A hiking trip to Scotland wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Cairngorms national park. The park has some of the highest mountains in the UK and is simply a hikers paradise. As there are tons of different hikes to choose from, I decided once again to mix some of them together. When I arrived in Aviemore, I saw that the highest peaks were still full of snow, so I thought it best to let them be this time. Even though I couldn't hike up to the highest heights, I spent 4 stunning days in the Cairngorms and here is all about it. :)
Day 1: The Loch of Avon and it's muddy paths
As a long day was ahead of me, I started early again and was at the bus station in Aviemore on 8 o'clock. Planning to take the bus to Glenmore, I looked at the sign with the next arriving buses and couldn't find the one I wanted to take. Checking the timetable again I only now noticed that the 8.15 bus is running only on school holidays.. Great! Well, an hour later I was finally on my way and arriving in Glenmore I walked to the Glenmore Lodge Car Park. That's where my hike started and the trail first led me through forest to the beautiful little Lochan Uaine. From there it was not far anymore to the Ryovan Pass where I came upon a junction and turned right in direction of Braemar. The path that I was walking on now was called Lairig an Laoigh and basically led from one side of the national park to the other. From the junction onwards I was walking along open fields on a nice dirt track. First the ascent was gentle, but once I crossed over the river Nethy, it was getting a lot steeper. For the best part of an hour I walked upwards and turning around every now and then, I already enjoyed a nice view of the surroundings.
So far the sun was hidden behind the clouds, but right when the ascent was over and the summit of Bynack More appeared, she broke through and created a magical atmosphere that was truly superb.
Bynack More was on my list for tomorrow, so I ignored the path towards the summit and stayed on Lairig an Laoigh instead. The trail went straight ahead for a while and with open plains around and a mountain range ahead of me, the scenery remained phenomenal. Also the sun was shining steadily now and it was just a pleasure to walk. Descending into a gap and ascending out of it again, the views changed and I looked into a valley with mountains to either side.
The path led down into the valley and when I reached the bottom, it was time for a little detour. The walking itinerary that I used said that I can hike up to a little mountain called Creag Mhor to my left. It warned me as well that it could be a bit soggy, but it turned out that this information was not entirely correct. As there was no official path, I just walked up the slope somewhere. While it was soggy in the beginning as expected, the sogginess just remained for the whole ascent and I was glad I made it up with dry feet.
Finding some rocks that looked like the summit, I sat down, had my lunch and enjoyed the lovely views of the mountains around me. During lunch I started to wonder if I really was on the right spot and turning on my GPS I learned that I was not on the summit at all. :) It was another ten minutes to my right. Of course my brain couldn't cope with this information and I had to walk to the true summit to please it. :)
Taking a different way back down to the official path, I finally found a slope that was not soggy at all and that made the descent quite pleasant. Once on the trail again I made good way and soon came to a crossing with a crude shelter built for stormy days and nights. Leaving Lairig an Laoigh behind me, I turned to the right on a rough path. Looking at my itinerary again, it said that it can sometimes be boggy here. It can? It definitely was! :) Jumping from stone to stone I avoided the mud as best as I could. Obviously the going was slow and right when it seemed that the path would never end, Loch Avon appeared almost out of nowhere. Apparently one of the remotest Lochs in Scotland, it was a phenomenal sight to behold. Enclosed by mountains I stood there in awe and marveled for half an hour at the lake and it's surroundings.
There would have been a nice camping spot at the shore, but it was to early to set up camp so I carried on. Heading up to a saddle, I scrambled over some rocks and almost stood on a snake that came wriggling along the path. What an unexpected surprise. :) Taking a last look at Loch Avon from the saddle, I started my descent back to the place where I crossed the river Nethy in the morning. Unfortunately I didn't realize how long this would take me. Well, I should have taken a look on my itinerary as it said the descent along the valley could be lengthy. :) So for more than two hours I walked along the muddiest track I've ever walked on. A stream was next to the trail almost all the way and more than once the path was overflowed. That and the many rocks on the trail made the going pretty strenuous and even though I was getting tired I had to stay focused. Actually I had planned to camp along this way, but with all the mud and water, I only found a suitable spot about 15 minutes before I was back on Lairig an Laoigh. Well, no point in camping there, so I set up my tent at a lovely spot just next to the bridge where I crossed the river Nethy in the morning. The reward for the struggle of the last two hours was a nice sunset and some last sunrays to dry my clothes. :) Tired I crawled into my sleeping bag at 9.30 pm and was fast asleep within minutes.
