The Highlands, Day 9

Former station.

Last day in Scotland then.  I eat a substantial breakfast and then head east, straight on to the Deeside Way once more, unsurprisingly given my route follows the river all the way to the sea at Aberdeen.  The path is pretty much arrow straight and die flat, following an old railway line that once linked Ballater to the coast.  It makes for fast, if not terribly exciting walking, but there are pleasant views across the Glen o' Dee, and at regular intervals I pass through old stations in various states of reversion to nature.  At one point there is even a working station, with a heritage steam line running alongside my route.

Aberdeen docks.

Eventually I reach Aberdeen, somewhere I've long wanted to visit - as much as anything because I like the sound of the name.  It is grey, solid, and as I expected not particularly amazing.  In any case I have only time for a beer or two before getting a bus to the airport - where again my flight is delayed.  I guess one reason the Scots might want to consider voting yes is that they'd then get the rather classier, and it seems more reliable, 'international passenger' experience at airports.

Back in England, and I can appraise how this walk went.  Pretty well I think - practically no rain for one thing, and not a single blister either.  The route was good, from the moors and lochs to the south of Inverness, through the majesty of the Cairngorms, and the tranquility of the Glen o' Dee.  I would amend it a little to avoid private land issues... and maybe do something about the twenty miler over Ben Avon, although as much as anything my misstep at the start was the problem there.  Otherwise yes, I'd do it again :)

Made it!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

There should also be a link on the right somewhere to my Munro Map Page, with links to photos from the summits I got up on this trip, and many others besides!

The Highlands, Day 8

The Deeside Way.

OK, a genuinely easy day this one.  A mere fifteen miles, all of them pretty flat.  As it turns out the route I've planned follows a marked path, the Deeside Way, all day.  It wasn't on the map so I think it is new, and I must say I approve, I spend the morning walking beside the river, then follow logging tracks through pine forest to today's endpoint, Banchory.

Here I am grateful to be able to leave my tent in my rucksack, as tonight I am staying at the four star Tor-na-Coille hotel.  It is rather excellent, I have a comfy room, and enjoy fine dining - smoked haddock chowder with a smoked haddock scotch (quail's!) egg, then monkfish with pancetta and crushed potato, washed down with a nice chenin blanc.

The excellent Tor na Coille hotel.

Monkfish!

Given there wasn't much walking to write about today, I guess I could address the burning issue of the day up here, that is the independence referendum.  It is certainly dominating the newspapers I see - most of which seem to be in the no camp.  For me... well, I would be sorry to see the Scots go.  While it seems kind of un-British to say so, I think that Britain is a great country - and that is partly because it has Scotland in it.  I cannot help but feel that if they leave, Britain will be a smaller place, not just geographically but culturally, even spiritually.  All that said it is their decision, and reasonably for the Scots a more important question is, will Scotland be better as a sovereign country?  Well maybe it will, it is hard to say.  Certainly all the negative stuff coming from 'better together' seems so much nonsense, I am sure they would be far better appealing to a sense of tradition, and indeed patriotism.  And in the final analysis it won't make that much difference... an independent Scotland would just be one more European country which we'd be able to visit, reside in, work in, and find pretty much the same legal system, welfare provision and so forth as at home.  Well - until such time as the rump of the UK votes to leave the EU of course.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

The Highlands, Day 7

Was hard work getting up here.

After the trials of the last couple of days I'm hoping today will be a little easier, only sixteen miles and no mountains!  Doesn't mean nothing will go wrong mind you, and a mile or so in I find myself walking through the centre of one of the 'estates' that cover this part of the world, where a groundsman or some such tells me I shouldn't be there.  Well, at least he lets me continue on to the moor, where presumably the right to roam applies.

Hut in Glen Tanar.

There may be no mountain today, but nonetheless there is climbing, I slog over the misty moor up to a respectable six hundred metres or so.  From here I make my own way, there being no path going in the right direction.  Starting out over short, dry heather this is OK, but soon enough I am struggling through bog, the mist closes in and it really isn't very nice.  Relief comes in the form of a gate leading to the neighbouring estate, of course I have to climb it, but on the other side is a faint but definitely real track.  Following it leads me to the rather charming Glen Tanar, which with a series of waterfalls and small lochs brings me back to the Dee.

Crossing the river I reach today's destination, Aboyne, though sadly the campsite is a mile or so further on.  Nice location though, on a near-island in a loch.  Back to town and I find a pub for quite a few pints of McEwans, and a decent plate of mussels.  Scottish TV is playing, it seems to mainly involve terrible (and English) soap operas...

Aboyne Loch.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

The Highlands, Day 6

I wake up and emerge from my tent to find that an army of midges has descended on it, time for a swift exit then.  I also find I've left my GPS on all night, will have to use it sparingly until I can get some new batteries.  It is another twenty mile day today, hopefully a little easier than yesterday.

Shame about the midges.

Well, for the first few miles I walk down a rather pleasant glen, then cross the Dee again.  I walk past Balmoral, or at least the visitor car park, and a policeman guarding whichever royals are in residence.  Then up into the hills again, past the Lochnagar distillery - shame I can't stop.  From here it is only a short climb, and the another glen takes me down to today's destination, Ballater.

I was in the Balti Triangle in Birmingham a couple of weeks before.  This was better!

Nice place, has a few pubs of which I check out a couple, but most surprisingly it has a really excellent curry house, the Lochnagar, where I enjoy a rather tasty balti.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

The Highlands, Day 5

I'm feeling a bit concerned about today - twenty miles didn't seem too much when planning this, but now I worry I didn't really take the climb into account.  The plan is to get to the summit of Ben Avon, another Munro, and then camp somewhere the other side.  Well, no worries about getting to a campsite before the reception shuts at least.

