Mostly, this is random stories from my various trips as I collect them, but I've a wee backlog to get through too and those will pop up occasionally.

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Showing posts with label Six Moon Designs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Six Moon Designs. Show all posts

Monday 10 June 2019

Leisurely Lismore Loop





Don't you just love it when a plan comes together and you can combine all sorts of things you wanted to do into a ride? The Isle of Lismore had come to my attention through working at Ticket to Ride, when one of the holidays we supported took that route to Oban rather than riding through Benderloch and Connel. Always keen to include a ferry (or two) in a ride, that looked rather appealing. I've also log had a hankering to cycle down the main road into Glencoe, with those wonderful mountains on each side. A bit of map work and I managed to come up with a 150km loop that would also give me a June bivvy opportunity.


An early morning start from home was required to get me to my start point at Bridge of Orchy so everything was prepped and packed the night before. The weather had been pretty foul for the past week or more so I was doing a lot of last-minute kit replacement as the forecast developed. Leaving he van though, I was finally committed and set off on the Amazon towards Forest Lodge and the West Highland Way. 

Ready for the off
I've walked this section of the WHW a couple of times but couldn't remember how rough it was likely to be. The initial "cobbled" bit was tedious and bumpy with no suspension, but it got much rougher as the highest point of the route was reached and I started the descent to the White Corries. I cajoled the Amazon down the track, trying to avoid the biggest boulders and soon made it to the ski area where I felt a second breakfast was in order.  

West Highland Way
The sun was putting in the best show it had for a while as I started along the A82 towards Glencoe. This was just how I'd dreamed/imagine it would be - a bit of a tailwind, bright blue skies, warm air and friendly traffic as I swooped further between the mountains. I was on a real high by the time I turned off the A82 past the Clachaig Inn and along the old road to Glencoe Village.

No caption necessary?

 


From here, I was able to avoid the main road almost completely. The cycle track took me to Ballachullish where I picked up NCN78 (The Caledonian Way) southwards. This takes a great route along the seafront at times, giving great views across to Ardgour and Morvern. 

 

My plan had been to catch the 16:00 ferry from Port Appin, but checking the time I saw that I was well ahead of that schedule and wold easily make the 15:00. However, I was enjoying myself so much, and the pedalling was so easy, that I decided to put in a little bit more effort and try for the 14:00. That would get me onto Lismore in time for the cafe and shop.  As it was, I was a wee bit early so had time to chill before boarding the quaint wee craft that serves as the Port Appin Ferry. 

 

Waiting to board

My first impressions of Lismore were that it is very, very green. It's also very relaxed and friendly and on my short ride to the Heritage Centre and Cafe I encountered loads of folk out walking and cycling on the one road that runs through the spine of the island.

It was clouding over a bit as I reached the cafe but it was still more than warm enough to be sitting outside and relaxing over my food. I'd got here early and now basically had little to do other than find a spot to camp and chill for the evening.

Finding a camp spot actually proved to be rather more difficult than I'd anticipated. Lismore basically has one road, lined with fields of sheep and the occasional nice wee house and every track leading off the road goes to a farm or other house. Neither was there much in the way of tree cover to hide behind. I found a spot almost at the South end of the island where I had no fence to cross, there was only one farm past me and I could be a little way off the road. Furthermore, it had an excellent view North, East and South. I had a couple of other areas I'd thought about trying, and it was still fairly early (especially given it doesn't get dark until 23:00) but I was happy with where I was and to just chill out rather than searching around.

 

 

When I first arrived, the few sheep in the area wandered off. By the time I had the tent up and was lying in it having a wee rest, they were getting a bit more brave again. A little later, they would just ignore me as if I had been there forever. 

With only the sound of a few birds and the munching of the sheep to distract me, I settled down with some food and the hipflask and just watched as the evening slowly descended across the mainland. There was a big cruise ship (later found out it was the Queen Victoria) anchored just off Oban with a PA system that was threatening to spoil my solitude but it sailed off into the sunset.

A substantial difference in their accommodation and mine!

