Friday 9th May, Rothiemurchus - Lochan Eilein - Aviemore (5.6 miles)
One reason for pushing on the previous day was to have an easy day and not feel under pressure to make a train time. Given how much the wind had picked up and how it clouded over in the afternoon, I was glad that I had made that choice.
I had a lie in and only got up at 9.00, the sun was already blazing and it felt warm. After breakfast, I started writing my log. Unfortunately my pen stopped working again, so that plan was scuppered.
Then I discovered what looked like a splinter in my thigh. To my horror, it was a tick. Out with the tweezers and the tick lasso and half an hour of tick inspection and removal followed. In all I pulled out five and found two others crawling around.
Last year, I didn’t encounter any ticks camping in the same spot. I was careless. I should have worn trousers and applied some insect repellent. After a bit more faffing around, I had lunch: cod and potato casserole. Considering it was freeze dried, it was surprisingly tasty.
At group of girls arrived at the stand of trees a few hundred metres away, put up some tents, then took them down. They were still milling around when I left about an hour and half later.
After a leisurely pack, I ambled off at around two o’clock, still feeling itches from imaginary ticks. I guessed that it would take me around two hours to get to Aviemore. Sauntering down the forest tracks, I encountered a couple of mountain bikers and some day walkers.
I arrived at Lochan Eilein at around three o’clock. By this time it had clouded over and the wind had freshened again. I decided to forgo an ice cream and push on. The beauty of this route is that you can follow tracks to nearly the outskirts of Aviemore, minimising the road walking.
As I arrived at Aviemore, I was approached by a rather attractive oriental lady who wanted to know the way to the forest. I explained at length, using my OS map and hoped she wouldn’t get lost. She obviously didn’t because our paths crossed again at the station a couple of hours later.
After calling in at Tesco’s for a couple of drinks and some food and to WH Smiths to get a new pen, I settled in at the station to write up some notes, during the five hour wait for the sleeper. At least the weather was better than the previous year when it was bitterly cold. To break the monotony, I had a burger at the station diner (Roo’s Leap), which was very good. Bang on time, the sleeper arrived. After a quick wash, it was straight to bed and sleep.
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