Blair Atholl to Mar Lodge

Sunday 12th April 2015

On a showery morning, I set off from the house down the road and caught the bus to Haymarket Station. Onto the 09:35 train to the north. At Perth I decided to check my rucsac that I'd left near one of the doors. I soon noticed a problem; my water carrier was leaking. Inside my dry bag. I had left the house in a hurry that I'd not thought to pack it outside of the dry bag. Sleeping bag, liner, gilet, gloves, balaclava were wet. From Perth to Pitlochry I tried to dry out what I could, and soak up the water with the remains of my Scotland on Sunday newspaper. 

I alighted at Blair Atholl with one other passenger who disappeared down the road. At the war memorial, I reorganised my pack and attire before setting off up the road to Old Blair and eventually onto the Glen Tilt track. The weather was changeable, with bubbling clouds of cumulus threatening to dump at any minute, interspersed by blue sky. 

I reached Gilbert's Bridge after an hour or so and stopped for lunch on the parapet. I watched two robins fighting under a beech tree and having a right old set-to. At this point I felt I was far enough away from civilisation to get out my wet silk liner and hang it over my rucsac to dry as I walked. From a distance I suspect I looked rather odd with the white sheet billowing around me like a wizard's cape from a Tolkien episode. 

Beyond Marble Lodge

Onwards I strode passing Auchgobhal (barks), Marble Lodge (empty), and eventually Forest Lodge (occupied). The sides of Beinn Y Ghlo were very white, with the snow line down to about 450m and I could see the odd line of deer crossing the steep slopes above the glen. After Forest Lodge, the track started to become a little less smooth, and soon enough, the vehicle track headed off up the hill leaving a cycle track to continue up the river side. 

 

Before Bedford Bridge

I reached Bedford Bridge at the Falls of Tarf in a sunny spell, so took a break to refuel. 

Bedford Bridge - a vital crossing for the glen

The track was now single, and in places there were a couple of granny-stoppers. If biking you'd be carrying it at this point. On the right the river was overlooked by a loose outcrop of yellowy rock - on the map it was Meall na Caillich Buidhe. 

And not long after the river slowed considerably as the land levelled out and became a wide Dail. Checking the map I could see I was at the watershed; the highest point of the glen. Patches of old snow lay on the ground, but the flat grass was dry. It was not windy so I decided to pitch the tent. 

The watershed and a flat, dry place to camp

Monday 13th April 2015

A cold night with some more snow but light winds. Overnight I'd been disturbed by oyster catchers and grouse calling from all around. And I won't say much about the barking fox I'd heard just after midnight. I didn't want to leave too early because I knew that access to Mar Lodge was restricted until after 4pm, but I only had 4-5hours walking ahead of me. I took my time packing up after watching a couple of downloads on the iPod. 

The path disappeared in places here, but the route was easy

The route climbed a little higher before descending towards the lonely ruin of Bynack Lodge which warranted a wee nose around. Not far from the lodge, the path reverted to a good vehicle track.

Outside near rhe track a male red grouse was patrolling looking for a fight.

Onwards I plodded until I reached the wide barrier of the Geldie Burn. Not so much a Burn, more a torrent. Fortunately I had brought my sandals for this crossing and with my laces knotted and boots slung round my neck, I waded into the river. There were two channels to cross; both as wide and fast as each other. The water only reached to knee height but once I was on the opposite bank, my feet were numb with cold and I screamed with pain. 

One of the two channels of the Geldie Burn

Dried off and warmed up, I continued on my way to the White Bridge (not white) over the River Dee. I left the vehicle track again, but joined an excellently constructed footpath heading north towards the Lairig Ghru. I passed the first peope I'd seen since Blair Atholl 24hours before, a group of teenagers with an adult leading. I assumed they'd been staying at Corrour. 

After two kilometres, I stopped for a break to refuel and don the gaiters before leaving the path and stepping into the heather heading up to Sgor an Eoin. The steepest slope of the journey thus far and I was soon puffing. Ahead I saw a figure coming off the craggy top and descending my route. We both seemed to head for a rendezvous at the 550m contour. A Corbett bagger like myself, he had been staying the week in a campervan at Braemar and had cycled in from Linn of Dee to grab one last summit of his holiday. 

I continued up onto the plateau and reached the windy summit of Sgor Mor. What a viewpoint! 

With all the hills of the southern Cairngorms on show stretching out before me. Even more satisfying to be able to trace routes up each of them over many years starting in 1990. The wind buffeted me onwards to the subsidiary top at 741m where I tried to shelter in the snow filled cairn for some lunch. 

The plan was to descend north-east towards Derry Lodge. The OS map marked a bridge crossing the Lui Water near Bob Scott's where I hoped to join the good track back to Linn of Dee. However, as I descended from the trig point, and the slope dropped away to show me the glen below, I became convinced there was no bridge. I couldn't see one. 

Rather than lose 400m of height unnecessarily, I decided to continue south over the hill to the Black Bridge over the Lui further down river. Unfortunately the terrain became pretty rough over the hill and soon I was clambering through knee deep heather. 

After Black Bridge I followed a good track through the pines towards Claybokie and eventually Mar Lodge. I felt like a marathon runner as I approached the building from the west passing the ruins of the Springwatch studio. 

It was 3.30pm. I knew the PIN for the lodge entry from our previous visit so sneaked in and made myself at home in the apartment. I was back.