On day three, I explored north east of where I was staying. All of the following locations are just about on the border of Cairngorms National Park and highlands begin.
Balintore Castle
My host mentioned a few locations along the way so I decided to check a few out. This castle just down the road is being restored by the owner and himself. Purchased for £500,000 in 2021, the owner is fitting out each room one by one to as close to its original design and decoration as possible. He even goes to antiques stores and auctions to find period pieces.
He is working on the ground floor first and will work his way up. To begin with, part the old kitchen area has been temporarily converted into an Airbnb and it's available to live in for a short holiday let. That's a great way to help cover the cost of the work I guess!
Balloch Valley
From the castle, the route took me east though a shallow-ish valley compared to what other locations in Scotland has to offer. Even so, it was so picturesque with its rolling hills and patch work of Ulex or gorse plants and dried out river that I had to pull over and appreciate what I was looking at.
Airlie Monument
I continued east to a monument dedicated to the Earl of Airlie who was killed in a war in 1900.
The area used to be surrounded by huge trees until a recent storm ripped them all up but the view from the top is amazing.
The walk was moderate with a relatively steep climb on the way up.
Clova Valley
Still heading east, this small valley offers more rolling hills and untouched natural grasslands. Glen Clova has two lakes which were of interest to me as they are both high in the mountains above sea level. (To the right of the image below)
However, for the sake of timings on the day, I decided to not hike there and instead, head to Glen Doll (the mountain furthest in the distance seen below). The area was full of hikers and as far as I could tell was a nature reserve so I didn't fly the drone but the walks were amazing.
Driving there was a dream too as it was mid week and the road ends at the Glen and further north is the Cairngorms mountains so no one goes there for anything else.
See you soon for part four!
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