Sleep was interrupted by the sound of rain on the tent and a feeling that I was lying on the ground. Actually the ground, not my mat. It turned out that the mat had deflated slightly. This can appear to happen when the ground is very cold but in this instance I was concerned that there might be a small leak. In any case, a few breaths and it was back to being firm again, though it had softened again by the time I got up in the morning. 

Thankfully, the overnight rain had stopped by the time I got up and, other than having to pack a wet tent, didn't cause me any problems. The sun was already getting warm as I made my way to the other ferry terminal for the "big" ferry to Oban. Again, I was a wee bit early, giving me time to have a mooch around. 

 

MV Loch Striven

There are few finer sights than a bike on a ferry/


Coming off the ferry at 10:00 I was already feeling peckish so made for one of Obans many outdoor cafes. In my brief time there I had one foreign gentleman asking me all about my Bearbones riding jersey, asking what shop he could buy one from, another cyclist heading to Barra amazed that I had all my tent, sleeping and cooking gear in the few bags strapped on the bike, and an older motorcyclist impressed with the fact I was pedalling the whole 160km route. 

When I'd ridden all of NCN78 in a day, I'd skipped the little spur into Oban as I headed North. Today made me realise just how good an idea that had been as it's a fair old pech heading into the hinterland from sea level. Lovely roads though, with little traffic. This time, when I hit Taynuilt, it was on to the main road towards Dalmally. That meant I was now having to deal with some faster traffic but, other than one dodgy overtake at Loch Awe, it was all fairly relaxing stuff. 

Just before pulling into Glen Orchy, the heavens opened. I had seen the black cloud approaching for some time but I could also see the end of it and realised that it wasn't worth even stopping to put waterproofs on. Glen Orchy again put me onto quieter roads. I'd driven this road before and can't say it made much of an impression on me, but cycling it, with the decent weather, it turns out it's really, really, nice. The river is full of interesting pools and falls and there's even the most southerly remnant of the old Caledonian Pine Forest. In fact, I was enjoying it so much that I was finding any excuse just to stop and delay getting back to the van to finish what had been a really good ride. 

 

 



Summary: I went for a ride. Not much happened. It wasn't an "Epic". It was great!

 


Monday 3 July 2017

Northern Cairngorms loop - revisited

I'm easily led. In trying to come up with an idea for Junes "bivvy a month", we were always likely to be constrained by me not currently having a van so when Neill suggested doing the Northern Cairngorms loop it was an easy decision, despite the fact I'd been round just last Autumn. On the other hand, it also gave Neill a chance to navigate using his newly-acquired Garmin Oregon with me overseeing it on a route with which I was familiar.

Always looking to experiment and/or improve things I opted to fit the suspension forks onto the Pact for a change. This was also partly due to a shoulder injury, figuring that a bit of bounce would relieve any stress. I also fitted the Revelate Sweetroll rather than the Harness/Saltyroll combo I'd been favouring. The Sweetroll has additional strapping points to fit it better to the Jones Loop bars and I wanted to see if this was worth it before, potentially, selling it.


Ready for the off

The weather forecast was mild, a light breeze. With the potential for midge, I also opted for a tent rather than bivvy bag.

With a planned chippy at Braemar we were in no particular need for an early start and we left the Old Bridge Inn just after 10. The "puddle of doom" was encountered on the way to Nethy Bridge, Neill opting to ride straight through it with David and I attempting, unsuccessfully, to maintain drier feet by skirting round it.


A favourite singletrack section in Abernethy Forest

The Faeshallach and Dorback burns were quite low on account of a rather dry spell so it was no real surprise to find the Brown low too. Three dry-shod crossings of the meanders took us to the path on the south side of the glen and we managed to bushwhack through from there. 

Climbing away from Dorback

With the wee steep push up to the forestry track, the fast descent out and the final spin into Tomintoul we declared the first part of the ride a success and adjourned to the Fire Station cafe. We made it just before a coach party arrived which, given the speed of service, was a bit of a blessing. 

