Scotland trip – Part 4 – Living Life Every Day

Cairngorms Hiking Trip @Aviemore

Days 1-2

I arrived in Aviemore via train from Inverness. It’s a small town and a small station and I had to cross the tracks to get out of the station. I looked up and down the tracks only to find a set of stairs up, across the tracks and then down on the other side. This only matters when you have a honking new suitcase to lug. As I stood at the foot of the stairs apparently I muttered out loud “you’ve got to be kidding!” And prepared to do the work when an older gentleman looked at me and offered to take my bag for me. Such nice Scots!

I’ll be at the Cairngorms Guest House for the next 5 nights and hiking each day somewhere different. There are 5 ladies in our group. Erin and Kathy from Canada, Sheila from Michigan and Mary from the UK. Our tour guide, Stef is local.

We took a short walk after meeting each other through the pine forests nearby. Scotch pine (also called Caledonia pine aptly named by the Romans) are easily identified. They have very dark bark and stand tall and skinny.

This pine forest was originally a plantation

It was a nice short hike to get ready for dinner. More about restaurants separately!

Day 2 first full hiking day

We enjoyed the heather, for miles and miles. We are so lucky to see it in full bloom which normally doesn’t happen until September. With the lack of rain and higher temps this year everything is ready for harvest or full bloom early.

This particular cairn used to have more of a flat top and was used for those who carried caskets from one side of the mountain to burial on the more populated side. It was a place to put down the casket and take a rest before moving along. There were many along their path.