Craig Phadrig

Sunday 26th May 2019

After a week of tiring walking, especially on the day before this when I walked over twenty miles along the Moray Coast Trail, I was looking for an easy day when I could have a rest, and since it was Sunday that seemed the best day to do it. I still wanted a walk and since I was staying in the city of Inverness my eye was drawn to Craig Phadrig, which is a hill that overlooks the city and has the remains of a Pictish fort at the summit. The weather was not conducive to a long walk so I was happy with my choice as I left the youth hostel under heavy rain and slowly made my way through the city towards the hill. It took me a long time to get there, partly because I missed the turning into Kenneth Street, but mainly because it was three miles of dull walking through quiet Sunday morning streets in the pouring rain. After crossing the Caledonian Canal I turned onto King Brude Road where the gradient started to rise which provided me with hazy views over the shrouded city until after climbing the steepest section I finally reached the car park for Craig Phadrig. There are two waymarked routes around the hill starting from the car park, one with blue-marked posts called the Hill Fort Trail, and the other with yellow-marked posts called the Craig Phadrig Trail. I decided I wanted to do both because that’s the kind of guy I am, so I set off along the yellow-marked trail into the Craigphadrig Forest.

A wide track crosses the western slopes of the hill and gradually begins to descend heading north with intermittent views available towards the Beauly Firth. This was a lovely woodland walk and it wasn’t long before the rain had stopped which enabled me to enjoy the pleasant surroundings without the encumbrance of waterproofs. After descending for a while and wondering if I was going in the right direction, I came upon a junction with a sharp turning to the right back up the hill. Relieved, I took this branch, marked with yellow posts, leaving the track that continues downhill, and headed up the hill but contoured around the western slopes just below the summit until I came across a blue-marked post at a turning to my left, which I took as it heads across the southern slopes of the hill steeply climbing up to the remains of the hill fort at the top of Craig Phadrig. All that is left now of the fort are some ridges around the top but these are clearly marked out and wide enough to walk upon, and I was fortunate in my timing as at that time of the year the area was covered in bluebells with a path on top of the ridge all the way around the spectacular display.

Despite the grey overcast weather conditions it was a joy to walk around the top of Craig Phadrig looking at the wild flowers arrayed all around me with stunning views also available across the Beauly Firth, though in clearer weather they would have been so much better. There were no views towards the city, but this was hardly a bad thing when surrounded by such natural beauty. While strolling around the top I gazed at the fabulous surroundings and took many pictures, but tragically only with my mobile because I’d left my camera in the youth hostel. Reluctantly I left the fort and steeply descended down on the blue-marked trail all the way around the top of Craig Phadrig eventually turning off the marked paths to bypass the steepest section of the road and join Leachkin Brae lower down. The weather was beginning to improve nicely by now and a bit of blue sky was even beginning to break through as I descended down to the Caledonian Canal. This prompted me to prolong the walk, so on reaching the canal I turned left and walked alongside it heading north until I reached the Clachnaharry Swing Bridge not far from the mouth of the canal. Rather than continuing right to the end, only to have to walk back again, I crossed the canal just before the railway crossing and headed back beside the canal until I reached a path that turns into the Merkinch Nature Reserve.

I walked through this area in 2014 and now I retraced my steps between tidal lagoons to reach the railway line once again. Crossing this I followed a path between the estuary and the beautiful natural scenery of the reserve until I reached a car park at the road end. This was a lovely moment walking under the brightening skies with the spectacular scenery of the Beauly Firth beside me and the Black Isle across the estuary while to my right was the “hidden gem” of the local nature reserve. I followed the road for a short distance before turning onto the short spit of land that follows the River Ness to its mouth ending at Carnac Point. This area had obviously been recently restored with the overgrown vegetation that I remembered from 2014 being cut back and the path widened. At the tip of Carnac Point substantial wooden tables have been erected with inspiring messages carved into them, and provided me with a wonderful place to sit and take in the spectacular scenery that is only partly marred by the large cable-stayed Kessock Bridge nearby.

