chriswoody
Legendary Member
- Location
- Northern Germany
I've been involved in Outdoor Education pretty much all my working life as well as spending my free time outside. When I lived in the UK I spent many years traveling to Scotland for adventures, from Sea Kayaking to Winter Mountaineering. It's been over ten years now since my last visit and given the enormous expense and hassle of visiting, I decided if I was going back, it was going to be for a really big trip. For a long time now I've had my eyes on the Highland Trail 550, which traverses 550 miles of some of the remotest and challenging Highland terrain. The route was originally conceived by Alan Goldsmith and each May a group of intrepid souls gather in the town of Tyndrum to race the route. The current fastest time is 3 days and 5 hours an eye wateringly fast time. The route itself is not exactly easy, there is a lot of hike a bike, river crossings and other hazards, just completing the route is a massive achievement in itself. I knew for myself that it was probably a goal too far, but I wanted to just go and ride and see what happend, making things up as I went along.
Day One. 19th July 2024. 73,6 kilometers 1,345 metres ascent.
We roll out of Tyndrum early and onto the West Highland way, anxiety for what lies ahead sits heavy in my stomach. The weather is a typical highland drizzle and the rocks are greasy and slippery. It doesn't take long for me to start settling in though and before long the smell of the wet heather and the sheep bring back old memories and I start to feel at home in this vast landscape. Within an hour I have my first river crossing to contend with, not too deep, but enough to get my shoes wet. We've left the West Highland Way and our now heading East towards Glen Lyon.
The gravel road starts to contour the hillside and along the north shore of the Loch before pitching down onto a road and the Loch head. The road is quiet but I'm puzzled by the odd reaction of the first car I meet, It's only a short while later upon meeting the second car that I realise the issue, I'm on the wrong side of the road!! Stupid of me I really should have been more attentive, luckily it's a slow narrow road so no harm done but a salient lesson to pay more attention. I stop in the Glen Lyon tearooms for a lovely cup of coffee and some food, an aspect of cycling I really miss in Germany. After a lovely chat with some other cyclists it's back to the grind and I'm soon off-road again and back to a steep climb before dropping down to Loch Rannoch.
Smooth tarmac then brings me round to the last climb up to Loch Ericht, the views are truly stunning and the sun has popped out to say hello. The last two kilometres of the day are the hike a bike through the notorious Ben Alder bog, made even more miserable by the constant Cleg attacks, finally though we reach our overnight stop at Ben Alder Cottage and settle in for the night.
Day Two. 20th July 2024. 76 km 1460m ascent
Day two starts with the long push out of Ben Alder bay, occasionally I try to ride, but a combination of the steep rough terrain and the wide water bars all but make it impossible. It takes a while until finally we reach the bealach behind Ben Alder but the relief is short lived and the ride down is steep, technical and impeded once more by wide water bars that are too wide to ride safely, after three hours I'd still barely travelled 15 km.
The scenery is spectacular though and it's so wild and remote here, not a soul to be seen and the sun is shining it's a lovely warm day. After a period of deep bog stomping and bike hauling it's with great relief when i reach the firm gravel access road of a hydro scheme. I roll down the track and into the valley below, stopping for coffee and cake at the Wolftrax cafe. Setting off a few kilometres of road riding brings me to the last climb of the day the rough and demanding ascent of the Corrieyairack pass which at 778 metres high represents the highest point of the whole ride.
After a relentless hard climb a stunning 15 km descent awaits, a fun and demanding highlight of the ride all the way down to Fort Augustus at 25 metres. I celebrate with a Pizza as the heavens open up and I decide to bin my idea of wild camping and instead head to a campsite on the shore of Loch Ness.
Day Three. 21st July 2024. 78km 1360m ascent.
In what seems to be a developing pattern, the day started with a steep climb that went on for several kilometers then as the gradient relented the hard work began.
The trail peters out around the shores of Loch ma Stac and I'm reduced to hauling the bike and picking my way through the large rocks and stones that litter the Loch shore. Then after several kilometers of hard work it's on to the bog of despair, again like yesterday several hours of hard work left me only 15 kilometres into the day. The views as always though are impressive and along with the solitude leaves me in a peaceful and happy place.
After finally putting the bog behind me we reach a solid track and the downhill begins, reaching the valley floor we're back on tarmac for a while and the busy road soon disappears behind as I turn off onto a single track road down an isolated valley. After lunch by the river it's upwards and onto the path of a thousand puddles. Now I'd naively assumed at the planning stage that this path would literally be just that, puddles, oh no how wrong was I! many resembled small Lochans, there bottoms a quagmire that would swallow any wheels that were foolhardy to try and yes a thousand puddles is not much of an exaggeration.
