Homeward bound for 5 of us but an equal number – Jeb, Vicki, Steve, Ken and Dave – were initially planning to travel to Eigg. Dave had a late change of mind and decided he would go to Glenfinnan instead. The others had their plans thwarted at the last minute when apparently there was some kind of mechanical issue with the ferry fleet, whereupon Ken took off and did his own thing and Steve took the opportunity to cancel his separate bookings.com reservation and head home. Meanwhile Jeb and Vicki did a local walk with Ozzie: It was all too much: Another excellent few days away – well done, Jeb. There had been discussion on Sunday night about which charity we should support this year. Most of us thought we should add to Jeb’s fund-raising but he said no – he felt everyone had already done enough, so we agreed to again support the charity Stewart works for - https://www.justgiving.com/charity/abernecessities
Finally we got our act together and managed to get 6 of us out on a Friday afternoon for a walk/hike in Upper Deeside. Dave had conjured up a number of possible scenarios linked to bus schedules but they all entailed a visit to Auchtavan, a spot where the former Queen Mother used to visit. The 201 due at the Douglas at 11:10 am was 10 + minutes late which added a little stress to the potentially tight timing. Steve and Andy were first on board, then Nigel and me two stops on, followed by Dave and Ken at Potarch. During the journey, the final return route was decided, based on bus and drinking timings. It was the shortest option that was favoured. We alighted at Inver, not too far past Crathie, crossed the road, heading intially up some grass tracks, indistinct in places, before picking up a more identifiable path that had been "Land Rovered" at some stage. The initially forecast warm sunny day had changed somewhat and there was those amongst us expecting downpours, but Steve ...
Our 3rd walk of 2025 was designed to allow a few beers at the Boat Inn, Aboyne - somewhere we hadn't been for a while. I had suggested we should try the new(ish) trails that started at the Horse Welfare Centre/Belwade Farm and perhaps start the walk further east on the Deeside Way at Kincar or even Potarch. Dave trumped that suggestion, proposing that we start with a river walk from Kincar - one he had tested with Ruby. A slight timing issue was that Dave and Nigel had booked to play pickleball from 3:30 to 4:30 pm but Dave resolved the issue by volunteering to pick Ken and I up after pickleball. Nigel's kit was dropped off at home and I met them at the foot of Corsee and we hared over to Finzean to pick Ken up - then over to Dave's to collect Ruby. All went well and we managed to start the walk in Kincar a few minutes before the planned 5:15 pm. Dave parked his car - who knew that Kincar had a car park? - and we walked past a number of huge new houses before arriving at th...
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