Charr Bothy to Dunnottar Castle
(23.5 miles/481 metres ascent)
The sun was already rising, though, and I could see that it looked likely to be a beautiful day. I nipped back inside for my camera to try to capture the moment, and although I've not yet learned how to photograph bright sunrises the pictures do bring the lovely moment back for me :)
I took a couple of Neurofen for a bit of a backache, went back to bed and dropped back into an intermittent sleep, not getting up properly until 7.30am, by which time other people were stirring.
As we were packing up, someone noticed a quite enormous beetle on the floor. After a quick piccy, I moved it into the little back room that no-one had used, and hopefully it was happy in there until we'd left.
By just before 9am everyone was ready to go...
...and we all lined up by the alcove John and I had shared for a group photo :)
I then set off with John, Sue and Maggie, and Colin, Phil and Alan set off for their next destinations.
We'd been walking for an hour or so when I received a text from Bob, telling me that he, Rose, Lee, Steve and Lorraine were all heading for a pub at Glenbervie or Drumlithie, depending on where they could find one, and asking if I could get there. I had a look at the map and saw that Glenbervie was quite some distance off - about 13 miles, in fact - but I was happy to aim for that if only I could find out whether they were planning to stay there or go on after a quick drink. Bob and I swapped several texts when reception allowed, with me trying to work out whether they were likely to be gone or not by the time I arrived there, but reception faded away and I hoped that it might return again when we got a little closer to Clattering Brig.
We'd been joined on leaving the bothy by Pete, who'd been camping just down the grass at the back of the second building, and the 5 of us walked along together in a loose formation, stopping to consult the map from time to time and talking about how the Challenge had gone for each of us along the way. I was hoping I'd be able to meet up with the others, since I'd spent more time walking with them than with anybody else, but also wondering whether I'd be able to stock up as necessary at Glensaugh, the little village a bit further on than Clatterin Brig.
It seemed that we were now approaching the interesting striped hills I'd first seen from the top of Mount Battock the day before...
...and after that a steady pull eventually got us to the top of Hound Hillock...
...from which we had our first sight of the North Sea :)
We stopped for a moment for a sweety break, and to consult the map and consider the way ahead.
We were aiming to walk along the Deer Dyke a kilometre and a half further on, and to follow it down the side of the hill, so we soon set off down...
...and the contrast between the rolling coastal hills and the craggy mountains we'd left behind us grew more striking with every step.
As we went forward the sun grew brighter and warmer, and eventually the overgrown ditch that was all that remained of the Deer Dyke began to slope downwards through heather, and what must have been Glensaugh appeared in the distance before us.
I'd dropped behind the group and was listening again to my MP3 player, and once again the music made a great morning feel even better :)
The path steepened as we reached the final part, and the fabled cafe became visible a short distance below.
Just before the bottom we passed a sad scene strewn with the remains of what must presumably once have been a large nest of eggs, and I wondered what creature had pillaged them, and whether a bird in the bushes was quietly mourning its loss.
It wasn't immediately clear whether the cafe was open or not, but it turned out that it was, and we all took off our packs and repaired joyously inside to gorge ourselves on breakfast, tea and coffee :)
I couldn't bring myself to pass over the opportunity to eat a plate of chips, and I tucked happily into those whilst others ate bacon, egg and sausage barms. Yum!
The chance to sit down at a table gave me a proper opportunity to take a look at the route to Glenbervie. I'd still not regained reception on my phone, but I hoped that I might hear again from Bob as I climbed the hill towards Loch Saugh. For that reason I decided not to stay any longer, and reluctantly I tore myself away just as Sue and Maggie settled down to apply themselves to the largest and most luscious looking cream meringues I think I've ever seen. Aaagh...! :)
It was hard to move on, but it had to be done...
It was still bright and sunny outside, and my plan was to move as quickly as I could, so I stripped down to my baselayer, replaced my headphones in my ears and set off for the hill on the other side of the road. A couple of Challengers were walking just in front of me...
...but they weren't in any sort of hurry and so I soon left them behind and pressed on as quickly as I could, to cover the 8 miles now remaining to Glenbervie.
Despite the urgency, I couldn't resist stopping quickly at regular intervals to look more closely at lovely things along the path, including some early flowers on a sycamore, the first I'd seen this year...
and, at Loch Saugh...
...a stand of lovely bluebells in the tall grasses growing beside the water.
There were some beautiful spring blossoms on trees and shrubs beside the road...
...and I experienced a familiar frisson of regret that this chance to walk in freedom, surrounded by the peace and beauty of remote places, would soon be coming to an end for another year.
Everywhere I looked, creatures of all types seemed to be making for the coast in purposeful fashion...
...and a profusion of flowers and lush grasses lay all around.
Not for the first time it struck me that it isn't necessary to climb high into the hills to experience the beauty of our countryside.
Fueled by beauty and music-induced adrenalin, I cracked on at a considerable pace, and less than an hour later I'd left the wooded Glen of Drumtochty behind me and was walking along an attractive and quiet road on the side of a hill, with Auchenblae almost in my sights.
Conscious as always of my navigational shortcomings, I was anxious to lose no time by making idiotic mistakes, and so I kept a close eye on the map and carefully planned my way through Auchenblae and on towards Glenbervie, some 5 or so kilometres beyond it.
I managed to negotiate Auchenblae without going the wrong way - Hurrah!
...and faster than had seemed likely I was out the other side - after a quick stop to gaze admiringly at a bank of lovely poppies -
...and ticking off the miles again.