Tomintoul represents one of the significant turning points of the route and from here we turned south. Although I was familiar with the route I was holding back at any junctions in order to give Neill full practice with his Oregon.


A corner turned

The ride up the glen past Inchrory seemed longer than I remembered but we were soon enough on the Loch Builg track. Based on my previous experience I'd warned Neill and David that this section would involve quite a bit of pushing. As it turned out, I was completely wrong. Whether it was the bars, the forks, the drier conditions or (unlikely) my improved bike handling, this bit turned out to be a real treasure. 


    Passing Inchrory 

Lovely Loch Builg singletrack


Skinny dipping was considered....

New hut (closed to the peasantry)

The same couldn't be said for the slog to the new lunch hut above the River Gairn. The wind had been strengthening all day and now we were fully into it. After a few minutes at the hut it was then the climb over Culardoch. Despite the headwind, I decided to dig in and ride the full climb. A couple of sideswipes had me almost off the wide track but I made it with no dabs. That meant a 15 minute wait at the top of the climb until Neill and David appeared. 


DRAMATIC!!!!

Neill ecstatic as he reaches the top of the climb

Given how blowy it still was I was keen to get down again and we made a fast descent into the pretty woodlands near Invercauld. I stopped at a junction here, determined not to be taking the lead and, while faffing around with my camera, looked up to see Neill charging down the wrong descent. Despite pedalling - and shouting - as hard as I could it was almost 1.5km before Neill heard me. That meant another climb before we got back on track. 

Time lost meant we were now concerned about the chippy opening hours and we were very glad to see that it was still serving when we arrived.

We didn't plan to go too far after dinner, so set out to get past Linn of Dee and see what turned up. After a couple of miles we saw a reasonably sheltered spot but decided to press on to White Bridge. The flat grassy area here looked great but was quite exposed to the wind. A search further up the glen didn't prove fruitful  (the one sheltered spot was already fully occupied) so we were left in a bit of a quandary. With dark clouds coming over the mountains and the time of evening I wasn't really in the mood to keep looking.  I've been caught before with these dilemmas and experience says "take what's on offer" so I backtracked to White Bridge just as David and Neill took another look somewhere else.

As it turned out, this was a master stroke. I found a tent-sized spot behind the bridge and was soon pitched with hip-flask in hand.


Cold and cold running water

It was a tight squeeze

It was an uncomfortable night. I just couldn't get my temperature right. It was too warm to be fully in my sleeping bag - I woke up a couple of times with sweat running down my neck - yet too draughty to lie outside it. I've so far avoided buying a lighter weight "summer" bag but this had me reconsidering. Despite that, I awoke bright and early, checked Neill and David's tents were still pitched and set about breakfast. Still there - a second coffee then. 

As I was prepping to go I spotted their tents were down too so set off in pursuit. They'd stopped at the confluence of the Geldie and the Bynack to brew up in the shelter of the old red-roofed house as their camp spot had been just too windy. 

The Geldie-Feshie watershed was next and I recalled I'd struggled along here in the gathering gloom looking for somewhere to bivvy. In daylight it looked much more appealing, with several spots looking likely candidates. 


Another easy crossing

The drier conditions were obviously helping make it more rideable too but we were still reduced to a lengthy hike-a-bike to the Eidart. I actually took a little detour here, opting to follow the path shown on the OS map and part of the official Cairngorms Loops route. Suffice to say that both can safely be ignored in favour of the more direct route now plainly visible due to its popularity. The same can also be said of the short section immediately after the Eidart bridge.


The old route does give a better view of the falls.

The track all becomes rideable again as Glen Feshie develops - though the wee landslips and the crossing of the Allt Coire Gharbhlach still require some manhandling. 


Tricky with a loaded bike

We opted for lunch at Loch Insh Watersports centre before taking the Speyside Way from Kincraig to Aviemore. 


It was certainly worth repeating the route.  The two sections I struggled with last time were both more bikeable than I remembered/encountered and timings for their passage are useful to have in planning other routes in the area.

