Wild camping in the Eastern Cairngorms Part 3.

There are two tracks that descend from Slugain Lodge, the Argo track which I’d used this morning, and what I assume is the original path which I followed this evening. This original track follows the Allt an t-Slugain through a narrow valley, where I found a well sheltered spot to camp.

After a restless night, I rose to another beautiful sunny morning. Whilst eating a leisurely breakfast I began hatching a plan for the day. There was blue sky above, but over the higher ground the cloud was building, and moving quite quickly in the wind. Yesterday had been a long day and I had a couple of hot spots on my feet, so I decided return to Keiloc and the car. If the weather looked ok and the hot spots didn’t deteriorate I would do another two night trip from Linn of Dee. Otherwise I 'd drive around to the fleshpots of Avemore, buy a meal and check out the gear shops before deciding what to do next.

The walk back to Keiloc was very enjoyable. I had the track to myself for the first hour or so, then I began meeting a steady stream of people, most were making for Ben Avon, although there were some groups of cheerful teenagers doing their DOE Gold award. They were on a four day camping expedition, with rucksacks the size of small buildings. If they ever become mountaineers after this experience, it will show great strength of character.

When I arrived back at the car my feet were pretty sore, so made a brew, then put Plan B in to operation, and drove to Avemore via Tomintoul.

By the time I reached Avemore the weather had really deteriorated, with cloud covering the hills. I stayed just long enough for a quick look around the gear shops, followed by a rather greasy portion of fish and chips, then headed for home. It had been rather a shorter trip than I had hoped for, but I had to be pleased that I'd managed to grab a couple of sunny days in the hills, given the poor weather of late.