I am a lover of maps and can spend hours of an afternoon gazing at my Ordnance Survey collection spread out over the floor. To me they are a work of art but incredibly practical as well. They hold wonderful secrets in the landscape features that they represent as I try to imagine what the places are like in real life that are set out in miniature on the sheets before me. Often something in particular on the map catches my eye such as a footpath that I have never walked. So it was back in autumn, when spotting a couple of paths new to me, led to an October backpacking trip to Glen Tromie in the Cairngorms.
The first path I wanted to find headed across the hills south from Ruthven Barracks just outside Kingussie. Footpaths on maps are tenuous things as the dashed line on the map may no longer be visible on the ground if it's a route that's not well used in modern times. This path is part of an old military route connecting Blair Atholl and Calvine to the south with Ruthven Barracks. Luckily it started right opposite the barracks as a good farm track, initially crossing a field of cows and passing a ruined house before ascending heathery slopes. As we gained the top of the rise, the other reason for coming here came into view - the beautiful golden colours of the Glen Tromie birchwoods.
A narrower path left our track and descended sharply into the glen. We marvelled at the colours as we dropped steeply through the trees and enjoyed the atmosphere of this path which felt secretive and little visited. At the bottom we joined the main track in Glen Tromie. Croidh-la, a small but dramatic hill, rose above us here and was our objective for the next day. First I wanted to find another new path that climbed its north shoulder from the glen. The start of the path was a wee bit tricky to find but once located, it was another good path that climbed gently up through regenerating woods. Here the trees were barely taller than us but the display of colour was no less beautiful.
The path eventually gained the low saddle in the ridge. I was familiar with the the rest of its course as this was the point where I had joined it from Gleann Chomhraig to the east to climb Croidh-la last year. But the hill would have to wait for the next day as at the end of October, the light in Scotland is already fading by late afternoon. Instead we pitched the tents at the river, watched the sun sink and listened to the incoming sounds of evening.
Next morning, we rejoined the path up Croidh-la and enjoyed the walk to the top. This little hill has become a favourite of mine. The path along its shoulder is so pleasant to walk, especially where it passes through the young trees. And the top affords uninterrupted views of the bigger hills all around. As we descended, the sun made an appearance for the first time of the trip and showed the best of the autumn colours all around us.
We took a different path back to Kingussie, using the newly laid section of the Speyside Way from Tromie Bridge. It reminded me how the footpaths on our maps are always changing and there will always be new paths to find.
Fact File
Public transport: Edinburgh/Glasgow to Inverness train
My route: Walked the B970 to Ruthven Barracks. Just before the car parking spaces the track heads south into the hills where the start of the new path for the Speyside Way is signed. The track crosses green fields initially to a ruin then continues on heathery slopes. Just before the top of the rise, a single width, firm path leaves the track to the left and this descends to Glen Tromie. A good way down, it branches and we took the fainter left branch to avoid the lodge and exit the woods at the bridge over the river. Walked down the main track and after about 1.5km after the river turns away from the track, the path up Croidh-la begins. There is a very small cairn to mark it though we didn't walk quite far enough to spot it on the way in. For the return leg, we walked back over to Glen Tromie then down to Tromie Bridge to pick up the Speyside Way path back to Ruthven Barracks.
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