Tag Archives: bothies

Knoydart Expedition February 2020

I have been travelling up to Scotland in February for many years now, it’s one of my favourite times to visit one of my favourite places. The harsh weather transforms the place and the hostels, bothies and pubs and cafes are usually very quiet. I’ve never been to Knoydart before and I started thinking about the place just after Christmas and the more I read about it the more I wanted to visit. Starting at Glenfinnan Railway station really appealed to me as it meant I could leave the car at home and use the train, then at the end of the trip I could catch the ferry from Inverie to Mallaig and get the train back home from there. It also gave me the chance to travel on the famous Fort William to Mallaig railway line and to visit the Glenfinnan Memorial and railway viaduct. Unfortunately I was booked to travel on Sunday 9th Feb, the day storm Ciara hit the UK and all the trains were cancelled, so I had to travel the next day instead, the good news was i will get a full refund on my ticket, as well as free travel. On the journey up North on Monday I stayed overnight at Fort William and the next morning after stocking up with goodies at the supermarket and cramming them into an already very heavy rucksack I caught the early morning train to Glenfinnan Station.After a quick look in the station museum and a chat with its curator,

who pointed me in the direction of the short but scenic Viaduct Trail, I headed off to explore the famous monument and railway arches. After this short detour I headed North up Glen Finnan to Corryhully Bothy (the electric bothy) and had a cup of coffee before pressing on North-Eastwards, heading for the pass at 471m between Sgurr Thuilm and Streap, on the lower slopes of this wintry climb I was followed overhead for a short while by a Golden Eagle. Once over the plateau at the summit there is a steep down section which was quite tricky with a big pack and all the deep snow which had accumulated there but after this obstacle it got much easier and I squelched my way down to the River Pean, where I crossed over the bridge and turned left and headed for Glenpean Bothy. I was using an old OS map of 1984 vintage a friend had loaned me and the forest on the North side of the River Pean wasn’t shown on it at all, so I made the mistake of just trying to follow the river left straight to the bothy, it quickly turned into a nightmare of boggy ground, impenetrable forest and then tree stumps and dead wood where the forest had been cleared, eventually the bothy loomed into view just as the rain started to pour down, I quickly gathered some of the dead wood which was lying everywhere and made a dash for the shelter, arriving there at about 5.30pm.

