Scotland: Aviemore, Spey, Cairngorms

>>955747
call everyone a scotchman

>>955747

What part of Scotland do you come from Anon? I might know your family.

Nice plan :) Cairngorm national park is pretty awesome. If you stick to the low ground it'll be pretty simple too, though not the most exciting.

I'd recommend the Larig Ghru if you're prepared to break your no-camping rule for a night. It takes you deep into the heart of the Cairngorms without pushing into anything too nasty. There's a bothy in the centre but at that time of year so you might not be able to fit in (literally), easy camp though. Good boots, kit and navigation are all you'll need really.

For planning the Scotways book and OS maps are your friends. Walkhighlands.co.uk is aimed more at mountaineering but it's worth a look.

Have an awesome trip :)

https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/lairig-ghru.shtml

>>955823
Thanks, Anon. +1 internets to you.

Is a single day hike from Aviemore to Braemar feasible? This guy (https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=59879) did it: 12 hours, 30.5k. Just curious about your thoughts. 30.5km in 12 hours seems...fast, especially considering the rockiness of the trail through the pass.

Wish I could bring a tent, but it'd be tough coming from the U.S. Not impossible, but that's a lot of gear to haul on a plane. We're planning to spend a few days in Edinburgh at the beginning, hike the Cairngorms region, then spend a few days in Dublin on the way back. I'd rather not travel like a 19th c. explorer.

Yeah, you could probably do it in a day. It'd be a pretty long day but if you're relatively fit it wouldn't be too bad. The trail is pretty rough/borderline non-existant in sections but large parts of it are alright.

You could just try pitching up early in the bothy, you may have personal space issues but the tradition is that bothies don't have a maximum capacity ;) . It's frowned upon to turn up without other arrangements but you'd probably be alright. You would still need a sleeping bag and rollmat though. If the weather is relatively ok then a dirt cheap tent might work. You could probably pick one up in Edinburgh, cheaper than airfreight at leas

>>955808
Read the post.

>>956480
>12 hours
Possible but not recommended if you want to enjoy it.

What you can do to make the trip interesting is make your way from Aviemore to the Cairngorm ski centre and then take the path South up to Ben Macdui.
From there you can descend to the east to Loch Etchachan and down to the coire Etchachan where there is the Hutchison Memorial Hut bothy: https://cairngormwanderer.wordpress.com/the-bothies/the-hutchison-memorial-hut/.
I've stayed there a few times and it's quite nice, can get busy though so watch out for that and get there early in the day if possible.

From there just go down to Derry lodge and on to Braemar. It's a nice route, good luck with your trip.

>>955747

I've been planning a similar route for a while. Most of it is proper walking paths. From Aviemore heading south through the Larig Ghru then east to Braemar, south towards Glenshee then onto the Cataran trail towards Blairgowrie.

It's my personal route, nothing particularly special about Blairgowrie, but It's where my folks live so I know I can get a stay at the end. There's a decent pub there too.

>>958242
>>958217
>>956541

OP here: Thanks, all incredibly helpful. Now to see if I can talk my wife into hauling our gear to Scotland...

I live out in ballater, spent my childhood in blair atholl. I would recommend the lin of dee. Another nice hike, again breaking the no camp rule. In all honesty, you can just walk whereever you want just dont be a tit.