Caingorms Loop

05 to 07 May 2018

Stonehave to Ballatear – 75km / 646m up

The start of the journey was not the most auspicious. We could only book the 10.30m train to Stonehaven as the previous ones had no bike spaces so that reluctantly we had a late start, perfectly sincronised with the tens and tens of football fans heading to Aberdeen for the match...the horror, never ever again please!

Getting out at Stonehaven was such a relief that I didn't even care sharing the first 10km of the route with heavy traffic on a main road. After the first 25km we joined the Deeside Way to Ballatear and from there it was quiet and pleasant paths, the best bit being the 10k in the forest and the last kms on the Victorian railway.

We stayed at the Ballatear Hostel and I strongly recommend it, it felt warm and cozy and really enjoyed our ensuit private room. Ballatear itself is a nice green village surrounded by hills, it would have been nice to go for a stroll up to one of them but we knew the day after it would be demanding and opted for a chilled out evening instead.

Ballatear to Aviemore – 85km / 1313m up

Day 2 was hilly, very hilly...we knew there would have been steep hills up to Tomintoul but I didn't expect that series of vertical walls!

It was Sunday and being a Bank Holiday weekend we expected a lot of traffic. To beat it we had an early start and by 7.15am we were on the go.

We started climbing pretty much straight away, and the first bit of the first hill woke us up better than a jug of espresso. The rest was not as steep but I could definitely feel my legs. All that goes up goes down, and that was a sweet fast descent (60km/h!)

We knew there was the second hill waiting for us, and when we saw it at a distance I was on denial...the sign warned us of a 20% climb, which may as well have been more than that! The view made up for the effort and once up we didn't regret loosing 5l of sweat for it.

Finally we headed down to Tomintoul were we rewarded ourselves with a scone and an egg roll. The café was really cool and we met another group who was doing the Caingorm Loop but the unpaved one, they really looked fit!

What we didn't expect was the climb after Tomintul, another killer for its gradient but fotunately not as long as the previous ones. The good news was that after reaching the top it was basically all a way down to Aviemore. The sun was out and the views were superb.

After Nethy Bridge we took the road through the forest to Loch of Garten to visit the Osprey Centre. There was not much action Ospreys-wise (the female was incubating the egg and the male was last seen the day before, hiding in a bush...). It was around midday and there was no much other life either so that we ate our sandwich and kept going. We joined the NCN7 to Aviemore and really loved the off road bit in the wood. 

 

In Aviemore we had a private room in the SYHA (that hostel is really huge and amazing!) and after checking in we had a stroll up to the panormic point, whose path is handily located outside the youth hostel. The sky was clear and warm, but the wind fierce so that we didn't linger much up there.

 

So far this year we have been extremely lucky with the weather and this weekend was no exception. A warm sun was shining and it did feel hot! We paid for it with a strong headwind, a constant of the 3 days and amazingly always blowing in our face despite change of direction...

For dinner we decided to spoil ourselves and went for the best pizza in Scotland in La Taverna, at the end of the town, which from now on it's going to be one more reason to go back to Aviemore!

Aviemore to Pitlochry via Gaick Pass – 85km / 860m up

And after 3 failed attempts (due to snow and ice once and rivers of rain the second time), we finally managed to cycle the Gaick Pass!

For the first 20km we followed the NCN 7 from Aviemore, and before Dalwinnie we got on the signed 45 km dirty road to the Pass. The first 20km were actually in sublime conditions, it was even smoother than a road, and thre are a few km of paved road too which was a pleasant surprise. After the first loch the conditions started to degenerate but nothing too bad or rocky.

We knew there were a few “streams” to cross, and my lucky star sent me Philip right when we got to the first one. By then it was raining badly and when he asked “do you want a lift through the stream?” I though I was dreaming. Paul later told me he was actully planning to put me and the bike on the track's bonnet...good stuff we found an alternative as I still have in my head the picture of me and the bike ending in the river at the first bump...

The only “walk the bike” bit is a few km long along the last loch, a bit narrow but after going through Glen Tilt it didn't feel too bad. After that there is a boggy bit and finally the very final stream crossing.

The rain at least stopped and we could see a clearer sky down south and as soon as we rejoined the NCN 7 it was back to sun and warm weather. We still had 25 km to Pitlochry and took it super easy as we booked a late train and didn't want to spend too much time waiting.

First we laid down on some grassy edge to take the sun (still can't believe that we passed from winter to summer in 1 hour), then for some food in the Blair Atholl Pub and finally a well deserved end of the trip ice cream in Pitlochry, finally we could tick the Gaick Pass off the list!