GB’s longest linear walk without crossing a road (as walked by Ian Logan)

This is Corgarff to Drumochter Lodge as per the OS’s blog www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2019/01/gbs-longest-linear-walk-without-crossing-a-road 71.5km or 44 miles. However, I decided to take the paths and tracks from Cock Bridge to Dalwhinnie from Wednesday 22nd May to Tuesday 28th May 2019 a distance walked of 115km or 72 miles.

I started from Glasgow on Tuesday 21st using the Gold Bus to Aberdeen, then local bus to Aboyne where I stayed overnight as it was cheaper than Ballater. Then on Wednesday morning it was the bus to Ballater and finally the pre-arranged taxi to Cock Bridge.

Day 1 Cock Bridge to Faindouran Bothy 22km

I’d fuelled up with a great bowl of porridge at the Boat Inn, Ballater and porridge was my mainstay for breakfast during the trip. I also usually had about 4 cereal bars during each day.

 

So, the day started wet and stayed very wet for most of the day. The wind all week was mainly westerly and cold which meant that there was a depression to the north of Scotland. The road was initially tarmac for a few km but then became a landrover track all the way to the bothy. Along the way I passed a worker who was about to work on a chimney in the high winds. He was not looking forward to it!

Lunch was just past the Linn of Avon (pronounced “An”) which was quite a spectacular sight, given all the rain. Lunch was typically a cuppa-soup, cheese and crisp-bread.

 

So, on it was, head down into the wind and rain, slogging along the track to the bothy. There were, as there always are in Scotland, lots of good vistas that were a joy despite the weather.

Finally, I could see the bothy in the distance! There were two buildings, the bothy and an extension. Both were empty and were nice and clean but there was no fuel for a fire, despite there being the aroma of a previous fire. The evening meal was my first taste of freeze-dried food (six days of lightweight food) and it was certainly worth the extra expense.  

Day 2 Faindouran Bothy to Loch Etchachan 12km

Another wet and very windy day. The landrover track quickly vanished and became a muddy trudge through some very wet and boggy ground, curtesy lots of rain overnight. At one point the track went straight into the river itself!

 

The Fords of Avon refuge provided a welcome shelter for lunch. There I met two guys who were changing their plans due to the conditions. However, I was Dalwhinnie bound!

After lunch I went along the north shore of Loch Avon and stopped for a well needed rest at the western end. There I met a couple who had just wandered up Cairngorm and then continued over and down to Avon. They remarked on how very different it was from the start of the path to Cairngorm. Hmmm…

  

Loch Avon - Looking West                                                                                                                                            Looking back down East

I was headed for the southern shoulder of Ben MacDui and so I had to climb up to Loch Etchachan. But first I had to cross the River Avon and having walked up and down the river I realised that all the crossing stones were under water. So, it was off with my boots, up with my trousers, and on with my Keen sandals (they have good toe protection) for the first of many river crossings.

The cold water was actually quite refreshing for my feet and once dried I set off up the long slog up to Loch Etchachan.

The wind speed was rising and by the time I got to the loch it was getting difficult to stand. After the efforts of the day I was just too tired to continue and decided to camp by the loch. However, there was no way I could pitch my tent in the open. There was only one possible place – in the lee of a rather large boulder. Using my kit to flatten out the area as best I could I pitched my tent and put rocks on the pegs. Despite putting ear-plugs in I could still hear the flapping of the tent all night ☹.

 

 

Day 3 Loch Etchachan to Ruighe Ealasaid, the Red House24km

It was decision time now: do I go up to the shoulder of Ben MacDui, or take a safer round-about route via Derry Lodge? Given the strength of the wind and the fact that there was still a lot of snow higher up, I made the decision to avoid Ben MacDui. Even with ice-axe and crampons it would still have been tricky given the wind.

Looking up towards Ben MacDui from Loch Etchachan

So, after another river crossing, it was off down past the Hutchison Memorial Hut and into the beauty of Glen Derry.

Down in the glen there was less wind and walking through the woods of Scots Pine in the sunshine was delightful. The ford below Luibeg Bridge was again not a feasible option but I stopped for lunch in the company of some ants.

 

After lunch I carried on up to the bridge and crossed over. However, at this point I did not consult the map – which typically can lead to a problem! As a result, I ended up following a path which, despite my best hopes, turned into nothing. In the end I carried on and this led me on a shortcut over to the Lairig Ghru path.

The going turned out to be very good once I reached the upper part of the hill as there was lots of dry reindeer moss underfoot. Finally, I could see the path below me, which I took on to the White Bridge (actually it was red) where a cup of tea was brewed up. After a couple of km I reached the “Red House” and camped in the lee of the bothy, which is just a shell of a building that the Mountain Bothy Association hope to do up at some point.

 

The Lairig Ghru

All-in-all this was a great day for walking with great mountain views and wonderfully formed Scots Pine trees on the way.

 

Day 4 Red House to Ruigh Aiteachain bothy, Glen Feshie 19km

The day started dry and today was a day of mountain bikers on the way, starting with one at 06:30 who was hoping to catch the best of the day before the rain came in. At least I knew the weather forecast now!  After a couple of hours walking the rain could soon be seen coming in from the west – the way I was headed! My left foot was developing a blister after the previous day’s walking and so I had to attend to it. Having done that, I just lay back on the grass and enjoyed the peace of the place.

  

Further on I had lunch by a waterfall and was passed by cyclist who was running with the bike over his shoulder. It soon poured for the rest of the day as I headed into Glen Feshie. The landowner has had all the deer culled and there are no sheep there either. As a result, the glen is a profusion of silver birch, pines, heather and wild flowers, making it a delight to walk through.

