Loch Ericht

Wednesday 5th June 2013

On this day, I didn’t start walking until after lunch and this really helped me get back the energy that I had lost during the punishing schedule of my Great Trail through the Cairngorms that had left me exhausted and really tired, largely thanks to the heavy, painfully uncomfortable rucksack that I was using. I didn’t climb any hills on the day before this walk and again on this day I also didn’t climb any hills as I prepared for the final stage of my holiday. My plan was to walk from the Dalwhinnie railway station along an old drove road, used by cattle thieves centuries ago, all the way to Fort William passing beside Loch Ossian where I’d spent a thoroughly enjoyable weekend last year. Because of the late start to the walk I didn’t really make much progress towards Fort William, but I still managed to have a good day, even though it didn’t start particularly well.

I had stayed for the night in the popular tourist town of Pitlochry and needed to buy some food for my three day trek to Fort William. In Braemar, the local outdoors shop had stocked high-calorie camping food that was ideal for me, but there seemed to be nowhere in Pitlochry that sold what I wanted. Being new to camping I wasn’t sure what the alternatives were and with the local Co-op not being helpful I was fearing that I was going to starve until I found some dried pasta and sauce packets in a small Premier store. Although not as nutritious as specifically designed camping food it sufficed and I was able to get to Fort William without starving. But before then, I had to catch a train to the tiny hamlet of Dalwhinnie on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park. This is the first stop the train makes after going over the Drumochter Pass, the highest point on the British national rail network, and it is a bleak deserted place with very few houses, but there is a whisky distillery.

I am partial to a bit of the water of life, so I couldn’t resist taking a tour around the distillery and sampling the whisky, which I found to be very nice with a fruity taste and a vanilla scent. I generally favour the stronger, smokier whiskies, so it was a surprise for me to find how lovely is the Dalwhinnie. After eating my packed lunch outside the distillery, I set off towards Loch Ericht and onto the Thieves Road beside the loch. Dalwhinnie was an important crossing point between the west coast at Fort William and the rich lands of the east, or over the Drumochter pass to the south. Loch Ericht has now been dammed at both ends, but it was a slightly smaller, narrower loch when cattle were being driven beside it. Now a wide track runs along the length of the loch and provided me with an easy stroll under sunny skies between the loch and Loch Ericht Forest. This was mostly dark coniferous plantations, but where the sun was able to get through primrose was able to grow and enliven my walk.

The track beside Loch Ericht is usually cycled by Munro baggers when trying to climb the remote mountains of Ben Alder and its neighbours, but I was enjoying walking along its length despite being occasionally passed by cyclists because I knew I wasn’t going to be climbing a mountain this day. Just before reaching Ben Alder Lodge the track veers away from the shore of the loch, passing high above the impressive buildings of the lodge and into the moorland that sits before Ben Alder itself. A well-made, dry path took me across this boggy ground to the Culra Bothy; all the while the impressive bulk of Ben Alder loomed darkly ahead of me. Compared with the Corrie Etchachan bothy that I had stayed in the previous week, this was a mansion able to sleep many people in comparative luxury. It was deserted when I got there, but since it was still quite early and the weather was great I decided that I would press on towards Ben Alder and the top of the pass.

I had climbed Ben Alder last year, but now I was heading towards the great mountain from the opposite direction. Dark clouds lingered over the mountain, but the sun was shining all around which made Ben Alder seem an ominous place to be feared, and yet it constantly attracted my attention. It had a brooding presence that seemed to draw me on as I headed up the valley in lovely sunshine along an excellent path beside the delightful cascades of the Allt a’ Bheallaich Dhuibh. Just before reaching the top of the pass of Bealach Dubh, I decided to stop at an excellent spot beside the stream to pitch up my tent. This was actually the wildest wild camp I had done yet because my three previous camps had all been near to a landrover track. I was camped on a slender patch of land between the footpath and the stream looking straight down the valley, and I loved it. This was an important day for me to get my strength back, and the short, easy walk in sensational surroundings was just what I needed.