An attack on the castle
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THERE’S always that tingle of anticipation and excitement about getting out on snowy hills for the first time in the season. And last weekend brought the opportunity, staying at Rothiemurchus Lodge in the Cairngorms for my mountaineering club’s Christmas party.
Before the festivities on Saturday evening we had to earn our dinner doing something active.
I’d decided on a route beforehand and was joined by retired eye surgeon Ben, from Glasgow, and John, a mental health worker living in Thurso. Our club is nothing if not diverse!
The lodge is in the ideal place to walk into the Lairig Ghru. A rather messy access path behind the buildings passes a lochan and curves around the base of Castle Hill to meet the Lairig Ghru path.
After days of miserable wet and windy weather, Saturday was perfect for a winter hill walk – dry and cold with hardly any wind and some fantastic Cairngorms scenery.
Once on the Lairig path we walked south, in the direction of the Pools of Dee. The plan was to join the path leading to the Chalamain Gap and ascend the hill above it, Creag a’ Chalamain.
Approaching the vast bulk of Braeriach, rearing above the west side of the Lairig Ghru, we contemplated changing tack and going for it instead.
Chatting about this as we walked, we overshot the Chalamain Gap path junction by about a kilometre.
Having decided to stick to Plan A there was a bit of backtracking to do, but we soon rectified the error and made for the Chalamain Gap on a vastly improved path which has clearly had a lot of work done on it.
After a break, the summit of Creag a’ Chalamain, at 787 metres, was gained. On a crisp, cold day like this, the summits were lit by a weak sun, partly hidden by high cloud. We quickly ran out of superlatives to describe the scene.
Then it was on to lay siege to the castle – Castle Hill – some 60 metres lower down.
We paid our respects at the summit cairn and continued descending, aiming for the left-hand end of the mini Chalamain Gap known as the Cat Notch. It divides Castle Hill and another summit, Airgiod-meall, part of which is fenced off as a reindeer enclosure.
The Cat Notch is shorter and a little easier to negotiate under snow than its big brother. We weaved between the boulders to the point where a path veers left, around the shoulder of Airgiod-meall.
It passes a corner of the fenced enclosure and continues to a rather rickety gate with a stile on one side.
A notice explains that this is a reindeer enclosure and walkers should stick to the path. We did but saw no reindeer – presumably all out on duty pulling Santa sleighs at festive events around the country!
The path crosses the side of the hill and enters the fringe of Rothiemurchus Forest.
We rested for a while in a clearing where there’s a wooden reindeer keeper’s hut. A short distance further on and we were on a forest track running east towards Loch Morlich.
The forest track system allows for a few options, including a walk along the lochside. But close attention to the map is needed to take the correct tracks at junctions.
With the light fading on a short winter day we took the quickest route to the track that would get us back to the lodge.
Dinner was a sumptuous affair
with all the trimmings, well deserved after a day’s adventure, and there
was plenty of jovial, alcohol-fuelled craic.
After a night when the temperature plummeted to well below freezing, Loch Morlich was a picture of icy serenity when I reached the car for the drive home.
