Caingorms mini trip
May 2021There was a time when you would have got a day off, booked a flight, go to nice places and do nice things. Then Covid came, and you would have got a day off, and still go to a nice place and do nice things. Occasionally, you would even got sunshine and get burnt, even in Scotland.
All out exotic dreams have been crashed this year, but so far we can't complain. This time we got on the car (I know, but it's still better than flying isn't it? plus, Scotrail, WT actual F??) on Thursday afternoon after work and headed to Aviemore. I would lie if I said that the main objective of the trip was hiking in the Caingorm, as it was actually getting a pizza (or 2) at La Taverna, but still, we had a couple of very good hikes and managed to bag 5 Munroes in 2 days, with no midge bite, and quite a lot of sunshine.
We were originally planning to walk the Braeriach + Sgor an Lochain + Cairn Toul + The Devil's Point route, which failed 2 years before due to bad weather, but as soon as we arrived in Aviemore we realised we had to abandon that line due to the amount of snow still there...oh well, another time will be!
Day 1 – Sgor Gaoith
+Mullach Clach a'Bhlair – 30km /elevation = ?
Friday 28 May 2021
This was indeed a prime trek. Starting from the car park near Achlean, it's first a very long flat walk along the Glen Feshie valley, with a couple of stream crossings, then it goes up steeply on a wide land rover track pretty much to the top, where the views are open and wild. From there you walk on the plateau towards the next very distinctive peak, Sgor Gaoith, which gives truly one of the most spectacular views we ever got from a Munroe, looking down on Loch Einich, and to those hills we were supposed to be were not for the snow. The descent along Geal-charn, followed by a path free (but not of heather and bog), and steep bit to rejoin the nice path to the valley, and the last 3km on tarmac to the car park. We finished destroyed but happy. And I had my pizza n.1 :)
Day 2 – Carn Dearg + Carn Sgulain + A'Chailleach – 25k / 8h (of bog and pit...what does wading mean?)
29 May 2021
This was the last minute choice walk to replace the one we originally planned. I'm glad we did it as we have never been in that part of Scotland, but especially because I'll never have to go there again!
It started off nicely on a wide path, and once we crossed the stream it degenerated to...bog and pit and no path?? We were lucky in that we had an elder man in front of us who seemed to know where he was going so that we followed him hopping and diving in the bog. When we crossed the corrie and started the climb, it was still bog to the top, where it changed to pit, amazing1 Up there we caught up with him and thanked him for showing us the way, while he said he had no clue where he was going himself! I'm sure he was too modest, that or way too lucky. Either way, if it wasn't for him we would still be up there checking the gps!
Top one reached we started the 3h long traverse on the plateau, to reach top 2 which was a see of pit. You would think it couldn't get worse than that, but there is always more bog/pit potential and as a matter of fact top 3 proved that! And the descent from there? Even worse yuhuuu! At least the weather was good, not many people were around (I wonder why), and I felt I deserved my pizza n.2!
Day 3 – Osprey centre in Loch Garten
30 May 2021
The ospreys this year mated but didn't manage to lay eggs, so that the nest was empty. And the feeders were removed due to rats problems, so that we didn't even see any birds, but we still like going there, somehow it's a place of peace. We also had an early and empty walk of the 2 lakes, empty of people and life really...I know that a few wild creatures are out there having a great time, but the numbers are just ridiculously low, will we ever find a way to give wildlife a chance?
Mid Summer escapade
Day 1– Beinn a'Ghlo – 22k
24 July 2021
Still unable to go abroad, but with amazing weather like if we were abroad, we headed up North for a couple of hiking days. We imagined that the Highlands hot-spots would be mobbed (see Aviemore...), so that we picked 2 hikes of multiple Munroes slightly out of the beaten path.
On Saturday we headed to Blair Atholl for the Beinn a'Ghlo walk, which takes in 3 Munroes: Carn Liath, Braigh Coire Chruinn-bhalgain and Carn nan Gabhlar, for a total of 22km and 1240m of ascent.
We left the car at the parking spot at the end of the road to Manzie and at 9am off we went. It was hot but thankfully the sky was overcast. This didn't last long and up the first hill, on an amazingly perfect staircase to heaven, we must have lost 2l of sweat. Despite being relatively remote, we met quite a few people, and even a mountain biker!
We were walking on top of the clouds which made us feel like if we were in the Alps. The light was so bright and hot that we just needed the sound of a few cowbells and we may as well have been there!
Another short descent and then off we went for hill 3. The path was definitely not as good as the one at the beginning, and by the time we started the descent it deteriorated in a faint trail in the heather and bog (sooo glad it has been dried recently!). From there on we haven't met a soul, what happened to everybody?? We crossed the stream and at the sight of water we stopped for a late tortilla sandwich, I don't know what I'd have paid for the sight of a tree! The return was long, and hot, and long, and hotter. Eventually we joined the track and from there it was an easy and flat return to the car, which we reached after 6h of walk. We managed not to melt and headed to the shop for a cold lemonade, this heat starts to feel scary...
Day 2– Ben Alder + Beinn Bheoil – 17k walk and 30km cycle on foldable bikes (Pierre Clement and Capercaillie)
25 July 2021
Day 2 was absolutely spectacular / epic / I'll never forget it! Paul was about to sell the 2 folding bikes that he refurbished time ago. I've never been into folding bikes, and the only time I tried his Brompton it felt way too sketchy for me so that I forgot about them. But then I thought that folding bikes may come up handy and it would be stupid to give them away (especially given the limited spaces Scortail gives for bikes, when the webiste works) so that we decided to give them a go.
We chose a hike that required bikes to be accessed. Ben Alder was the obvious choice as we have never been in that part of the world. We used the folding bikes to cycle the 15km to the start. The last 5km were a bit rough with loose gravel so that we pushed them a bit, but overall they worked perfectly! We were told those 15km were flat, but really they weren't...still, up or down they felt really comfy. We even managed to overtake 3 guys on a mountain bikes, and got there before them! Our sight did generate a few laughs...where there is a will there is a way! It took more than expected to cover those 10 miles as we had to walk most of the final rough bit, but then at 10.40am we reached the bothy and parked them below the bridge, ready for more adventure!
The day before we started on a highway, while today, after the first flattish bit by the river, it was more of a “where is the path?” It turned out that the path had to be improvised, but once on the ridge it couldn't be mistaken. It was a bit of a scramble to get over the first ridge (so glad we didn't descend that way), but once we gained elevation the views were absolutely stunning, we could see 360 degrees, from where we set off a few hours before to Loch Ossian on the other side, which was like closing a gap, ad we like closing gaps!
We had 2l of water each, but I could have drunk 4l just at the top 2. When we rejoined the path by the river I went down to fill in the bottle (I'm still alive), and by the time I looked back Paul was already with his feet in the water, and me I followed his example. That was probably the best part of the day!
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