Hillwalking Cairngorms
More renowned for it's
Mountaineering and it's Skiing,
the Cairngorms has all the easy walking tracks you could wish for.
Cairngorms also has amazing places for Fishing
Cycling, Sightseeing,
Hillwalking, Climbing, Touring in the Scottish Countryside.
HILLWALKING CAIRNGORMS - Scottish Walks.
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The Cairngorm Mountain range is situated between the Spey Valley and Braemar on Royal Deeside. The weather and scenery can be wild and
dramatic. The nearest civilisation are the towns of Aviemore, Granton on Spey and Kingussie. Apart from the Gorms themselves the area is
littered with hillwalking opportunities many of which can be found in the Glenmore Forest Park and the Loch Garten Nature Reserve. The
main mountains of the Gorms are Ben Macdui, Cairn Gorm, Braeriach and Cairn Toul. Since most of the land is over 3000ft, flora is very
limited to moss and heather.
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River Spey at the
Town of Aviemore
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Looking at the
entrance to Loch Morlich
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Over the years glaciers have gouged deep valleys into the terrain and if you are fit enough it is possible to circumvent the Gorms
through the valley of the Lairig Ghru (south from Aviemore) past the Devil's Point to Derry Lodge, then turning left head up the Lairig an
Laoigh, northwards back to Aviemore. Not for the faint hearted, I may add . There is a major skiing centre in the north-east Cairgorms.
My first day there took me the 4ml. walk from my campsite in Coylumbridge, just outside Aviemore, to the placid Loch Morlich, where all
the watersport activities you want are available, there is a beach and a restaurant on the shore and the surrounding hill forests are
littered with easy walks, too many to mention here but can be found in local maps
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Yachts in Loch Morlich
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Second day took me on a 12ml. return walk, again from the campsite, along Gleann Einich to the sprawling heights of Sgor Gaoith(1118)
and ending up at Loch Einich, the loch is totally surrounded by mountains and well worth the walk. Be prepared to get your feet wet as
a small stream has to be crossed as you near the loch. Long jumpers can handle this in a single bound. The path is man made..easy.
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Sgor Gaoith
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The next escapade was to tackle the Lairig Ghru, a 10ml walk at the foothills of the Gorms, alas, here I failed miserably.
I had done my homework on the Lairig and knew it was not going to be easy, especially when the book tells you to
forget the mountain bike. The walk kicks off, again from the campsite ( I think I am an agent for that campsite) and begins with 3 miles
of forest walk and then into the Lairig. The path gets very rough at times and you have to be pretty fit, thus the reason I only made it
out about 7ml to the foot of Braeriach (1296) and Ben Macdui (1295) but not a bad effort at that. Remember on this one you are really
out in the wilds and the weather can set in real quick as it did with me which was another reason for returning.
This area is famous for it's Distilleries.
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Lairig Ghru
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Aviemore & Cairngorms Accommodation
Cairngorms Accommodation
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