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Back to the Highlands! This winter has been endless, and despite being May it didn't feel like we saw much of the spring either... The hiking didn't work out as planned due to adverse weather but we certainly made the most of what we were faced with. What have we learnt? Time to move to Spain!
Day 1 – Montrose to Ballater via Mount Keen – 90km / 1400 m up
21 May 2022
Day 1 was way better and less painful than I expected. Paul had had his eyes on cycling up Mount Keen for a while and now was the time.
The best moment was at the train station when we were collecting the tickets. Upon entering the code, we got Blair Athol to Haymarket on the screen, we looked at each other: “Blair Athol?!” We had no memory of buying the return ticket, but the most pressing question was, have we bought the one to Montrose?? Luckily we did, and even more luckily the train to Montrose was not cancelled (despite the one to Manchester airport, sorry folks!). We had our bikes reservations too, and good stuff as there was another cyclist without it who got left behind as the train officer said there were only 2 spaces (the next train was cancelled...). The irony of this all is that the train itself was empty, and our bikes didn't fit the narrow hooks and were left on the ground, thanks Scotrail!
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| This bottle proved to me extremely versatile |
The journey was uneventful
and at 9.13am we got off in Montrose. It was cold but at least the
sun was half out. It took 5km to get us out of the busy roads and it
was a pleasure to be out, surrounded by trees and green pastures
everywhere , and with the view of the hills in front of us. We had
our first cake stop in Edzell with a beautiful arch at the entrance.
Then off we went, and we spotted an osprey and a peacock along the
way (I saw the peacock, Paul somehow missed him and saw a dead rat
instead...).
After a while we had another break in a small hamlet and got chatting with a man. We saw quite a few hikers along the way with huge rucksacks, the first one just outside Montrose with the biggest smile I've even seen. There were no mountains around so I asked the man if he knew where they were coming from. It turns out there was an event with people walking from the West coast to the East coast, now we understood that smile of pure happiness!
We were now in hill country along Glen Esk but it was still a pleasure to ride. Then at about km 47 we reached a big car park packed with cars. From there it was a gravel road of good conditions and well graded until we reached a cottage, from where the push the bike phase started.
We had lunch by the stream to charge us up the climb. The sandwich was huge, like ½kg each, glad we had it as we'd burn it all out soon. It was 12.30, the sun was out and it was an idyllic spot, life couldn't be any better.
We then started pushing up the track, with quite a few people around. That but was not that long and soon we reached the junction that would lead up the top. We dropped the bikes there as I drew the line at dragging it up and down the stony bit. In 20min we were on the top, and there the rain started to come down in buckets. Still the clouds were high and we could see all around. We quickly got back to the bikes and cycled to the other side of the hill (that single track bit was excellent and so scenic that I couldn't take my eyes out of the views). Once we got to rejoin the path that went down the other side things changed. It was a push the bike going down too! It was very steep and we were down quickly.
Passed the bridge we were in Glen Tanar, on a great gravel road that went on forever, nobody around and tail wind, magic! But good things don;t last forever, and we rejoined the paved road. We got up a short but steep hill and ended up joining the Deeside Way that we know very well. It was a quick 15km to Ballater from there and at 5pm sharp we were inside the Pannanich View Cottage, we couldn't have chose a cosiest place to spend a couple of nights, it even had a stove!
We cooked a huge plate of spaghetti thinking how beautifully the day went by, and getting ready to what we thought would have been a long hike the day after.
Day 2 – Ballater – 28Km cycled and 25 walked
22 May 2022
This was a bit of a weird day. We passed from the Arctic zone to summer back to freezing, oh Bonnie Scotland!
