59 to 60. Expedition Style.

“What do you fancy doing for your birthday?” asked Sara a few weeks ago.

Go for a long walk with my dog, and stay in a tent. Maybe a section or two of the East Highland Way. I’d given my mum the book in 2013 as she’d always talked about doing it. She was never going to manage much of it after her stroke, but I’d thought we could walk wee sections of it at some point. We never did.

It starts in Fort William and joins with the Strathspey Way to get you to Aviemore. Sara said she’d LOVE to do that, so I put the planning in her hands…..she loves a bit of planning.

So what’s the plan - I eventually asked.

Faegour to Newtonmore and then 2nd day walk to Kincraig , have birthday lunch with Spook who’s job it would be to pick us up. Her husband, Kevin would take us to the start. I love being looked after.

Eventually I got round to asking her how long the 2 days would be. 15 miles each, she said.

Ah…..

I did some training. I got up to 5 miles with the dog. Then I didn’t want to wear me or the dog out before the big trip, so we tailed off - so to speak.

Think the dog wants to go home.

Two days before it had been 16 degrees, warm and sunny. Then a storm blew up one day before, and lingered around somewhat. Kevin took delight in informing us every time his temperature gauge on the car dropped. 3.5 he said with glee.

There was to be some wind, some rain, some sleet and some sunshine. We focussed on the positive. And it was only about 5 miles to our coffee stop - Laggan Stores. What a delight. Highly recommended. Hustle and bustle on a Friday approaching lunchtime and a warm welcome to wet walkers and a wet dog.

Truly 10 out of 10 for quality and welcome. There was a bit of a sleety downpour while we were here but that passed and we stepped out into the dry with only 9.1 miles to go. Nae bother. We left the main thorougfare to wander through the settlement of Balgowan. You drive past this everytime you go to Aviemore but don’t realise what a gorgeous wee sleepy hamlet it is. We met Pam and her dog Lennie in the nick of time as she walked with us and could show us the right direction to take in the woods where the path diverged and then the faint track out onto the moor. There are no signs, you have to use your book and your navigational skills (ha ha ha ha.) She also said that if it got too wild, to come back to her house for tea or gin.

There had been one or two people who had assumed we wouldn’t go due to the forecast. But there weren’t trees to fall on us if it was too windy, the snow forecast was only for sleet, there was going to be moments of life saving sunshine and by a happy coincidence, the wind was at our backs.

You can choose a summer month, and still have heavy rain - and midgies. So a little sleet and no midgies - that was ok.

One minute you’re on the main road from Fort William to Aviemore and the next minute you’re somewhere you’ve never seen before and probably won’t see again.

It is vital to maintain a positive attitude at all times.

And you will be rewarded with shelter in the form of the Stalkers Cottage at Dalnashallag.

It’s a place for shelter, but the wind was rattling the roof and the potential for wild imaginings plentiful…the tent was still a better option.

This was once a place of at least 18 dwellings before the Highland Clearances in the mid 1800’s.

We needed to cross the river and make our way down this glen to Newtonmore. The book said that we had to cross a shallow boulder crossing which would comprise of 4 streams merging. He noted that it was ‘fairly easy’ and would ‘provide a fun navigational challenge for the less agile.” I’m not sure how many times I called him a patronizing git, but there were now 6 crossings since he wrote this book in 1988, my dog and I were traumatised, our feet and legs were soaking.

This was the 6th. At least the sun was shining.

Although that did change soon after.

Not once did I worry that Sara would be annoyed with me for choosing this as my birthday treat. The more challenging and diverse - the more she revelled in it.

Eventually we reached a proper road rather than a riverside track and Sara nearly recognised the hill that she has run many times at the Newtonmore Games. It was behind her whilst she was claiming that she thought she could see it away ahead. This is the woman I entrusted my life to….. the photo above is the hill race hill. Thankfully it was not the one in the distance.

When we left the Stalkers cottage we had under 5 miles to go. By the time we got to this road we had travelled about 3 miles. This road was the longest 2 miles I’ve endured!! Suddenly the distraction of ‘fun boulder fields’ was better than marching along tarmac.

Our target destination was the Newtonmore Grill. Opening hours of 7am to 10pm had a lot of appeal. We didn’t know where we’d camp but as close to it as possible was beginning to look like all I could cope with. Knees, ankles, thighs, calves, shins - none of them wanted to walk a step further than necessary. It was approaching 5pm. Plenty of time to eat, recover and decide if we bale out to a hostel, or use the tent that Sara had gone to all the hassle of carrying on her back……..Would a Spa weekend be a better way to turn 60? The night ahead would reveal the answer……it wasn’t over yet……