There was no flow at all, constantly stopping to push and haul the bike through. Finally after many kilometres the path becomes more solid again and the speed picks up but it's a grind, the scenery is dull and the trail conspires to suck the life out of the ride. The final road kilometers roll slowly by and it's with relief as i reach Contin. I'd just missed the shop and decided to stay in the towns odd little campsite so I could re supply in the morning.
Day One. 19th July 2024. 73,6 kilometers 1,345 metres ascent.
We roll out of Tyndrum early and onto the West Highland way, anxiety for what lies ahead sits heavy in my stomach. The weather is a typical highland drizzle and the rocks are greasy and slippery. It doesn't take long for me to start settling in though and before long the smell of the wet heather and the sheep bring back old memories and I start to feel at home in this vast landscape. Within an hour I have my first river crossing to contend with, not too deep, but enough to get my shoes wet. We've left the West Highland Way and our now heading East towards Glen Lyon.
The gravel road starts to contour the hillside and along the north shore of the Loch before pitching down onto a road and the Loch head. The road is quiet but I'm puzzled by the odd reaction of the first car I meet, It's only a short while later upon meeting the second car that I realise the issue, I'm on the wrong side of the road!! Stupid of me I really should have been more attentive, luckily it's a slow narrow road so no harm done but a salient lesson to pay more attention. I stop in the Glen Lyon tearooms for a lovely cup of coffee and some food, an aspect of cycling I really miss in Germany. After a lovely chat with some other cyclists it's back to the grind and I'm soon off-road again and back to a steep climb before dropping down to Loch Rannoch.
Smooth tarmac then brings me round to the last climb up to Loch Ericht, the views are truly stunning and the sun has popped out to say hello. The last two kilometres of the day are the hike a bike through the notorious Ben Alder bog, made even more miserable by the constant Cleg attacks, finally though we reach our overnight stop at Ben Alder Cottage and settle in for the night.
Day Two. 20th July 2024. 76 km 1460m ascent
Day two starts with the long push out of Ben Alder bay, occasionally I try to ride, but a combination of the steep rough terrain and the wide water bars all but make it impossible. It takes a while until finally we reach the bealach behind Ben Alder but the relief is short lived and the ride down is steep, technical and impeded once more by wide water bars that are too wide to ride safely, after three hours I'd still barely travelled 15 km.
The scenery is spectacular though and it's so wild and remote here, not a soul to be seen and the sun is shining it's a lovely warm day. After a period of deep bog stomping and bike hauling it's with great relief when i reach the firm gravel access road of a hydro scheme. I roll down the track and into the valley below, stopping for coffee and cake at the Wolftrax cafe. Setting off a few kilometres of road riding brings me to the last climb of the day the rough and demanding ascent of the Corrieyairack pass which at 778 metres high represents the highest point of the whole ride.
After a relentless hard climb a stunning 15 km descent awaits, a fun and demanding highlight of the ride all the way down to Fort Augustus at 25 metres. I celebrate with a Pizza as the heavens open up and I decide to bin my idea of wild camping and instead head to a campsite on the shore of Loch Ness.
Day Three. 21st July 2024. 78km 1360m ascent.
In what seems to be a developing pattern, the day started with a steep climb that went on for several kilometers then as the gradient relented the hard work began.
The trail peters out around the shores of Loch ma Stac and I'm reduced to hauling the bike and picking my way through the large rocks and stones that litter the Loch shore. Then after several kilometers of hard work it's on to the bog of despair, again like yesterday several hours of hard work left me only 15 kilometres into the day. The views as always though are impressive and along with the solitude leaves me in a peaceful and happy place.
After finally putting the bog behind me we reach a solid track and the downhill begins, reaching the valley floor we're back on tarmac for a while and the busy road soon disappears behind as I turn off onto a single track road down an isolated valley. After lunch by the river it's upwards and onto the path of a thousand puddles. Now I'd naively assumed at the planning stage that this path would literally be just that, puddles, oh no how wrong was I! many resembled small Lochans, there bottoms a quagmire that would swallow any wheels that were foolhardy to try and yes a thousand puddles is not much of an exaggeration.
There was no flow at all, constantly stopping to push and haul the bike through. Finally after many kilometres the path becomes more solid again and the speed picks up but it's a grind, the scenery is dull and the trail conspires to suck the life out of the ride. The final road kilometers roll slowly by and it's with relief as i reach Contin. I'd just missed the shop and decided to stay in the towns odd little campsite so I could re supply in the morning.
Last edited:
