I seen a few good posts on here and you tube and Google earth regarding access on BIKES
But as kielder topography changes now and then
My qwestion is ....can this bothy be accessed by a rideable route from falstone or is it pushing ?
It looks real close to a loggers rd on Google earth but that may now be gone
Thanks all

It's easy as far as NY 75131 88500 - forest track.
The last 250m or so is on a rough path through clear fell - a push but not for long

If you look on Bing aerials, the path is clear

As Phil says, easy apart from the last couple of hundred metres which is a bit of a push. We visited it in 2018, trip report here - https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpB ... 55#p169555. I'd imagine the saplings around the place have grown a little in the intervening six years. There was very little firewood when we visited. Quite small, possibly the smallest of the Kielder bothies.

Thanks both for that
We could handle a short push ok
We may even do kershopehead bothy and visit the downed Halifax which is nearby on glenghu hill but again is meant to be hard to access

lookrider wrote: ↑Mon Jan 29, 2024 1:51 pm Thanks both for that
We could handle a short push ok
We may even do kershopehead bothy and visit the downed Halifax which is nearby on glenghu hill but again is meant to be hard to access

There is a visible path from the forestry road to the bothy, it's just easier to push than to ride so we're not talking hoiking your bike over knee high tussocks more rolling it over exposed tree roots. From memory there's a small ditch or two to cross but might be wrong about that.

There was a low level signpost to it off the fireroad when I was last there 3 or 4 years ago.
EDIT: as shown in pic in whitestone's BAM write up.
The immediate area had been clear felled, so can't see it will have changed much since. I approached very laboriously along the (increasingly non-existent) BW from the south/south east.

boxelder wrote: ↑Tue Jan 30, 2024 8:55 am There was a low level signpost to it off the fireroad when I was last there 3 or 4 years ago.
EDIT: as shown in pic in whitestone's BAM write up.
The immediate area had been clear felled, so can't see it will have changed much since. I approached very laboriously along the (increasingly non-existent) BW from the south/south east.

I seen that small sign post on the helpful blog at white stones
I'm sure we will find it if it is indeed flttingford we visit ...getting lost is part of the adventure
Many a good pub/route/place if interest etc was only found because I got lost in first place

Was considering Flittingford as a bad weather plan B last month - didn't go in the end, but still thinking I should give it a go sometime, since I've never been. Will report back if I get there before you.

Visited last night in dark ...for info. The sign post on the fire rd / footpath has gone
The footpath entrance has an obvious gap in the pine tree line
In the dark we could not see the bothy from the fire rd even with decent torches
in the morning depart the bothy is clearly visible from fire rd and maybe 60metres away

Cheers for the info

I'm relatively new to this form of outdoor activity
Done plenty of camping at sites
I've realised how heavy water can be to lugg around
I also noticed there's a water source at flittingford just by the bothy watch sign
This source seems man made as there's a scaffold board restricting the run off and then a drain pipe spouting water which looks like an attempt to make it easier to "pour" into a canister
The immediate surrounding area is very wet and boggy and I would not dream of collecting that water ..but this source looks there for a reason

So the qwestion is
How do you know that water is ok to drink from ?
Is it ok to collect then boil ?
Is them bottles with filters on ok to drink from as well ?

I tried a search on here but as I put in water source there's piles come up as water is mentioned

Thanks people

WC Fields springs to mind.

Not the expert as it's years since I've had to purify water. Used to use puritabs (chlorine, bleugh) then switched to iodine. These days I'll take water from highland streams, but I've got one of them purifier devices (actually my wife's after a trip to Malawi) and would use that in the above scenario I think. Water for cooking would be boiled.

Depending on how turbid (cloudy/dirty) the water is, then filter to remove the particulates and bigger Protozoa. Then bring to boil. No need to have a rolling boil as is often recommended, you just need to get it above 70C (or thereabouts) to kill off any remaining bacteria and viruses.

I did post a link to a set of videos (not mine) on this along with ones on fuel efficiency. The rolling boil recommendation comes about because it’s quite hard to tell when water is at any other temperature. The recommendation is also to boil for five minutes but it actually only needs a few seconds but does depend on how much particulate matter is in the water as the nasties bind to the particles.

Bothy water supplies tend to be created (or signed) by the MBA and will generally be the best available. I'm always a little dubious given the tendency of people to ignore the toilet advice around bothies so for cold drinking water will always either filter or find a remote source on the way in that I trust. I'll use the bothy source for cooking and brews.

Was thinking on lines of this ...there promotion videos suggest it's all ok to drink and it will be cold as well

Yup, or sawyer equiv, or MSR trailshot which lifts water out of a puddle effectively!

Water bottles with filters are good for UK as plenty of water/ east to fill *. MSR if you need to filter a puddle

* I try to collect as high as possible and fast flowing / away from agriculture.
Churches are a great option for road riding ( anything with a garden/ recent graves/ will have an external water tap... Probably.