Day 8 - Ruigh Aiteachain to Geldie Burn

I forgot to mention that we passed our half-way point yesterday. Hooray! I guess with the emotion of our challenging day I forgot.
Today we listened to our bodies and went with our low level alternative. It was a good decision as even the low level proved to be a fair amount of work. We broke camp at a relaxed pace this morning and were on the trail by about 9:00. Our route took us back down Glen Feshie, over some Scottish moors, along Geldie Burn to our campsite for the night beside an abandoned building. Barry was our companion for most of the day as we played leapfrog with a few other TGOers. When we got to our target stop we were reunited with Paul and Howard who were still waiting for Nigel to catch up. As of 8:00 there is still no sign of him. No need to worry as this is the normal way these guys do their hiking.

Barry showed up about 30 minutes later and is our neighbour again tonight. We had a happy surprise at about 7:00 when our roomie from Cougie, Patrick, showed up. He had just finished a huge 41 km day! If we are half as fit as him at his age we will be very happy. It has been truly amazing to see the people who are trying to complete this Challenge. There is a large contingent of retirees who are teaching us a lesson here. It is quite inspirational to see people in their 60s and 70s walking 300 km in under two weeks, over rugged terrain, and in some pretty harsh weather conditions. These people have set a good example by how well they have taken care of themselves, and how adventurous they are. And they have done all of this while maintaining their kindness and sense of humour. We have been lucky to see this with our own eyes.

One funny thing that happened this evening was as we were setting up three of the people camping near us went into the woods and came out with garbage bags. Turns out they had stashed some tins with food and drinks a few weeks ago in preparation for tonight. While we were all eating rice packs and noodle bowls they had crackers and pâté, puddings, basmati rice with chilli and shredded cheese, ciders, beers, scotch, breakfast and lunch for tomorrow. It was brilliant on their part, and we all congratulated them. This social part of the Challenge has been very enjoyable for us. It wasn't something we expected, but it has helped us tremendously along the way.
We are looking forward to tomorrow as we are checking into a B&B for the night. The last few nights have been very cold and a warm, dry sleep will be very welcome.
Hands are cold and we are trying to get going early tomorrow so that's it for today. Thanks for reading. Good night!!