Byeeeeeee

[Kirstie]

Super excited this evening as I'm off early tomorrow morning for a two week tour starting in pitlochry and finishing in inverness via various isles and hills. I'm most looking forward to wild camping on colonsay and ulva

An overview of the route can be found here

We're doing a mixture of wild camping, campsites, youth hostels and B&Bs, and like our last tour in scotland features minor off road too. It's time for everyone to do their sun-dance to the cycling gods (please)!!

See you in a couple of weeks!

 

[fossyant]

Lucky buggers

 

[rualexander]

Looks good Kirstie. Are you taking the train across Rannoch Moor from Tulloch to Bridge of Orchy? You know there is a good estate road in from Loch Laggan to Loch Ossian (great youth hostel there) and Corrour station that you can cycle? I'd also suggest you take the estate road on the south shore of Loch Laggan rather than the main road, you go right past the fron door of Ardverikie House, used in 'Monarch of the Glen' TV show.
Hope the weather is good for you.

 

[Landslide]

Have fun, and bring back lots of whisky and piccies!

 

[Crackle]

You can go the other side of Loch Ness from Fort Augustus, unless you're going to the castle or the visitors centre, I'd think about that, there's a lot of traffic up the A82 there with some fast sections.

You're wild camping on Ulva. So you're taking the bikes on the little ferry and then where? The road pretty much peeters out into a rough track if I recall. Incidentally my son has driven the Ulva ferry, round and round in circles. Go the caff and try the Oysters.

Have a good un, looks a great route.

Edit: Just realized you won't read this now 'till you're back.

 

[Pottsy]

Have a really good time. I was on Colonsay only a few weeks ago - it was great.

 

[exchangeandmart]

Enjoy! Hope it all goes well for you and look forward to hearing all about it when you get back

 

[Kirstie]

Hello everyone, I'm back and we had a brilliant time. Thanks everyone for your suggestions. We're working on the pics and the write up this week.

@crackle, we didn't take the A82 up loch ness, we took the rather more, er, undulating B852 instead. My knees nearly exploded! We also had to sack Ulva because of a severe weather warning. A force 7 was blowing there, so we hung out in tobermoray instead.

@pottsy, Colonsay was fab apart from the midges which were the worst I have ever experienced.

@rual I wished we'd known about the tracks across rannoch moor - a friend of ours attempted to cross it the other year and strongly advised us not to. We'll have to do the other tracks you mentioned on a later trip.

 

[Pottsy]

Glad you had a great time Kirstie.

The midge thing is very much variable on the time of year of course, but I believe they can be a right pain! Were you camping?

This website is helpful, though I doubt it'll make people change plans.

http://www.midgeforecast.co.uk/2008/

 

[Kirstie]

Thanks Pottsy - we camped for half the time and the rest of it we were in youth hostels.

We wild camped on Colonsay because there aren't any campsites there - at least not official ones anyway. We found a beautiful deserted beach, inaccessible by roads and tracks. It was idyllic until midging hour and then it was like a virulent swarm! They were just everywhere. I was planning an early morning swim in the sea but had to abandon because I couldn't have made it in and out of the water in one piece! It was like we were part of a biological weapons experiment!

 

[Comatosed]

Sounds like a good trip! I've fancied going to Colonsay for a while, I think that'll be next on the list.

 

[Kirstie]

There's only 8 miles of road, but there's a bit of off road you can do as well to make up the miles...

 

[hubbike]

if you're ever keen to go back to mull there is a great land rover track beside loch frisa, I saw a sea eagle!!!

 

[Pottsy]

We hiked up around the northern part of the island, inaccessible by road, up and down the hills and beaches. Very beautiful place, white sandy beaches and no one around. I thought at the time that it would be a great place to wild camp. We even saw a pair of Golden Eagles (huge!!).

I plan to go back but probably sailing next time. Hopefully being at sea will help keep the midges away.

 

[Kirstie]

For the first time this year I've kept a log of all the bird life we've spotted and I was surprised how many different species we clocked!

Islay was definitely the most diverse, but on Mull we saw a sea eagle perched on a cliff, and I also caught a glimpse of a golden eagle hunting along the shores of a loch. It was spectacular - hopping/flapping its way along the beach in a lumbering way.

Other highlights include being divebombed by bats in Tayvallich as we cycled back from watching the sunset. They were too big for pipstrelles but I've not managed to work out what they were yet. We also saw a load of basking sharks feeding off the NW coast of colonsay.