walkhighlands

Father and son (3 of 3)

Route: Glen Feshie to Kingussie

Date walked: 24/06/2019

Time taken: 7.5 hours

Distance: 23.5km

Continued from https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/Forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=90629&p=401888#p401888.

We had decided not to stop at the Ruigh Aitechain bothy but to cross the Garbhlach burn before camping, so on we walked in the pleasant late afternoon sun.
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The Estate have created some new paths and one of them tempts you to cross the Garbhlach burn nearer the river than the crossing shown on the OS map, but we had been given helpful advice on the WH forum by gaffr to use the upper crossing. So we did and had no difficulty in getting across.
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The upper crossing of the Garbhlach burn

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The view beyond

Just before the footbridge over the River Feshie, an ungrazed pasture by the river provided an ideal camping spot. It was ungrazed because, in marked contrast to Glen Tilt, there did not appear to be a single sheep in Glen Feshie. The long grass provided a very welcome extra layer of cushion for our weary limbs.
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Good camping spot by the footbridge

A mobile signal appeared at this point. For dinner, we switched our attentions from Trek 'n' Eat to Bla Band and enjoyed their goulash (8 out of 10) and wilderness stew (7/10).
The forecast downpour did not arrive during the night, but it did rain and it was still wet in the morning.
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Time for the waterproofs

During the course of the morning, we made our way down the Glen and through the Inshriach Forest. It has to be said that the directions in the WH Walk Description are both faultless and easy to follow, but we still managed to lose our way twice: once because I was irresistibly enticed down a forest path by a sign reading "Kingussie 7 miles" (considerably shorter than the WH route), secondly when we missed a signpost on the Badenoch Way. On both occasions, however, Son's excellent OS map-reading skills put us back on the right track.
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One of the Uath Lochans

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Unexpected uphill walking

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Turn right at the red marker

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A view from Farleitter Crag over the Lochans

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Eventually we dropped down to Strathspey, followed the path behind the backs of the houses of Insh and found the luxury of a picnic table at which to have lunch.
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The rest of the day's walking would in normal circumstances have been pleasant and easy but for us, on our third day of lugging our backpacks across the hills, it just got harder. By now we were shuffling, hobbling and even hirpling along. We sought to persuade ourselves that it was not much further to go and made frequent map consultation stops to verify that proposition.
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An easy and picturesque path but, for our taste, too long

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Ditto

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Ditto

We crossed the bridge over the River Tromie and entered the Insh Marshes Nature Reserve.
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View of the River Tromie from the bridge

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Birch trees in the blaeberry bushes

Again, it would normally have been very enjoyable casually to wander around the Reserve and observe the birds, but we had our eyes dead set on the path. Eventually, Kingussie came into view and slowly got closer.
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The sight of Kingussie was welcome

Finally, we hit the B970 and all we had to do was limp along it for the last 1.5 miles.
We passed the Ruthven Barracks which were built by the Hanoverian Government following the 1715 Jacobite rebellion and destroyed by the Jacobites in 1746 following the Battle of Culloden.
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The Ruthven Barracks

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Nearly 300 years old and completely burnt out (that was how we felt)

When we staggered into Kingussie Station, it was in reasonable time for our train back to Blair Atholl.
As Son rested on the floor, I could see a look of resentment in his eye, as if to say 'what in hell did you put me through that for?' I left my backpack there and shambled up the street to the Co-Op. There I found a bag of freshly baked, jam-filled doughnuts. I took them back to the Station, and in the instant that Son sunk his teeth into the first soft, sweet ball of pure eating satisfaction, I could see that I was forgiven.

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Comments: 4



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Perthshire plodders



Long Distance routes: Rob Roy Way   



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Statistics

2019

Trips: 3
Distance: 71.5 km

2016

Trips: 1
Distance: 128 km


Joined: Aug 04, 2016
Last visited: Mar 17, 2024
Total posts: 9 | Search posts