By Warren and Dianne Hinson
In the Great SCOT newsletter of May 2020, Bill and Margaret McCulloch wonderfully described a hike on the West Highland Way. This is a very popular footway (40 years old in 2020!) in western Scotland that is scenic and rugged, but it is a multi-day hike to complete the 96 miles.
On our visits to Scotland, my wife Dianne and I also love to “hill walk,” but we’re a bit less adventurous! We usually establish ourselves in a self-catering home base location, and work out from there for day drives and hikes. One of our ambitions since first going to Scotland in 2014 was to “bag a Munro.” Munros are defined as Scottish mountains over 3,000 feet (914.4 m) in height, and which are on the Scottish Mountaineering Club (“SMC”) official list of Munros. The name comes from a list first established by Sir Hugh Munroe in 1891. It’s a sport among Scotland hikers to see how many of the approximately 282 munros they can climb, which they refer to as “bagging a munro.”
So, on our 2019 trip, we established ourselves in a lovely apartment just outside of Carrbridge near the northern edge of the Cairngorms National Park. Carrbridge itself is a small village with several small trails through a local forest worth a walkabout.
The Old School – great apartments for a base during your
explorations in central Scotland
While eating breakfast in the Carrbridge Kitchen, we were discussing our desire to hike a munro, and were advised that we should hire a guide unless we were accomplished map/compass readers (which we are NOT). Due to unpredictable weather conditions, hikers must be able to navigate the trail should a thick cloud settle on the peak. Kate, owner of the diner and of The Old School apartment where we stayed, quickly connected us with local guide David Murray Greer, and he recommended Sgor Gaoith (pronounced “skor goo-y”) for our first climb. Sgor Gaoith means “the windy peak” in Scottish Gaelic and at 3668 ft (1118 m) in height is 35th on the SMC list. It is located slightly east of the center of the Cairngorms park. Being the great guide that he was, Dave picked us up at our apartment and drove us to the start in Glen Feshie.
Depending on where you park to start your trek, you may walk through a birch forest near the Feshie River, or as we did, you may walk along an access road to the trail head which then leads to a re-established pine forest. Most of the natural forests of Scotland were removed in the 18th and 19th centuries. There is now a movement to restore the Caledonian forests in Scotland.
The trail becomes well established through heather fields once you turn to begin the climb up …
… and up!
… to a bit of a plateau.
But the destination is still way-y-y over there!
Reaching the top gives a feeling of accomplishment …
… the view of mountain ranges, corries, lochans, and a bit of snow (this was April 29th) is worth the day hike. We were very lucky with the beautiful weather on this walk. Dave said that he was often leading hikers through a snow pack with ice picks and crampons at the end of April!
It’s tradition to share a wee dram when you get to the top, of course, so don’t forget your flask on your hill walk! Slainte!
Our thanks to Dave Greer for being not only our guide, but also our transportation provider, trail naturalist, local historian, and professional photographer for the day. Davidmurraygreer.com Also on Facebook and Instagram. Other photos by Dianne Hinson. For information about staying at The Old School, go to TheOldSchoolCarrbridge.com. Feel free to contact us if you would like more information about places mentioned in this article. See you on the hill walk!