HT550 The northern loop

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whitestone
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HT550 The northern loop

Post by whitestone »

While everyone was enjoying the WRT or the Cairngorms Loop, Cath and I headed north to recce the Northern Loop. Virtually no rain, one very light shower on Bealach Horn, the wind was so strong that the clouds hadn't time to do their thing!

Bivvied at the split boulder at Lone and at Suileag bothy.
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Mariner
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by Mariner »

Are conditions wet/dry and what about river/loch levels?
I know they can change very quickly depending on weather.
Any midge yet?
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whitestone
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by whitestone »

Very dry. Only got my feet wet once - on the burn below Bealach Horn. Some snow patches on the Bealach.

No midges yet.
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ianpv
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by ianpv »

Bit windy for the midges I expect!
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whitestone
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by whitestone »

ianpv wrote:Bit windy for the midges I expect!
They were hanging on for grim death :lol:

At one point while pushing our bikes on the Ledmore Traverse we were going cross wind for a while rather than into it. The back wheel of Cath's bike bounced off a rock and the wind kept the rear of the bike horizontal for a couple of seconds while she hung on to the bars :shock:

Will post some photos up later tonight.
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whitestone
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by whitestone »

A bit more flesh to the original post along with some photos. The overall plan was to park near Rosehall and ride the loop over the next couple of days just taking things relatively steady with bivvies planned for Lone/Achfary and the bothy at Suileag near Suilven which would give two days' riding of 75Km and one of 30Km or thereabouts. This was touring and checking things out rather than racing, there'd be time for that later in the month! Surprisingly it all went pretty much to plan.

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The road up Glen Cassley is a steady intro but after an interruption of a couple of gravel it rears up at the head of the glen as you take a hydro-electric access road over the ridge to the next glen. Then onto the track leading to Gobernuisgach Lodge (just how do you pronounce that?) and the start of the meat of this section: the climb up Glen Golly and round to Bealach Horn.

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The first couple of Km are on reasonable quad bike track but then it's a mixture of riding and pushing. The stalker's track leading to Bealach Horn is obviously no longer used by the estate so has fallen into disrepair, it's mostly rideable but there's the occasional hole to avoid. Eventually things steepen as it drops down to the burn flowing out of An Dubh Loch. The ground here is mainly peat and being on a steep slope has slipped away so that the track despite being just visible on the ground will disappear over a 2m slip face. A bit of bike hand me down and we get to the burn.

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The joy of another kilometre or so of pushing up an impossibly steep vehicle track. Even this looks unused as there's lichen and moss growing on the track. Eventually the Allt Horn is crossed and things become rideable again. Bealach Horn is stunning with the evening light glistening off the lochans below Arkle. The wind has picked up though and the sunshine is deceiving as it's pretty nippy standing there. A light shower (our only rain of the weekend) produces a rainbow which just happens to pick out Cath as she approaches the top.

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There's snow here still, just the occasional patch but a reminder of winter's long grip in the highlands. The descent is long and in places loose. At one point the wind is strong enough to blow Cath off her bike, fortunately no damage done. By the time we get to the split boulder at the bottom of the descent it's getting late so time to bivy. Even at the leeward side of the wood we are still in the wind but it will have to do.

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It's so dry that in the morning there's no condensation on the tarp so it's easy to pack away. Today starts with one big hill over to Kylesku then lots of short steep ones on the bumpy road round to Drumbeg. A second breakfast at the Kylesku Hotel and snacks at Drumbeg Stores then we need to get to Lochinver before the Pie Shop shuts.

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The problem is that now we are riding into the wind and it's really hard work, even having to pedal down 20% gradients. In the interests of time we skip the Almevich tracks and take the road to Lochinver. The Pie Shop was shut. As was everything else apart from a bar by the quayside. "We're really busy this lunchtime" Which seemed an odd thing to say as the bar was large enough for everyone in there to swing a cat in each arm.

One soup and one toastie later ( I know how to treat a girl!) and it's back into the wind and along to to Suileag bothy. Even in the bothy it was pretty noisy with the wind howling past, bivvying out would have been "interesting". An early night, serenaded by the 50s collection emanating from the phone of one of the walkers also stopping there.

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Up early to more wind and the Ledmore Traverse. In photos you think it looks rideable, what's the fuss? In practice it's as easy to walk. Factor in the wind and the riding that I managed was hard work. Even the road back from Ledmore to Oykel Bridge is slow: we are heading directly into the gale. Lunch at the Oykel Bridge Hotel then back to the car narrowly avoiding a collision with a deer - it burst out of the woods to one side and ran between our bikes.

Heard my first cuckoo of the year back at Invercassley. Now just the long drive back home.

Some more words and shots here http://bobwightman.blogspot.co.uk/2017/ ... hland.html
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Ian
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by Ian »

Nice one Bob. That last image of Cath pushing down that narrow path; last year the GPX appeared to route around on the shore of the loch. This was different to the previous time I rode it where it went along the narrow path further in land. I'm not sure which was the better option... I think the shore, but the riding was tricky as the beach was so loose.

Incidentally, I created a segment on Strava for the Ledmore Traverse: https://www.strava.com/segments/12275747
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whitestone
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by whitestone »

Ian wrote:Nice one Bob. That last image of Cath pushing down that narrow path; last year the GPX appeared to route around on the shore of the loch. This was different to the previous time I rode it where it went along the narrow path further in land. I'm not sure which was the better option... I think the shore, but the riding was tricky as the beach was so loose.

Incidentally, I created a segment on Strava for the Ledmore Traverse: https://www.strava.com/segments/12275747
John Fettis is a hike-a-bike animal!
By the time we got there I saw a track and went for it! This year's track appears to be along the beach as well at least as far as the point from where I took that shot. The areas of shingle that I came across were very hard work - had about a 50% success ratio in riding them. With an overnight at Suileag we weren't going to appear on the leaderboard for that segment :lol:
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padonbike
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Re: HT550 The northern loop

Post by padonbike »

Great photos. I wouldn't go so far as to say, "fond memories" ..... :roll:
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