Rosie Morton heads off on a unique three-night trip to the Cairngorms, camping beneath the stars accompanied by two ponies A WALK ON THE WILD SIDE
Following a three-night guided Highland wilderness expedition with pack ponies in tow, Rosie Morton reports on a unique Cairngorms camping experience
The 12-year-old single malt was firmly secured in my side pocket
It is a running joke in the Morton household. Almost as soon as I lay eyes on the old Berghaus hiking bag – the same one that saw my elder brother and I through that teenage rite of passage, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme – the snow invariably starts to fall. Today was to be no different.
But those formative school-day hiking expeditions through Dalwhinnie, picking up survival tips from Bigfoot Adventures’ extraordinary mountain leader Jim Prince, had me well prepared for the challenge ahead. For the next four days, exploring the wilderness of the Rothiemurchus estate, I would be joining Scot Mountain Holidays’ Andy Bateman – a former mineral engineer from Ipswich who worked in the South African gold mining industry before switching to off-grid life in the Cairngorms – for a Highland wilderness adventure.
Weather warnings and freezing conditions began as I optimistically looked out my suncream and visor, rather hoping all five of the BBC’s weathermen had got it wrong.
Cue springtime snowstorm and whiteknuckle ride through sideways sleet to the Cairngorms in a small Renault Clio. Thank goodness for snow poles.
At least this time I was allowed to pack the essentials. The 12-yearold single malt for sharing round the campfire was firmly secured in my side pocket (next to the all-important Cadbury’s milk chocolate, midge spray and hand sanitiser – I had my priorities straight).
As our photographer Jenny and I rolled up at Fraoch Lodge in Boat of Garten, Andy’s home and company base, the skies cleared just enough to reveal the tips of the snow-capped mountains around us. After a year-long lockdown
induced hiatus, it was a welcome trip down memory lane returning to the landscape I had spent so much of my childhood exploring with the school’s fiercely fit (and suitably named) Outdoor Club leader Will Snow.
‘My first introduction to Scotland was in 1987 when I came up with my father,’ explains Andy, whose love of nature stems back to his younger days fishing on local rivers. ‘We made it up to Torridon. I thought it was amazing and vowed to myself that I’d spend some of my time in Scotland. Ten years later I got up here.’
Of course, the Cairngorms is one of the most popular wilderness retreats, drawing thousands of hiking enthusiasts from far and wide in a normal, Covid-free year. Most of Andy’s customers are in fact from south of the border.
‘Our clientele generally comes from the South East of England,’ says Andy. ‘One of my regular winter clients actually comes all the way from Australia. We see the same faces year after year and they’ve become our friends.’
Happy to bring some Scottish blood to the party, Jenny and I – both of us from the north east – hunkered down for a night in front of the lodge’s fire, making the most of the creature comforts before the following days’ adventures.
We left bright and early, collecting our two gorgeous pack ponies – Foxy, a 10-year-old Highland pony, and Maggie, an experienced 17-year-old fell pony – from Fiona Laing’s Strathspey Highland Ponies riding school in Rothiemurchus.
‘Andy approached me with the idea of these pack pony trips and I said, “It will work, you just need to work hard on gaining horse knowledge”,’ says Fiona, who has been working with ponies since the age of 12. ‘Andy had none whatsoever. So it has been a case of trying to instil what I know into him. Once these ponies try and take off with you, it’s a learning curve. I don’t care if you’re water-skiing your face through the heather, you do not let that pony go.’
Backs massaged, straps tightened, and saddles at the ready, Foxy and Maggie were charged with the task of lugging our hefty equipment to base camp.
As well as our heated Tentipi, wood burning stove, and air mattresses with fitted bedsheets, our faithful friends were carrying food supplied by Andy’s wife Rebecca, a camp loo, and handheld showers (which in the end, none of us were brave enough to use in the below-freezing conditions; though we agreed they would have been welcome in warmer summer climes).
‘The idea for the trip came about because we had done a couple of donkey
I don’t care if you’re water-skiing your face through the heather, you do not let that pony go
trips in the south of France,’ says Andy, as we made our way through Caledonian pine forest and past Loch an Eilein. ‘I just thought it was a wonderful way to travel – walking slowly through the countryside with the pony carrying all your stuff. That then got me thinking with the emergence of this more luxurious, heavier camping equipment and stoves, if you could take it all into the back of beyond.’
And into the wilderness we went. For the next two days, we passed through the beautiful Inshriach and Invereshie National Nature Reserve, camped in prime, untouched forest, admired the many viewpoints of lochs and fields looking on to some of Scotland’s highest peaks including Ben Nevis, and climbed to the Argyll Stone, a morphological relic.
With Andy’s interest in geology, he imparted his knowledge of the terrain, its history, and its wildlife, as well as the importance of deadwood in maintaining a diverse ecosystem.
‘Deadwood is quite important because it feeds the bugs that then feed the birds, and it all goes down the food chain,’ he continues, pointing out sections of regenerating pine, juniper berries, birch, and larch, as well as the odd wildcat footprint in the snow. ‘I give our clientele the environmental side of things whether they like it or not. I think it’s important because it puts the whole trip in context. In society these days, we’ve become so disconnected from nature.’
Though the resident pine martens, golden eagles and capercaillie remained elusive, we did spot a few deer roaming about the place, and a crossbill saw us home as we dropped the ponies safely back at the stables. Braving the elements and ever-changing weather fronts was a reminder of how hardy our native wildlife is. That said, I’d like to think we did pretty well too – there was a palpable sense of achievement in carting
21 kilos of camera equipment up and down tricky terrain, only once landing in an icy burn for a mud foot spa on the home stretch.
Ending our journey, we drove off from
Fraoch Lodge foot-sore but triumphant, stopping only to satisfy our cravings for a whipped cream Walnut Whirl on the way back to Aberdeen. Cranking up the heaters we vowed to hire a Land Rover Defender to plough through the snow next time.
With Scotland opening up again, there has never been a better time to pack your bags and tackle that hiking bucket list.
Tentipis or no, the key to a successful camping/glamping trip is good company, and Jenny and I were glad to have had each other.
There has never been a better time to pack your bags and tackle that hiking bucket list