headed on.
The woods were lovely. On one occasion I took a short-cut that ended up being blocked by a deer fence. Later, I headed up a forest track which I thought was correct but wasn't.
Eventually, I found where I needed to go, and followed a faint path up through the woods. It was very warm.
The trees dissipated as I reached the high ground, and I then followed a track through the heather. For one of the first times ever in Scotland, I took my umbrella out to shield me from the sun! As I walked, I was startled by a small adder near the trail.
I eventually came to a track, and rested in the shade of a small shelter.
I pushed on and reached the Gelder Shiel bothy. It was well kept, and is definitely some place I'd like to come back to. I had a late lunch there, and pushed on, as it was too early to stop.
A faint path led through the heather. I had my rain trousers on, and my legs were sweaty. The trail was too overgrown, however, to proceed without this leg protection.
Eventually, I reached another track that led towards Lochnagar.
The afternoon had passed, and I was getting weary. My map suggested that there weren't likely to be many good places to pitch my tent once I started to descend towards Glen Muick, so I found a place a spot near a trail towards Lochnagar.
After setting up my tent, I followed several trails to grouse butts, but none led to water. Eventually, reluctantly, I retraced my steps on the track back to the last point at which I'd seen a dribble of water coming from the peat. I watered up, and returned to my tent to cook dinner.
It was a lovely evening, but once I'd settled in to my sleeping back, sleep came quickly.
Part 5 here
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