I filled the water bottles up from the nearby stream and that was me settled in for the night. I had the place to myself, I emptied my rucksack and laid out my mat and sleeping bag, got the stove on for a much needed soup, then put a match to the fire which the previous occupants had kindly prepared and instantly felt much better! The wind that night was very strong, with Westerlies blowing straight up the valley and bringing in volleys of hailstones every now and then which rattled noisily on the tin roof but tucked up in my thick down sleeping bag, with a small bottle of whisky for company, I was toasty warm. After a great nights sleep I was up at 8.00am the next morning and with the stove purring away in the background I packed all my gear back into the rucksack, a couple of cups of coffee and some muesli had done a great job of warming me up again. Before leaving the bothy I cleaned the ashes out from the night before and prepared a small fire for the next bothy occupant, then gathered some wet wood and brought it indoors to let it dry out a bit. Back on the trail again I headed East, back along Glen Pean but this time i used the track through the forest, which takes you after crossing the River Dessary, to the collection of buildings at Strathan, here I picked up the track to Glendesssary and as I continued onto Upper Glendessarry I could see A ‘Chuil bothy over the river on the edge of a conifer plantation, I made a small detour from my route to visit it and crossed the River Dessarry via a rickety old bridge and made my way up to the bothy over some boggy ground, again it was deserted. I had another coffee and some food here and checked the map. I was heading West and had a choice of routes, I could have gone through the conifer plantation but decided instead to cross the rickety bridge again and head uphill to pick up the track from Glendessarry, this path gradually climbs up to a pass (at about 300m) and the scenery changes to rugged mountain country, with steep sided mountains, hanging valleys and remote mountain Lochans. The path keeps to the left of Lochain a’ Mhaim before dropping down to Mam na Cloich Airde, where you need to need to look out for a river crossing to avoid the steep gorge and waterfall lower down. This path climbs up the hillside before crossing a spur and you get the first views of Loch Nevis in the distance, it’s then downhill all the way to Sourlies Bothy which is nestled at the head of the loch. Again I was lucky enough to have this beautifully located bothy all to myself and arrived just after 5.00pm which was a perfect time, as the light was just starting to fade and it gave me enough time to scour the area for deadwood (managed to find some on the shore line tangled up in the piles of seaweed) and to fill the water bottles from a nearby stream. The open fire at Sourlies wasn’t as good as the one at Glenpean, it was a bit smoky and I struggled to get it really going with damp wood but it did keep me entertained for a couple of hours as the stove boiled water for numerous drinks and food. Before turning in for the night I went outside to brush my teeth and got a genuine wow moment as I saw all the stars shining in a very dark sky. After another good nights sleep, I was packed up and on the trail again just after 9.00am, today was to have the best weather of the whole trip with blue skies and sunshine for most of the day. The tide was in, so I had to climb up the hillside a little to get round the spur that leads to the large floodplain of the River Carnoch, where I headed for the bridge and ruins, it’s very boggy here but you can weave your way through it. The new bridge over the Carnoch river is quite impressive and was officially opened on 23rd August 2019 at a total cost of £62,000. My original plan for this trip was to continue on to Barisdale and spend a night at the bothy there but yesterday to my horror I discovered that I had somehow managed to loose my brand new BMC map of Knoydart! I had the maps in a plastic map protector and the velcro at the bottom must have come undone when I was checking the way and the map must have slid out without me noticing it….. so it looked like I would be going to Inverie today instead. I did have lots of time however and it was a beautiful day so I decided to explore the way North, up the River Carnoch as far as the edge of my map and see what it looked like. With my curiosity satisfied I trekked back to the Carnoch ruins and began the long ascent up to Mam Meadail at 550m, this took a lot longer than I anticipated as it was well above the snow line and the strong winds had deposited lots of snow on the leeward side of the pass, at times I was almost knee deep in soft snow. I reached the top of the pass as dusk was setting in and I took a few moments to admire the wintry scene before me and to take some photos before setting off again on the last 5 or 6 miles to Inverie. Once I got below the snow line things got dark very quickly and I did the last few miles with a head torch on, carelessly I managed to lose the path and added a couple of extra miles onto an already long day. Finally the lights of Inverie came into view and I followed the signs to the Knoydart Foundation Bunkhouse, the place was light up like a Christmas tree with all the lights on in the kitchen, dorms and lounge but there wasn’t a soul around, it turns out that I would have the place to myself again. After a few coffees and something to eat, followed by a red hot shower, I collapsed onto a comfy bed with my last whisky miniature – an 18 year old Glenfiddich, which I had been keeping for a special occasion and this felt like one to me. The next morning (Friday ) i done the 10 minute walk into Inverie to check out the famous Old Forge Pub, the remotest pub on mainland Britain apparently, only to discover that it was closed for a few weeks over the winter! I got chatting to the cafe owner nearby and she informed me that there would probably only be one ferry sailing today, at 11.00am, due to the bad weather and that there was another big storm moving in for the weekend (Storm Dennis) which would probably prevent the ferry sailing then too… so I had to hurry back to the bunkhouse and get my gear together and return to the pier to catch the 11.00am ferry off the Knoydart Peninsula, back to Mallaig. It was a bit choppy on the way back but also quite exhilarating as the ferry was a quite small, sporty looking boat and it fairly zipped along, doing 14 knots for the 6 miles crossing back to Mallaig. Once off the ferry it started raining heavily, so I went to The Steam Inn pub for a full Scottish breakfast, which turned out to be a great choice, the food and coffee were delicious and I was sat by a lovely log fire to dry my wet clothes out. I decided that I would stay in Mallaig tonight and travel back home by train early tomorrow. To fill the rest of the day, I had a wander around town and went on the short circular walk which climbs up and overlooks the harbour, I then booked myself into Mallaig Backpackers Lodge and guess what… ? I had the place to myself yet again!

The kit I used on the trip, along with food and fuel for four days

Lake District hiking holiday Oct 2017

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About six months ago I had a bad accident on a mountain bike which resulted in a clean break of my left patella. The treatment for this in my case was a full-leg cast for six weeks then a hinged knee brace with crutches for another 5 weeks, followed by lots of physio and home exercises to help rebuild the wasted muscles and weakened tendons, now I finally felt ready to venture back into the hills and with a week off work I drove over to the Lake District in Cumbria to do some hill walking to try to get fit again. I was booked into Keswick Youth Hostel for a couple of nights to start with, it’s near to the town centre and right next to the River Greta. I had been here several times but not since 2015 when Storm Desmond hit and the entire ground floor was flooded by several feet of water, this forced extensive renovations and a redesign of the whole ground floor area.