Day 2: Bynack More and another long valley
After a long and good sleep I was awoken by the sun in the early morning. The sky was a clear blue and soon it was too hot in the tent to sleep any longer. Packing up my things and getting ready I faced a completely new situation: for the first time my tent was absolutely dry and for the first time all I was wearing when I started walking was a T-Shirt and shorts. A feeling of summer was in the air. :) Taking the same way as yesterday, I knew what was coming. The ascent was as steep as the day before and took again about an hour, but the scenery was slightly different because of the sunshine and of course I was sweating a lot more today than yesterday. :)
So now came the time to scale Bynack More and I turned onto the path towards the mountain once the ascent was over. The first part was just straight ahead and 20 minutes later I had reached the foot of the mountain.
From there I brought a steep ascent behind me and then followed a path below the crest. The way was rocky and not always clear. Even worse, there were still many patches of snow. As they were super unstable due to the heat of the sun, I tried my best to go around them. So the whole ascent took some effort, but again it was totally worth it. The view was gorgeous, the sun was still blazing, no wind was blowing at all, I couldn't have asked for a better setting.
An hour later I left the peak and descended back to the bottom the same way I came from. Walking to the turnoff, I turned right there and was once again on the Lairig an Laoigh. Thinking it would be easy to walk the same way twice, I struggled with the next two hours more than expected. May be it was, because I knew the scenery already. May be it was, because the trail and the weather were not really challenging. Whatever it was, the time passed pretty slow. Luckily there was entertainment in other ways: I met four mountain bikers that biked/hiked along this rocky path, a Scottish fellow that talked a lot and told me about every bothy in the area, a mountain biker that ran along looking for his smartphone and wallet that had popped out of his bag somewhere along the way and a couple from Lithuania that was on a four day trip like I was. Once I reached the crude shelter again, it was finally time for some new ground and new views. This time I walked straight ahead staying on Lairig an Laoigh and right after the shelter the biggest challenge of today waited for me. Crossing the river Avon apparently can require a wade even in drier times in summer so I was not too sure what exactly was awaiting me. Fortunately the water was not that high and many stones were there to stand on it. Carefully I crossed the river and the couple times I had to stand into the low water, my Goretex shoes kept it out, so I made it over with dry feet. On the other side I passed a couple Lochs and soon was back in another valley on another rocky path. It reminded me right away of the valley I've been walking in before as this one was long as well and the views were rather scarce. But it was a fine walk anyway and the ascent to the pass that gave the path the name was gentle enough.
Once I reached the top of the pass, the views into the valleys on either side were superb and it was time for another break. The descent into the next valley was gentle too and once at the bottom a couple little forests added some diversity to the scenery.
Like yesterday I walked a lot again and as it was about 6 o'clock already, I kept my eyes open for a campsite. Not much later I saw a nice spot at a riverbank. Hmm, how do I get there? Oh right, there's a bridge. Coming closer I only then saw the sign, the bridge was closed because of flooding damages. Yeah, great.. I saw myself already in the tent but now there was no choice but to carry on. Of course the next suitable spot came along only an hour later and my feet were pretty sore by then. At least it was as nice as the other place and I was treated to a marvelous sunset that made justice to the most beautiful weather I had in Scotland so far. Tremendously tired from the whole day I was in my sleeping bag as soon as the sun had set.
Day 3: Devil's Point on a lazy day
It was the second night in a row that I slept for about 10 hours, the second morning in a row the sun got me out of my tent and the second day in a row where all I was wearing was a T-shirt and shorts. Including the Pitlochry/Blair Atholl hike, I walked about 100 kilometers the last four days and it was no surprise to me that my feet and my body were a bit weary. Therefore I decided to do a short day today to get some well earned rest. Already in the morning I took my time, enjoying the clear sky and the lovely landscape as long as possible.
When I finally started to walk it was about 10:30. :) Today the path first led me through some forest, along another river and then out into the open fields again. The trail I was on now was called Lairig Ghru. This one would take me back all the way to Rothiemurchus, which is a neighbor village of Aviemore. Lairig Ghru is a pass as well and that meant of course some more valleys to cross. :) Before I got into the first one though, I had to walk along the mountainside of some of the most southern mountains in the Cairngorms national park. This took about one and a half hour and because of my late start the sun was burning down heavily. It was almost too hot to walk. But I was not complaining, better a wet shirt because of sweat than of rain. :) Rounding the side of the last mountain, the valley to cross first came into full view. And what a sight that was! Towering mountains to both sides took my breath away. Quite a difference to the valleys of yesterday.
