Rothiemurchus Forest

Tuesday 28th May 2013

After realising that there was a problem with how I have done my Scottish holidays in recent years, I decided to completely rethink them. In England and Wales I had started to do more long-distance walks, but I hadn’t followed that pattern into Scotland, so now that was to change. No longer would I stay in one place and try to go up the hills in the area, even if they were a long way from my base. Ten years ago I only had one goal in my mind: that of going up mountains, but now hill-bagging holds less interest for me while ten years ago it was long-distance walks that failed to interest me. I’m always amazed at how things change over time, especially in myself. I have been subscribed to "The Great Outdoors" magazine for a couple of years now and its emphasis on backpacking has been difficult to ignore, so I decided I would now have a go myself with a long-distance walk that I have devised myself through the Cairngorms National Park.

My route doesn’t go to the top of any mountains, but it does go over some very high mountain passes, and, if I feel like it and the weather’s good, I can always detour to the tops of some of the mountains that I pass. Since I invented this trail I can change it as much as I want! The long-distance walk starts in Aviemore and leaves the town on the route seven cyclepath, crossing the River Spey and beside a road until it leaves both road and cyclepath for the quiet road (I never saw a car on it) to Blackpark and Whitewell. I was immediately impressed with this walk as I wasn’t walking on the busy road, but on an off-road cyclepath before heading through tranquil woodland and farmland on a deserted road. At Blackpark, where the road veers to the left, I continued along a bridlepath to the stunningly picturesque Loch an Eilein that has been described as the most beautiful loch in Scotland, but I’ve always had difficulty getting a good picture of it.

My journey on the train from Stirling to Aviemore had used up most of the morning, so when I reached Loch an Eilein I had my lunch, sheltering from the sun under trees beside the popular loch. The weather was fabulous, bringing out scores of people that had filled the car park and many of whom were taking the path around the loch. I have never walked around this loch before and almost wish I’d stopped to take in this walk as with the sun shining the scenery was stunning, but I had a long walk ahead of me, and my rucksack was already feeling impossibly heavy. This first day of my walk was on the same route that I’d taken in 2009, the last time I was in the Cairngorm Mountains, but in the opposite direction. On that occasion it had been my route out of the area, and now it was my route in. As I saw on that occasion the paths through the Rothiemurchus Forest between Loch an Eilein and Loch Morlich are excellent, passing through open woodland that is completely different to the dense conifer plantations that cover many parts of Scotland.

The Rothiemurchus Forest is a remnant of the great Caledonian Forest that once covered the whole of Scotland and is predominantly made up of Scots Pine as well as Aspen, Birch, Rowan and Willow, Cherry, Holly and Juniper. It is a lovely place to walk, but it is also a popular place for cyclists meaning that I had to keep to one side of the path at all times to allow enough room for cyclists to safely pass me, often at speed, but this failed to rob my pleasure of walking through such a delightful wood. On the horizon to the south, I could see the Cairngorm Mountains themselves, speckled in snow and shrouded in low cloud, and that is where my long-distance walk would take me, over the Lairig Ghru, possibly the greatest mountain pass in Scotland, which has got to be a fabulous way to start a long-distance walk. But I was already not following my pre-arranged route since I was staying at the Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel that night, so at the crossroads, instead of turning right towards the Lairig Ghru, I kept straight on continuing through the wood towards Loch Morlich.

I passed through a much denser plantation along a tedious, wide track before reaching Loch Morlich and, turning right, I took a much more interesting path around the loch to Glenmore and the youth hostel. When I got to the youth hostel I dumped my extraordinarily heavy rucksack and immediately felt light-headed as I staggered out of the hostel, my balance severely affected by over-compensating for the heavy rucksack. I now remembered why I had adopted my previous plan for walking in Scotland: to prevent having to walk up mountains with a heavy rucksack. In 2006 I had walked up Ben Cruachan with a heavy rucksack and I decided from then on not to do so again, although I have over-filled my rucksack on a number of other occasions, most notably in 2009 when I walked from Braemar to Glenmore. The problem this time was that I was carrying enough food in my rucksack to last me until Friday afternoon and I hadn’t yet mastered the art of selecting the lightest food. My first day had not made me eager for what was to follow as my rucksack was very uncomfortable, but I was still eager for what was to come. I’d already realised that I needed a new rucksack, unfortunately it was too late to do anything about it now and I would just have to live with what I had.

I had reached the Cairngorm Lodge Youth Hostel with an hour before checking-in time, so I set off to explore this much-loved location. I have only happy memories of staying in this area as the scenery is simply divine, so I was rather gutted that I was only going to be staying there for one night. There are some really great paths nearby that I felt compelled to visit again as soon as I got to the youth hostel. I set off first towards the gap of Ryvoan and at first I despaired as I was following a wide track through a dense conifer plantation, but eventually the track narrowed and I entered a glorious area of deciduous trees where the fantastically delicious path winds a fun route across the hillside, ducking and weaving around the trees. Wild flowers, particularly primrose and wood sorrel, were in abundance throughout the hillside until the path sadly ended, dropping steeply down to the Pass of Ryvoan and An Lochain Uaine. A lovely walk down the valley brought me back to the youth hostel. This walk showed me the world of difference between commercial conifer plantations and natural woodland. I know which one I prefer.