We picked up our train to Aviemore from Glasgow. The journey passed without drama, other than the train was completely full. We stood most of the way. Our very helpful guard offered us the opportunity of upgrading to first class as an option, we decided to stay as we were, but it might be worth considering first class if booking in advance as this train is regularly busy apparently. The journey offered some spectacular views, especially as most of the hills still had snow on the caps.
My own family consisted of 3 plus 1 dog My friends family, all seasoned walkers comprised of 4 plus 2 dogs. I packed my kit into a 50 litre Lightwave Fastpack. My 14 year old, Ellie took a Berghaus 25 litre, and my other half Lynn, carried a 40 litre Lightwave Fastpack. Our all up weights were around 15KG, 12KG and 6KG at the start without water and almost half this by the end of the walk.
Our all up weights were pretty high. With no experience of the area, the time of year and really very little idea about supply points along the way we hedged all of our bets. Food at this stage occupied around 40 per cent of our all up weights. On reflection way too much, and we took several items which were never used or could have been left at home.
A few things to note about the EHW - it is 82 miles in length, a route proposed by Kevin Langan in 2007. It is not an 'officially adopted' long distance path. The EHW was created to link existing long distance paths. Some sections are fairly remote and unspoilt, whilst many others follow a hinterland halfway between wild and inhabited. These hinterland areas are areas such as managed forestry, nature reserves or livestock areas and so wild campsites for family sized tents are not the easiest to locate. Also many of the facilities, such as stores expected in villages for resupply are sadly no longer present, even the campsites were closed until 'after' Easter - Post Offices and shops are located in the towns of Aviemore, Kingussie, Newtonmore and Spean Bridge plus of course Fort William. A detour could be made to Kincraig for supplies also if need be. For some sections, wild campers will need to carry food for 3 days to keep a little in reserve. To help with wild camping , I have indicated our own spots chosen along the route. These were the best ones we could find, three of which I would say were pretty much perfect. A couple of others were not ideal, but served their purpose. I have suggested alternatives to these less ideal spots.
It is quite a weighty feeling setting off with ones family without every detail planned out. There seemed to be a lot of questions and virtually no information out there on the web. Most of the articles and blogs we found were solo walkers staying in accommodation each night. Some of which took road detours around the remoter sections. We were using the excellent Harvey map which covers the whole route at 1:40000. We had the East Highland Way Handbook by Kevin Langan, with a foreward by TGO's Cameron McNeish as a resource. All in all we alighted at Aviemore with the sort of feeling true explorers must have felt. That feeling of not quite knowing what lie ahead. The rain started as we alighted. I decided to write this blog to provide some additional information particularly for those intending to wild camp.
It was around 2pm, and so we left Aviemore behind aiming for Drakes Bothy, following cycle paths for a mile or so before walkers paths opened up. We were plagued with showers but the scenery was no worse for it. We took around 4 hours to walk to Drakes Bothy and passed through a managed wild camping area around 4 miles south of Aviemore near the car park adjacent to Loch an Eilein ( Grid Ref NH 896 084). This would have made a perfect overnight stop with toilets and near enough to Aviemore such that we could have spent an hour or two looking round.
We made our way to Drakes Bothy as planned ( Grid Ref NH 884 056), knowing what had been left BEHIND. Drakes bothy is set in the stunning nature reserve area of Inshriach.
We were not disappointed. We camped on the grass beside the bothy, taking care to avoid the overhanging branches of nearby trees. You are required to leave the area as you found it and to pack out all of your waste. Yes, all of your waste! On this occasion we were lucky, the dogs less so. We saw only 2 people pass the nearby path in all the time we stayed. We filtered excellent drinking water from a nearby stream which can be accessed either just before or just after the path which passes the bothy. We erected 3 tents as the sun went down and cooked our first camp food.
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| still raining as the sun goes down! |
Click here for day 2 - Drakes Bothy to Kingussie
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