I'm torn on the Sweetroll/Harness decision. I prefer being able to pack the Saltyroll off the bike and just clipping it into the harness but the Sweetroll does sit "better" on the Loop bars with less rubbing of the headtube. Some further experimentation may be in order. 

Friday 10 June 2016

Act 2 : The Ride (Affric Kintail Way)

In days long past, the outdoor recreation community in Scotland would scoff at their poor cousins south of the border. "Look" we'd all say "they can only go on particular trails whereas we can go anywhere". Then some bright spark had the idea of creating the West Highland Way. "Oh no", came the cry "it'll result in walkers' (for it was mainly walkers) access being restricted and we'll be just like the English". In time, the WHW and its subsequent cousins, the Southern Upland Way, Great Glen Way and Speyside Way became an accepted part of the landscape and other Long Distance Paths (LDPs) have been springing up. One of the more recent creations is the Affric Kintail Way. Shorter than many of the others it does, nonetheless, represent a significant undertaking given that it passes through some of our most remote countryside. Casting around for a bit of inspiration to get back into bivvying and camping I considered that this might be an ideal candidate - especially once I added on a bit of riding at the start and end to make the logistics work. My plan was quite simple; head out on the Great Glen Way from Inverness to Drumnadrochit, meander over to Cannich, then head down Glen Affric for an early stop and a relaxing evening outside before heading through to Morvich the next day and riding up to Kyle of Lochalsh for the train home. The weather was looking great, the trails would be dry and I'd eventually get a chance to take the bike I'd designed just for this experience out to where it was meant to go (more on the bike in part 3).

Not being in any particular rush, it was late morning by the time I headed out of "the office" in Inverness and onto the Great Glen Way. 8 degrees and misty wasn't what I'd expected but I was hoping things would improve. Having cycled down this section last year I was aware that there was a bit of a steep start and just ground my way up until the slopes levelled off and I was on to the moor at Blackfold. That's when I spotted the cyclist up ahead of me, bike on the ground and fiddling with her bag. It turned out that this was one of our customers who'd just had a puncture so I helped her get it fixed (discovering that my pump wasn't working) and sent her on her way, only to catch up again later just before the wee Eco Cafe at Abriachan. Now, I've always meant to stop on here and as the sun broke out we both pulled in for what must be Scotlands finest al fresco eating experience. I could try to describe it to you but would no doubt fail to convey it properly. You'll just have to visit for yourself.


Definitely chilled
Heading on, it wasn't long before I reached the more interesting forestry sections of the GGW high above Loch Ness. These undulate a bit but they are definitely better heading south than north! 


Quite a bit of height gain between Inverness and Drumnadrochit
A speedy descent into Drumnadrochit marked the end of the "Prologue" so I stopped for some frozen yoghurt. I also noticed that the power LED on my SPOT tracker was flashing red, meaning low battery. A visit to the local shop only turned up Alkaline in AAA size but beggars can't be choosers and they were fitted whilst enjoying my froyo.

Wandering over to the Tourist Information Centre, I had a look around to see if they had any maps or guides to the Affric Kintail Way and found a lovely Harveys map of the whole route. One can never have too many maps so this was added to my pack. 


6,000ft of climbing, eh?
Whilst looking at the AKW information board, I was spotted by a hiker who'd just come through it and was concerned that I'd have a big push up the first section. I'd already spotted this on the OS map and was OK about it but we got talking about the route and my kit. As is often the case, he was astonished at how little space it was taking up and, after swapping kit details, we parted for me to head west. 

The map didn't lie. Not long after entering a pleasant bluebell woods it started to climb steeply and very loose, not helped by the dry weather.


Just before the "big push"
With a longish day in prospect I decided to take it very easy and walk where most appropriate. Eventually, it flattened out enough and I started to make decent progress. As it turned out, despite having the route in my GPS, I found there were many more tracks around than indicated on the OS map and the Harveys version I'd bought was referred to constantly.