Not much later my goal of today came into view as well, the Corrour bothy. Arriving there about half an hour later, I first had my lunch and used the superb toilet. Having a look into the hut, I decided to pitch my tent outside, rather than sleep in the pretty cramped bothy. Once the tent stood, it was time for the Devil's Point. This was a mountain just above the hut and highly recommended by the Scottish fellow and the Lithuanian couple yesterday. Leaving all unnecessary things behind, my backpack was so light I almost flew up the very steep first ascent. :) Crossing a plateau and bringing a second super steep slope behind me, I was on the ridge that would take me to the summit. The peak looked close now, but as usual it took longer than expected to actually reach it. Standing on the summit at 3 pm I looked at a stunning scenery all around me. To one side Ben Macdui and Cairn Toul, two of the highest mountains in the UK. To the other side the plains with the river Dee meandering through.
Unfortunately clouds had moved in during my ascent, but luckily I had enough time and the sun broke through a couple times during my 90 minutes break up on Devil's Point. When I came back down to the bothy, other people had arrived there as well, among them the Scottish fellow from yesterday. So the rest of the day was spent with chatting, eating, resting and writing some lines for my blog. :)
Day 4: A windy walk along Lairig Ghru
No more sleeping in today! As I had to be in Rothiemurchus between 5 and 6 in the evening, I got up early again to have enough time for my walk back. It was quite cold in the morning and the sun only reached the bothy when it was time to leave. Saying goodbye to everyone else, I rejoined the trail towards Lairig Ghru. It was a lovely walk these first two hours. The sky as blue as possible once more, the path not that muddy at all and the mountains as impressive as yesterday.
Knowing that I had enough time, I walked slowly and enjoyed the scenery as much as possible. The farther I walked though, the more the wind started to pick up. Fortunately for me was, that it came from behind, so my backpack shielded me from the worst. The ascent up to the pass was again a gentle one and taking a look back every now and then, I slowly said goodbye to the lovely valley and mountains behind me.
The pass itself didn't really have a top, it was rather another long valley to walk through. As soon as I entered the pass, the going got a bit rougher. There were large boulder fields that I had to cross and the way was not always visible amongst the many stones. There were some stone cairns that helped me with the navigation, but in the end there was only one way to go anyway. :) Meeting the first people today, they struggled quite a bit more with the wind, as it was blowing them right into the face all the time. The walk across the pass took more than an hour, but it was good fun jumping along the boulders and the scenery stayed great throughout the whole crossing. From tiny crystal clear lakes to steep mountain slopes to perfect views towards Aviemore, I was entertained perfectly once more.
During a break, a Canadian fellow sat down next to me and I learned that he was on the TGO challenge. The challenge is to walk from the west coast of Scotland to the east coast within two weeks. It sounded pretty cool, as each participant can basically choose his own route. Well, may be that's something for the future, but now it was time to carry on and start the descent towards Rothiemurchus.
The path now got a bit better again and the mountains to my right and left started slowly to thin out. About 45 minutes later I found a nice spot for lunch and sat down on a stone with a beautiful view towards Aviemore. When I took off my backpack I was almost blown away. The wind was pretty fierce now and the whole break was actually quite uncomfortable, even though the sky was still a clear blue. When I walked on, I passed three people going upwards and one girl was actually wearing ski goggles. :) Well, a bit unorthodox, but I guess it kept the wind from the eyes. :) The further down I got the more trees appeared and when I was on the last slopes I was swallowed by a nice little forest.
It was good walking out of the wind and I enjoyed the last hour with it's mixture of sunshine and shade. That civilization was near was obvious, as I met almost as many people in one hour as I met the whole four days before. :) Arriving at about half past three in the afternoon at the campsite in Rothiemurchus, there was more than enough time to get a shower, some real food and a place with Wifi. Interestingly these four days in the Cairngorms felt not as wild as those I spent on Arran, but nevertheless it was a great hike with impressive views and mountains. Scotland is just so beautiful, this definitely won't have been the last time in the Cairngorms and the next time I'll make sure to include some of the higher mountains. :)
Highlights of the hike: Loch Avon and the view from Devil's Point
This hike is for you if:
- you want to see different parts of the Cairngorms national park
- you don't mind walking in valleys a lot
- you want to bag a couple Munros even though there is still snow around
- you want to get up close with some of the highest mountains in the UK
This hike is not for you if:
- you can't handle a lot of walking with a heavy backpack
- you mind rough and boggy trails
- you're looking for a family friendly hike
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