Catbells summit, looking towards Skiddaw

Sunday 15th Oct. I set off walking from Keswick to do Catbells, which has to be a contender for the most climbed hill in the whole of the Lake District and its popularity is well justified as it is a very scenic hike and a good physical challenge too as it is quite steep in places. You can take the Derwent Water Lauch across the Lake to Hawse End or Low Brandlehow, then start walking from there, which is a really good option if you have got kids with you as it cuts the mileage down and adds an extra bit of excitement to the trip. Today though I walked from Keswick over the River Derwent swing bridge to Portinscale then turned left here and picked up the very nice trail through the woods from Nicol End Marina to the start of the climbing. Today the weather was a bit grey and overcast however the views were still good and there was lots of other people including families and groups with small kids working their way up the steep slopes. It got very windy on top so I quickly continued on to a path which descended towards Derwentwater and i turned left before hitting the road and continued back to Keswick the way I came. The knee seemed to be coping well so I started thinking about something more challenging tomorrow.

Grisedale Pike with Force Crag Mine in the valley on the way to Causey Pike

Monday 16th Oct. The Coledale Round. I drove over to Braithwaite which is about 3 miles west of Keswick and parked up in the first car park on the Whinlatter pass road and set off walking up the steep steps through the wood to the open slopes of Grisedale Pike. The weather was very grey and gloomy to start and there was light rain early on but it was only on the tops that i was exposed to the very strong winds, it would only be later on today after 6.00pm and throughout the night that Cumbria would feel the full force of the remains of Hurricane Ophelia. The skies certainly had a menacing look about them and one peculiar effect was that I could smell burnt wood and ashes several times throughout the day which puzzled me, especially on the tops, it was only on the night-time I read somewhere that the high winds heading our way had probably picked up some of the debris from the huge forest fires that had recently happened in Portugal. My route today went over Grisedale Pike and on to Hopegill Head before turning South over Coledale Hause and following the stream up to a path crossroads where I turned East up to the fine viewpoint of Eel Crag. The next peak was Sail where you get some great airy views to your right as you scramble down the ridge, then over Sail Pass to Scar Crags and finally Causey Pike where a steep rocky scramble takes you down to easier paths and the Buttermere to Braithwaite Road, here I turned left to walk along the road for a while before another footpath on the left takes you into Braithwaite.

Warnscale Bothy

Tuesday 17th Oct. I drove over to Honister Pass and parked up outside the Youth Hostel where I would be staying the night. The hostel is located right next to the working Slate Mine at the top of the pass. I set off walking westwards uphill on the Old Tramway path that takes you over to Haystacks, Just before you cross the stream there is a very nice Bothy (Dubs Hut) which was getting some repair work done on the roof. There is another bothy in this area too and I spent quite a bit of time trying to find it but gave up in the end and continued with my walk to Haystacks where on the summit I was exposed to strong winds again which made for difficult progress over the rocky top and it was a relief to get onto the easy rocky scramble down to Scarth Gap. Here I turned left down to Ennerdale and headed for the Black Sail Youth Hostel where I called in for a coffee and a chat, the high winds last night had resulted in some damage to the hostel, a satellite dish had been blown away, a chimney pot lost and some minor roof damage. Almost as soon as I set off again it started to rain quite heavily, i thought I was heading NW on the Coast to Coast route but instead I was heading straight up a minor path to the source of the River Liza, I decided to just continue up here anyway and eventually after a long climb up alongside the stream I hit the Moses Trod path which heads North to the Old Tramway path. I was still curious about that bothy I couldn’t find this morning, so I decided to have one final go at finding it, so I headed left once I hit the Old Tramway path and descended past Dubs Quarry again and down another path, here I caught a glimpse of the bothy, I won’t say exactly where it is, but from where I was it involved a lot of descent and reascent to get to it but it was definitely worth the effort and i hope to come back and spend the night in it one day. Then it was back along the Old Tramway path again and the descent down to Honister Pass where I had a very pleasant night at the Youth Hostel.

