Pocket Mountains - Aviemore And The Cairngorms

Pocket Mountains - Aviemore And The Cairngorms

The Cairngorms make up Britain’s largest National Park. Four of the five highest Scottish mountains rise from a vast wilderness of high plateaux, deep corries and empty glens, a place where only the fittest venture. However, this is encircled by equally stunning landscapes – heather moors, marshes and floodplains, lochs and rivers – within the reach of the average rambler. Most celebrated are the pinewoods – the largest fragments of the great Caledonian forest which once cloaked Scotland. It is hardly surprising that the Cairngorms are unrivalled for wildlife: 25 percent of Britain’s most threatened species make their homes here. The range takes its modern name from Cairn Gorm – the best known, though not the highest, of the summits. But to Gaelic speakers, this is Am Monadh Ruadh, ‘the Red Hill Range’, as distinct from Am Monadh Liath, or ‘the Grey Hill Range’, rising on the other side of the Spey.

Cairn Gorm actually means ‘Blue Hill’. The confusion is perhaps testament to how the mountain skyline changes its hue as the light shifts each day from dawn to dusk. This guide features 40 easier walks in all parts of the region, ranging from waymarked rambles to routes exploring the Cairngorms’ many hidden corners.

Safety and what to take

While some of the routes are waymarked, many others are not and the sketch maps accompanying them are intended as an aid to planning rather than navigation. It is recommended that you take – and know how to use – the relevant OS or Harvey map and compass. The Cairngorms experience some of Britain’s most extreme weather. The Meall a’Bhuachaille and Coire an t-Sneachda routes, in particular, cross high and exposed ground and, even at lower altitudes, the weather can change rapidly. It is always advisable to carry wind- and waterproof clothing and adequate warm layers to allow the walks to be completed safely if the weather does deteriorate. Most of the routes are suitable for families with children in good conditions and could be completed in stout walking shoes, but boots are recommended for the more exposed or rougher ground.

Access

The northern part of the National Park is served by the mainline railway from Perth to Inverness, and there are good bus services to most towns and villages. Where a walk can be reached by public transport, we have indicated this in the text. Timetables can be found in tourist information centres throughout the region and from Traveline Scotland.The introduction of the Land Reform (Scotland) Act in 2003 gave walkers rights of access over most of Scotland away from residential buildings, but these rights entail responsibilities. Remember that much of the area is a working landscape, and always follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code. In particular, keep dogs on tight leads during the spring and early summer and well away from sheep and lambs at all times. This also applies to the pinewoods where even a friendly dog can scare capercaillie and their chicks during the breeding season, as well as affecting many other rare species. Irresponsible dog walkers are a growing problem in some parts of the National Park. Bag and bin dog waste – in open country as well as on paths. It is not acceptable to leave bags hanging on trees or in undergrowth.

Natural history and wildlife

Conservation designations such as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) cover 39 percent of the the park and there are no fewer than eight National Nature Reserves. More than a quarter of Scotland’s remnant original forest is in the National Park and provides wonderful opportunities for wildlife- and birdwatching. Species to watch for include the Scottish crossbill, Britain’s only endemic bird, and the capercaillie, known to Gaels as ‘the Horse of the Woods’. Sightings of these are rare, though the RSPB Reserve at Loch Garten holds a Caperwatch on very early spring mornings. The crested tit is also specific to the pinewoods and a regular visitor to the feeders at Loch an Eilein. Pine martens and wildcats are more elusive, but visitors should watch out for the widespread and almost impossibly cute red squirrels.

The osprey is the symbol of the National Park and probably the species for which the area is best known. Driven to extinction in Britain in Victorian times, it returned to Loch Garten in the 1950s and can be seen there in spring and summer. There are many other vital habitats here, including the country’s largest area of arctic-alpine plateaux and its many rare plant species. This is also a stronghold of the golden eagle and home to the ptarmigan, dotterel and snow bunting. Also deserving special mention are the great salmon rivers of the Spey and Dee, and the Insh Marshes – one of Europe’s most important wetland habitats and well-equipped with hides for birdwatchers.

History

For such a wild and remote area, the Cairngorms has much to offer in terms of history. One of the more impressive early remains is the Iron Age hill fort at Dun da-Lamh, while the ruins of historic townships can be seen from the Wildcat Trail and you can visit the reconstruction of Baile Gean at Newtonmore. Mainstream history exploded into the region with the Jacobite uprisings which followed the exile of King James II of England and VII of Scotland in 1688. The first rising, led by John Graham who defeated the government forces at the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689, was soon repressed. In the major uprising of 1715, clan leaders were summoned to a great ‘hunting match’, said to have been at the Punch Bowl by Linn of Quoich. Within days, the Jacobite standard was unfurled near Braemar and soon Aberdeen, Montrose and Inverness were all in the rebels’ hands. Following the eventual battle at Sheriffmuir, the Jacobites retreated and the government began the attempt to subdue the Highlands, now seen as a major threat. Sections of one of the roads built under the command of General Wade to connect a series of forts remain – a focal point being the great army barracks at Ruthven, overlooking the Insh Marshes. Wade’s efforts did not, however, prevent the second major uprising, led by Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745. The Jacobites were eventually crushed at Culloden in 1746 and the Highlands repressed ruthlessly. The clan system began to collapse as the remaining chiefs abandoned their role as guardian of their people and began instead to look for profits.

As the cities of southern Britain expanded, demand for food and leather began to rocket and the era of cattle droving reached its peak. Thousands of cattle were driven south annually by drovers, using routes such as the Lairig Ghru as well as the Wade roads: old drove roads feature in many of these walks. Life took a turn for the worse for the Highlanders when economics shifted the emphasis from cattle to sheep. Townships like Baile Gean were abandoned as chiefs increased rents, clearing out their people to make way for livestock. As with elsewhere in the Highlands, people were forced to turn to emigration. Many of their stories were lost, but one emigration from Badenoch was immortalised in a Gaelic song by Donald Campbell. Those intending to go ascended Creag Bheag (visited on one of the walks) before they began their long journey to Australia. By the 19th century, field sports became the fashionable pastime amongst Britain’s elite: better even than taking part was buying your own estate. The new trend was redoubled when Queen Victoria and Prince Albert bought Balmoral on Deeside. Elaborate shooting-lodges and mansions began to spring up, examples of which are seen on many of the routes. Rising incomes and the coming of the railway began to bring Highland visits within reach of the ordinary public. Kingussie and Newtonmore expanded to cater for 19th-century visitors, whilst by the 1960s Aviemore was being developed as a purpose-built resort. The village’s fortunes declined over the following decades, but it has now taken its place at the centre of the region’s expanding tourism industry. Conservation became an increasingly important priority too. The RSPB bought the Insh Marshes and the Abernethy Forest Estate, whilst the National Trust for Scotland purchased Mar Lodge Estate. National Nature Reserves and other designations were declared to protect parts of the region, and in 2003 the Cairngorms became Scotland’s second – and Britain’s largest – National Park.