The original plan was to wake up early to bit the traffic on the one lane road to the Spittal of Glen Muick , park the bikes there and walk the 5 White Mounth Munroes . Unfortunately the sky was not on our side...we did cycle the 14km mostly uphill there and parked the bikes. Then we walked towards Lochnagar, which was all covered in clouds, and as we gained elevations the rain got harder, and the wind too. We didn't have much equipment (it was winter there) and decided to retreat to lower grounds. A bit of a failed attempt but the cycle back was glorious (14km of tail wind and descent!) and at noon we were having a hot soup in the cottage. We were not done for the day though. We put on our shoes again and walked up to Pannanich Hill and then followed some other path along the hills ridges and finally reached green pastures and summer at the bottom for a long flat walk back to Ballater. It was not what we planned but it turned out to be very pleasant and at the end of the day we walked 25k (still disappointed that we haven't managed the higher tops :( )
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| The picture doesn't convey the misery of the moment, turning back now! |
Day 3 – Ballater to Braemar – 28Km cycled and 12 walked
23 May 2022
The weather was not getting any better...we originally planned a lazy day to recover from the walk the day before but this was no longer required. Plan B would have been to hike up Ben Avon, but the wind was still brutal and not much sunshine either. At the end we have and easy morning, left the cottage at 9ish, cycled the 28km to Braemar, dropped bags and bikes at the Braemar Youth Hostel, and head off for another lower ground walk thereby. First we had a couple of pastries at the Coop, good stuff we did that as the sky opened as soon as we left the shop and we got shelter under a roof eating our goodies.
After a while it stopped and off we went up to the Morrone Hill (pronounced...moron?!). It was another nice walk, with brutal weather and wind on the top (this was just about 800m, I'm glad I was not any higher than that!). We had a 360' view of the Cairngorms and were satisfied with that. Back to town we checked in the youth hostel and met a range of quite interesting characters. There were mostly hikers on the West/East coast saga, and a bikepacker that I still don't know where he was going. Cherry on the top was the local red squirrel who was doing his business in the nearby trees. I saw him punctually in pretty much all my “weather check” outings.
Day 4– Braemar to Glenmore – 100km / 1400 m up
24 May 2022
We got in Tomintoul for lunch time and had a delicious mushrooms and cheese sandwich at the hotel. Then things changed...we would spend all the rest of the way with either boiling hot sunshine or freezing heavy rain, and wind. I was either boiling hot or freezing cold and kept putting on/off layers until I gave up and said whatever, I won't die!
We
left the big road and from there it was a very scenic and quite B
road all the way to Nethy Bridge, then Boat of Garten and finally
Aviemore. We resupplied at the shop and then headed to the Cairngorm
Lodge Youth Hostel in Glenmore. I really like that hostel, it's the
only place where most people who stay get there with something which
is not a car!
Our arrival was well timed as the sky opened again while we were snacking at the bench. We quickly checked in, put the bikes to rest and chilled out while looking at the misery outside...3 ladies arrived by bikes and the youngest of them looked miserably cold poor...they were doing the John o Grot / Land's end route, and were not ready for winter, I felt her pain!
Day 5– Glenmore / Aviemore – 10km cycled and 15 walked
25 May 2022
The original plan for the day was to walk the Cairn Toul loop. We had another failed attempt years ago due to poor weather and this time we didn't even try (a guy got back in the evening from the Lairig Grhu and said it was snowing there, at about 700m, who knows what was on the tops, and it was windy again).
We had breakfast thinking of other options, and got to chat to a couple from Barcelona who have been hiking from Fort William and were having a day off. They liked Scotland as they would see nobody in their hikes, and being from Barcelona they didn't mind not seeing the sun for a while, it was nice talking to them.
Resigned at staying at lower grounds, we set off for the Meall a' Bhuachaille circuit. We started in forest tracks, got to a little loch, and then up to a bothy where a German guy was getting ready for the day ahead. He started walking the Cape Wrath trail and abandoned it in Ullapool for bad weather and now he was walking to Kingussie to see friends. We wished him luck and started the climb. The showers started but we had kind of tail wind going up. The top was merciless but there was a huge cairn that sheltered us. It was really wild up there, the views were dramatic with all the clouds and rain passing by. We quickly went down to lower grounds and by the time we reached the visitor centre it was sunny and how. We had a super lunch there, can;t believe we paid £7 for a huge sandwich. There must have been something weird there though as we both got indigestion... We spent the afternoon walking around Loch Morlich, then went to get our bikes and cycled back to Aviemore.
We were staying at the High Range Lodge, conveniently located by La Taverna pizzeria. Pity that it was Wednesday and it was closed. I give up. When we went up there in March for our winter walking course it was closed on Monday. We had noodles in the room instead, I promise I won't ever try again!
Day 6– Aviemore to Pitlochry – 96km / 700 m up
26 May 2022
Today it will be remembered as the cyclist massacre of the Drumochter Pass. It was so miserable that I couldn't help laugh out loud!
