28 September 2022
The ascent from Kingussie started before we had even left the road.
Initially we ascended past St Vincent Hospital. The building opened in 1901 as the Grampian Sanatorium for the open-air treatment of patients with tuberculosis on the Swiss model. Apparently patients had to go on walks in the fresh air even in the rainy and cold Scottish weather. In 1934, the sanatorium was purchased by the Sisters of Charity of the Order of St Vincent de Paul, who continued to treat TB patients there. It was taken over by the NHS in 1986 and used as a community hospital until September 2021 when the services were centralised in Aviemore.
We crossed the river just before reaching the golf course, noting a community hydro project. Once on the east side of the river, the road continued to ascend, passing right through the middle of a golf course. We hoped no-one was playing the nearby hole as the tee was out of sight of the road and it appeared that the fairway ran straight across the road to the visible green!
Eventually we left the tarmac and walked through a wood, continuing to gain height. We emerged on to the moor, ascending all the time. The weather forecast had promised better things. Unfortunately, however, the weather was worsening. The area is said to abound with mountain hares but they must have decided to stay underground out of the wind and rain! We passed a bothy – sadly locked and clearly for grouse shooters rather than for walkers. We saw a rainbow so there must have been some sunshine around but this definitely seemed to be more than a short shower.
The views over Strathspey should have been superb. Unfortunately they were nonexistent and we just continued to ascend the stony track. False summits abounded but eventually we reached a cairn at 843m (Beinn Bhreac). Sadly the promised views over the remote Monadhliath were also non-existent.
We pressed on along the ridge towards the main summit. There was a slightly sheltered hollow and I suggested stopping for lunch in the hope that the weather would improve. My husband was less optimistic but agreed anyway.
It was a very brief lunch stop and the weather was no better by the time we walked further along the ridge to the highpoint (878m) at the Carn an Fhreiceadain trig point. The next point of interest was a tall cairn which was meant to be a point with good views.
We were in luck! The clouds parted for a brief few moments to give us an amazing view. Often reaching a summit and being in cloud and suddenly out of cloud for a brief moment, the view seen looks even better than on a clear day with constant views. I guess it’s more a sense of appreciation having become resigned to the likelihood of seeing nothing at all. The clouds returned but within minutes they cleared again and as we descended the visibility improved even further. The highest peaks of the Cairngorm massif still remained hidden above the cloud base. We also saw ptarmigan, but again no mountain hares.
We descended to meet the stream Allt Mor and further downward before meeting the outward route. Once more we managed to avoid being hit by a golf ball as we crossed the golf course, although one suddenly appeared on the green from “nowhere” as we were walking past.
We were just in time to enjoy what we thought was well deserved coffee and cake from a cafe in Kingussie, but we had to take them away and sit on a park bench as the sit-in service finished at 3.30pm and we arrived just after. We realised that we had been very fortunate to enjoy a view from the summit area. If we had set off half an hour earlier or not stopped for lunch, we would have been further down the mountain when the cloud cover lifted sufficiently to enjoy the vista.
Where's Kathryn? 