Im planning a 4 day trip sometime when the wetaher improves to do the following:

Day 1 – Ciaran Path, Kinlocheven Stay here at Hostel – just cos I read it was good on other thread.
Day 2 – Maybe up to Nevis Red staying in ft William do so uplifts on the old gondola.
Day3& 4 – The West Highland Tour with a night in a bothy at Meannanach – from the wild trails book.

This is just an idea for now, any opinions? What would you do differently? I would like to do a down on the devils staircase from pictures on the other thread – does anyone have any routes I can put into Google Earth?

When would you do it (midges, weather)? Tubless? Must have equipment for the overnighter – we wont have trailers just backpacks.

You could make that into a very tasty loop if you rode:

Day 1: Spean Bridge to Meanachan bothy (maybe the other way round from your guide book, but this offers better riding I think).
Day 2: Down from Meanachan to Kinlochleven via one of several great descents, breakfast at the Tailrace, up and over the staircase to Glen Coe, then back up and over, finishing with the Ciaran path and a night in the hostel.
Day 3: West Highland Way to Fort William.
Day 4: Red Route, train home.

I'd definitely run tubeless, with burly tyres. Lots of rocks and jagged waterbars. The best weather would be may or perhaps september. May is early midge season, september is the beginning of the end. I'd be more worried about the Kinlochleven clegs, they bite through clothing!

I'd just carry a sleeping bag and a mat. Worst case scenario is that the bothy was full and you had to descend all the way to Kinlochleven to stay the night.

Did a ride in September last year starting at the Clachaig Inn and headed back out along the A82 and then up and over the Devil's Staircase, up the Blackwater Dam and down the Ciaran Path into Glencoe, all in all about 5 hours of riding

Photos here

Glencoe Sept 09

May is a good time to do it. Myself I have given up trying to carry overnight gear and ride singletrack. Enough kit to make the camping / bothying comfortable ruins the ride, take little enough kit to not compromise the riding then the overnight is miserable. You can get frost any month of the year.

Other opinions are available but thats mine from numerous attempts at this. Ride light and enjoy the singletrack and stay in a pub. Take plenty of comfy kit and forget the singeltrack. Shivering in your sleeping bag in wet kit without a decent diner in you – been there and never again

13th thanks for that info. I will look into that. Busy scanning the OS online now trying to map it out.

I would leave the Car at Fort Wililam I think.

I was thinking about giving the school hols a miss with the walkers on staircase. Back end of May might be an option.