Dangerous bridge.

The day does not start well.  Leaving Braemar I walk into woodland and pretty soon take a wrong turn, slogging uphill for twenty minutes or so before I realise.  Eventually I cross the Dee and things seem to be on the right track, although bridge issues arise again when I find one fenced off as dangerous.  It takes my weight alright, then there is an electric fence on the other side, and once over that I go the wrong way again.  Turns out the planned route is through a high gate with 'private' and 'danger of death' on it.  Well, I find an alternative route easily enough...

Waterfalls cascading down from Ben Avon.

From here it is straight up to Ben Avon, easily enough at first as I climb gently through woods and a pleasant glen.  But the hill just keeps coming, somehow this is much harder work than Cairn Gorm despite being slightly lower.  I reach the end of the glen and climb sharply to one side past an impressive series of waterfalls, only to find myself in another glen.  Finally I reach a plateau of sorts, an odd landscape of small hillocks and hollows, with 'paps' as the chap in the pub last night called them - piles of stones really - poking up here and there.  The biggest of them is the summit, and I make my way towards it, feeling rather woozy.

The summit

Well, a clamber up the summit for a photo, and a mars bar, and I feel a bit better.  Good thing as it is 6.30pm and I still have some miles to go.  The sun is setting and I find myself marching down steep, trackless heather-clad slopes in the gathering gloom, then actually climbing again to a lesser summit.  Then more steep descent, not good in the growing darkness, and when I find a little bit of grass amid some peat hags I consider calling it a day.  But I press on and soon find a proper gravel track to follow, leading down to a glen where after a mile or so I find my camp spot, at only 9.15pm.  Still time to cook up a big pot of noodles before a well deserved sleep.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

The Highlands, Day 4

Carn a'Mhaim seen from the slopes of Ben Macdui.

One good thing about camping at well over three thousand feet, it is really not far to reach my second Munro of the week, Ben Macdui.  Shame that just like Cairn Gorm yesterday, it is in a cloud... But while the climb was easy, the descent is not, a steep boulder field that I make slow progress over.  As I climb down I can see my next target, another Munro, Carn a'Mhaim.  Looks to be the high point of a knife edge ridge...

Turns out Carn a'Mhaim is an easy climb, but again the descent is horrid, and I'm very glad to reach a flat walk along a burn.  Then I come to a point where the path crosses a burn... ah, this is what that sign yesterday was about.  No help for it, I take my boots off and wade - at least there are a couple of locals to show me how it's done.  On the far bank I notice it has gone 4pm and I still have many miles to go, so, forced march for three hours it is.

Washed away bridge over Derry Burn.

I reach today's destination, Braemar, a little worse for wear.  Very nice to have a beer or three in convivial surroundings, and an excellent burger - Angus of course.  There is even live music!  I run into one of the chaps from the wading incident earlier, apparently he and his mate, whose 70th birthday it is, walked twenty miles from Aviemore today.  Hope I can still do that at such an age...

Walking along the Glen o' Dee towards Braemar.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

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.

The Highlands, Day 2

A lunch hut.

The rain is coming down when I wake up, but for a wonder it stops by 9am or so, time to head off then.  It's another long day, twenty miles or so, though at least today there should be a pub at the end.  I walk along more roads, then gravel tracks, then a mile or so off piste, which of course turns out to be fairly unpleasant bog.

On the moors.

I am a little curious as to why there is no track across this section of moorland - there seem to be plenty about generally.  Perhaps the explanation comes when I reach a fence, different landowners eh.  Looks like it may be electric, so I gingerly try the back of my hand against the wire.  Nothing happens, so, I straddle the thing on my way to the other side - then feel a serious jolt of electricity course through me.  Given my position on the fence you can imagine which part of my body takes the brunt, ouch.  I manage to clamber over without touching that wire again, and before long am back on a gravel track.

Seems to be all about the grouses up here.  I pass traps designed for creatures foolish enough to prey on the precious birds, and the dug out shelters the wealthy tourists shoot them from.  There are all terrain vehicles with attached trays still covered with feathers, and even a few 'lunch huts' which allow me to escape the wind for a little while.  From the grouse moors it is downhill to Aviemore, where I have a proper campsite  And even an Italian restaurant with an all you can eat buffet, sweet.

Pizza!

Photos to go with this post can be found here.

The Highlands, Day 1

Downtown Inverness.

Right, another big one.  Don't seem to have done much walking this year, and it is also way too long since I was up a Scottish mountain.  Time to kill two birds with one stone then.  I take the quick way north, flying to Inverness - this is how airports should be, no queues, apart from the one for taxis.  I get a bus instead, and reach my hotel in time for a beer or two.  There is, of course, a wedding reception..

On a loch.

Next morning, after a massive breakfast and a bit of shopping, I head off along the river Ness.  It is very pleasant, but I have steeper walking in mind, and soon start heading up.  I get a glimpse of Loch Ness, then pass by numerous other lochs.  I fill my cunning water filter from one... and while it may be removing the disease causing nasties, the water that emerges is still yellow and peaty.

My whole route today is on roads, but hardly busy ones - indeed for the last two or three hours of walking I see no life other than sheep, rabbits and grouse (grice?).  To be fair, this road doesn't really go anywhere, and indeed my destination today is pretty much the middle of nowhere.  Reaching a suitably bleak spot I erect my tent on a flattish patch of sand, and cook up a plate of macaroni cheese - the yellow water doesn't seem to cause any problem there.  And then, to bed.

Al fresco camping.

Photos to go with this post can be found here.