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I’m in Oban for a week with the family, brought the bike with the intention of having a ride from Victoria bridge to Taynuilt which seems to be a rite of passage for round these parts. However arriving in biblical rain yesterday and knowing most of the route follows and crosses the river several times, was worried it would be too epically wet for a solo trip without paddles!
Anybody with experience know how deep/impassable/boggy it is likely to be, was thinking I’d give it a few days to calm down, but it is a commit or backtrack route.
I don’t want to do an epic trudge for the sake of it, but was looking forward to it and most of the riding looks off-road but not overly challenging, which seemed ideal. Just worried about the conditions after 65mm of rainfall in the area yesterday!
Can't speak for Kinglass, but we live next to a river in Glasgow, and last night was the highest I've seen it in almost 20 years. The level of rainfall yesterday was unbelievable
This might not answer your question, but hopefully whets your appetite at least!
You're doing it in the right direction as at least you'll hit the 'problem' areas early in the ride, rather than late.
The biggest river crossing was just after (in your direction) Clashgour. It was wide and would be a bit daunting in spate, however there is a bridge further up river which is accessible via some river bank singletrack. You would still need to cross the smaller tributary flowing down from Stob Gabhar though. The good news is that this is only 4km from Victoria Bridge, so if it's impassable you won't have over-committed.
Next challenge would be the marshy area about 3km west of Loch Dochard. There were three fords here, all quite small though. There is a bridge signposted but I didn't bother looking for it as it was a slight backtrack. You might want to allow for a good half hour's footling about here as I think from the first ford to the footbridge would by 0.5km of possible pushing to the bridge (there's no obvious path on google map satellite view).
After that I think all the tracks would be well drained enough. The Nepalese style single plank bridge across one of the bigger stream crossings could be exciting but the river below was mostly boulders so you could probably hop across even during spate.
I get the impression that Glen Kinglass probably drains quite well anyway, the rivers are big and wide enough. I'd try my luck and just enjoy the scenery and surroundings if you're forced to backtrack.
Oh, and keep something in reserve for the final section towards Taynuilt, three deceptively difficult landrover track climbs, not ideal if you're already knackered!
SEPA is your friend:
https://www2.sepa.org.uk/waterlevels/default.aspx?sm=t
The nearest river is the Strae and that's pretty much back downl:
https://www2.sepa.org.uk/waterlevels/?sd=t&lc=133088
"The level of rainfall yesterday was unbelievable"
72mm at Tyndrum according to the MetOffice.
I recorded 46mm in my back garden in Stirling 🙂
Local rivers were floody late last night but are back down:
https://www.stirling.gov.uk/planning-building-the-environment/flooding/river-levels/
Thanks for the info. Should have known about the river info. I may ahem work for a water company although not remotely on the sharp end. Inspiration from the 13thfloormonk. I will be doing it on short travel full suss 29er so should be OK. I think I might give it a couple more days to calm down and go for it at the weekend
The river at Kinglas does drain comparatively quickly to lower lying rivers. Most water drains off the surrounding Munros straight into the rocky basin. That means in bad weather the path through to Loch Etive is pretty much a river too. A couple of dry days later it can return to reasonable conditions. If this weather pattern continues I’d take a wetsuit.
I have it on good authority that the midges up there can bite through a wetsuit. I'd wear a suit of armour, treated in Putolene, natch.
The bog trot bit in the middle will be absolutely minging. The river crossings should be fine though. The bouncy bridge will be as disconcerting as ever.