To The Cairngorms — Stomping Feat.

Jun 14

Jun 14 To The Cairngorms

As the biggest national park in the UK, the Cairngorms have been high on our ‘to get to’ list since we moved here.

Nan Shephard’s ‘The Living Mountain’, is touted as the most beautiful and precise written description of the Cairngorms – Thanks Nan! For now I needn’t attempt to describe the beauty of the place, when I could never match your words. In my words: go to the Cairngorms, they are magnificent. If you can’t, read Nan’s book and it will be like you went with her.

In the meantime, here are some photos and a brief recount of our explorations of the weekend we ticked off our highlands essentials – lochs, mountains, bothies and forest.

Arriving late Friday afternoon, we snuck in the circuit around Loch an Eilein. A true beauty, with giant, ancient Caledonian pines reflecting in her mirrored surface as the wind calmed.

Taken as an easy stroll, it was best enjoyed slowly to appreciate the beauty of the place rather than the challenge of the walk.

A long day out on what became a surprisingly sunny Saturday, started with us heading off on the deservedly popular track out to Ryvoan Bothy.

A wrong turn after our time taken photographing the distant Cairngorm peaks led us through thick heather and scrub. The novelty of proper bush bashing wore off after a half hour of hard walking down the steep hill.

Fortunately, a well-timed sharp downward turn saw us meet up with the (very well formed..) path, halfway back to the valley and just in time to happen upon the turquoise pool of Lochan Uaine.

Everything, the clarity of the water, the reflection of the ducks playing there, the pines that encircle it and the mountains the enclose it, make this a perfect Scottish loch. All the tourists and the leeches undulating in the shallows brought us back to reality and we skipped a dip in it’s waters.

Walking on, not too far past the Lochan, Ryvoan Bothy comes into view. Sitting by the path, it’s stony walls capped with a speckled red tin roof is quite the vista in the centre of the sprawling valley - a perfect choice for our first Scottish Bothy sighting. One day we may come back to camp here, but today it is sunny and we trek the return path in search of a place for a nap.

On the shores of the beautiful Loch Morlich, we napped in the sun and then watched a storm roll in. The drizzle finally coming between us, the sun and the Cairngorm peaks so we rushed back to the car to find a local pint and a pie in Aviemore to round off the day.

Our Sunday was rainy and so we spent it driving the perimeter of the massive Cairngorm 4000ft mountains – never quite seeing the peaks through the cloud. A few short walks to explore some ruins and some natural wonders rounded off a fantastic weekend in the park.