Stage 6 -

Before crossing the Lairig Ghru, we spent the day touring around Glenfeshie estate looking at some of the current regeneration efforts across the vast site. We chatted about the benefits and challenges of private land ownership in relation to community engagement and sustainable development efforts.

Surprised with a window 0f weather as we entered October, we walked the 30km mountain pass from Coylumbridge to the Linn of Dee. The day was sandwiched between two days of pouring rain, so we felt very lucky to finish the walk (relatively) dry! Historically. the Lairig Ghru was used as a drove road between Strathspey and Deeside, among other things, until well into the 1870s. It’s a long but lovely walk if attempted in a day, however can easily be split into a 2 day trip, with a comfortable stop at Corrour Bothy for a cosy night.

As we paused in Braemar after the traverse of the Cairngorms, we mixed up editing days with a trip down memory lane and visited Loch Muick: a well trodden childhood spot of Ailsa’s for Nellie’s birthday.

Before continuing on our bikes to head to the Free Movement Festival, we spent a day on Mar Lodge Estate chatting to a ranger for the National Trust for Scotland. We helped clear overgrown trees from estate tracks to improve accessibility to more remote areas of the estate. Estates such as Mar Lodge and Glenfeshie approach regeneration through the management of deer numbers. It was interesting to see how the landscapes on these estates contrast that of neighbouring sporting estates such as Invercauld.