Long time no post...

[Barcode]

Hi all,

It's been a very long time since I last posted, I genuinely pop on once a month to look at walk reports and gear reviews but I am now back with a post and seeking some advice.

I've had a good summer having managed to tick another place off my bucket list...the northern area of Norway (Lofoten Islands / Senja). A truly awesome trip with some good hikes and sites to be seen...as always with Norway though, the wallet takes a hammering!!! I have attached a video below from the trip that I put together if you fancy having a watch

All the folk in my office know I'm an outdoors enthusiast with my trips off to wet, windy and remote locations but a couple of them suggested this week we try and do a trip away before winter really sets in so I said I knew just the right place to get some first class information for such trip...and here I am.

They want to go the first weekend of November, getting up early afternoon (leaving from Nottinghamshire) on the Friday then camping Friday and Saturday and being back to our start point by midday Sunday to drive back to Nottinghamshire. They want a mixture of mountains, lakes and woods and all are ok with heights. I have said the Cairngorm region probably has something to offer but am hoping someone could direct me to an exact route? I think from here we can get to Cairngorms in 7hrs but not wanting to travel much longer than that. Open to other parts of Scotland also.

Would be great to hear all suggestions. We've spoken of this trip before but they all have kids so its made it difficult, but for once they have found a weekend where they are all free and have child cover so they are all ready to embrace the Scottish wilderness...with the helpful input from Walk Highlands.

Thanks,

Josh aka Barcode

[Caberfeidh]

I was in Bergen recently, it certainly is a lovely country, and makes Scotland seem a bit tame and puny by comparison. Also prices are indeed staggering, I bought a few souvenirs and accidentally spent over a hundred quid. I do recommend the Cairngorms, leaving Aviemore for the Lairig Ghru, traversing through the Lairig Ghru and over the shoulder of Carn a'Mhaim , along the path to Luibeg, turning up Glen Lui and over the high route by Loch Etchachan or stay low and use the Lairig an Lui to get to Loch Avon (pronounced Loch Aan). Pass either the top end of the loch, under the beetling cliffs of the Sticil and Hell's Lum, or the lower end of the loch at the fords of A'an. Head over to Ryvoan and down the glen to Glenmore Lodge, hitch back to Aviemore. Camp where you feel like it along the route, there are bothies at Corrour, Bob Scott's downstream from Derry Lodge, Hutchison's Hut near Loch Etchachan, Ryvoan near Glenmore Lodge and a tiny shelter at the fords of A'an. There is also the howff under the Shelter Stone below the Sticil (also known as the Shelter Stone Crag), in case you need to get out of bad weather. Good luck and have fun.

Glen Luibeg looking up to Glen Lui and Carn Crom

Lairig Ghru sunrise looking down towards Devil's Point (right) and Carn a'Mhaim (left)

Loch Etchachan in May

Luibeg, looking down Glen Lui towards Braemar

Canoeing on Loch Morlich

Lochan Uaine, Rothiemurchus

[larry groo]

Great video Josh!

[Barcode]

Thanks Larry...the video was touch and go as I ordered a drone and the one I ordered was delayed in delivery so I had to order a new one last minute. I have been flying drones for around three years, mastering flight before investing in one that could film HD. The footage gives a whole new perspective to things although I still need to master a few bits.

Caberfeidh...many thanks for the reply and input, it looks the perfect route. Do we think snow is a likely hood that time of year?

[Mal Grey]

Hey. Lofoten looks like the most amazing place, something your video has just reinforced. I still remember seeing the outline of the islands from near Bodo in 1977 when I was lucky enough as a kid to tag along on one of my dad's school's expeditions to the region. I was also in Norway (and Sweden), this summer, mostly a canoeing trip but I still got into the hills a little bit, further south in Femunden/Rogen.

Caberfeidh's route is an excellent suggestion, a route through some of the wildest country of these isles, but eminently doable for a group of outdoor lovers with reasonable fitness.

I like the fact you include "woodland" as one of the pre-requisites, something that made the above choice number one option. The main other area (other than Norway!!) I can think of that might offer that woodland, mountains and lakes variety is Glen Affric. I don't have a specific route choice, but the hills north of the glen are pretty spectacular, and the remnants of the Caledonian forest clinging to the slopes are magical.

[Caberfeidh]

Caberfeidh...many thanks for the reply and input, it looks the perfect route. Do we think snow is a likely hood that time of year?

Well, it is the Cairngorms so you never know. I've encountered snow falling in July up at Loch A'an. I think it's more likely to be that kind of raw, damp cold which chills you to the bone and makes you wish you had a better hobby, like surfing in Hawaii.

[Barcode]

Haha...I don't mind the cold and always prepare for the wet...that said, one of the guys coming on the trip I don't think realises what he's letting himself in for...it's only 2 nights though

You don't on the off chance have a walk report of the route you mentioned? I've been on Google maps trying to mark it out but am struggling to locate all of the points of reference.

