Royal Deeside and Glengirnock, Scotland

At last, after days of rain over Scotland, a beautiful sunny morning of wind and high cloud and patches of brilliant blue sky.
First published in: The Times Click here to view a map for this walk in a new window

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Around Balmoral Castle the River Dee ran broad and sparkling, and the hills cradling the royal retreat were brushed green and gold with bright sunlight.

A couple of miles downriver I made my way through the fields around Abergeldie, climbing over and wriggling under tall ladder stiles, following rickety fences and 4 x 4 tracks knee-deep in heather through the lonely valley that separates the rocky knolls of Creag Ghiubhais (‘hill of the fir-trees’) and Creag nam Ban, the Hill of the Women. The unaccustomed sunshine had called out the butterflies; meadow browns in clouds, leopard-spotted fritillaries, and a beautiful royal blue creature that moved too erratically for me to fix its name for sure. I surprised a buzzard on a field wall; it stared round at me as if it had never seen a human being before, then jumped up and flapped with stiff wing-beats over the trees.

Near the silent buildings at the Mill of Cosh I turned onto a stony track and made for the hills. These 4-wheel-drive roadways have proliferated all through the Highlands, and they are a wonderful asset for walkers. But they haven’t succeeded in keeping a population in the remote back country hereabouts. Beside the track the house of Loinveg stood shuttered among its shelter trees. Beyond lay the great dun-coloured bowl of Glen Girnock, the Girnock Burn snaking through its marshy bottom, heathery hills encircling it. Not a sheep, not a cow. Complete silence, a cold wind, and the exhilaration of striding out in empty moorland with a stunning view ahead to the dark cliffs of Lochnagar.

I passed a tiny stone-built whisky still, some long-forgotten amateur distiller’s illicit pride and joy, and came to the abandoned farmstead of Bovaglie, windows boarded, ornate garden gate swinging in the wind, an eerie and haunted place. A final high stretch looking west into the heart of the Grampian Mountains, and a descent through a pine forest bearded with trailing lichens, down to the road and the broad Dee Valley once more.

Start & finish: Parking bay near Abergeldie Cottages, near Balmoral (OS ref NO 287948)

Getting there:
A93 Braemar-Ballater; at Balmoral, B976 (‘East Deeside’). Cross River Dee; follow B976. Pass sign on left to Clachanturn; next right (unmarked); just past right bend, parking bay on right.

Walk: (8½, moderate, OS Explorer 388): Up driveway opposite, past Abergeldie Cottages and on up grass track. Dogleg left and right (289947); continue uphill, with stone wall and trees on right, to forestry fence. Right; follow fence down; cross 2 ladder stiles (291949); follow fence for ¾ mile, descending beside B976. Pass 2 locked gates; on through trees for 400 yards. At next locked gate by road (304958), hairpin back to right up grassy track through trees, then through open heather for ⅔ mile, passing between Creag nam Ban and Creag Ghiubhais, to meet tumbledown fence (310949). Left along it for ¾ mile to Mill of Cosh; right on stony track (320953). Follow track for 3 miles past Loinveg and Bovaglie. In another mile, right at junction (290923). In ⅓ mile, where track begins to descend, right at track crossing (285925). Stile into forest (286929); at fork in ¼ mile (286934) keep ahead (left); down to Khantore (288938); road to Balnacroft (285944); right to car.

NB: Faint track skirting Creag Ghiubhais – some heather wading!

Lunch: Picnic

Info: Ballater TIC (01339-755306); www.royal-deeside.org.uk

2011 Gower Walking Festival: 4 – 19 June; www.mumblestic.co.uk

http://www.logmytrip.co.uk/