Pitlochry to Muir of Ord

August 2:  Today involved a drive northward through the western edge of Cairngorms National Park to just west of Inverness at Muir of Ord, with a stop in Aviemore.  We had a nice breakfast in probably the best equipped and furnished hotel we have seen on this trip (The Westlands).  It was spacious and modern - the plumbing had proper mixing taps.  We drove through the park which has very broad valleys and rounded hilltop vistas.  The tops of the largest 'munros' or mountains were in the clouds, though the weather did clear as we arrived in Aviemore.

Aviemore and the Spey Valley

Aviemore is a skier/mountain community that caters to visitors, rather like a smaller Jackson Hole, WY.  We went to Visitor Info and asked for a local hike suggestion.  We were pointed to one in a nearby nature park that wound up about 800 feet to a viewpoint overlooking the town and across the valley to the mountains.  The park was also billed as a place to see nesting Peregrine falcons.  The three of us started up, but Elaine begged off (wisely, she would not have enjoyed the slightly steep, rocky and potentially slippery trail).  Betsy and I climbed to a high viewpoint just short of the top.  The views were good but were impossible to photograph because they were so broad.  The hillsides were tundra-like with lots of heather in differing forms and shades of purple, ferns, lichen, and, a little lower down, huckleberry bushes, with ripe, tart berries.  We wondered why they weren't being picked by the locals.

We walked down and met up with Elaine, then drove north to Inverness.  We did a short Rick Steve's suggested walk in the town, which isn't much.

River Ness

We next drove to Muir of Ord and, after some bumbling around, found our accommodation for the night - Ord House Hotel.  We drove 3/4 of a mile down an potholed, one-lane driveway to a 17th century country house, with a black lab and free-range chickens out front.  The owner, Johnny, showed us our rooms, served as bartender, and regaled us with a variety of topics - training USCG cadets in San Francisco, skiing in the French Alps, being a lawyer in the City of London, weather, National Health Care, lotteries,and US politics.  While these topics don't sound humorous, we laughed a lot.  The hotel, though old and full of odd spaces, seems to have been updated effectively and is very comfortable.  Our pub supper was also fine.

The Bar at Ord House Hotel, 'Johnny's haunt'

Ord House Hotel in Muir of Ord

One of two watchdogs, unknown name; the other Poppy, was older, quieter and liked laying by the fire