I’m happy to report that another work trip will bring me back to Scotland in late September. I am planning to stick around for 5 additional days on the end for some hiking and SOTA again. I’ve twice been to Western Scotland and Isle of Skye, which are awesome, but looking to try a new location this time and am looking at the Cairngorms National Park Area. If anyone has any good intel into areas of this park worth targeting or just recommended peaks/self-catering options in that area, I would greatly appreciate it to help my planning. I’ll likely be going solo on this trip so any terrain where having a buddy would be required or a good idea is probably out for me on this one. Thanks in advance for any assistance the group can offer!
P.S. Alternatively, I had considered flying out to the Outer Hebrides, since those islands intrigue me for some reason, so that could be a backup plan unless someone convinces me that I’d be making a poor choice to opt for Cairngorms over the Hebrides, in which case I’ll reconsider my priorities.
I am sure the locals (@MM0EFI ) will be along shortly to give detailed advice, but some good places to visit are:
Aviemore
Ben Macdui - big, but a well marked path and usually people around so fairly ‘safe’ in that sense
Dalwhinnie - for the distillery and also GM/CS-039 is a fairly easy walk up from here
Braemar is a good point for big summits to the SW of the town
Pitlochry
Balmoral is in the park, but we haven’t visited
To be fair, if the weather is good, it’s an area where you can’t really go wrong - it’s very scenic, with loads of great hiking.
Good luck with your trip - we’ll be in Italy, so I’ll keep an eye on the spots to see if we can make a S2S.
73, Simon
There is something magical about Scottish Islands and the Western Isles in particular. On the Uists it was strange to see statues of the Virgin Mary on the side of the road - I’ve never seen that anywhere else in the UK. Then move north to Harris and Lewis and everything shuts on a Sunday (although I believe this is slowly changing with ferries running). Several years ago we stayed on the Isle of Scalpay which is just off Harris. The children’s playground closed on a Sunday. We did our washing and felt very nervous about hanging it out as this is not the done thing on the Sabbath.
Thanks Simon! Looking forward to getting back and I will be bringing hardshell jacket and pants again just in case! I don’t mind hiking in a little rain and actually enjoy it.
Hi Gus, Aviemore or Braemar/Ballater are good bases. They are only 25 miles apart, however they are separated by the Cairngorm massif, so best to choose one or the other.
Aviemore has easier access to the big mountains due to the ski centre. There are smaller easier peaks around there too, many with decent tracks.
Tackling the big hills from the Braemar/Ballater side tends to involve big days, with long (20 mile) walks unless you hire a bike. Lots of smaller and easier access hills on this side too, with the added advantage of six local SOTA activators who will insist on a summit day followed by tea & cake!
I’ve done just about all of the summits in the Cairngorms, so feel free to drop me a line or ask on here once you’ve looked at sotl.as, searched on here and have a shortlist.
I spent a fortnight wandering around the Outer Hebrides with the aim of finding an unactivated summit https://reflector.sota.org.uk/t/close-to-the-edge/32203. It would be fair to say that the hills are not very well walked but they are stunning. The wx is likely to be wetter than the Cairngorms. There are sometimes issues with the ferries caused either by mechanical issues ( some of the boats seem to be older than the average age of a SOTA activator ) or bad weather and will need booking in advance. Ben GW4BML is also a good source of knowledge as he activated all of the remaining summits ….
Gus, @W9SSN
Only comment I would add (having lived in the National Park even before it was a National Park) is that your navigation skills should be really well honed. Distances on the bigger hills are vast and featureless and when the weather turns you could be a long way from anywhere (by British standards).
Worth considering keeping to the East of the park (Tomintoul, Glenlivet etc) where you also have other attractive summits on the perimeter of the Park. Like Fraser, I have activated every summit in the Park (bar one) and know the region very well
Hi Gus
Having been to the Outer Hebrides just in time to gain an unactivated summit (and had to turn back from the second one when the weather came in suddenly) I strongly suggest the Cairngorms. It was a long time pre SOTA when I did the higher summits there so now only play around on the eastern edge but you have much more choice and flexibility if weather or transport lets you down. On the Outer Hebrides both are much more unreliable with weather stopping flying and mechanical breakdowns (did those new ferries ever actually arrive?) as well as weather stopping the ferries (including inter-island??) You could much more easily lose a day or two or even get totally stuck. In the Cairngorms you can always call on EFI-breakdown Ltd with his new 6 wheels!! Have fun
Viki
Good info, thank you. I would likely get GPX tracks for the summits I plan to do in advance to assist with navigation, as well as one of the OS paper maps for the area I end up going to (I assume these can be picked up at one of the outdoor sporting goods stores upon arrival?). I think Walkhighlands has a pretty decent database of GPX tracks for most summits and that is was I had used previously. Once I’ve had time to more closely evaluate my plans, perhaps I’ll run it by you and @MM0EFI for the local opinion.