[Barcode]

Mal, where did you go in Norway/Sweden this summer? We flew into Tromso via Stockholm then took ferry to Harstad before collecting a hire car for week, dropping it back and getting bus to Narvik at which point we caught the night train to Stockholm. The train went right through Sweden though and the northern part was beautiful and I said to the wife I'm going to have to get back next summer and climb Kebnekaise.

The Lofoten region of Norway was really nice and well worth the visit with some truly amazing spots of natural beauty, although the one thing I didn't like was that due to its popularity and single road to Reine, it felt like a bit of a conveyor belt of tourists. If you head there, make sure to take a few of the side roads off the E10...we found some really nice tucked away little villages. We finished our trip up on Senja Island and I wished I'd allowed time for an extra day there as It had a real range of scenery and particularly the northern coast is meant to be spectactular...I think I will be tagging it onto the Kebnekaise trip.

[Mal Grey]

Mal, where did you go in Norway/Sweden this summer? We flew into Tromso via Stockholm then took ferry to Harstad before collecting a hire car for week, dropping it back and getting bus to Narvik at which point we caught the night train to Stockholm. The train went right through Sweden though and the northern part was beautiful and I said to the wife I'm going to have to get back next summer and climb Kebnekaise.

We were in the Rogen Nature Reserve (Sweden) and then across into Femundsmarka National Park (Norway), on a canoeing trip that took us from Rogen to Roros over 12 days. There's a trip report on Walk Highlands which emphasises the walking bit, as most of it was canoeing (or carrying canoes!!). Here: viewtopic.php?f=16&t=75050 (There's a link within that to a whole enormous 15000 word report over on Song of the Paddle!)

I've been looking at the Sarek National Park, the other side of the border from where we were in '77 on the fringes of Rago NP. There are parts there that look simply amazing from the photos, particularly the valley called Rapadalen. Sadly, not allowed to canoe this part!!! Dunno if this works: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=rapadalen+sarek&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi2sOb8oq_WAhWIK5oKHS8WDvYQ_AUICygC&biw=1536&bih=735

[Caberfeidh]

I have only ever been to Norway for work, so I have just seen airports and harbours, with coach transfers between them. The fjords and islands are interesting when we approach Bergen, Floro, or Haugesund. I'd love to get hiking in the mountains, but whereabouts are the bears? I don't fancy getting into trouble with a bear. Or anything else for that matter.

Floro

Moosey

Bear skins for sale in Bergen

[Mal Grey]

I have only ever been to Norway for work, so I have just seen airports and harbours, with coach transfers between them. The fjords and islands are interesting when we approach Bergen, Floro, or Haugesund. I'd love to get hiking in the mountains, but whereabouts are the bears? I don't fancy getting into trouble with a bear. Or anything else for that matter.

Fortunately the polar bears are all in Svalbard, except those who've learnt to paddle an iceberg. There are brown bears in the north, though most are on the Swedish side and I'm not sure they have passports. Very, very rare to see one, and not heard of any trouble ever, and nobody suggests precautions as you'd expect in Canada or the USA.

[Scottk]

I think the suggested route would be great and the Aviemore area also gives you lots of options if the weather changes. Glenmore lodge also have chalets you can stay in on the Friday night if you wanted.

[Caberfeidh]

You don't on the off chance have a walk report of the route you mentioned? I've been on Google maps trying to mark it out but am struggling to locate all of the points of reference.

No, I don't have a report, a sad negligence on my part. I tend to use sea-charts from the 17th Century, hence my own idiosyncratic navigational style. Just use the route on walkhighlands for the Lairig Ghru but turn North at Derry Lodge to go up Glen Lui and on to Loch A'an, then follow the route for MacDui and Derry Cairngorm, and extrapolate from there.
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/lairig-ghru.shtml
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/cairngorms/ben-macdui.shtml

Carn Crom

Handy Print-Off-And-Keep Sea Chart

Handy Print-Off-And-Keep Compass

[Ben Nachie]

I think Caberfeidh's chart is out of print at the moment, so here's a map of his proposed route.



It is indeed a very fine route.

Glen Derry

[Ben Nachie]

On reflection, the above route is quite ambitious for inexperienced walkers to do in 1.5 days (I'm assuming your colleagues are inexperienced) carrying camping & cooking gear, so here's a much shorter route. Maybe too short, I don't know.

On the Friday night, camp at the campsite at Loch Morlich. On Saturday, drive to the Cairn Gorm ski centre then walk up the path that takes you to the edge of the Lairig Ghru, then on to Ben Macdui. Head down to Loch Etchachan then down to the Shelter Stone, where you can camp, or stay under the stone itself if you wish. On the Sunday morning, head up in to Coire Raibeirt then down the Fiacaill a' Choire Chais and back to the ski centre.