A walk through the night

Ok, so Saturday, 20th June saw 107 people gathering in Grantown on Spey at 10pm to walk along the Dava Way to Forres.



Sunday, 21st June saw Angela, Jo, Nicky, Sally, Babs, Louise and Cathy wearily arriving at Delilah's house at 6.57am.

So, in just less than 9 hours, we covered 24 miles with numerous food, drink and pee stops and a bacon buttie at Dunphail. The first 14 miles were hard going, a steady uphill path that is the bed of a disused railway. You know what's at the bottom of a rail track? I do. It's lumpy, to say the very least. Jo called them chuckies. But in the dark on an overcast night, even with torches, it was a little tricky placing one's feet, so when we finished, the soles of mine felt bruised, although no blisters. (Boots Peppermint foot gel with Arnica is the business, by yesterday afternoon, my feet were completely pain free, yey!)



As we left Dunphail, refreshed and revitalised (I had been dreading this stop, I thought it would be hard to get going again and face another 10 miles) the sun rose and it turned into the most glorious morning, clear blue skies, birds giving it laldy in the trees and sky. It was absolutely beautiful and it was definitely the best part of the walk. Apart from the end. The weather throughout had been near perfect, just warm enough that we weren't sweltering but didn't chill on our frequent breaks. There were a few midgies around, but they only become annoying when we stopped for more than a minute and between us we had gallons of Avon's Skin So Soft, which does appear to be quite effective.

There's no denying it was hard going at times. I had inadvertantly been up since 4.17 am on the Saturday and didn't get to my bed again till around 8.45 am on the Sunday, but I didn't feel exhausted or particularly sore, considering the chuckies. No blisters, so the Brashers are performing well and stand a real chance of getting worn in, at last. Carried my pack and tried to take enough so that the weight would carry it down onto my hips comfortably without taking a heap of stuff I didn't need. Tried.

On the whole, we did all enjoy the experience, even with the tricky bits, (Linda had some cracking blisters by the end, if not half way point) in the end we settled into several smaller groups, spread amongst the 107 starters, so we all walked at a pace we were happy with, which wasn't slow by anyone's standards, but some were pushing on more than others wanted. It all worked out and we had regular regrouping before we all met up again to do the last few miles into Forres. There were 75 finishers in total, so it does feel good to have been one of them.

Well done to all of us!

Extreme!

"The Other" Louise has resorted to extreme tactics. Having invited everyone to her house after the Dava Way for coffee, croissant and Cava, she's thrown herself down the stairs and is in hospital having an operation to set it. Ouch.

This means I am an honorary Brownie leader tonight to help out, my name is Osprey. Don't_say_a_word.

Mind you, David did point out she could still do the walk, her legs are fine...

Ahem

For a girl that hates shopping, I may have got a little carried away.

It's the internet that's done it, it's led me astray...

Any road up, had two parcels yesterday. One was from outdoorsgrub.co.uk with food I'm trialing on our wild camp in a couple of weeks, Drytech and Mountain House, just for comparison. They sent a chocolate Club biscuit to say thank you! I was chuffed, haven't had one of those since I was a teen. The other was from ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk, a mouthpiece cover for my platty and little bits and bobs. Today I got the tech wash/proofer (that can be a little tricky to get hold of up here) and a pouch to fit onto the front of my pack to carry my camera, otherwise, by the time I get the pack off and the camera out, the moment will have passed. I know what I'm like and I refuse to carry the darn thing around and never use it, as I have been doing.

The other week I had ordered some tops. They are a little different from the mainstream. I've been hunting a tech top that actually does what it promises and have been extremely disappointed. At around £25 a throw, I thought I'd give bamboo a whirl from bambooclothing.co.uk. It's a revelation! I love it! I can wear it several days in a row, just pottering around or out on walks and it's as fresh as a daisy! Love, love, love.

I have had a couple of jaunts with the girls. Sunday was a 10 mile round trip from Angela's, to Sally's and back again, pausing briefly at Sally's for tea and cake. It would have been rude not to! Ofcourse, when we got back to Angela's we found she'd been slaving over a hot stove at 5am, making fruit scones, so had to force a few down with butter and jam, washed down with tea, just to keep her happy...

Yesterday, Angela, Judith and I did our regular 5 mile stroll, so nothing spectacular, but very pleasant all the same and got a glimpse of the osprey too.

Saturday is the 'Ghost Train', the sponsored walk along the Dava Way, all 23 miles of it, overnight. The overnight bit is a little odd, but I'm sure it'll be fun. My sister is joining our little group, so there'll be about a dozen of us, joined by about 85 others, so don't think it's going to be much of a quiet stroll! Bacon butties will be supplied at Dunphail and "The Other" Louise has invited us all in to her's at the end for coffee, croissant and Cava.

My champagne is already chilling in my fridge. It'll help me sleep...

PS. The delivery I didn't mention.

First, I should explain my sister and b-in-L, Ian, are coming up for the weekend so that Cathy can join me on the Ghost Train. I recieved my order of 36 bottles of wine yesterday and when I told Cathy, her response was "Oh, well that should last us a couple of days."

Don't know what she meant.

Really nothing exciting

Had to take David and the boys to see the eyrie (from a good distance!) and couldn't resist adding a few pretty pictures here.The Gut
My boys and part of a dolphin skeleton

Bee on the rhododendron
Mum, Dad and babies
Osprey!
Proud parents.

Wait a tick

Hmm, yesterdays excitement over the osprey was tempered last night when I found a stow away. I was a bit miffed 'cos I had checked carefully, or so I thought. I whipped off what I thought was a small scab, hanging by a thread, on my leg, as I thought "Odd, I don't remember nipping myself there...?" and on closer inspection, realised the scab had legs. Classic, what a muppet! However, it seemed to be intact, (until I mutilated it before flushing it!) and I couldn't see any remnants in my leg. It came off so easily I don't think it could have attached itself, so I was blooming lucky! Might never have found it, euw. Doesn't bear thinking about!

Anyway, I needed cheering up after a long, restless night dreaming about giant ticks, so I've indulged in a little retail therapy. It's something I've heard and read about, but not through outdoor sites or magazines, so I shall try it out in private before I report back as to how successful it's been. Fingers crossed.