View from Hindscarth Edge looking down to the Honister Pass road

Wednesday 18th Oct. At last the wind had died away and it was blue skies and sunshine most of the day and i was treated to seeing the autumn colours of Lake District at its very best. My route today started from the hostel door where i crossed the road and headed straight up the slopes of Dale Head, then Hindscarth, Robinson and High Snockrigg before dropping down to Buttermere for some lunch. Then it was the brutal climb up the stone steps to Red Pike, the only respite being a brief flat section where Bleaberry Tarn is. After scrambling up the loose red gully to the summit of Red Pike the going gets a lot easier and on a clear day like today the views are superb. Next up was High Stile, you have to be careful with navigation here if you are heading for High Crag next as it’s very easy to just follow the cairns and end up descending into Birkness Comb which is not an easy way out, instead I checked the map and headed right along the ridge leading to High Crag and the long descent to Scarth Gap where i turned right and dropped into Ennerdale heading for Black Sail Youth Hostel, where I spent the night, arriving shortly after 5.00pm.

After Lords Rake there is another easier gully to negotiate

Thursday 19th Oct. After a good breakfast at the hostel I was on my way again at 9.00am, I headed off on the Coast to Coast path in the direction of Honister, this time i found it no problem, then picked up a good track that heads to Brandreth, Green Gable and the rocky climb up to the summit of Great Gable. From here I descended directly to the stretcher box at Styhead Pass and then picked up the Corridor route to Scafell Pike, this route passes Skew Gill and the impressive Piers Gill, shortly after passing this second Gill the route to Scafell turns left at a junction, however first I wanted to make a short detour up to Lingmell first to check out the view then i retraced my steps and climbed up to Scafell Pike. From the Pike I headed down to Mickledore, where there is another stretcher box. I continued right up to the cliff face and turned right and descended the loose gravelly West Wall Traverse down to the foot of Lords Rake and then scrambled up this. At the top you drop down a little and then climb a second easier gully to emerge on the flanks of Scafell where I turned left and climbed up to the summit cairn. From Scafell I descended into Wasdale, a very long descent. The way I went was via a gully just after Rakehead Crag which I think fell runners use when doing the Bob Graham round, then headed for Brackenclose and the National Trust campsite, once on the road I turned right and headed for the pub at Wasdale Head where I had a very nice meal. A second pint of Hobgoblin would have been brilliant but it was now well after 5.00 pm and I still had to make it back to the car at Honister Pass, so out I trudged into the now steady rain and headed off on the long climb up to Black Sail Pass, just after the Pass crests I turned right along another trail that traverses below Kirk Fell and Great Gable and joins up with the Moses trod path which would take me back to the Old Tramway and onto Honister. By now though it was pitch black and still raining steadily and with the beam of my head torch bouncing off the swirling mist it was quite an eerie and difficult walk across the moor. Finally with much relief the Old Tramway loomed into view, I turned right and dropped down to Honister. One final scare lay in wait however, it was such a fowl night that two pigeons had decided to roost on the path and they waited until I was almost on top of them before flapping and noisily flying away nearly giving me a heart attack. I finally reached the car at 8.10pm it had a been a very long walk but a very enjoyable one, my plan was to get in the car and drive home but because of the hour I thought I would ask at the Hostel to see if they had any room left for the night… they had one space…! the 2 chess players who had been at Black Sail the previous night were there also and along with a student geologist and an ex-paratrooper we had an interesting night.

: Catbells summit, looking towards Skiddaw

: Kong Adventure, Keswick

: Kong Adventure climbing wall in Keswick, there is also an indoor ice climbing room here and a caving section for kids

: Hobcarton Crag on the way to Hopegill Head

: Coledale Hause

: Eel Crag looking towards Causey Pike

: Grisedale Pike with Force Crag Mine in the valley on the way to Causey Pike

: Honister Youth Hostel

: Honister Pass

: Honister Pass

: Honister Pass

: Mine workings on Fleetwith Pike at Honister

: Dubs Bothy near Honister currently getting some repairs done, Haystacks is on the left.

: Dubs Bothy near Honister

: Spot the Bothy….

: Warnscale Bothy

: Warnscale Bothy

: Dale Head summit cairn, looking East

: View from Dale Head looking towards Skiddaw

: View from Hindscarth towards Skiddaw, Blencathra and Keswick

: View from Hindscarth Edge looking down to the Honister Pass road

: View from Robinson towards Crummock Water

: View from Robinson towards Rannerdale Knots and Mellbreak

: View from Robinson towards Buttermere and Crummock Water

: View from Robinson towards Buttermere and Crummock Water

: Looking along the fine ridge of Rannerdale Knotts from the flanks of Robinson

: St James` Church, Buttermere

: Wainwright memorial in St James` Church, Buttermere

: Buttermere with Fleetwith Pike in the distance

: Looking over to Robinson on the left and Fleetwith Pike on the right from the climb up to Red Pike

: Looking down on Crummock Water with Mellbreak on the left and Grasmoor on the right on the climb up to Red Pike

