Our first walk in The Cairngorms

[Jon Shannon]

Having recently moved home from all the way down in Suffolk, my partner and I are keen to discover the Cairngorms. We are settling into our new home near Turriff and still loving the novelty of all this wonder on.our very own doorstep.
So for our first foray into the National park we decided on a low level, easy walk as my partner feels that she needs to get hill fit again.
The plan was to drive to Braemar, grab some snacks and new maps and then drive to the start point.
Braemar is smaller than expected but spotless and welcoming. We found the best cakes in the world at the Bothy Cafe.
The start point was easy to find and the car park almost deserted.
The path is obvious from here and with bright sunshine we set off about 11am.
A very pleasant and effortless burnside amble on a track. The 360 views were stunning with the sound of the running burn to accompany it.
Not long before we reached the wooden bridge where we sat for a while to soak up the solitude and enjoy the nature all around us.
After the bridge the walk is much the same albeit withe river now to the right. Keep pausing to turn and look all around at the imposing surroundings.
The general directions from this site are spot on and it would be difficult to go wrong.

Arriving at the hunting lodge and bothy without seeing another soul was surprising. I thought we would see at least a couple of other folk on a day such as today.
The bothy is well kept and very welcoming. Had lunch here and used the bothy toilet..... Yep there is a toilet at this bothy.
The Lochside itself was a very pleasant walk even though the clouds arrived and the wind picked up significantly. We were unable to wade across at the other end so, walked back the way we came.
All in all a lovely day out. Only saw two other folk on the return walk.

Highly recommended if you like an easy walk with solitude.