Summary: Although the night had been gusty, it didn't trouble us and by the time we got up and got our kit together all the others who had camped close to the main house, had all gone. The only disturbance during the night was a little rodent visitor in Lee's Scarp. Who apparently was waiting for him in the entrance after he got out to water the roses and stare at the stars! The walking into Ballater took place in fine weather and we decided to take the slightly longer route before joining the road, as last time the shorter direct route to the small bridge had been a massive wet bog. The weather was perfect and the welcome at the Alexandra Hotel in Ballater as warm as ever. From what I hear Braemar was a ghost town by comparison. They couldn't do enough for us and managed to fit everyone in for refreshments, food and in Lee and Tony's case, accommodation. Which just goes to show that spending the afternoon sitting at the bar is never wasted :) The warm welcome extended to the campsite too. As the small children of the manager there, had made us all a free rock cake each when we arrived which was sweet. The campsite is now a community business and so all the profits go back into the community. The following day was an easy one, and we all started by visiting the main cafe in town for a slap up breakfast, bumping into the Norwegian challengers for a chat. However the weather looked to be turning from pleasant, to wet and damp later, so we plodded off up the road meeting a far too friendly Grouse along the way. Then we dropped down to Glen Tanner and that lovely wide open expanse of grass for the last remote camp of the trip. We arrived early afternoon and just got the tent up in time, as the rain came in and continued for 5 solid hours during which time we dozed and ate our way through our food rations.