Returning to the road I followed the River Ness back into the city centre, but it wasn’t long before it had started raining again and this time it hardly stopped until late in the afternoon. I was happy to return to the youth hostel having enjoyed the walk in the morning when it wasn’t raining at the top of Craig Phadrig, and especially when passing through the nature reserve. This gentle walk was just the sort of rest that I needed before heading back out into the hills the following day.

Moray Coast Trail

Saturday 25th May 2019

In the middle of my holiday in Scotland, while taking a break from mountains, I thought I would do part of a coastal trail so I caught a train to the lovely little town of Elgin where I got onto a bus to the coast at Lossiemouth. From there I set off past the beautiful beach and marina along the Moray Coast Trail, however the weather was rather poor with rain falling briefly even before I left Lossiemouth and it didn’t improve much after that. Leaving the town I passed the west beach and couldn’t resist the temptation to walk along the sands, and despite being only just a short distance away from R.A.F. Lossiemouth I had a relaxing walk with the sound of waves washing onto the beach, so it was a pity the sky was dull and grey. At the far end of the beach is a lighthouse positioned on a rock promontory with an old Second World War lookout bunker at the end, and below that are some caves, though I didn’t stop to explore them as that was already being done by some children. After the lighthouse I came off the beach and back onto the coastal trail to take a meandering course through the dunes, but I felt that so far the trail had not really justified the hype, though that would soon change.

Eventually the sandy terrain was replaced by more dramatic rock scenery as I climbed off the beach past a delightful display of sea pinks (also known as sea thrift) and up above the cliffs. Now, I thought, the proper coastal walking was beginning with echoes of the Pembrokeshire coast as I passed banks of gorse growing above the stony coastline on a good, clear footpath with many wild flowers decorating the scenery. The dramatic landscape continued past a stunning coastline until all too soon I reached the village of Hopeman where it started raining again while the coastal trail joins the route of an old railway, which provided me with easy, though tarmacked, walking as far as Burghead. The dramatic coastline continued as I passed by natural arches and rocky coves while the rain continued to fall. Rather than going all the way to the tip of Burgh Head, the Moray Coast Trail cuts through the town and so did I, to turn south and leaving the town entered the conifer woodland of Roseisle.

I was walking along a wide track that meandered through the plantation while rain continued to fall even when the sun came out and it wasn’t until the sun went back in that the rain stopped. I followed the signs for the coastal trail through the wood wondering if I would ever find my way out until eventually the path turned sharply right and I came out of the wood with a view round the broad sweep of Burghead Bay. Concrete blocks line the shore at this point that are the remains of coastal defences built during the Second World War, though many have now moved with the sands so that many are sitting in the sea or are on their side sticking out of the sand. I followed a course between the boundary fence of the old Kinloss Airfield and the beach until at the far end I took a route through Findhorn Dunes. This sandy, stony terrain has slowly been reclaimed by vegetation with many small trees and shrubs making for interesting scenery to take me into the village of Findhorn.

At this point I saw a signpost that said the town of Forres at the end of the Moray Coast Trail, and the railway station, was six miles away while I knew that the next train was in one and a half hours. Theoretically I could have walked that far and still caught the train, especially as it was on quiet roads, but I would have had to push myself and I don’t like doing that. I prefer to relax and enjoy my walks so I decided to take it easy and walk slowly to Forres and catch the train that is an hour later. After my experience on the Pembrokeshire Coast Path in 2015 I was expecting something similar with the Moray Coast Trail and although a section of it is good with some dramatic scenery and lovely wild flowers, the rest was nothing special. The weather did not help with rain on many occasions including as I walked all the way into Forres so that by the time I reached the station I was not in a particularly good mood, which was not helped when I saw that my train had been cancelled. This was just one of those days and in better conditions I may have been able to appreciate the many delights of the Moray Coast Trail.