At Corrimony, the AKW takes to the road for a few miles into Cannich. This includes a rather fast and long descent, which seemed such a shame on a mountain bike after having to suffer the climbs. I always like coming to Cannich. There's nothing particularly inspiring in and of the village itself but it does mean you're entering a stunning piece of countryside with Glen Affric, Tomich and Mullardoch all spinning off from here. It's a bit like your favourite TV show having a really naff theme tune. You might hate it but it gets you excited for what's to follow. On this particular afternoon, Cannich was hooching. There was some sort of mountain marathon event on and the place was full of campers and vans. Having plenty of time to spare, I decided I grab some food and went to the pub hoping it wouldn't be rammed with runners. I was in luck. It was rammed with drunken shinty fans instead! Still, I managed to grab a burger and chips before heading out of the village again.

The AKW climbs steeply up the Mullardoch road, before heading off on more forest track. The height gained is pretty substantial so there are some decent views for a while before the forest encroaches once more. There follows a steep descent down to cross the road at the Dog Falls but there's a strange subterranean arch on the way down that I've yet to find the purpose of. 


Not very much of this, but nice while it lasts



What's this then?

It went back further than my flash could cope with

As expected - water levels were low

Again, the track rises and I eventually reached the viewpoint looking out to the South West. It's stunning on a clearer day but even with the heat haze it's a fantastic place to sit and ponder for a while. 


Good place for a "pause"

Haze knocking back the visibility quite a bit!


By now I was seeing the tyre tracks left by the HT550 participants (who would have been going the other way) and got to wondering what state they were in (mentally and physically) when they'd passed here a few days earlier. 

As already said above, my plan had been to stop early but by the time I reached Loch Affric I was on a bit of a high. The legs were spinning, there was still loads of light, I was well fed and watered and I was getting a real buzz from just crossing the country so smoothly and effortlessly. Like an addict separated from his choice of drug for too long I didn't want to say "enough", I just wanted it to go on like this forever. I was even thinking "I'm not stopping for photos" when I'd come round a corner and just have to slam on the brakes and get the camera out.


Fantastic light in the early evening

The little oasis of Strawberry Cottage, just before the "big hills"

The far end of Loch Affric was passed, then Strawberry Cottage - looking well busy. Just after the fork in the track I saw two folk running towards me. We exchanged a few words; they were running from Morvich to the Glen Affric car park. I said they were even more mad than me but they were intrigued by the bike and that I was planning to stay out overnight. I left them to complete their final five miles and continued making my way along the bouldery, loose track.  Five minutes later and two cyclists were approaching - pushing across the boulders gingerly. They'd been up Munro bagging, so we exchanged notes on gaelic pronunciation and they too were taken by how small my load was. The more so when the woman realised I wasn't even wearing a backpack of any sort. They were also fascinated by the big tyres and their ability to cross the rocks as they were struggling and had resorted to pushing. With a few minutes lost to chat, I was again on the move, making easy progress past Alltbeithe Youth Hostel.


Alltbeithe YH. No driving to this one!

Not long after, I passed another group out camping and then I had a decision to make. I reckoned there was still enough daylight to get me past Camban and down to Glen Lichd - and potentially Morvich - but then the plan had been to camp out somewhere remote. I swithered for a while, not wanting to waste the fine night and my great mood, but eventually gave in and selected a reasonably sheltered spot just off the track and not far from the river.

Despite lack of recent practice it didn't take me long to get the tent up and my sleeping kit sorted out. I guess one advantage of having little kit is that choices are easy and it's hard to misplace anything. The ground was comfy, my pitch was well chosen and I eventually took the time to relax. It wasn't long before the cooling evening air saw me half-in/half-out the sleeping bag while I cooked up a little instant meal, which was eaten more out of a sense of duty than of hunger. I didn't even pop open the hipflask of whisky I'd brought along.


At the watershed

9pm in the Highlands in June...

It was a stunning evening though and as the stars started to show I reckoned it was late enough to zip up the midge net door of the tent and settle in for the night. It certainly didn't take me long to nod off, though I soon woke up feeling too warm and having to remove my jacket. I woke up a couple of times through the "night" too, not that it ever really got dark.