There was one downside though. As the small trees growing by the path had not been trimmed, when walking along the path and brushing against the branches, it was like walking through a shower!

As I was walking along the track, I unfortunately went over on my ankle resulting in a sharp pain and being unable to move - torn ligament. There was still 3km to the bothy and so I had to continue walking, albeit painfully, with an eye on every step. It’s happened before and I usually keep walking it in order to ensure the blood keeps flowing to the injured area.

I knew that this bothy was different but what a difference! It’s like the Alhambra of bothies! Well-constructed of stone and timber with excellent stoves, outside loos, and a cup of tea or coffee always available. There were lots of nationalities and folk just kept on coming in, but there was a good amount of space available.

  

 

Day 5 Glen Feshie to by Gaick Lodge 19km

It had rained heavily all night and as a result the River Feshie was higher than normal. The only bridge was 5km downstream and so I was faced with a major river crossing. This took some time and when I finally made it across, I was wetter than I’d hoped for. Fortunately, a large tree provided shelter as I changed into dry gear and put my boots on.

 

I followed the landrover track south-west, slowly climbing up the glen. The map showed a track through a wood at 822902 but despite going up and down I just could not find it. So I had to follow the landrover track and climb higher up and round the wood.

At the edge of the next wood I passed the tracked army vehicle (Swedish I think) that the Glen Feshie estate uses. Having passed great bags of tree seedlings it was clear that they were busy planting somewhere near.

That somewhere became clearer as I carried on down the very boggy and cut-up path to the Allt Bhran river. There were seedlings everywhere, all along the path! For over 2km I had to dodge about to avoid them before I finally made the weir lower down.

 

            The start of the quagmire                                                                                                                                 Spot the seedling!

This, for once, was a dry crossing and I was then again on to landrover track. Towards the end of this track I got a faint phone signal and able to phone my wife and let her know that all was well.

At the end of this track I turned south and onto a tarmac road. The reason for this became clear as I passed the Scottish Hydro’s dam at Loch an t-Seilich. Apart from one estate vehicle heading north the glen was deserted. Gaick Lodge, one of the remotest habitations, was also deserted.

Not far past Gaick Lodge there was a sign for “Domingo’s Road” and so far, I cannot find any information on it.

 

Next was another river crossing but this time I was planning of camping in the lee of a wood on the other side. So after the crossing the tent was quickly erected (a Vango Helium, by the way), the wet clothes from earlier were hung on the trees and dinner was prepared. Once in my tent the birds could be heard quite close and so it was a pleasant end to the day.

 I camped just under the trees here

 

Day 6 By Gaick Lodge to above Dalwhinnie 12km                                                                                        

I was now ahead of myself re timing but I still had to cross the line of hills heading north-south to get to Dalwhinnie. The valley floor was 450m and I had to climb to over 800m. Although not far vertically, the way up looked quite daunting, with fairly steep sides full of heather. Fortunately, there were two stalker’s paths on the map and I took the one at 732818. I was not looking forward to another possible river crossing and was delighted to find a relatively new bridge, capable of a tracked vehicle (I spotted lots of vehicle tracks once I got to the top).

 

So, it was up, up, up, zig-zagging all the way until I came to dry ground at the top, where I stopped for lunch. The views from here were great with the great lump of Ben Alder off to the west and the Cairngorms off to the north-east.

After lunch I headed west and was soon “bogged down” in lots of peat hags which meant that it took a long time to cover the 5km to Carn na Caim (941m). However, once there I was able to follow a good track for 2km to where I pitched my tent for the night. I was still at Munro height and could see Dalwhinnie way below me when I went to the edge of the hill.

Before I bedded down for the night, I could see great sheets of rain on the mountains to the west. For the moment though, at least I was dry. During the night it got cold and so I put an extra layer on.

 

Day 7 Down to Dalwhinnie 7km

 

                                         In the evening                                                                                                                         In the morning

In the morning I realised that things did not sound right and poking my head out I found that there was snow on the tent! I packed up everything inside the tent and then packed up tent itself as best I could with very cold fingers – it just wouldn’t fit into the bag! I repacked it once I was down by the A9 and I was a lot warmer.

My plan was to go to a hotel for coffee and hang around until my train in the afternoon. So off it was down the mountain, passing folk on the way up who were climbing the two nearby Munros. Crossing the A9 took some time until a safe lull in the traffic could be found.

I found there was only one hotel in Dalwhinnie and the only other place for a cuppa was the petrol station. But at least I found a comfy sofa to relax in and also have lunch before catching the train south to Glasgow.

 

 

Some things to be aware of:

  • Missing out Ben MacDui might be a good idea. Just go south at the Fords of Avon into Glen Derry and hence on to White Bridge. It’s still a long day though.
  • The River Feshie needs to be carefully considered, especially after lots of rain.
  • There is virtually no phone signal along the route.
  • The replanting on the paths is a bit of a hinderance.
  • The climb up from the glen past Gaick Lodge, as well as the crossing of the peat hags took longer than I had anticipated. I had actually planned to do this and still catch the train before 4pm. I’m glad that I’d decided to attempt this earlier.

If you want any further information then you can contact me at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Overview of my route from Cock Bridge to Dalwhinnie:

The OS Point-to-Point from Corgarff to Drumochter Lodge:

 

 

Route Maps for each day, courtesy the Ordnance Survey:

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463489/Cock-Bridge-to-Faindouran-Bothy

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463499/Faindouran-Bothy-to-Loch-Etchachan

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463545/Loch-Etchachan-to-the-Red-House

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463592/Red-House-to-Glen-Feshie

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463629/Glen-Feshie-to-by-Gaick-Lodge

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463655/By-Gaick-Lodge-to-above-Dalwhinnie

https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/3463663/Down-to-Dalwhinnie