Deeside Trail (part thereof) picture heavy

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whitestone
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Deeside Trail (part thereof) picture heavy

Post by whitestone »

After a very sleep deprived night camping by Loch Morlich, yes you numpties sound does travel through thin nylon more easily than a brick wall! Then an absolute deluge just after we pitched the tent by the new car park at Loch Muick leading to a very dreich morning we were a bit knackered. We were going to head home but having a coffee in Ballater the sun came out and we decided to do the upper half of the Deeside Trail https://deesidetrail.com/.

Somewhat annoyingly the ride headed straight back up to Loch Muick but doesn't take the road but tracks firstly to the east then on the west side of the glen and is really quite pleasant.

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Just before the loch the route turns sharp right and follows the standard path up to Lochnagar. This is initially through a fine stand of trees then opens out and becomes rocky for about 800m of pushing before easing again to the col.

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The effort is worth it though as you are rewarded with a long, long descent followed by a steady traverse past the Gelder Shiel bothy and then another long descent to the road.

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Once in Braemar it was time for some cake!

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I thought that the route up to the Linn of Dee followed the Cairngorm Loop but it actually takes a line on the moorland to the south. This is all nice riding, occasionally technical in places.

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We then crossed the Dee to pass by Mar Lodge. It looked like there was a wedding on, we did consider gatecrashing the reception but cycling shorts and BB shirts might just have stood out from the penguin suits :lol:

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Not from him you don't!

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We had decided against doing the "long" loop and so just followed the Lui up to Derry Lodge and our camp for the night. Cath couldn't believe how "close" we were to Aviemore.

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We spent a little while getting everything dry after last night's deluge hence no fly on the tent.

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The NTS ranger paid a visit to make sure that no-one was lighting fires. No-one was so she was happy. There must have been 25 tents up there but it was quieter than just four at Loch Morlich. A lazy start in the morning saw us heading back down the way we'd come to pick up the track through the Clais Fernaig. I've walked through this some years ago but not ridden it. Really good techy riding, there was just a 50m section by the lochan that defeated me - I was bouncing around like I was on a pogo stick not a bike :lol:

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Dropping down into Glen Quoich easy tracks led up the glen. The last time I'd been here we'd been climbing on Beinn a Bhuird (the hill in the shot) and had descended a bulldozed track that came down just behind the righthand skyline. Fortunately this has now been filled in but I believe it's still a footpath and makes a techy MTB descent.

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At the top of the glen you ride through thinning stands of Scots pine. There's one or two trees fallen across the path but other than that it's OK if quite tiring as it's all uphill.

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Then once you leave those you need to cross the Quoich Water. You aren't going to have dry feet from here on so there's no real point in trying to keep them so.

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Once up the hill you get on to this really well surfaced stalker's track (it leads from the top of Glen an t' Slugain where the Secret Howff is situated up towards The Sneck which is the col between Beinn a Bhuird and Ben Avon)

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Leaving that at an absolutely mahoosive drainage ditch we climbed up onto the broad ridge and began the descent into Glen Gairn.

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Ridable in parts depending on your skill levels but there are some sections that are just easier to walk, it's generally a case of knowing when to admit defeat.

Lower down at a curious wall built across the floor of the glen but no higher you get onto a good path once again

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Eventually you come to the ford across the Gairn, on this occasion it came about halfway up our shins and wasn't particularly cold. This is just below the fancy shooting hut you pass on the Cairngorm Loop at the start of the climb up Cullardoch.

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Heading down the lower part of the glen is just a blast on a good estate track.

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This got me thinking: we'd driven over the Lecht from Tominoul to Ballater, what if it had been decided to use the lower part of Glen Gairn, cross over by Loch Builg and down Glen Avon instead? It's 150m lower than the Lecht but maybe it snowed in more in the past. That would have eaten into the eastern side of the Cairngorms by a massive amount and made everything feel much less remote.

By the time we got to the Bridge of Gairn we'd had enough, the heat and a lack of food being the main factors so we just headed along the road back to Ballater.
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ScotRoutes
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Re: Deeside Trail (part thereof) picture heavy

Post by ScotRoutes »

Was that Sunday?

I was at the bridge over the Gairn at Loch Builg about 13:30.on Monday. :lol:
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whitestone
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Re: Deeside Trail (part thereof) picture heavy

Post by whitestone »

No it was Friday and Saturday. On the Sunday we did an easy ride around Loch Muick then yesterday morning we went looking for the Secret Howff. This was actually an evil plan on my part to piss Phil off as I knew he'd had a couple of attempts to find it. Unfortunately we didn't find it so the plan didn't work out. :lol: (I now know where it is so I'll be able to find it)
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fatbikephil
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Re: Deeside Trail (part thereof) picture heavy

Post by fatbikephil »

We must have come very close on Saturday Bob as I rode up Glen Avon / Builg, into glen Gairn and over to Deeside between about 11.30 and 14:00!
Looks like an ace trip overall - well done!
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