2016 TGO Challenge Day 10

2016 TGO Challenge Day 10

Planned: Braemar to Glas-Allt-Shiel (13.5 miles)
Actual: Braemar to Ballater (18 miles)

Total Trip Miles: 131

Sunday, May 22nd, 2016

Day 10 part 1

Day 10 part 2

 I met up with Kenny and Ava at 8:30am outside my hotel to begin our walk out of town.  We headed north on the Old Military Road which took us past Braemar Castle.  

Braemar Castle

View along the road

We followed the road for just under 3 miles, and we realized most drivers don't move over or slow down for people walking along the edge of the road.  I was also having weird pain/tightness on the front of my left ankle and running down the top of my foot.  It was slowing me down a bit, but once we got off the road into the Ballochbuie Forest my foot started to feel better.  I'm guessing it was something to do with the hardness of the pavement first thing in the morning.  At Garbh allt Shiel we noticed a land rover parked by the lodge with a bunch of people watching some deer that were walking through the meadow.   

 

After a few more miles we came to Connachat Cottage in the middle of the forest.  It had a monument across from it.  I'm not sure what it was for, maybe someone reading this has an idea?

Connachat Cottage

Monument

Close up

The track through the forest

The gang on the path to Balmoral Castle

We continued on the LRT through the wilderness and started to run into quite a few other challengers.  We ended up hiking to Balmoral Castle with Doug, Dorothy, and another hiker named Brian.  Balmoral Castle is where the royal family stays when they're in Scotland;  there were quite a few tourists there on the grounds when we stopped in.  We took a nice break in the cafe for lunch and some internet usage while we had it.  

There was some sort of race going on on the castle grounds

Balmoral Castle

Boar statue

Balmoral Castle garden

After lunch turned out to be a roadwalk the rest of the way into Ballater, about 9 miles.  It was a pretty warm afternoon, and I kept getting the same burning feeling on the balls of my feet that I had on day 3.  I did stop once to take my shoes and socks off to let my feet air out, but I didn't see any blisters forming.  I should have taken further steps because, as I would find out that night after arriving in Ballater, I had nice big blisters on the balls of both feet.  

The rest of the road walk was pretty uneventful.  We walked on the road through forest, past some random monuments, and through lots of pastures with sheep.  Other than the pain in the balls of my feet it was a pleasant walk...until we were about half a mile from Ballater and the skies opened up with rain, thunder, and lightning.  I was soaked through almost immediately.

On the side of the road

Ba ba black sheep

We finally made it into town and paid for our stay in the campsite (after waiting most of the rain out in the office), and pitched our tents for the night.  It also turned out that Kenny had a pretty nasty blister form on one of his heals over the course of the day.  His blister had started from his boots before Braemar so he purchased a new pair in Braemar.  Unfortunately the new boots just seemed to make it worse. 

Kenny and Ava walked to the fish and chip shop further into town, but my feet were hurting so I opted to just stay in my tent. I ended up taking a long nap.  When I got out of my tent most everyone else had turned in for the night, but I was just getting up to make myself dinner.  After a hot meal I turned in for the night.  

Fog over Ballater

Tent city at Ballater campground