Highland Trail 2019

[j.c.gillies]

Seems Alan was kind enough to give me a place so I can exorcise my 2013 demons. Now, where do I find a list of bothies on route?

[postierich]

Bothies are noisy and usually busy at that time of year best making your own shelter IMHO. Quite hard to plan I reckon on an event like that as anything could happen to scupper any well made plans.
Rich

[slarge]

Bothys are on the MBA website, but there are lots of impromptu shelters (toilets in Kinlochewe for example), and many spots where a bivvy is just as good. Theres lots on the various blogs and writeups in previous threads on here also.

Much of the p lanning should be around foodstops, and sleep stops a way of getting to the food places when they are open.......

[j.c.gillies]

I didn't have a plan in 2013 but packed a bivi bag and knew where the food was. I only spent one night in a bothy but it was the by far the most comfortable night so I'm keen to repeat that if it's an option. And I'll always pack a bivi as plans never work out. A new sleeping bag would be nice.

[touch]

Bothys are on the MBA website, but there are lots of impromptu shelters (toilets in Kinlochewe for example)

Those toilets were locked when I arrived there last year :(

Some bothies (like Shenavall and Suileag) will probably be busy but others (Hydro bothy) will only have HT riders.

[Mart]

I made use of the Kinlochewe toilets last year - it was the only thing in town open after midnight where we could shelter from the rain

[slarge]

Or you have the Teahouse bothy or there is a wooden smoking shelter in the pub garden opposite the toilets in Kinlochewe..

If you keep your eyes open there are options in most villages, and in the sticks also.

[whitestone]

There's lots of options for shelter - I've got around 50 between Ben Alder Cottage and the second visit to Fort Augustus on my GPS. Some are very cheeky and others are a little way off-route.

[fatbikephil]

I do recall tales of a certain well known endurance racer doing a fair bit of B&E into various sheds back in 2015.....
Other impromptu shelters available at various convenient points :- bus shelters, Dornie Community centre (used by another well known round the world rider), pipes, trailers, trucks, containers, wood sheds (eh Bob?!), ruined castles, churches and the powerline shed above Glen Morriston.

Alan is well known for patronising various hotels around the route so don't discount the luxury option.

The only none MBA bothy is at Corrimony just past Loch Ma Stack. In 2014 it was stowed out but only a handful used in in '15. Best not to rely on them, particularly on the bank holiday weekend.

[whitestone]

I spotted that woodshed on Google streetview

My last night was in one of the new buildings associated with the hydro scheme just below The Teahouse bothy but that's probably full of machinery and locked now.

[sean_iow]

My last night was in one of the new buildings associated with the hydro scheme just below The Teahouse bothy but that's probably full of machinery and locked now.

It was finished when I rode by this year, the lights were on and I could hear the hum of machinery so you'd not get much sleep there now

Edit, obviously I rode by last year, 2018, but I'd forgotten it is now 2019

[Richpips]

A previously used woodshed (2016) was chocca with wood this year when we passed.

I can only think of two occasions over 5 sorties where I've encountered a non 550 person at any of the bothies.

James, read our writeups and you'll find most of them.

[PJG]

Other impromptu shelters available at various convenient points :- bus shelters, Dornie Community centre (used by another well known round the world rider), pipes, trailers, trucks, containers, wood sheds (eh Bob?!), ruined castles, churches and the powerline shed above Glen Morriston.

Pipes... Sounded like a good idea, not actually very comfortable !

https://photos.app.goo.gl/fwEwBHZRDzJgtzVU7

[j.c.gillies]

A previously used woodshed (2016) was chocca with wood this year when we passed.

I can only think of two occasions over 5 sorties where I've encountered a non 550 person at any of the bothies.

James, read our writeups and you'll find most of them.

Sounds like an excuse for a cuppa and some good reading.

[AlasdairMc]

The only none MBA bothy is at Corrimony just past Loch Ma Stack.

There are others on the route, not all area officially recognised as bothies but they make acceptable dosses.

Tighachrochadair, about 600m off the track of a thousand puddles.
Lubachlaggan (my lodging in 2014), which is a few miles up from Inchbae Lodge
Lone (sometimes locked)
Larachantivore emergency shelter
Carnmore cow shed
Great Glen Way open shelter thing


I’ve never had trouble finding a place to sleep, although admittedly my standards for accommodation are pretty low

[fatbikephil]

Oh aye, forgot Carnmore - a bit of a dump but I had a very pleasant nights kip there in '15.
Still going to take my tarp though...

[AlasdairMc]

Oh aye, forgot Carnmore - a bit of a dump but I had a very pleasant nights kip there in '15.
Still going to take my tarp though...

I read the book ‘A Hundred Years in the Highlands’ which was about the Inverewe estate and its evolution from the 1840s onwards. Back then, it was a dump too:

We arrived in the gloaming at Cam Mor, to find
things in a terrible mess in the bothy. It seemed
a few days before Grant and the boy got there, a passing
herd of cattle belonging to the laird, being bothered
with the heat and the flies, had pushed open the door
of the bothy and taken refuge in it, which was not
difficult, as the door was barely hanging by one hinge.

[Mart]

Lubachlaggan was a s***hole when we passed, the sheep had got into both buildings and caused a whole lot of mess

we found the otter hide just past Deanish lodge instead which was rather smart

[fatbikephil]

we found the otter hide just past Deanish lodge instead which was rather smart

Sssh that's meant to be secret

I guess you are not going to be knackered enough to doss in a sheep shed on day two so Lubachlaggan is out. (unless you reach it on day 1 of course )

When I arrived at Carnmore at 10.30 after a 19 hour day it looked like a luxury hotel! And I had a divan bed to sleep on

[Mart]

Sssh that's meant to be secret

Sorry - didn't realise

[Bearbonesnorm]

Pipes... Sounded like a good idea, not actually very comfortable !

Chew and me found some big concrete pipes on the TNR. Looked very appealing given that a storm was fast approaching but thankfully and quite out of character, we took a proper look rather than simply getting in ... and discovered that they were crawling with ants

[AlasdairMc]

... and discovered that they were crawling with ants

Ah, but did you still sleep there anyway?

[Bearbonesnorm]

Ah, but did you still sleep there anyway?

No, we weathered the storm in bivvy bags instead ... it seemed like the best idea

[padonbike]

Great Glen Way open shelter thing

I've heard vague rumours of this, but never seen it or even know where it is.
I'm presuming it's not immediately visible from the trail.
I can remember coming across a locked toilet, nearer the Gairlochy end of the Great Glen that required a special key to gain entry.

[ScotRoutes]

http://greatglencanoetrail.info/plan-a- ... zer-rests/