I eventually decided to get up around 5 and, still not feeling hungry, skipped the porage option for a wee cereal bar and a splash of water. Out of interest I timed myself; 30 minutes from deciding to get up I was packed and on the move. Again - little kit, little faff. The sun from yesterday was now hidden above a layer of hill mist but I had high hopes it would clear as the day progressed.

The path to Camban was a complete contrast to the easy forest track and even the bouldery stuff from Strawberry Cottage the evening before. This stuff was proper hard and rocky and made even more difficult by the fact I was climbing. Most of it was ridden - I'm pretty sure it would have made a fun descent - though the proportion of pushing was definitely increasing as the distance was covered. 


Camban Bothy appearing out of the morning mist

Past Camban bothy and the same story continued. What's more, it seemed that there were so many ups and downs. The hard geology here certainly belies the contours on the map so I was glad when the mist started to clear and I could make out both long stretches of track in front of me and the higher mountains. 


  

  

Mist finally breaking 

Yes, that's the track descending away down there...

Amusingly, the river can be seen gradually running downhill on its way West but the path keeps climbing higher and higher above the river in apparent flouting of the norm. The reason for this becomes clear when a large gorge appears on the left, with the river now tumbling down an impressive waterfall through a gap in the cliffs. 


No way down here
The path becomes quite vertiginous for a while, especially where it crosses a large landslip. Again, I was resorting to a large amount of pushing.  I'm sure that with a different bike, unladen and with company, I'd have ridden more of it but I was happy here to jump off whenever things were looking a bit too gnarly. As it went on, I could find myself getting more and more frustrated but had to fight back the urge to be too reckless.

Falling to the left would be a really bad idea

The effect of this pushing was, however, that I was now running behind my planned schedule for catching the train in Kyle. By the time I reached the estate road at Glen Lichd House, I was beginning to have serious doubts I'd make it in time. 


Glen Lichd House and the start of the estate road

Finally at valley level. A couple of nice new bridges here.

Stripping off my jacket now that the mist had completely cleared I zoomed down the glen, scaring sheep off the track, fueled by large handfuls of chocolate peanuts and the last of yesterdays energy drink. Thing was, I hadn't booked my bike on train anyway so there was a chance I'd be racing up the road for no reason!


Sea level again. That makes it another Coast-to-coast

As it turned out, I needn't have worried. I arrived with lots of time to spare and, after speaking to the driver, just loaded my bike onto the train before disappearing to Hectors Bothy for breakfast. My original intention had been to get a takeaway but I figured that the later I got back to the train, the less time there would be for the conductor to throw me off in favour of some pre-booked cyclists.

The train ride back to Inverness gave me plenty of time to reflect on my trip and such wee adventures in general. I'd definitely missed them. The difficulties of the morning had in no way diminished the buzz of the previous evening and had just added to the emotional mix. Maybe next time I'll stop earlier and relax a bit more, but then there's this other plan.........




Thoughts on the Affric Kintail Way

I'd been intrigued by this route for a while and the development of it as a signed trail definitely makes navigation of the Drumnadrochit-Cannich section a lot easier than it was just trying to follow the GPS. There are just so many twists and turns here in close proximity. I'd also pondered over what direction would be best. If relying on trains,I reckon the logistics would probably be simpler/more assured heading from Morvich to Drumnadrochit. That would mean a huge climb out of Glen Lichd of course and all of the difficult terrain would come early on. However, aesthetically and emotionally I reckon heading west, towards the larger mountains, always feels like the adventure is building rather than diminishing. Besides, travelling east it would have to be the Kintail Affric Way.....


Without overnight gear, and given two cars (or a willing driver) it could be completed in a day.  

It certainly has some full-on biking - especially the descent to Glen Lichd - some great, fast forest tracks and is always in amazing scenery. The best thing I can say about it is that I'd definitely do it again. 

You can find a lot more info on it by going to the official site: http://www.affrickintailway.com/



Download a GPX file of the route: here (Right Click/Save as...)