ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Finding space and solitude in Royal Deeside's 'middle of nowhere'
"You alright if I pick you up at 5.15am?"
The alarming WhatsApp message from workmate James was no joke, it turned out and, had I read his earlier route briefing a little more closely, I'd have understood why.
The big picture was a 26-mile jaunt likely to take around 11 hours if we hoofed it the whole way.
But first, to get to the start point...
These two very remote hills are closer to Aberdeen than Inverness and have been described as standing in one of the wildest and most inaccessible parts of the Highlands. In the middle of nowhere, you might say.
Before taking the long and winding tourist route towards Royal Deeside, there was another puzzle to solve: trying to fit two full-sized men's mountain bikes into the back of a tooty little VW Up! I was very sceptical but turns out it can be done, if you first whip off the wheels, contort the frames like a snake in a maze and cross your fingers as you close the boot.
Dawn had broken en route to the Linn of Dee car park operated by the National Trust for Scotland and just a few metres from the access track we planned to bike up towards our targets, Carn an Fhidhleir (hill of the fiddler) and An Sgarsoch (the place of the sharp rocks).
There were some fancy bikes being whipped off the back of swish 4x4s by well-clad outdoor types. I realised there and then that jeans are never the brightest choice for any trip into the hills. To be fair, it had been a while and I don't (yet!) possess any "proper" walking trousers, so they'd have to do.
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Rain, I realised, would not be a good thing. In the event there was none, though quite a few rivers and tributaries to cross all the same. Bereft of good quality walking boots (there's a theme here, really, isn't there?), I opted to whip off my footwear and wade across. It was bracingly refreshing and my feet were soon relatively dry after a quick blast in the gentle breeze.
My bike has seen better days – about 30-odd years of better days – and I was praying for a puncture-free outing as we crunched over small rocks, gravel and the odd rut on an easily identifiable track flanked on the left by the River Dee.
The hills are described as more or less at the centre of the hillwaters of the rivers Feshie, Geldie and Tarff.
The route follows the track on the north bank of the River Dee to White Bridge and then along the Geldie Burn towards the ruined Geldie Lodge. Before that you pass Ruighe Ealasaid, now apparently renovated as a bothy.
Geldie Lodge, or what remains, is often described as a staging post to park a bike for ascents of Sgarsoch and Carn an Fhidhleir, and so it was with us.
It was a relief to have made it tyres intact and by now the once familiar feeling of being recharged by being out in nature was working its magic.
A stalker's path continues west to Allt a'Chaorainn – another burn needing crossed. After a faint path there's some slightly boggy ground to negotiate before climbing the north ridge of Carn an Fhidhleir on stonier, firmer ground.
It has been said that few peaks can match these for the feeling of solitude and open space, and that was coming across loud and clear. What a privilege to be able to be out and about in so much space. What a delight to be in the middle of nowhere.
It's then a case of heading fairly steeply down to a bealach to the east and heading up through heather to the cairn of An Sgarsoch, beyond a rocky outcrop.
The route down towards a good stalker's path used on the approach takes you back towards the long walk/cycle back to Linn of Dee.
The river crossings may be more tiresome – or enjoyable – on the way back depending on your mood and the time of the day. Despite finding the initial bike in quite hard going on the thighs – possibly accentuated by puncture anxiety – the return was a completely different kettle of fish. Call it post-summit high but there was now joy in bombing along the rough track and through streams, although it was still necessary to dismount for some of the meatier crossings.
The dodgiest peanut butter and banana sandwich crushed at the bottom of the backpack, and the 12-hour old flask of tea, were every bit as good to me at that point as anything a Michelin-starred restaurant could dish up.
And ain't that the joy of some gruelling, strength-sapping, soul-reviving activity outdoors in this amazing part of the world?
If you are being driven, chances are you'll be fast asleep 20 minutes after getting back into the car, deliciously dead to the world.
Route details
Carn an Fhidhleir and An Sgarsoch
Distance 27 miles / 44km
Terrain Estate tracks into remote mountain country; stalker's path and pathless mountain top/ridges. Navigation skills required
Start/finish Linn of Dee car park, near Braemar
Map OS Landranger 43
Venturing into the remote heart of the Cairngorms, there are many rivers to cross on this lengthy trip up two Munros
Click here to see the route in OS Maps
