We packed our camp and set off into the relatively unknown with absolutely no idea where we would be sleeping. Several of us had carrier bags tied off to the outside of our bags until a suitable facility could be found for disposal. We thought we might be able to camp beyond Kingussie.
One piece of advice I would like to now give myself for future reference is to have a separate and fairly decent sized dry bag to stow rubbish and other potential waste in until somewhere suitable emerges. Carrier bags are easy to tear and leak. On at least one occasion did carrier bags leak onto the outside of our backpacks. Bit of food, not a problem, but other things could have been a problem. It is worth mentioning that rubbish bins are not a common site anywhere along the route except in towns and some villages. You will be carrying your refuse quite along way. Not even the car parks passed along the route have any means of disposal. Helpful locals may take a bag or two if asked, but otherwise it's the main towns for depositing rubbish.
We decended through woodland until we emerged at Feshie Bridge car park, and a short walk further on we came to the Sculpture Park, the sun came out. There was no cost for walking around the park, enjoy!
Beyond the Sculpture Park we arrived at the side of Loch Insh. Facilities abound here. Accomodation options, cooked food, toilets, childrens play area, watersports, even a little beach. We settled for banoffee pie, coffee and more banofee pie in the cafe. Most of us had a quick spruce up in the loos here. Wet sailors everywhere so you wont feel under-dressed. Accommodation wise prices looked reasonable but we had only covered a few miles and it was a little too early for calling it a day. Link here www.lochinsh.com.
If you had all day to walk from Aviemore, or just wanted a couple of short days you could use the wild camp at Loch Eilein and then a family room at Loch Inch the night after. Maybe rent a dinghy for an hour or two. This would be the way for me to go if I return to redo this section. The wild camping opportunities beyond Kingussie would then be a days stride away. (We made a nav error the next day and found a great place to camp with views to match beyond Kingussie, more on that later) For now, lets just mention that we got to 5.30 pm and were still well shy of Kingussie. We finished up with a 'make do' camping arrangement just before we hit the last 2 km of road down to Kingussie overlooking a wetland area. Water was collected from a nearby stream that had run off cow pasture. We boiled this to make weak tea, as well as using the filter. The area was unsuitable as a camp spot as the area is used by bird watchers and dog walkers at all times. We chose a stealth spot out of necessity as night fell. To avoid this area, aim to get beyond Kingussie by night fall to camp or perhaps book into a B&B / Hostel at Kingussie. We made a plan to get up early and dash to Kingussie for a proper fried breakfast.
The walk to this point had been most enjoyable through woods, and sections alongside woods with views across wetlands to hills beyond.
Click here for day 3 - Kingussie to Newtonmore
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