Wildcat trail - Newtonmore - Part 1 - 6 Agost 2017

This is a very circular circular trail that turns the village of Newtonmore following some wildcat brands located on wooden poles. The road is well signposted. Along the way, we will have to open and close doors of clues that separate the different meadows and fields of pastors from the area. I went out of the train station and went to find the trail as it passed along the Spey river at the end of the golf course. Upon reaching the river, I have taken the path clockwise, but it can be started at any point and follow it in either way. The "official" start is at the entrance of the town from Kingussie to the A86 once the Highland Folk Museum has passed. I will put a picture of the circuit. We continue parallel to the river and cross the train track below Spey Bridge. The original bridge was built in 1765 and the current one of concrete dates from 1927. Then we cross the road that goes to Fort William by the Calder Bridge, from 1814. From this point we leave the canyizars and scrubs typical of the banks of the river to get into the forest through a beautiful path that runs parallel to the Calder river. We pass by the side of the Banchor Cemetery and start a steep climb up to the exit of the forest and the entrance to meadows full of cows grazing and very kindly leave us. At the end of the meadows we reach a junction with a road that goes into the Monadhliath Mountains, the nearby mountain range that culminates at the summit of Creag Megaidh (1,128m), located further on the O. The closest peak we have is the Carn Dearg (945m). We leave the meadows behind to continue about 500m along the road, which we will soon turn to the right and we enter into a forest of very high conifers. We leave the forest and take the road again about 500m further. We arrive at a crossroads with the street Glen Road that comes from the village on the right. We continue to the left and we enter some meadows of goods. After a couple of doors, a pleasant unexpected surprise awaits us: the meadows are full of rossinyols. It has started to rain quite and despite being August it's pretty cool. I did not prepare with a basket or bag, so I take note to return another day. We continue towards E. We pass through the meadows of the Strone quarter and reach the A6 road that comes from Kingussie. As the rain is already very intense, I decide to leave the trail and go directly to the village, only about 1 km away to finish it. We will continue another day (Part 2), We left it right at the point of the "official" start. It is not difficult to find it again. I have been around 2h 30min at a good pace. The return can be made at a normal rate between 3 and 4 hours.