Aviemore and the Spey Valley

Introduction
The main mountain groups in the area comprise of The Cairngorms to the south, the Monadliath to the North West, and the Drumochter hills to the South West. The Cairngorms are the finest of the three hill groups but also demand the longest walks to see the finest aspects of these mountains.

The Cairngorms
The Cairngorms are very popular with the club. We have an annual trip to Nethy House on the North side just before Christmas. The size and density of the mountains in this National Park is staggering. Four of the five highest peaks in the country lie in this area, and the range of activities is huge.

Monadliath
The Monadliath are lower than the Cairngorms and are typically vast high heathery featureless plateaux. This provides some testing navigation practice but generally these hills are viewed as dull by most hikers, with the very good exception of Creag Megaigh and it's grand corrie Coire Ardair. Coire Ardair is reckoned by many to be the grandest corrie in Scotland and is well worth visiting to see the 500m high crags.

Drumochter Hills
The Drumochter Hills comprise of high plateaux to the east of the A9 and distinct though heathery rounded hills to the west of the A9. The hills to the west of the pass provide fine extensive views particularly into the Loch Ericht and Ben Alder wilderness to the west and the Spey Valley to the north east. The hills on each side of the pass can be traversed in a short to moderate day each. None of the summits are particularly remote and there is also the advantage of starting at an altitude of 450m.

There are some very nice lower level walks to be had in the Rothiemurchus and Queens forests. If you are really keen, a long distance low level walk exists called the Speyside way which starts at the coast and ends up in Tomintoul.

Accommodation
Much accommodation exists in the area, the hiking club has used the Aviemore youth hostel in the past, and uses Nethy House for the annual pre-Christmas trip. The list below is of accommodation that may be of interest when visiting the area.


 * Aviemore Youth hostel, Aviemore
 * Loch Morlich Youth Hostel, Loch Morlich
 * Pottery Bunkhouse, Laggan Bridge, Tel: 01528 544231
 * Newtonmore Independent Hostel, Newtonmore, Tel: 01540 673360, Email: newtonmore@HighlandHostel.co.uk
 * The Laird's Bothy, Kingussie, Tel: 01540 661334
 * "Bothan Airigh" Bunkhouse, Kingussie, Tel: 01540 661051
 * Kirbeag Hostel, Kincraig, Tel: 01540 651298
 * Glen Feshie Hostel, Kincraig, Tel: 01540 651323
 * Lazy Duck Hostel, Nethy Bridge Tel: 01479 821642

Travel
Very easy and fast to get here by coach, Scottish Citylink provide roughly hourly services to Aviemore during the day with many of these services stopping at other points in the Spey Valley.

Trains go roughly once every two hours through the Spey Valley.