The 2016 Challenge, day 7: Came Ye by Killiecrankie - oh? (14)

I arrived at the Killiecrankie Hotel at 5.30, and was shown to my room. It had a shower, but no bath. I asked if they had a room with a bath - which they did, and they were happy to switch me to that room - so I was able to take a long and luxurious bath, and think about my options from here.

I was a day behind, but my planned route included an essentially circular day of Munro Bagging which ended up at the Cocktail Party. My FWA for that day involved sitting in my tent waiting for the party to arrive. So, obviously, I could get back to my planned schedule by pushing on up to the cocktail party without the circular day of Munro bagging. But my feet were sore and I was feeling pretty low, and I simply didn't like the idea of this. I still needed to take it easy for a bit. I didn't feel ready to go solo in wild country again, and I still had some kit replacements that I needed to obtain. And so an idea formed in my mind. Tomorrow, I would simply walk as far as Blair, and then jump on a train to either Inverness or Perth (whichever came first ... I'm not fussy!) to sort out my resupply. I would then return, not to Blair, but to Dalwhinnie to spend a night in the bunkhouse. The following morning I would take a train back to Blair and head up Glen Tilt, reaching Braemar in two days, which would put me back on schedule. Hopefully, by then, I'd be feeling ready to venture into truly wild country again.

I got out of my bath and rang Ron and Marilyn to book a room, then Braemar Youth Hostel to change my booking. Finally I rang Challenge Control to tell them of my revised plans. Then I went down to see what the hotel had to offer by way of supper.