The Uath Lochans look like a giant paw print on the map: four dark pools pressed into the forest floor, claw marks of water among the pines. It’s where we first fell for the Cairngorms, back in April, when we visited for the first time. Coming back felt both exciting and familiar.
From Farleitter Crag, the views over the lochans were spectacular; still water reflecting the colours of the forest, and beyond them the mountains on the far side of Glen Feshie, towering over the landscape.
In the afternoon we drove to Glenmore and walked up through the forest to Lochan Uaine - the “Green Loch.” The colour really does live up to its name, a luminous jade set among the trees. According to legend, the loch is green because it’s used by fairies for washing their clothes(!?)
From there we carried on to Ryvoan Bothy, a stone refuge tucked into the hillside of the Abernethy Nature Reserve. Just stepping through the door here provokes curiousity about the stories shared around the bothy's wood-burning stove, exchanging daring tales over a wee dram after an arduous day on the hill. On our way out of the bothy, I caught sight of a poem hung just inside the door. Written by female mountaineer A.M. Laurence, it was first discovered by the mountaineering community during the Second World War, scrawled on a note pinned to the door of the Ryvoan bothy. I've included the poem at the end of this article, I think it evokes something fundamental about those who seek adventure in nature, that idea of not simply going to the mountains, but returning.
Tomorrow, we plan to climb Ben Macdui, the second-highest mountain in Britain. The forecast is promising, though visibility on the Cairngorm Plateau can disappear without notice. With luck, we’ll avoid meeting the Grey Man of Ben Macdui, the ghostly figure said to haunt the summit and lead lost walkers astray.
I Leave Tonight From Euston
By A.M. Lawrence
I shall leave tonight from Euston
By the seven-thirty train,
And from Perth in the early morning
I shall see the hills again.
From the top of Ben Macdhui
I shall watch the gathering storm,
And see the crisp snow lying
At the back of Cairngorm.
I shall feel the mist from Bhrotain
and the pass by Lairig Ghru
To look on dark Loch Einich
From the heights of Sgoran Dubh.
From the broken Barns of Bynack
I shall see the sunrise gleam
On the forehead of Ben Rinnes
And Strathspey awake from dream.
And again in the dusk of evening
I shall find once more alone
The dark water of the Green Loch,
And the pass beyond Ryvoan.
For tonight I leave from Euston
And leave the world behind;
Who has the hills as a lover,
Will find them wondrous kind.
