We reached the bothy at about 4 o'clock. There were already a couple of tents pitched outside, and it was clear that it was going to be heavily used that night, so I decided to reast a while and then press on a bit. The following day I was planning to go over Sgor Mor, and I had an advanced camp site identified if I didn't want to stop in the bothy, beside the Allt Prreas nan Meirleach at NN 998936 or thereabouts. It wouldn't take me long to get there, but with the weather as it was I didn't fancy setting up my tent in a lonely spot where I'd be all alone. Yes, I wanted to press on from Corrour; but I also wanted to camp somewhere that there would be other Challengers and a bit of camaraderie. So I decided to ditch tomorrow's Corbett, and head on down to White Bridge. You could be pretty sure of other Challengers for company at White Bridge.
Lindy wasn't going to stop at Corrour, either; but she was aiming for Derry Lodge. So we agreed that this was where our paths diverged, and we would go our separate ways. This was as well, because she wanted to stay in the bothy a little longer than I did.
Shortly before I left the bothy, a group of Challengers who had been high in the Western Cairngorms arrived, having descended through Coire Odhar. I was impressed. From the other side of the Dee, the snowfields there had looked to be a pretty impenetrable barrier. But they had made it down, and they were not carrying ice axes ...
We chatted a while, but then I needed to make a move. So I treated myself to a fresh pair of socks, said my farewells, and headed back out into the weather ...
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