Invercauld to Gelder Shiel
DAY 1
1 NO188912 If you are leaving a vehicle at Invercauld Estate car park, leave a message/ note with the Estate Office informing them that you will return after two nights. You can pay for parking at the Pay & Display machine or directly at the Estate Office. Also ensure you have left details of your intended route and planned time of arrival back to your start point with someone who can action any contact with you/others if you’re delayed. Access the River Dee by way of crossing the A93 road below the car park and picking up a small footpath through trees, which will avoid the road to cross the impressive, old Bridge of Dee. You are now entering the Balmoral Estate (take note of any stalking restrictions/information posted by Estate Rangers) and follow good estate tracks generally across/ uphill, making five decision points en-route to take the correct direction: ahead/uphill at first crossroads, across/ straight ahead at next crossroads, uphill right, uphill right, uphill left! Now look for a junction where the main estate track heads uphill and a less formal path through trees leads to a bridge crossing. You will hear the river over waterfalls, even if you can’t see it. Bear in mind, that if you predict/know river water levels to be very high, you may need to avoid a couple of ‘stepping stones’ burn crossings by taking a longer route round to the bothy, by way of tracks that follow the River of Dee to Connachat Cottage and then head east-south-east to regain the planned route.
2 NO201892 Follow this path through old Caledonian pine trees and come to a river crossing. There was a bridge here once but now just large stepping stones. Take care and assess if water levels are high, retrace steps to use alternative route as described. The Blackshiel Burn becomes very wide here in spate. As you ascend through trees, look out for a deer fence above and at NO209893 a junction of paths presents an uphill route towards this fence.
You gain height to a small knoll, with opening views north towards Ben Avon, and then the path contours and descends into a shallow valley between small peaks, with Stob Liath on your right. Look out for birds of prey, even eagles, through this area, as the trees thin out.
3 NO237903 This stalkers path emerges back onto a 4x4 estate track at this point, approaching the wide expanse of Glen Gelder. Take the estate track into this glen, crossing Gelder Burn on a good bridge and then turn south/uphill slightly at the next track junction. From here, views towards the Corrie of Lochnagar’s steep walls open up and its easy travel to Gelder Shiel bothy, hiding in trees. Gelder Shiel Bothy is one of the ‘royal bothies’ on this estate. Be prepared to share this bothy with others, as it’s only a short walk from Invercauld or Easter Balmoral. Some even take kit for an outside bivvy/camp. Make sure you follow the MBA’s Bothy Code.