Day 8 - Corrour Bothy to Braemar

We woke up from Bothy night dry and warm as promised, but not fully rested. As mentioned in yesterday’s blog, it’s a little awkward sleeping in tiny place with a group of complete strangers. We were still glad to have done it, but I think we were both looking forward to being back in our cozy tent tonight.
It didn’t take us too long back on the trail to realize that we were both feeling a little weary. After some discussion we decided to take our Fowl Weather Alternative / Feeling Weary Alternative (FWA) off our planned route, and into Braemar. We knew we would likely be able to get a spot at the campground, and would hopefully get to meet up with some other challengers, which is a big part of the whole experience. Not long after making our decision and bearing off the original course we ran into Immo from the bothy. So fun!! We played leapfrog with him all day, and had a good time discussing various topics. It was so nice to finally be interacting with some challengers!! The walk went very well, and we were at the camp site in Braemar by 3:30 after having stopped for tea and cake at Gordon’s Tea House, a challenger favourite.

JM Looking Weary On The Approach To Braemar

As we were setting up in the tent area of the campground, a good challenger friend of ours, Sabine, came running over to greet us. We did not expect to see her, so it was a very nice surprise for us. Sabine is a German legend in the challenge, for her hiking ability and route choices, as well as her status as most friendly and social challenger!! We first met her on our TGOC crossing in 2017, when she showed up to Melgarve Bothy, made friends with everybody, and shared around her Russian Rocket Fuel, that may have contributed to a few headaches the next day. 🤣

Campground Shot

After showers and set-up time we decided to head into town for dinner. We were lucky to cross paths with Sabine, and two other challengers, Mike who we did not know, and Graham who Amanda had met at Tarfside during TGOC 2019. We went to Farqhuarson’s Pub and had a great time visiting with other challengers including Immo, and filling our bellies!  It felt great to be around other challengers comparing notes, and sharing all of our experiences on the crossing so far.

Happy Challengers!!

We headed back to our tents around 9:00, and as I have been writing this it has started to rain outside. No bother, we are snug in our sleeping bags and ready for a long night of comfortable sleep.

Goodnight all, and thanks for reading!!!

Day 8 Route - 23 km, 445 m ascent