I’m having a go at doing a winter round of the Highland Trail leaving Sunday 1st of Dec.

More info and trackleaders below.

Cheers

Rich

Dotwatcher.cc intro

Trackleaders Winter HT550 page.

In case you run into problems within driving distance of Dingwall, PM me and I’ll give you my phone number.

As you know conditions can change really fast, but that’s what makes it fun. 🙂

Thanks Brian.

….. the lengths people will go to in order to avoid the midges… 😂

Should be fine weather for some fantastic pictures via your IG please.

Enjoy 👍

Buck, me it’s cold enough in the Shire right now, no wonder he has a beard. I hope he has a warm sleeping mat!

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My first crash. I tried to ride across the river and fell. Not into it, but on to it. Sheet ice. Bashed myself a bit, but should be OK. Soup and cake at Bridge of Balgie. #winwinter #ht550

A post shared by Rich and Tom. (@richpips) on Dec 1, 2019 at 6:01am PST

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If only Rapha could film it for us.
Best of luck .

I wonder if he’s aiming for Ben Alder cottage tonight?

How many hours of daylight in December?

How many hours of daylight in December?

Just under 7!

Officially 7 hours between sunrise and sunset but there’s quite a bit of leeway depending on the weather/sky. It was “light” fairly late this afternoon/evening as it was so clear.

Can’t believe it’s officially 7 hours! Years ago when regularly staying in the Glasgow area during Winter, it wasn’t unusual for it to take until 10.00 am to see daylight. Is there likely to be snow over much of the route?

Talking of light, there must be some logistics involved with what to use as well as getting it/them charged. Presumably there’s reduced opening times for cafes and shops, if they open at all?

What a bonkers challenge!

I wonder if he’s aiming for Ben Alder cottage tonight?

He’s just about to get to the end of the track by Loch Ericht, maybe an hour to the cottage. My daylight times from there to Culra vary from 1hr40 to 3hrs40, the latter was in winter. I think he’ll stop at the cottage.

I think he’ll stop at the cottage.

That’s his plan – bothies rather than wild camping just because it’s less kit to carry. he set off later than planned today due to various trains being cancelled last night on his way up there and the journey taking much longer than anticipated. He was originally planning a 7am start today but it got shifted back to 9am.

Talking of light, there must be some logistics involved with what to use as well as getting it/them charged.

He reckoned he had just over 100hrs of lighting power with him plus whatever he can top up with charging en-route. Not sure if the bike he’s on has dynamo lights or not TBH.

Looking at that shot above it would appear no dynamo – you can see the front hub.

His dot has done quite well in the last couple of hours.

Hard, hard bastard! Good luck.

I think he’s turned around, the dot seems to be further back than it was yesterday….

if you click show full history hes definitely going backwards …. i wonder if hes dropped something essential on trail ? here’s hoping hes not just going back to the start

I guess on the good side a lot of the ground will be frosty with a bit of luck. And it just takes a bit of a warmer sleeping bag! I might have gone for spiked tyres, too.

Still, a bit of a big ask. Good luck, I hope the apparent reversal is just a temporary blip!

Possible that yesterday’s fall has caused a niggly injury, or maybe just that conditions are too difficult. If he is heading back to Tyndrum then Rannoch Station might be an option.

I guess on the good side a lot of the ground will be frosty with a bit of luck

Temperatures “soared” overnight (5C here) so it’s more likely to be wet now.

Does look odd, but definitley looks like he’s retracing his steps. but even if he was scratching you’d expect an early start to get back to Tyndrum in daylight?

It was -3 riding into work this morning in Sub Tropical Berkshire, must be cold where he is!

Looking at the trail and the map,. he’s either heading to the road to get the train at Corrour, or retracing to picke something up. As above, he did have a fall yesterday so something cound have dropped out or he could have hurt himself more than he realsied at the time

The weather forecast isn’t great now, especially Thursday. Even now it’s warmed up a lot and there’s bands of rain sweeping across – I think a bit further north than where is is right now but carrying on into bad weather potentially with an injury from yesterday wouldn’t be a good plan.

Looking at the trail and the map,. he’s either heading to the road to get the train at Corrour,

There are two trains from Rannoch he can get today, he’s not far off there.

From where he is, it’s easiest to get to Rannoch station, basically retrace back to Bridge of Gaur then up the road.

Rannoch it is then

Yeah, he’s on the road to Rannoch now. About 6 miles to the station from Bridge of Gaur.

The next train south isn’t until 18:38 so he has a bit of hanging around. There does seem to be a bike space on the train though 🙂

The next train south isn’t until 18:38 so he has a bit of hanging around.

There’s one at 15.12 to Fort William according to Trainline…?

That would be north then?

Still, it might be warmer sitting on the train to FW then back to Tyndrum than hanging around at Rannoch for 5 hours.

That would be north then?

Ah that minor detail…?

I was assuming he’d head to FW for some food and then back. Save him hanging around Rannoch, the cafe there is closed now, there’s nothing else there!

Yeah. If I was sure of getting on the train back south, that’s what I would do.

Gets into FW at 16.09 so gives him just under 90 mins in FW station before the Glasgow service leaves. More than enough time to nip next door to Morrison’s or McDonald’s!

Let’s be optimistic. He might have broken the bike so could get to Nevis Cycles, get it fixed, train to Tyndrum and start again…

cinnamon_girl

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Can’t believe it’s officially 7 hours! Years ago when regularly staying in the Glasgow area during Winter, it wasn’t unusual for it to take until 10.00 am to see daylight.

It think your memory is playing tricks on you, you’ll always be daylight before 9am. Might be dull, but that’s still daylight! 😆

Lastest sunrise in the glasgow area is 8:47. Earliest sunset is 15:42.

1968 to 1971 we stayed on BST during the winter, so it was definitely darker later in the mornings.

Of course, I’d never ask a lady her age.

It think your memory is playing tricks on you, you’ll always be daylight before 9am. Might be dull, but that’s still daylight! 😆

Lastest sunrise in the glasgow area is 8:47. Earliest sunset is 15:42.

“Daylight” being how one interprets it!

Anyway, very bad luck to Richpips and hope you heal well. Well done nevertheless!

That’s a shame.

There’s next year though. 🙂

There’s next year though.

Winter has barely started..