: Red Pike on the left and Bleaberry Tarn from the High Stile ridge

: The Honister Pass road in the distance from High Crag area

: Fleetwith Pike and Haystacks on the descent down to Scarth Gap

: Black Sail Youth Hostel

: Black Sail Youth Hostel

: High tension at Black Sail Youth Hostel

: Black Sail Youth Hostel

: Black Sail Youth Hostel

: Memorial on the summit of Great Gable

: Styhead Pass

: Looking over to Great Gable from Lingmell summit

: Piers Gill from the Corridor route up to Scafell Pike

: Piers Gill from the Lingmell side

: Mickledore and Scafell

: The rocky gully at Mickledore that leads down to Hollow Stones

: Lords Rake on Scafell with two people nearing the top

: Looking down Lords Rake with what looks like the remains of the hanging pinnacle visible

: After Lords Rake there is another easier gully to negotiate

The Cairngorm Loop April 2017

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http://www.cairngormsloop.net/map.html

The Cairngorm Loop is a 186 mile mountain bike route that takes in some of the best tracks and trails that the area has to offer, the challenge of the event is to complete the 186 miles in under 56 hours. You can do this at any time but twice a year (April and September) there is a group ride, effectively a race, there is no entry fee or prize money and it is totally unsupported, you ride as if doing it yourself and no caches or pre-booked accommodation is allowed. More information about the challenge is on the Cairngorm Loop webpage. I put my name down for the April group ride and this was to be my motivation over the winter to get in shape to complete the challenge, it also gave me some time to think carefully about the gear and equipment I would need and also plenty of time to get the bike in good mechanical working order. The bike I use is a 7-year-old Specialized Rockhopper SL hardtail mountain bike, with a 21 inch frame, it has 26 inch wheels, Deore XT gears, Avid Elixir disc brakes and a Rockshox Reba front fork. It fits me well and has an excellent light weight aluminium frame. I hit the trails at the weekend with it and use it for commuting to work during the week, I try to clean it regularly, particularly the drive train and keep it well lubed. However little problems were starting to mount up though, skipping gears, damaged chainring teeth, hard gear shifts, rattling pedals and a rough feeling back wheel…. time for a major overhaul.

Preparing the bike…

Wheels The wheels i have at the moment are an upgrade from a couple of years ago and they have Stans ArchX tubeless ready rims and run on Hope hubs which use cassette bearings, which makes servicing a bit easier.The front wheel was running smooth but the rear wheel was feeling rough so I took the cassette cluster off and then removed the free wheel body, on Hope hubs this just pulls off and comes off with a pop, being carefull not to lose the washer which sits behind it. This gives access to the rear wheel bearings and I could feel with my fingers that one of the cassette bearings was turning very roughly and needed replacing, you tap these out with a drift (or a screwdriver if you are feeling brave…) Hope sells servicing kits which makes knocking these bearings out and back in square a lot easier. With the new bearing in the wheel it was turning smooth again. Before replacing the free hub I removed the 4 pawls and springs (responsible for that distinctive Hope buzzing sound) and cleaned everything up for inspection and found out that one of the springs was broken… this seems to be a problem with Hope hubs as I have broken quite a few, anyhow I replaced it with a new one and greased everything and popped the freehub back on the wheel and made sure it was spinning ok.
New cassette (Shimano XT M770) 9 speed 11-32 ratio, replacing the old 11-34 cassette as I found I was very rarely using the largest 34 cog.
New chain (Shimano HG93) 9 speed. The last time I used a reusable link to join the chain, thinking I could then take it apart for cleaning, in practice I never did though so this time just used the pin Shimano supply with the new chain to join it together. Those re-usable links are handy to keep in your saddle bag though together with a small chain tool for any problems out on a ride.
New chain rings (Shimano Deore FCM590) 44-32-22 ratio. I took the crank arms off the bike to clean everything up and fit these 3 chain rings. You need to make sure you fit these the right way round, particularly the middle one. I fitted the last ones and I think I put it round the wrong way…. I’m sure now that this was responsible for some of the gear change slips I was getting as the Ramps and teeth profile wouldn’t be aligned optimally. With the cranks off it was a good opportunity to clean and re-grease the bottom bracket too.
new Jockey wheels (Shimano 105 RD-5700). This set is compatible with lots of derailleurs including mine, again care need as they are slightly different, the guide pulley is the top one and the tension pulley is the bottom one. I took the derailleur off the bike to replace these as I wanted to give it a good clean and was surprising how much gunk came out of it. After a good soaking with bike spray and oil it was moving much more smoothly.
New gear cables (Shimano MTB stainless steel gear cable set). Everything you need in one bag, cables and outer housing, end caps and cable stops too.
Headset service The bearings at the top and bottom of the steerer tube taken out cleaned and re-greased. I use a small neoprene collar attached with Velcro around the bottom of the steerer tube to help keep the worst of the mud and water out of the bottom bearing.
New pedals (DMR V12 platform pedals). The old pedals were the original alloy ones that came with the bike, they were still usable but were starting to rattle quite a bit.
New tires (Schwalbe Nobby Nics Evo, tubeless snakeskin, (26×2.25) pace star compound). The rims on my wheels are ZTR Stans Archx which are fully compatible with tubeless setups so this is the way I went front and back. The front tyre inflated straight away and soon after I heard the explosive pinging sound of the beads locking into the rims but with the back tyre I had a much harder job, even getting it inflated was tough but to get the beads locked in I tried all sorts of recommended tricks, washing up liquid on the beads, putting a tube in and trying to seat it that way (that got one side seated ok…) what done the job in the end was removing the core from the tubeless valve to allow a greater airflow from the track pump into the tyre, then pumping away furiously until finally with the sweat pouring from my brow I heard the explosive pings of success as the beads locked in. Once the beads are locked in you can deflate the tyres and the beads will stay in place, then you can inject the recommended amount of sealant into the valve hole and put the core back in and inflate the tyre as normal. They should now be immune to normal punctures as the sealant will quickly find and fill the hole in the tyres as it is spinning inside the tyre. The sealant does eventually dry up so check every now and then, I still carry a spare tube, patches and inflater just in case though!

