240km by bike, 20km on foot, 2km by boat and 200m swimming in the highlands.
Day one
Bonar Bridge – Croick – Ullapool – Altnaharrie – Dundonnell
Day two
Dundonnell – Achneigie – Shenevall – Gleann Na Muice Beag (Ruadh Stac Mor & An Mhaigdhean on foot)
Day three
Down to Carnmore – Poolewe – Tollie Path – Road to Kinlochewe – Coulin Pass – Craig – Glenuaig
Day four
(Maoile Lunndaidh on foot) – Glenuaig Lodge – Gleann Fhiodhaig – Scardroy – Strathconnon – Muir of Ord – Beauly
My Turner Flux with Wildcat harnesses, Jandd frame bag and camelbak. Quite happy with the setup. Not too much of a compromise on maneuverability, drainage bar bunny hops possible and ultimately – still fun to ride.
My riding buddy’s Scott Racing with rack/panniers/bombers. Only time I was jealous of the old school setup was that the two 40 litre panniers needed less fiddling to repack than some of my bags.
Looking back up Loch Achall after passing Rhioddorach lodge
I’m on a boat.
The harbourmaster is a total gentleman and all round super dude and saves us a very long journey by road to Dundonnell.
Sunset over An Teallach.
Climbing from Corrie Hallie into the Fisherfield.
Descending to Achnegie.
Singletrack beyond Achnegie looking towards Beinn Dearg Beag and Beinn Derag Mor. Things got a little more technical in here and while I stalled in a few places I really enjoyed the challenge of the riding.
The lunch stop tranquility at Shenevall is briefly disturbed by an unexpected Hercules flypast.
Crossing the Abhain Na Sealga. Only knee deep and lazily flowing into the loch.
Tricky, but mainly ridable.
Still rideable, but not for much longer.
Lovely singletrack on the plateau following the push/heft/carry up to the top of Gleann Na Muice Beag.
Lochan Fada, Slioch and Torridon beyond from the craggy summit of An Mhaigdean. A very fair maiden today. Bikes did not come up here, although the pony path that runs to the saddle between Ruadh Stac Mor and An Mhaigdhean looks like it might be pretty good.
Ruadh Stac Mor and Fuar Loch Mor.
An inversion in the evening sunshine. Carnmore and the Fionn and Dubh Lochs hiding down in the cloud.
Not a bad spot to wake up.
Fresh coffee, oatcakes with cheese and chorizo for breakfast. Hop on the bike and descend to Carnmore. This is a very good way to start the day.
Carnmore causeway after we descend into the clag.
The Tollie Path. When its good, its very very good and when its bad its awful.
A refreshing dip in loch Coulin.
Coulin Pass looking toward An Teallach and Beinn Eighe.
Which way?
Clag in a bag.
Another day, another inversion. Cloud obscuring Loch Monar from Carn nam Fiaclan.
Gleann Fhiodhaig track. Unfortunately, It’s not all like this, but eventually it gets good and spits us out into Strathconnon to spin down to Beauly for showers, steak and beer 🙂
Wow, that’s an amazing set of photos and a great looking route. After moving up here last year, I’m now thinking a week long bivvy trip may be an ideal honeymoon…. 🙂
Thanks folks, glad you like the photos. I always enjoy ride reports when stuck behind a computer of a Monday morning so thought I’d pop this up for others in the same predicament.
Rode from the 6-9 of June. One of those rare times when leave and weather patterns magically align themselves.
Will dig out the GPX and pop it up somewhere when I get home later (It’s just a line drawn on to estimate mileage rather than a live track).
Just discovered the McMoonter/Boblo coast to coast thread. Fantastic stuff 🙂 don’t know how I missed that one first time round… Not that I’m avoiding work and looking at routes for more rides 😉
Glances at map, checks route summary. Yup, that’ll have me thinking distracted thoughts for the rest of the day. Pics of perfect conditions just in case that alone doesn’t remind me that it’s too long since I’ve ridden those tracks. Good work.
Fabulous – and the weather gods were obviously with you. Can you please let me know the next time you are going so I can plan a trip at the same time??
Bloody hell! Those are some stunning photos, got a genuine homesicky lump in my throat for Strath na Sealga right now, one of my favourite nights in the highlands was sitting outside Shenavall watching a snipe drumming across the bog.