By then I'd heard from Bob, and he'd said that they'd found a pub in Drumlithie and were settling down for a while. That was about 1pm, and I texted back to say that I expected to be there by just before 2pm.
I passed some curious cows in a field...
...a couple of little flies taking a break on some pretty grass or flower heads...
...and then some interesting horsetails in a ditch. I'd seen some the year before as well, but I haven't seen them at home for many years now, although they were very common when I was a child.
Pretty things! 
By now I'd passed through Glenbervie, and I was finally drawing near to Drumlithie. It was fast approaching 2pm and so I put my camera away and applied myself to the final mile or so. Eventually the pub came into sight, and I arrived at the table to find a very welcome gin and tonic waiting there for me :)
It turned out that the others had eaten, but they hadn't feasted on chips as I had :) (Smug, smug... ;-) They'd arrived at the pub hoping that it might be possible to get a room for the night, but the pub was fully booked and so a decision now had to be made about whether we should press on to the coast - and finish! - or to try to find a place to camp locally. I think everyone would have been keen to camp if we'd been able to find a spot, but there didn't seem to be one in the immediate vicinity, and so eventually we turned towards Dunnottar Castle - still some 10 or so miles away - and set off to see what we might find.
Everyone was weary now, and the prospect of walking another 10 miles was not nearly as attractive as it might have seemed first thing in the morning, but the way ahead was still beautiful and so step by step we crept on towards the coast.
The route took us first along quiet, country lanes...
...and once again the weather changed and we needed to get out our waterproofs.
It soon brightened again, though, as had been the way of things throughout most of the crossing...
...and we passed small conifers...
...and then a clear stream, as we made our way down towards a farm, a short distance from the busy A90.
We'd been hoping to avoid the busy road, but it was clear from a look at the map that it wasn't going to be feasible to try to avoid it entirely, and so we decided to walk on the verge for about a kilometre and a half before turning right towards Lampool.
The road was pretty grizzly - my hat was caught in the slip stream of a passing lorry, and blew off into a ditch - but we just put our heads down and walked steadily on, and eventually we were able to turn off and leave it behind us.
We had a brief further confab about the best route to take...
...but there wasn't really much further to go now, and for the first time it began to sink in that we were about to finish the Challenge. I wasn't sure whether I felt elated, or just a little bereaved...
The weather grew better still as we drew nearer to the coast...
...and suddenly we rounded a corner and there was the broad expanse of sea before us, the remains of a small rainbow sitting low above the horizon!
A short walk later Dunnottar Castle appeared - more imposing and impressive by far in the flesh than in any photograph that I had seen - and we walked down towards it.
The view of the castle on the cliff was magnificent...
...and so was the view along the coast towards Stonehaven, a couple of kilometres to the north.
As we stood there I could see a small tent pitched right at the end of a cliff on the other side of the bay, and I realised it must be Caburn, who'd been planning to camp there!
Once we'd walked as far as possible we took off our packs and stood around on the cliff top, posing for each other's cameras, and, although we still had either to pitch our tents or make the journey to Stonehaven for the night, that was that Challenge formally finished for us, for 2006 :-)
At that stage we had to decide where we were going to sleep. We'd have liked to sleep on the cliff, but the only source of water we could see ran down in a stream from some buildings, and we weren't sure it would be safe. Somewhat reluctantly, we therefore decided that the campsite in Stonehaven would be the best bet, and we began to wonder whether it would be possible to get a bus. Some local people happened to walk past just as we were making our way back towards the road, and they told us we were very unlikely to get a bus at that time of the day. They recommended the coastal path, and after a bit of mental readjustment (it's surprising how quickly a bus plan can take root in one's mind in a situation like that...) we decided to go that way, because although it was a bit longer than the road it did indeed look lovely.
I stopped along the way to take a photo of the lovely primroses growing thickly along the sides of the cliffs, but it came out rather skew-whiff!
I passed a tiny Challenger wearing a rather dinky little rucksack, though, and that made up for it :)
45 minutes or so later we arrived at Stonehaven, and the path took us down a lovely quiet lane beside the harbour. It was so lovely that I wanted to take a picture, but I simply didn't have the energy left to get my camera out, so at this point anyone still reading will just have to imagine a lovely old harbour on the far side of an old stone wall, with the sea shining and sparkling in the early evening sunshine :) At the bottom of the lane we found a pub - Whoohoo! - and we all sat down outside on the wall while Lorraine went in and bought us all a round of celebratory drinks :)
It occurred to some of us (cough...) that it might be nice to get a room in the pub, because it would save an inconvenient walk from the campsite back to town later on for food and rehydration... but just as it looked as though we'd found a family room big enough to sleep three they cruelly informed us that all the rooms were full, and so Lorraine, Steve and I set off after the others, who had already steeled themselves and departed to put up their tents.
We made a quick stop at the cashpoint machine, and I paid a quick visit to Spar, and eventually we managed to find the campsite, where we found the other three already well established in the tent erecting department.
Pretty soon we got organised, though, and then we all set off for the chippy that had been highly recommended by the locals we'd met earlier - the Bervie Chipper - and half an hour later we were tucking into fish and chips in the carpark - absolutely knackered! :)
After that we walked down the road and nipped into a quiet looking pub for a quick drink. By that time I wasn't feeling terribly well - I think it was probably all the rushing around earlier in the day - and so I didn't drink much, but it was a real pleasure to sit in the pub and know that there was no need to get up early in the morning and walk another 20 miles :)
We didn't stay late, and the walk back to the campsite took only 10 minutes or so. Very shortly after that we were all tucked up in our tents, and not long afterwards we were all asleep - even me!
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