Clothing and equipment…

Something you have to think carefully about is the clothing and equipment you take with you on the ride and that is largely dependant on the weather you are expecting, in Scotland at the end of April that can be a very tricky subject to predict! True to form the week before I travelled up to Braemar, winter returned to large parts of the country for a few days, with fresh snow and freezing northerly winds. On a bike it’s the extremities that feel the cold first, so a warm hat that fits under a helmet and winter mountaineering gloves went in the bag, along with a lightweight Montane insulated jacket which provides instant warm, particularly under a thin waterproof. Footwear choice is very important too as the route fords several rivers with no real choice but to wade straight across and this can lead to very cold feet, after much thought I decided on using my old Mammut summer walking boots, they were lightweight, comfortable and had room to get a nice thick wool sock inside too, which I was hoping would feel warm even when wet and they would be perfect on the hike a bike sections too.

Another big choice has to be made about your sleeping system, how much do you intend to get? and where do you plan to get it? There are bothies on or near the route but conditions on the ground may make you slower than expected or they could be full when you arrive there. I decided to take a lightweight down sleeping bag and a Alpkit Hunka bivi bag, so in theory I could stop anywhere. If you intend riding in the dark you need a good light and these can be expensive, the best mountain bike specific ones are probably by a brand called Exposure, I did have a look at cheap Chinese ones on eBay and was tempted but in the end I decided I would just use my old MYo XP head torch and some spare batteries. I probably would have left the stove and pot in the car just to save weight, the ready cooked meals in a bag are just as nutritious cold. Also there are places on the route to buy hot food if you arrive when they are open. To carry all this gear I used an Apidura seat-post bag (compact size,11 litres), this carried my sleeping bag wrapped inside a plastic bag and I also used a very light-weight OMM 20 litre rucksack for the other stuff including food, some tools, spare socks, maps, compass and a small first aid kit etc.

Waiting for race day…

I drove up to Braemar on Thursday arriving just after 6pm, I got something to eat then reassembled the bike and packed some gear for an overnight bothy stop and set off on the 6 mile ride to the Linn of Dee, just past the car park there is a signed track that heads off north into the heart of the Cairngorms, I took this and headed for Derry Lodge, an old abandoned shooting lodge. I was surprised to read on the notice board that there were plans to turn this lodge into a hostel with warden accommodation, I had mixed feelings when I read this, it certainly would be a good location but I think also it would lessen the remote feel and the commitment needed for the long walk or ride to access the Cairngorms from this side. Also there is a very nice bothy nearby and I wondered what the impact of a hostel would have on that….. it was starting to get a bit chilly when I arrived at the bothy, there were 4 people already in, 2 young guys and a Dutchman with his son, they had the stove going strong and candles lit and it was a very cosy warm atmosphere. They had been up in the hills the day before and said the conditions had been really tough, deep soft snow in places, cold wind and rivers in spate with a thaw setting in.

