Day Ten –Light showers / drizzle today… would have felt like luxury if it wasn’t for the bitterly cold wind!  The wind kept us cool though as we tackled the steep Capel Mounth climb, but once up on top and fully exposed to it, it was no longer appreciated.  We stopped twice to find shelter, recoup and put more clothes on.   The drop down into Loch Muick is incredible –one of the best views in the Cairngorms, but it was just too cold to stop and appreciate it fully.  We just kept moving to be honest to get to the shelter and warmth of the bothy stop that night.  Arriving we were delighted to find another person there who already had the fire lit and the bothy feeling cosy.

Bothy etiquette is usually a common sense approach… leave the place clean and tidy, leave no food remains, leave dry kindling / wood for the next person, be respectful of other bothy users.  By 9.30pm we were all fast asleep with big journeys on the cards for the morning.  At 10:30pm we were startled awake by a late bothy arrival group, along with a noisy / lively dog.  They said they had just walked in as they were planning an early start on the hill in the morning… fair enough, we would all be up early anyways and its a valid enough reason for a late arrival. 

HOWEVER… TWO AM THEIR ALARM WENT OFF and they again woke us all up as they set out in the dark.  Early is considered 6am not 2am in the middle of the flippin night… I may well have mentioned that to them in not so polite a fashion as they packed up their gear.  Well that was that –I was wide awake now and didn’t get back to sleep.  The next day was going to be tough enough without entering into it completely and utterly knackered…