Day 5

I enjoyed the luxury of having a whole hostel to myself but it did mean a slower start after sorting out all the washing and drying.
Before I left Ballater, I had a look at the Dee from the royal bridge, opened by Queen Victoria after several earlier bridges had been washed away by floods.
After a while, the trail followed a stream through some lovely trees.
There was a short section on the main road before turning off on an old military road. The first bridge looked preferable to the ford and was a good spot to shelter from the chilly wind for something to eat.
However, another bridge looked rather dodgy so I went through the ford.
After another section on the main road I got to Corgarff castle. At one time it was pressed into government service to pacify the highlands.
The stream I followed was very meandering.
There was plenty of snow on the mountains and it was rather a chilly day with several hail showers and a cold wind.
I didn't see anyone on the trail until a few miles from Tomintoul. I arrived in Tomintoul as one cafe was closing but fortunately another was still open to get something to eat, charge the mobile and refill the water bottles. The sun came out as I left Tomintoul and passed another meandering river.
I set up camp on the edge of the Glenlivet bike trails. A cuckoo was nearby to greet me after a grand day out in the wilds.

Comments

  1. HazelMay 7, 2026 at 1:30 PM

    Looks amazing, Alistair. Can’t believe there’s still snow on ghe mountains. Live reading your daily blog

    ReplyDelete

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