Before departure:
I've been planning to get outside for a couple of days to one of UK's regions far from civilization with a backpack as my companion. Due to the season my kit needed a considerable upgrade thanks to my choice being a far northern place with snowy conditions, so a couple of completely new bits had to find their place in my backpack. Eventually I got hold of a new tent, sleeping bag, down jacket, a pair of trousers, waterproofs, gaiters, crampons and a homemade stove ... Quite a lot, wouldn't you say?
My destination was the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands, more precisely Aviemore. I couldn't have gone much further as this was about a 1000 kms and 16 hours away.
My destination was the Cairngorms National Park in the Scottish Highlands, more precisely Aviemore. I couldn't have gone much further as this was about a 1000 kms and 16 hours away.
The planned trip was 4 days long and would've been considerably serious but due to the weather conditions the schedule had to be altered drastically. Even though the plan looked heartwarming on paper but when walking in knee deep snow with the additional -6 degrees and 50 km/h gusty wind one tends to slow down, hence route looked as below in practice:
Trip summary:
Distance: 63.31 km
Total elevation: 2651.2 m
Maps (Ordnance Survey)::
The trip, 1st day:
Daily summary:
Distance: 23.17 km
Total elevation: 384.4 m
Maps (Ordnance Survey)::
In the last couple of hours of the coach journey you could already wonder looking at the beautiful snow covered hilly scenery filling the horizon up until the very last 15 minutes, so I was eager to shoot off towards one of them finally. After getting off the coach I donned my base layer in the local changing facilities and my full gear then set off through the town towards west.
Aviemore downtown - towards the railway underpass
by this time it started snowing
On the map I spotted there's a McDonald's nearby so I thought I'd fill myself with cheeseburgers beforehand, but as it sadly turned out it was only a high rise hotel called McDonald, so the feast got cancelled ... retrospectively it was actually lucky as I eat only about half of my food by the end of the trip.
footbridge over the railway in falling snow
the eye-catching loghouse is being built
crossing River Spey
The hill looming over Aviemore.
Inverdruie church
over River Druie
most of the trees padded themselves well with lichen againt the cold
Dell Farm
towards the first goal: Craiggrowrie (687 m)
Deer isn't only to be found in New Forest but here I only saw them on farms, I haven't come across any roaming free.
Highland cattle
Here the track takes me through proper snowy forest.
The herd observed me curiously as I was crossing their field ... so just to be safe I stayed close to the fence.
Callart Hill and Creag Phitiualis
highway maintenance
after crossing the first ford
On my first try I only got this far and not any further. Due to the cloudy hilltops I started searching for my compasses and after about 15 minutes I realized it's pointless as they weren't on me ... it's a good thing I've been preparing for months ... Finding myself in the middle of a whiteout without a compass later obviously didn't have its proper charm, so then I grumpily started walking back to Aviemore to buy one...
On my way back I tried to get one from one of the walkers, but they didn't have any ...In town I bought a compass but by the time I got back to Inverdruie it was already 5 pm, so I had to scrap my plans of traversing the hilltops to the bothy and instead used the Old Logging Way to get there. This didn't bother me that much because thick clouds sat atop of those tops anyway, the snowfall got quite heavy, also my backpack weighing 17 kgs already started to have its toll on me.
Inverdruie in snowfall
far away hilltops I didn't get to climb today
Scots pine
towards Glenmore
someone with a familiar mindset
Loch Morlich, a huge lake - webcam here.
I reached Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel in Glenmore by 7.30 pm and Ryovan bothy, my final destination, was still about an hour away.
Glenmore Visitor Centre
Cairngorm Reindeer Centre
My route took me towards Ryovan Pass after leaving Glenmore in relative darkness, thanks to the snow though you could walk with ease during night too without the need for an artificial light source. I reached Ryovan bothy around 9, where I quickly surveyed the area, cooked my quick noodles, made a hot chocolate, made my soft and warm bed then I went to sleep straight away. About an hour later a group of 3 entered the bothy and I slowly rose from such a deep sleep that for a while I had no idea where I was or why.
Fortunately they carried a bag of coal up here, so thanks to the lively flames in the fireplace we spent the night in 5 degrees instead of 3. Later on a couple joined us as well and after a bit of whiskey tasting, some food and conversation we called it for the day at 1 am.
Fortunately they carried a bag of coal up here, so thanks to the lively flames in the fireplace we spent the night in 5 degrees instead of 3. Later on a couple joined us as well and after a bit of whiskey tasting, some food and conversation we called it for the day at 1 am.
