ACTIVE OUTDOORS: Stepping off the train at Kingussie to join Inverness Young Walkers on a hike up Creag Bheag

I pulled myself bleary eyed out of bed at 7.45am on a Saturday morning. Less than an hour to get myself showered, dressed, my bag packed and pick up a coffee and get to the train station.

“Fail to prepare, prepare to fail,” I heard in my head. Nevertheless, I pushed on in my first uphill challenge of the day.

Somehow, I managed to arrive dressed, with a coffee in hand, at Inverness railway station at 8.38am – four minutes to spare before my train. I met the rest of the group who I would be setting out on a walk in Kingussie with – the Inverness Young Walkers, who are a youthful branch of walking charity, the Ramblers.

Five of us took the train on the way out to Kingussie – it was a nice opportunity to chat and get to know people I had never met before.

Hopping off the train, we found that it was a few degrees colder in Kingussie than it had been in Inverness, so we layered up and got ready to climb up Creag Bheag.

The group leader, Louise Harker, had prepped us that we would need waterproof trousers beforehand so I had bought them the day before, feeling like I was a pro. We met our fellow walkers at Ardvonie car park and were given a wee introduction to the walk by Louise, and the co-leader Skaai Davidson.

We all introduced ourselves to one another, and then with that we set out on the first part of our walk.

I held the rear, as we paced up a steep trail throughout the forest, trying to disguise the fact that I was extremely unfit. It wasn’t long before we were through the trees and up onto a clearing that would take us up towards the main summit of Creag Bheag.

The path was paved with steps at parts, and the rest was a fairly solid trail. We stopped periodically to take in the view, which I was extremely grateful for.

Each time we set off again, we would naturally fall in line with someone who we hadn’t spoken to on the walk, which was a great opportunity to meet someone new.

It turns out there were a few of us that had just bought waterproof trousers a few days before – beginner walkers looking to experience the outdoors in the hope of finding some friendship. The majority of those walking were incomers to Inverness (me included) and were grateful to have some company on the weekend.

We discussed these topics as we marched up the hill, and took in views of a stag running across the heathered hilltops above us.

Within 45 minutes we were at the top, and took 10 minutes to take in the sights below, take some pictures (I was adamant on this), and put a rock on top of the cairn to show we had been there (although who knows what stone is whose?).

We all decided it was a bit too early for lunch, so we began our downhill descent of the opposite side of the hill. We soon saw the beautiful sights of Loch Gynack below us.

The descent was pretty steep, and though some seemed to easily and elegantly make their way down, myself, the co-leader and another slowly took ourselves down, one step at a time, with a fear that our innate clumsiness would get the best of us. Thankfully it did not.

After reaching a bench at the bottom of the decline in front of Loch Gynack, we were all now ready for our lunch. We chatted for a bit, but silence soon dawned as we ate up our pre-packed snacks, waiting for our sugar levels to return.

We were now ready for the next part of the walk, which took us towards Newtonmore. I was grateful that this was a much flatter part of the walk, as we trailed along the wide open valley. It was rather spectacular, and we followed the well-marked path along.

We passed through fields of sheep and new lambs, and there were lots of “awwws” as we walked past.

The terrain of this land was rather spectacular and very, very green, and looked almost like middle-earth in Lord of the Rings, except there were no houses, only rocks, sheep and ourselves.

We passed by a talkative horse, and alpacas. I did wonder at one point if we had gone on a safari rather than a walk. We reached the edge of Newtonmore, and with that we were on the home stretch. We walked back towards Kingussie on a cycle path, along the edge of the road.

We raced back in time for the train (the next one due two hours later if we missed this one). Thankfully we made it, as the rain had just started to come on during the last push.

We were all grateful for a seat on the train, and to take the weight off our feet. We arrived back in Inverness just after 3.30pm and I waddled my way home, took my shoes, waterproofs, and coat off at the door.

I lay down on the sofa and drifted off into a nap, knowing that perhaps I hadn’t failed after all!

• Find out more about the Inverness Young Walkers on the Ramblers Scotland website.

Route details

Creag Bheag

Distance 8 miles / 12km

Terrain Minor road, paths, hill path

Start/finish Kingussie

Map OS Landranger 35; OS Explorer OL56

Joining the Inverness Young Walkers on a climb to a summit above Kingussie

Click here to see the route in OS Maps