Scottish winter bivvy
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Scottish winter bivvy
Well, despite Deidre, I made it this year. No real snow to contend with, instead it was near-freezing rain and sleet. It had all been quite lovely when I set off from home but got dark and dreich near Loch Insh before becoming thoroughly miserable on the way to Newtonmore and the pub. I was a bit behind schedule so didn't bother going via the bothy. Imagine my language when a message from Alasdair informed me that everyone else had gone to the bothy first
DSC_0080 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
DSC_0079 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Three beers, a pork & haggis burger and sweet potato fries later, we soldiered up to the bothy, getting wet and blown about on the way. The fire was on though and we had the place to ourselves - a group of seven.
The wood that Rob & Iona had brought was about finished so we retrieved the coal I'd taken in last week from the cubby hole in the attic. Who knew there was non-burning coal?
P1050367 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Rob eventually got it going (a star) and around midnight it was well banked up. Slowly, folk drifted off but it was around 3am before I finally settled into my sleeping bag, most of a bottle of Dalwhinnie having somehow disappeared.....
Cosy night in the bothy and the fire was still red in the morning. Morning was lovely - some fresh snow on the hills and relatively calm. Packing up after a barely-there breakfast, I headed off using the panniers I'd used to take the coal in, though I somehow managed to lose one a couple of miles from the bothy and had to turn back to retrieve it. Head down into what had again become a chilly, wet day I headed for the Loch Insh Boathouse cafe only to discover they'd had a power cut and everything was off. Bugger!
DSC_0086 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
DSC_0080 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
DSC_0079 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Three beers, a pork & haggis burger and sweet potato fries later, we soldiered up to the bothy, getting wet and blown about on the way. The fire was on though and we had the place to ourselves - a group of seven.
The wood that Rob & Iona had brought was about finished so we retrieved the coal I'd taken in last week from the cubby hole in the attic. Who knew there was non-burning coal?
P1050367 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Rob eventually got it going (a star) and around midnight it was well banked up. Slowly, folk drifted off but it was around 3am before I finally settled into my sleeping bag, most of a bottle of Dalwhinnie having somehow disappeared.....
Cosy night in the bothy and the fire was still red in the morning. Morning was lovely - some fresh snow on the hills and relatively calm. Packing up after a barely-there breakfast, I headed off using the panniers I'd used to take the coal in, though I somehow managed to lose one a couple of miles from the bothy and had to turn back to retrieve it. Head down into what had again become a chilly, wet day I headed for the Loch Insh Boathouse cafe only to discover they'd had a power cut and everything was off. Bugger!
DSC_0086 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
Re: Scottish winter bivvy
3am bedtime after whisky, sounds great, sorry I missed it. Looking forward to hearing other accounts.
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
There was chat of a BB Summer bivvy Ray. Maybe we'll finally meet then!
Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Yes, I'd be up for that.ScotRoutes wrote:There was chat of a BB Summer bivvy Ray. Maybe we'll finally meet then!
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Tarf Hotel in springtime would be a suitable adventure.
Our trip back to Dalwhinnie was ‘interesting’. Sloppy snow on the trail and then the Sustrans made the fat bike ideal - possibly the only time ever that a fat bike was the most suitable bike for a Sustrans path.
Returning to the van, snowed in and it was only the valiant efforts of Blair and Jamie on the shovels that got mine free. With hindsight, I should have put the snow chains on first, as they made a huge difference getting back to the road. A rear wheel drive van is definitely not the optimum vehicle for winter adventuring...
Our trip back to Dalwhinnie was ‘interesting’. Sloppy snow on the trail and then the Sustrans made the fat bike ideal - possibly the only time ever that a fat bike was the most suitable bike for a Sustrans path.
Returning to the van, snowed in and it was only the valiant efforts of Blair and Jamie on the shovels that got mine free. With hindsight, I should have put the snow chains on first, as they made a huge difference getting back to the road. A rear wheel drive van is definitely not the optimum vehicle for winter adventuring...
Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Sorry I missed this again - it sounds great. Maybe next year.
Did you try candle wax to get the fire going? There is usually plenty of that around in a bothy and it works a treat.ScotRoutes wrote: Who knew there was non-burning coal? Rob eventually got it going (a star) and around midnight it was well banked up.
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
We had a fire to get the coal going. It was still remarkably reluctant!
Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Was it smokeless coal? That's got a reputation for being harder to light.
Shame I missed it too but my man flu is now in its fifth week!!! Over the worst but still sniffly and almost constantly tired. Going to Doc's next week to see if the tiredness is something else.
Shame I missed it too but my man flu is now in its fifth week!!! Over the worst but still sniffly and almost constantly tired. Going to Doc's next week to see if the tiredness is something else.
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Oh probably. Stu will no doubt be along soon to castigate me for not knowing about coal types.
- fatbikephil
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Got the low down from Rob last week - tsk. Maybe next year should be tee total
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
To help wrap this up...
Out for more VeloViewer squares today using parts of the route that Blair put together. Weather was a bit chilly though it warmed up occasionally when the sun put in an appearance.
Tracks were mainly firm, shiny snow with some ice puddles beneath. Some gentle care required!!
P1050448 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
P1050452 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
P1050453 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
The track between Loch Cuaich and Phones was much better than I'd expected. A proper firm (rocky in places) surface, not one of the boggy moorland tracks.
Out for more VeloViewer squares today using parts of the route that Blair put together. Weather was a bit chilly though it warmed up occasionally when the sun put in an appearance.
Tracks were mainly firm, shiny snow with some ice puddles beneath. Some gentle care required!!
P1050448 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
P1050452 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
P1050453 by Colin Cadden, on Flickr
The track between Loch Cuaich and Phones was much better than I'd expected. A proper firm (rocky in places) surface, not one of the boggy moorland tracks.
- fatbikephil
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Re: Scottish winter bivvy
Aye done this a few times - a nice alternative to NCN 7. You'd almost think it was winter looking at those picsScotRoutes wrote: The track between Loch Cuaich and Phones was much better than I'd expected. A proper firm (rocky in places) surface, not one of the boggy moorland tracks.