The next morning I wanted to recce a section of the race route from Glen Derry to the Eidart bridge as I would possibly be doing this section in the dark come race day, so I headed off past Derry Lodge and then north up Glen Derry to the edge of the forest to check the terrain out, I turned round here and headed back to the Linn of Dee and carried on west along the track to White Bridge and followed the track heading along Geldie Burn, a couple of hundred meters before this track crosses the river there is a smaller track heading off on the right, this leads eventually to the Eidart bridge. Up until now the cycling had been easy with a nice firm stony track to follow but now on this smaller track it was much harder because it was so wet and boggy and in places soft snow, in fact I ended up pushing the bike nearly all the way to Eidart bridge, this was as far as I went and I now retraced my route back to Braemar, however things didn’t go smoothly, just before White Bridge on a rough land rover type track I caught my front wheel in a rut and I came off the bike and my left knee hit a rock with some force. At first I just tried to walk it off and ride the easy bits but it soon started swelling up really badly and I slowly realised the race tomorrow was over for me, all that preparation and planning ruined by a lapse in concentration on an easy track, by the time I eventually reached the car in Braemar it was hurting quite a lot and it was difficult to bend it. The next day I went to the hospital to get it checked out and an X-ray confirmed that I had a clean break of my left knee cap and I’m writing this with a full leg cast on wondering when I will once again be back in the Highlands…..

Discussing this accident with friends when back home we talked about the best ways to get help if ever you are out in the wilds and need to contact the emergency services, this little video by Lyle Brotherton contains some very useful information. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPZv_8dABfU

: Sign on the Linn of Dee road

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Bob Scott`s Bothy

: Confluence of the Eidart and Feshie rivers

: Eidart Falls

: Eidart Bridge

Cairngorms mountain bike tour Sept 2016

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During this weeks holiday I had hoped to do the classic Scottish coast to coast mountain bike route that runs from The Kyle of Lochalsh on the west coast of Scotland to Montrose on the east coast. A big problem with doing this route are the logistics of getting yourself and a bike up to the starting point, I had hoped to take the train up to the Kyle of Lochaslsh but I was told all spaces for bikes were full up on the days I wanted. So instead I started looking around for alternatives ride ideas and came across a great one in a book called “Scottish Mountain Biking – The Wild Trails” by Phil McKane (Vertebrate Publishing). The ride was a 4 day tour of the Cairngorms and had the added bonus of taking in large chunks of the C2C route I had originally wanted to do. Also being a circular route I could drive up to Scotland with the bike in the car and then ride a big loop back to the car. I already had the four Landranger OS 1:50,000 maps I needed (35,36,42,43) from previous mountaineering trips up here and I set about penciling in the route onto the maps. The more I looked at it the more i realised what a great route it was, it turns out that the Cairngorms are ideal for cross-country mountain bike touring, I would guess that well over 90% of the route is off-road using estate roads, stalkers paths and ancient drovers routes through the mountains. In a nutshell the plan looked like this :-

Blair Athol – Starting point, leave car here, ride to Kingussie.
Kingussie – “The Tipsy Laird” bunk house, ride to Tomintoul.
Tomintoul – The Smugglers Hostel, ride to Braemar.
Braemar – Stay at the Youth Hostel and ride back to car at Blair Athol.

Cairngorms map and my route

I drove up on the Sunday and spent the night at Pitlochry Youth Hostel about 7 miles away from the start in Blair Athol and made an early start on Monday morning. Quiet roads and tracks follow the main A9 road to Dalnacardoch Lodge, where you cross the busy A9 and the wilderness riding begins on good wide tracks, through the forest to begin with then onto open countryside. The weather was quite wet for the first couple of days and this made crossing the numerous fords on the route quite tricky at times, sometimes having to wade knee-deep carrying the bike on my shoulders to get to the other side. The hardest riding of that first day was along the banked shore of Loch an Duin which was very narrow and boggy at times, after this it was good double-width estate roads past Gaick Lodge and then surprisingly tarmac road for a good while down Glen Tromie. At Tromie Bridge I turned left and headed for Kingussie passing the impressive ruins of Ruthven Barracks on the way, which was well worth a look around. I stopped at the basic but cheap bunk house attached to the Tipsy Laird pub on the main high street.