We knew it would be strong wind again from the South West and we braced ourselves mentally for a painful cycle. It was cold and I was wearing all my layers (same clothes for 6 days...brr...) We were following the NCN 7 that we have cycled many times, and the first bit to Kingussi was not even that bad as we were sheltered by the trees. The road is a bit bumpy but the sun was out at times and it was almost a pleasure to ride. We overtook a couple of guys who were heading wearing shorts and t-short and not much else in terms of packing so I thought they were out on a short loop.
We took a short break in a bus shelter in Kingussie and the guys overtook us again. Next bit to Dalwhinnie was really windy and we were not going fast at all. The sky started to get dark too and I was in training mode (if it's not for pleasure then make it count for something I thought). Before we got to Dalwhinnie we met again the 2 guys laying on the grass by the side of the road. They were not having a good time and were struggling with the wind. They were from Bristol and were cycling down from John o Groat. They were definitely not used to the Scottish weather by the look of their clothes...they did have a van somewhere though. We told them that there was a café in Dalwhinnie and that after there the route would turn towards the East so hopefully it would be tail wind. That seemed to cheer them up a bit. We then got to the café in Dalwhinnie which was closed, with a sign outside saying they had to close it 2 days a week due to lack of staff, thanks Brexit.
It started raining there, we had no shelter but we knew we had to eat before getting to the infamous Drumochter Pass. Luckily the day before we bought too much food and made 2 cheese sandwiches out of the leftovers. They went down very well, rain or no rain. The guys arrived and were very disappointed at the closed café but there was a small service station and they went there to get some snacks. We never saw them again that day, hope they made it safe, or got a lift from the van.
The true show was about to start. Out of Dalwhinnie we got to the start of the cycling lane which says beware of bad weather October to May, and that there is no facility for a 30km stretch. The wind was brutal, like a wall, like I had to get off the bike at some stage as I was basically still even in the lowest gear on the flat. The track kept turning left but the wind was not turning. My average was 8km/h, and we had 50k left to Pitlochry. I though I would get there by 8pm...worse still, I thought either the wind changes direction or the Bristol guy would curse me forever!
And then Beau Miles's video (check out the first min of this) of his tot meltdown came to mind and I just started laughing like I've never laughed before “nothing is in moderation, everything is bloody one way or the other, I don't know where the river mouth is, what the f... town that is”. From there things started to improve, at least in my head...the wind stopped, then it started pushing hard. Miraculously it started raining while we passed by the only cottage in miles which had trees. We got shelter there while the downpour started. I put on all my layers again (taken on and off like 10 times in 3 hours), we waited until it stopped a bit and then kept going. We passed by so many cyclists and a bunch of people who were collecting litter all with a face that showed deep trauma, still recovering from the rain and the wind. It looked like the gods have been playing bowling with all of us today!
The descent started and with the tailwind we reached the House of Bruar in no time. It was so sunny and hot there that I took off all my layers again. We sat outside eating chips and a lemonade, holding everything as the wind was trying to steal them all. Then again the sky opened, really hard. We got the chips and went to eat them sheltered by some plants. Any kind of people was there (...the rubbish of society, us included). A posh lady asked us “do you know where the restroom are” and we were about to shout at a local “where is the shithole??” I put on all my layers again and as soon as it stopped we covered the 3 miles to Blair Athol. We stopped for a quick hi to Dorothy, then went to the café to get a hot soup (a nice one, veg and lentil, I've just tried it home gnummy! ). It rained again while we were inside, and as soon as it stopped we pushed strong and quickly covered the 12km to Pitlochry, passing via Killiecrankie (beautiful name for a bike I thought). Getting to destination was sooooo good, all the ordeal of the pass was behind and we could finally chill out.
We checked in at the Buttonboss Lodge B&B and then went for a stroll in town. We checked out the places to eat but the choice was not much (pretty much Indian or fish and chips) and given the prices were extortionist we went for another noodle from the Coop). We talked over the trip, and although it didn't go as planned we still marvelled ourselves at how many different places we passed through, and how many weirdos we have met, it was not a bad trip after all!
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| The only picture of the day, the one of the closed café |
Day 7– Pitlochry to Perth – 50km / 450 m up
27 May 2022
The forecasts were a bit more optimistic, still strong winds but at least no rain. By now we were kind of done with all the weather drama, so we had a lovely cycle to Perth and got the train back home. We decided we will not plan a holiday in Scotland again, next time we just go to Spain! (as I speak Paul is looking at routes in Angus for next weekend). We finally had our well deserved pizza at home.
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