Walking at Boat of Garten

Although our little bothy in Newtonmore had served its purpose well, we were delighted to travel to the comforts of Alison and Hugh's lovely home in Boat of Garten on Sunday morning. The rest of the group headed home apart from Ally and Cat, who arranged to stay on in the hostel for another night in order to bag some Munros the next day. As ever, it was great to see Alison and Hugh, and since the weather was dry we wasted no time in setting out for a walk from Kinchurdy Road in Boat to the edge of Aviemore. It was a very pleasant walk through trees and moorland; however the first part of the path was literally a sheet of ice! Luckily conditions underfoot improved after about 15 minutes. We went to a fantastic café called Route 7, which is strangely located in an industrial estate on the outskirts of Aviemore. However it's location had not deterred anyone because it was pleasantly busy and clearly very popular. After a delicious lunch we looped back towards Boat; when we rejoined the icy bit at the end, James produced his Spider ice-grips and attached them to the soles of his boots. He then strode confidently along the icy path while the rest of us picked our way along the grass at the edges! 

Birthday girl Alison made us a gorgeous dinner including her famous melt-in-the-middle chocolate puddings - they melted in the mouth too! 

The next day, snow was forecast but since it hadn't yet arrived we went for a walk in the other direction - from Boat to Nethy Bridge. Again we were delighted to discover that Alison and Hugh know a very nice coffee shop in Nethy, where we had a break before our return journey. I do think that a stop at a good pub or café really enhances a walk. 

Just before we set off home mid-afternoon, Alison found out that the A9 was closed in both directions due to a serious accident. We had to go home via Fort William, which added another hour to our journey. it began snowing, and it was beginning to lie quite thickly as we came over Rannoch Summit. However we made it home by about 7.30 p.m. - Ally and Cat had spent a big day on the hills and were two hours behind us. I was glad when we were all home safe.