It rained hard all during the night and for most of the next day as I retraced my way past Ruthven Barracks to Tromie Bridge and picked up the trail to Glen Feshie, crossing a couple of fords on the way. The river Feshie was looking flowing strongly after all the recent rain and i crossed it at the wooden bridge and headed north up the hamlet of Feshiebridge passing the airstrip of the glider station on the way, i turned right here into the forest hoping to navigate myself to Loch an Eilein, i dislike riding in managed forests as it hard to know where you are exactly when surrounded by trees, especially with an old map and tracks going in various directions, however this time i got lucky and picked up the very nice small trail to the lovely Inschriach Bothy. I had been to this bothy a few years previous on a day walk with a couple of friends and it was good to come across it again. After a sandwich in the bothy and adding another layer i set off again on the narrow rocky trail down to Loch an Eilein and then picked up the wide smooth trails that lead to Loch Morlich via the Cairngorm Club footbridge.

Drakes Bothy near Loch an Eilein

There are lots of way-marked trail around this area and seems a good place to come for day rides. At Lake Morlich i joined the main road that heads up to the big ski centre passing the youth hostel and then branched-off left on the side road that leads up to Glen More Lodge – the Scottish National Outdoor Centre, a place i knew well from having done a couple of courses there many years ago. Continuing along this track brings you past a magical little lochan and shortly afterwards you branch left heading north past Ryvoan Bothy and into the forest, i missed the turn off right here for the ford and ended up at Forest Lodge and i done a u-turn here heading south then east to Loch a Chnuic, some careful navigation is needed here to pick up the small trail to the narrow cleft of Eag Mhor then it’s onto the Braes of Abernethy to the hunting estate of Dorback Lodge. It had been a long wet day so far but my target for the day of Tomintoul didnt seems so far away now, however as i set off across the moors to Letteraitten i came across several 4×4 vehicles and then the sounds of gunshots nearby and beaters waving white flags, there was a shoot in progress and my intended route over the moors to Tomintoul was not possible. i had to retrace my route to Dorback Lodge and then down the access road to pickup the main A939 road into Tomintoul, a road that had several steep climbs on it but then again Tomintoul is the highest village in Scotland! i finally reached the Smugglers Hostel at about 6.00pm tired and dripping wet, it had been a long day but an enjoyable one.

Day 3 dawned dull and misty but largely dry just the odd light shower, the target for today was Braemar directly south of Tomintoul. I was on the road by 8.30am and had a short tour up and down the long main street of the village before heading off down the road that turns into a track that follows the River Avon south. i followed this wide easy trail all the way down to Inchrory Lodge, where i left the river Avon and kept heading south into Glen Builg via a vague boggy section then an improved track to Loch Builg after passing some small lochans its south again to the flanks of Cullardoch where a very long climb awaits you. Just before the climb starts i came across a brand new shooting hut, a high-class one that wouldn’t look out of places on the slopes of verbier. Once the high point on Cullardoch is reached all difficulties for the day are over and its a very fast descent down to the forest where there are some very nice old Scots Pines to be seen. Invercauld House leads to the main road turning left over Invercauld Bridge and you pass the old bridge of Dee (Brig O`Dee) after a couple of miles Braemar Castle comes into view and then the village itself, after exploring the village a while and a very nice meal at a local cafe i checked into Braemar Youth Hostel.

The narrow watershed area leading to Glen Tilt

Day 4 and the last day of this tour of the Cairngorms and the weather was the best yet, sunshine and light winds made the 6 mile ride along the tarmac to the Linn of Dee a pleasure, i stopped to take some photos of this impressive gorge before leaving the tarmac and heading west on a good track along the banks of the River Dee as far as the “White Bridge”. Here i left the Dee and headed south crossing the Geldie Burn and up to the ruin of Bynack Lodge, the grassy rocky track climbed steadily and was fairly obvious to follow as it made its way to the watershed and the start of Glen Tilt, here the valley narrowed sharply with the river and trail squeezed on both sides by steep grassy slopes. The very narrow trail became quite a technical challenge to ride with rocks peppering the trail and a large drop on the left hand side i got off and pushed a lot of this section. eventually after 2km or so the terrain opened out again and the going became a lot easier, shortly afterwards the Bedford Bridge came into view which provides a great viewing point for the spectacular Falls of Tarf waterfalls. All difficulties were now over as you follow the River down Glen Tilt, which was looking at its best in the bright sunshine, on a good track for mile after mile downhill, eventually joining the road at The Old Bridge of Tilt, not far from Blair Athol and my waiting car.