The Ecstasy of Wilderness

29.9km, took 6.75 hours

My legs hurt terribly when I stepped out of the B&B. Fortunately, the pain grew milder with more walking. A long day lay before me. Weather was perfect for walking - no rain, breezy, some clouds, mild sunlight.

When leaving Kingussie, the gantry for railway line came down before me. Haa...I felt like a vehicle then. Shortly after, the train came. Choo Choo!!! The preserved Ruthven Barracks stood tall on a hill. Very impressive ruins!

The route followed the Badenoch Way, connecting a varied range of paths through open moorland and mature broadleaf forests. After passing by sleepy hamlets and descending through forestry plantations, the route arrived at the shores of Loch Insh where the Watersports Centre was. I had rushed my way uphill along the forest trail as I made a stupid extra lap/detour, wasting 20min! I was hoping to reach my destination on time or even earlier. Perspired under my ski jacket..HOT!!!! I also saw a dead deer lying on the road. Argh...so poor thing!

The final leg of the East Highland Way was through well established forest tracks which provided glimpse views of the Cairngorm foothills. Navigation was fun and easy! :) I came upon the amazing island castle of Loch an Eilein - how I wiah I could live inside. Imagine being surrounded by water, that'll be super cool! The route finally descended towards Aviemore through forests and open fields, leaving only a short walk to town by a pleasant cycle path to complete the journey. I checked into Dunroamin B&B, went to the optician to fix my broken spectacles, and had my dinner + 2 pints of Scottish beer! HIGH! Now...it's recovery time... Both my legs had swelled due to very bad water retention. Pooo!!!! Nevertheless, the 5-day walk had been a rewarding one - an escape into the wilderness as well as adding one more to my long list of walks. ~Pat~ I've done it again!

29km, took 8 hours

A full Highland breakfast started off another day. I got a lift back to Feagour where I ended off my walk yesterday. A lovely sunny day fortunately, but I thought it was too warm and windy for walking. Anyway it would be a 'great photo-taking day'. The trail ascended through the Black Woods to an excellent vantage point. From the Spey Dam, the route turned eastwards across level farmland, approaching Laggan Village via a quiet tarred road. How interesting to pass close-by the hotel I stayed in last night. The lift from Feagour by car took me 10 min, but walking back to Laggan had taken me almost 2 hours! My legs seemed to hurt less today - painkillers taking effect, cooool!

The next lengthy section to Newtonmore came in a mixture of extremities: getting 'lost' when making my way past Cluny Castle; a big WOW as I stepped into the open moorland of Strath an Eilich (surrounded by mountains and far away from civilisation); crossing rivers after rivers and ended up wading through them and getting both my boots soaked with cool refreshing water; hoping across the SUPER boggy unclear track beside Glen Banchor; walking in soaked boots for hours; seeing 'gancheong' sheep fall into the river and couldn't get out despite many attempts. HAHAHA!

Scotland never fails to disappoint me. Her scenery always has the WOW factor within. The East Highland Way was even better as there was not a single soul to be seen! Anyway, I was very lucky to be doing this section of the Way today when the weather was dry. If it had been cloudy and wet, I would be intimidated when hiking between the mountains. Thank god!

After passing the town of Newtonmore, the route continued east along a level cycle path, with the broad floodplains of Badenoch opening into view. I arrived at Kingussie later than expected, checked into the Hermitage Guest House, had a very tasty Sirloin Steak + Stella pint (SUPERB!) at a pub... and got very demoralised when my spectacles broke (got to rely solely on contact lens now...) What a day!