The wild edge of the Cairngorms

The Cairngorms and North-East Scotland, has sold out its initial print run! To celebrate our reprint arriving in next week, here’s a write up of a journey Rob recently undertook with his eight-year-old daughter into Glen Feshie, where they used the guide to help her plan her very first wild camping adventure.

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It must have been January this year when my eight-year-old daughter announced she wanted to go wild camping – around the same time she devoured an advance copy of I Don’t Do Mountains in less than 24 hours. One night under the stars wasn’t going to cut it, so we chose the first free long weekend that would allow two nights away and began planning our first proper trip into the hills.

April brought stunning weather, and I started feeling confident that our planned expedition – taking in the Fiacaill Ridge before dropping down to Loch Avon – might actually come off. Even at the start of the week, the Bank Holiday forecast looked promising. But by midweek, the outlook had changed: temperatures on the plateau were set to drop below zero. Not exactly ideal conditions for a first wild camp – but rescheduling, apparently, wasn’t an option. A rapid replan got underway. It was still going to be cold and a bit unpredictable, but we settled on a three-day mission into Glen Feshie, armed with warm sleeping bags and an open mind.

Using the Scottish Mountaineering Club guidebook to The Cairngorms and North-East Scotland – and with some input from a good friend whose daughter is a similar age – we put together a route that felt suitably challenging and interesting. On Saturday morning we parked the van, shouldered our packs, and set off.

I’d never been into Glen Feshie before, so it was a voyage of discovery for me too. I’d long heard it spoken of for the rewilding that is taking place there, and it was incredible to see the ancient granny pines and hear birdsong from a staggering range of species (we’re not birders, but we love the Merlin Bird ID app). The contrast between Glen Feshie and other Cairngorms glens – even just in terms of visible vegetation – was striking.

Just a few days earlier, we’d been having a barbecue at home in Inverness. But now the weather threw everything at us: wind, rain, hail, snow, frost, and sun. Somehow, we dodged most of the worst and stayed warm – spending plenty of time exploring beyond the tent, and even a couple of hours going over map and compass theory while waiting for it to dry out on Sunday morning. That afternoon we roamed among the trees, collected pine cones, built mini rafts out of reeds, and raced them down a stream.

The weather kept improving, and after a cold night and frosty start on Monday, we slowly packed up under blue skies and walked out in a light breeze, making up lyrics to a song about our little adventure – what we’d seen and experienced along the way.

One of the things that inspired our move to the Highlands was having this kind of adventure on our doorstep – and it felt brilliant to make it happen. Spending time outdoors with our daughter was simply wonderful: a much-needed pause from busy life, and a chance to be fully present. I can’t wait to do it all again – both with her, and with our son once he’s a bit older.

Words and images by Rob Lovell