The Highlands, Day 3

Delightful walking outside Aviemore.

I get up and make use of the campsite's facilities - showers and tumble dryers!  Then into Aviemore for a coffee and a bit of shopping.  Some schoolkids with clipboards are questioning the many tourists, including me.  Where are you from?  London.  How did you get here?  I walked.  Not a flicker...

Heading out of town I come into some lovely walking country, a mix of sparse woodland and heather-clad moor, cut through by fast moving streams, or burns I suppose.  I have higher altitudes to head for though, so ignoring a sign warning of a washed away bridge I start climbing.

Cairn Gorm summit.

High point of the day is Cairn Gorm, my first Munro for a few years.  After an interesting scramble through a rocky gully I spot the funicular leading up the mountain, it doesn't look too high.  A little further along though it becomes clear that a deep ravine lies between me and the mountain, ah well - it is a pretty spot at the bottom at least, and not too hard work to reach the funicular base station, complete with ski school signs.  Must start planning some trips for the winter...

Better still there is a cafe with beer.  I drink a bottle of Cairngorm Gold, and buy another to take up the hill.  And it is quite a hill, the slog up past ski lifts takes me an hour and a half, and I'm not done... Seems I misread my map, rather than a short walk downhill it is a couple of miles over various peaks to my chosen camp spot.  Worth it though, there is springy moss to pitch on and a small loch for water, it is really rather idyllic.

Camping at 3600ft!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.