0:00:10 > 0:00:15Very few mountain ranges in Britain have the wonderful approaches of the Cairngorms.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18You wander through these fabulous pinewoods
0:00:18 > 0:00:20that form a great big skirt
0:00:20 > 0:00:23around this great mountain range.
0:00:23 > 0:00:26A number of years ago, we would have referred to these pinewoods
0:00:26 > 0:00:28as the remnants of the great Caledonian pine forest,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32that great area of trees that covered much of the Highlands at one time.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35But really, in the areas like this, it's not a remnant any more
0:00:35 > 0:00:37because, thanks to great work by Scottish National Heritage
0:00:37 > 0:00:42and a whole number of landowners, we see new growth coming through
0:00:42 > 0:00:44so what we have now is a living, vibrant forest,
0:00:44 > 0:00:47a really interesting place to wander through.
0:00:51 > 0:00:53I'm heading for the high tops today -
0:00:53 > 0:00:56not the most popular high tops of the Cairngorms,
0:00:56 > 0:00:58but rather nice hills just above Glen Feshie here.
0:00:58 > 0:01:02I'm going to climb the hill called Geal-charn, which was a Munro
0:01:02 > 0:01:05when I first came to these hills but has since been demoted.
0:01:05 > 0:01:08We'll finish, all going well,
0:01:08 > 0:01:12probably in the mist on a mountain called Sgor Gaoith,
0:01:12 > 0:01:16which means "the peak of the winds", and that might be appropriate as well
0:01:16 > 0:01:19because, although we're sheltered in the forest at the moment,
0:01:19 > 0:01:23I suspect once we're on the tops it's going to be a typical autumn day
0:01:23 > 0:01:25of blustery winds and showers.
0:01:32 > 0:01:36What I find so interesting about this particular bit of forest
0:01:36 > 0:01:40is the trees here form the highest natural tree line in Britain.
0:01:40 > 0:01:42The pine trees here are growing at over 600 metres,
0:01:42 > 0:01:45which is quite extraordinary.
0:01:45 > 0:01:49At one time, these forests would have harboured wolves and bears and elk
0:01:49 > 0:01:52and there would be beavers in the streams.
0:01:52 > 0:01:53You won't find these things today
0:01:53 > 0:01:58but you will find some of the small birds that eat pine cones.
0:01:58 > 0:02:00Birds like siskin, the Scottish crossbill,
0:02:00 > 0:02:02the birds of the tit family.
0:02:02 > 0:02:05They might not be as exciting as seeing a bear or a wolf
0:02:05 > 0:02:08but they're pretty nice in their own way.
0:02:08 > 0:02:13# When Ricky Lynch and his golden guitar
0:02:13 > 0:02:18# Singing Autumn In Mayfield and the barley was ripe
0:02:18 > 0:02:22# You were... the children were young
0:02:22 > 0:02:26# And fathers were tall and kind. #
0:02:31 > 0:02:32Blueberries.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34At this time of the year,
0:02:34 > 0:02:38they're a free food on the mountains and they're delicious.
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Is my tongue purple?
0:02:40 > 0:02:45You sometimes see these purple patches in the Cairngorms.
0:02:45 > 0:02:48That's where ptarmigan have been gorging themselves on the blueberries
0:02:48 > 0:02:52and then it passes through them so we get these purple patches,
0:02:52 > 0:02:54a bit like my tongue.
0:03:04 > 0:03:05Oh!
0:03:07 > 0:03:10Pretty spongy, this sort of heather.
0:03:10 > 0:03:13Quite difficult to walk up when it's steep like this.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Well, that was harder and steeper than I remember it. Oof!
0:03:37 > 0:03:40Never mind. That's all the hard work done for the day, really.
0:03:40 > 0:03:43All we have now is a gentle ridge up to the summit of Geal-charn
0:03:43 > 0:03:46and then a sort of gentle slope up onto the bealach
0:03:46 > 0:03:50that separates Sgoran Dubh Mor and Sgor Gaoith.
0:03:50 > 0:03:52Already, it's looking fantastic.
0:03:52 > 0:03:57I can see the sunlight across there on the Lairig Ghru.
0:03:57 > 0:03:59The great quarries of Braeriach.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02Of course, behind me down here, Loch an Eilein
0:04:02 > 0:04:06and what looks like the urban sprawl of Aviemore.
0:04:06 > 0:04:11Seems to get bigger every time I see it. Great to be up here.
0:04:19 > 0:04:22When I started hill-walking,
0:04:22 > 0:04:25there were five Munros in this immediate area.
0:04:25 > 0:04:29This was one of them - Geal-charn, 920 metres.
0:04:29 > 0:04:33Now there's only one Munro, they have all been demoted apart from one.
0:04:33 > 0:04:38That's Sgor Gaoith, up behind us here, the hill we're heading for.
0:04:38 > 0:04:41It kind of saddens me a wee bit. I noticed coming up onto this hill,
0:04:41 > 0:04:45there's a path that kind of goes round the bottom of the summit here
0:04:45 > 0:04:47and connects with the bealach behind me,
0:04:47 > 0:04:49as though people don't want to know any more.
0:04:49 > 0:04:52Geal-charn's become a sort of lonely old hill,
0:04:52 > 0:04:55nobody wants to know it any more.
0:04:55 > 0:04:57I still like it.
0:05:03 > 0:05:07These are big hills and that means big climbs.
0:05:08 > 0:05:11But the reward is just appearing
0:05:11 > 0:05:14across here. Just in a second,
0:05:14 > 0:05:18we'll see the head wall of Loch Einich and Corrie Einich.
0:05:18 > 0:05:21Loch Einich is where Aviemore gets all its water from.
0:05:22 > 0:05:27You get this spectacular sense of spaciousness
0:05:27 > 0:05:29right across Creag Dhubh here.
0:05:29 > 0:05:33It really is beautiful and some lovely autumn colours of Braeriach
0:05:33 > 0:05:39just dropping down on to the flatness of the Moine Mhor, or the Great Moss.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45There's a little blip on the horizon up there.
0:05:45 > 0:05:48That's our summit but I promise you,
0:05:48 > 0:05:50it's much more impressive when we get there.
0:06:07 > 0:06:08Oh, wow!
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Fantastic.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14This is Sgor Gaoith,
0:06:14 > 0:06:18the Peak Of The Wind, at 1,118 metres.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21It's not so much the hill itself that's fantastic
0:06:21 > 0:06:23but the view you get from it.
0:06:23 > 0:06:26It's in such a dramatic situation.
0:06:26 > 0:06:28In the corrie below me,
0:06:28 > 0:06:32there's a rock pinnacle known as An Cailleach, The Old Woman.
0:06:32 > 0:06:35Across from Braeriach, there's another rock pinnacle
0:06:35 > 0:06:36known as Am Bodach, The Old Man.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39It's said that on wild, stormy nights,
0:06:39 > 0:06:42you can hear this old couple quarrelling with each other.
0:06:44 > 0:06:46There's a lot of black cloud coming in
0:06:46 > 0:06:49and I suspect it's going to be another of those wild, stormy nights
0:06:49 > 0:06:55so I'm going to get down from here before this old couple start arguing.
0:06:55 > 0:06:57Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd