Cairngorms: Balmoral Pyramids

Love a water view!

For this weekend, we decided to take a trip to the Cairngorms National Park to see the Balmoral Cairns. Cairns are mounds made out of rough stones piled up to make a landmark or monument.

Established in 2003 and expanded in 2010, the Cairngorms is the largest national park in the United Kingdom, encompassing an area larger than the state of Rhode Island. This impressive expanse is filled with a wide variety of flora and fauna, and mountains ascending to over 4200 feet high.

What makes these cairns in Balmoral so special? Well, in the mid 1800's Queen Victoria had several of these cairns erected to commemorate some of the marriages of her children and the largest to memorialize the death of her husband Prince Albert. We only saw 2, but there are 11 in total!

While we (according to my Apple Watch) hiked up the 41 flights to the massive Prince Albert Cairn, we were delighted by the beautiful forest views. We were however, plagued by a swarm of flies the entire time which was slightly unpleasant (In the gallery below, you can even seen one that photobombed me!)! Halfway up, we passed the cairn commemorating the marriage of Victoria's youngest daughter Beatrice to Prince Henry of Battenberg. Their daughter grew up to become, by marriage, the Queen of Spain!

The princess lived in service of her mother up until the Queens passing in 1901. She would spend the next 30 or so years editing her mother's journals as her literary executor. She served the Crown until she died in 1944 at the ripe old age of 87, only 77 years ago! The cairn has a plaque commemorating their marriage on 23 July 1885. It's a beautiful hand piled monument standing well over 10 feet high!

Once you leave Princess Beatrice's cairn, the hike really starts to get fun and by fun I mean taxing. My legs were on FIRE once we reached the top! It's rocky, it's steep, and it's full of stairs but once you reach the top, your sight breaks the trees and you're welcomed by this epic pyramid of stone.

The Queen's grief was overwhelming, and the tepid feelings the public had previously for Albert were replaced by sympathy. The widowed Victoria never recovered from Albert's death; she entered into a deep state of mourning and wore black for the rest of her life. Albert's rooms in all his houses were kept as they had been, even with hot water brought in the morning and linen and towels changed daily.

To the Beloved Memory of Prince Albert, the Great and Good Prince Consort, Erected by his Broken-hearted Widow, VICTORIA R - 21 August 1862

Constructed with square granite blocks, this massive pyramid stands 35 feet tall and can be seen from the grounds of Balmoral Castle. To think someone had to make the same walk we did carrying tons of these blocks, it's just insane! The pyramid was truly a sight to behold and is a beautiful memento to a man so beloved by his Queen. This was a really great hike and I'm so glad we did it!