Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 10:22 pm
Just seen that Sofiane is in.
You heard it here first....viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14885&p=186327#p186327
https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/
Highland Trail 550 - 2020
https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=15874
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Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Wed Nov 27, 2019 10:57 pm
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2019 12:32 am
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2019 10:32 am
Nobody is "in" until they have made the £50 donation to the John Muir Trust and forwarded the receipt to me.
I'm pleased to say this new initiative seems to have been very well received so far.
I would never give a 14 year old a solo place on the group start!
I'm pleased to say this new initiative seems to have been very well received so far.
I would never give a 14 year old a solo place on the group start!
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 7:51 am
If an application for the group start is not successful, does anyone know if you get a "thanks but no thanks" email? or if it is a case of silence tells the tale?
Asking for a friend
Asking for a friend
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:09 am
Here's R J Sauer's account of his HT550 from 2016 - https://bikepacking.com/plog/highland-insomnia/ along with some stunning shots. And this ...
If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.The Highlands always seem to have an encore. A never-ending setlist of scenery. Only a short distance along the trail, the plateau squeezes into a deep valley. I go numb immediately. This can’t be real. Even the sun seems to be taking its time to set, awestruck by its own illumination.
I stop. Perched front and center to a widescreen, panoramic masterpiece. Truly what must be one of the great gems of our world. I’ve never seen anything like it. A place where words and images are powerless. I strain my neck in either direction just to take it all in. It must be fake. Fiction. A fairytale.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 10:19 am
The view to the causeway in Fisherfield, I presume?whitestone wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:09 am Here's R J Sauer's account of his HT550 from 2016 - https://bikepacking.com/plog/highland-insomnia/ along with some stunning shots. And this ...
If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.The Highlands always seem to have an encore. A never-ending setlist of scenery. Only a short distance along the trail, the plateau squeezes into a deep valley. I go numb immediately. This can’t be real. Even the sun seems to be taking its time to set, awestruck by its own illumination.
I stop. Perched front and center to a widescreen, panoramic masterpiece. Truly what must be one of the great gems of our world. I’ve never seen anything like it. A place where words and images are powerless. I strain my neck in either direction just to take it all in. It must be fake. Fiction. A fairytale.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 12:22 pm
Just reread - that is indeed a special moment at that pointwhitestone wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:09 am Here's R J Sauer's account of his HT550 from 2016 - https://bikepacking.com/plog/highland-insomnia/ along with some stunning shots. And this ...
If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 4:10 pm
edit, email from Alan received. Maybe another year.Jurassic pusher wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 7:51 am If an application for the group start is not successful, does anyone know if you get a "thanks but no thanks" email? or if it is a case of silence tells the tale?
Asking for a friend
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 10:35 pm
Not if its pishing with rain and the cloud base is at 150mwhitestone wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:09 am Here's R J Sauer's account of his HT550 from 2016 - https://bikepacking.com/plog/highland-insomnia/ along with some stunning shots. And this ...
If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.The Highlands always seem to have an encore. A never-ending setlist of scenery. Only a short distance along the trail, the plateau squeezes into a deep valley. I go numb immediately. This can’t be real. Even the sun seems to be taking its time to set, awestruck by its own illumination.
I stop. Perched front and center to a widescreen, panoramic masterpiece. Truly what must be one of the great gems of our world. I’ve never seen anything like it. A place where words and images are powerless. I strain my neck in either direction just to take it all in. It must be fake. Fiction. A fairytale.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2019 11:10 pm
Well if you'd been going quicker you'd have seen ithtrider wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 10:35 pmNot if its pishing with rain and the cloud base is at 150mwhitestone wrote: ↑Fri Nov 29, 2019 9:09 am Here's R J Sauer's account of his HT550 from 2016 - https://bikepacking.com/plog/highland-insomnia/ along with some stunning shots. And this ...
If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.The Highlands always seem to have an encore. A never-ending setlist of scenery. Only a short distance along the trail, the plateau squeezes into a deep valley. I go numb immediately. This can’t be real. Even the sun seems to be taking its time to set, awestruck by its own illumination.
I stop. Perched front and center to a widescreen, panoramic masterpiece. Truly what must be one of the great gems of our world. I’ve never seen anything like it. A place where words and images are powerless. I strain my neck in either direction just to take it all in. It must be fake. Fiction. A fairytale.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Dec 05, 2019 11:36 pm
Can anyone point me to a video of the HT550 that popped up on Instagram recently? It was an ITT I think and the film looked promising - just didn't have time for a view there and then.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:39 pm
No surprises that the HT 2020 group start has now been officially cancelled.
I had a place but plan to take up Alan’s offer of a deferred spot on the 2021 start. Anyone else?
I’m looking at it positively, it’s an extra year to prepare :)
I had a place but plan to take up Alan’s offer of a deferred spot on the 2021 start. Anyone else?
I’m looking at it positively, it’s an extra year to prepare :)
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 8:50 pm
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:09 pm
Yup
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Fri Mar 27, 2020 4:19 pm
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 4:28 pm
Absolutely !
I am consoling myself by regularly following the whole route using the "Fly Through" function on the OS Online mapping (3D Satellite mapping) on a relatively slow setting. - It's not much, but it helps me re-live it a bit.
I am consoling myself by regularly following the whole route using the "Fly Through" function on the OS Online mapping (3D Satellite mapping) on a relatively slow setting. - It's not much, but it helps me re-live it a bit.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:47 pm
OF interest to anyone planning the route, or the event, in the future -
the wee cement store bothy just before the Orrin reservoir dam has disappeared.
Nothing left but a concrete pad.
Pic taken yesterday.
2020-04-13_06-43-13
the wee cement store bothy just before the Orrin reservoir dam has disappeared.
Nothing left but a concrete pad.
Pic taken yesterday.
2020-04-13_06-43-13Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:55 pm
The Hydro bothy? 
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:56 pm
Ooh! That'll change a few strategies.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:56 pm
Was it unstable?
Never slept in it but once sheltered from the sun for a while behind it
Never slept in it but once sheltered from the sun for a while behind it
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 6:59 pm
It looked OK in 2018 when I went past. It wasn't a MBA maintained one though?
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:23 pm
It was basic but always seemed pretty sound.
There is another (open-sided) shelter/bothy very close by.
There is another (open-sided) shelter/bothy very close by.
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:57 pm
Only ever stopped there for a break, but it wasn’t that bad that it needed to come down. Unless something happened to it over the winter
Re: Highland Trail 550 - 2020
Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:02 pm
I passed by last September on the way to Inverness, I seem to remember there being a crack on the inside wall by the window (I assume this is why there were glass panes missing)