Cairngorm loop grp depart 2016

[AlasdairMc]

Nikk said he'd be riding too, I don't know if he's got a Spot.

I rode the bottom half of the WHW instead. The weather was perfect, a great day out. Trails were dry and running well.

EDIT: I've had a text from Nikk - he's with Tom in Tomintoul after turning back from Bynack More.

[boxelder]

Fraser's in the bothy (we hope)

[boxelder]

Looks like he's well around the outer loop towards Tomintoul. Quite the effort in the conditions. More than I'd bite off, that's for certainsure.

[Nikk]

Got back at 10am on the dot. 130 miles in 24 hours including an overnight just outside of Braemar and a restaurant meal!

Glad I turned back at Bynack More, was like looking into the jaws of deep winter on the mountains. Deep snow and constant cold wind. That route is hard at the best of times when you can see where you are walking!

Outer loop was lovely last night. Dove into the restaurant in Tomintoul at 7pm. Was there 5 minutes then Tom comes in! I was happy he was there as I was feeling lame that I was the only one that sacked it, glad his reading of the situation tallied with mine. Had some lovely mushroom pasta in a cream sauce, almost ordered a bottle of wine!

Weather turned overnight and route past Linn Of Dee was straight into a strong headwind with light rain. I swear that track after the bridge is my least favorite landrover track ever! Can't ride it sitting down, and for some reason can't ride it standing up! It's like is is extra lumpy, but doesn't look like it is. Weird. I'm sure I saw a fatbike and a + bike tyre track after this on the singletrack, which likely was the couple from Birmingham, Fiona and ???. Looks like they did the pass then cut the route there, hope they are ok. They weren't at their van when I got back.

Didn't do the 'sting in the tail' section, just did Glen Tilt right back to carpark.

Rivers were all very low. Ground was quite wet.

That is a hard route in those conditions. I can't believe some did the inner loop, that is some serious winter hill skills.

Unfortunately right knee playing up now, was ok en route but is sore and can't walk now. There is a question mark over the Highland Trail for me, need to be 100% going into that :-/

Now, some food, then down to Leith Victoria for 2 hours in the sauna!

[NewRetroTom]

Great effort Nikk! Glad the motivation of the sauna kept you going.
I spent the night under a tourist information shelter in a car park at Invercauld. A bit breezy, but kept the rain off my bivvy bag this morning. There is a loo with a heater there too!
Made it back to BA at 2pm. The slog round the last bit was hard going. Some long sections where the sunken track had been drifted in with snow that was too soft/deep to ride even on 4.8" tyres.
Had a chat with Howard in the ruin at the Bynack/Geldie burn junction where he had stopped for a bite to eat this morning. Think he said it had taken him 6 hours to get through the snowy bit and he had then camped in Glen Derry. He's looking solid for a 3 day finish I would say.

[Javi]

I have no words. Amazing effort!! Not for me in winter conditions

[NewRetroTom]

Just to be clear Javi - I didn't do the full route! I turned back on the shoulder of Bynack Mor as I didn't fancy the inner loop with all the snow.

[NewRetroTom]

Looks like Fraser is heading straight down to Blair Atholl missing out the sting in the tail. Can't blame him as I think he would have been looking at a midnight finish if he'd stuck to the route.

[Javi]

Just to be clear Javi - I didn't do the full route! I turned back on the shoulder of Bynack Mor as I didn't fancy the inner loop with all the snow.

I know, but you've been brave enough to give it a go and see what happens.

[GregMay]

Well done Nik and Tom - smart moves by both of you.

[touch]

Looks like Fraser is heading straight down to Blair Atholl missing out the sting in the tail. Can't blame him as I think he would have been looking at a midnight finish if he'd stuck to the route.

Yep, I'm at work today so we didn't have time to go round that section. We actually made the decision early that morning to skip it after speaking to Jenny who had done it on saturday night and said it was slow going.

I had a great weekend. The snow made for very slow progress (and cold feet!) but below the snowline the river crossings were low and the weather was brilliant.

Many hours were spent dragging the bike through the snow:


Fords of Avon was easily crossable and the snow bank on the other side was quite firm so not as difficult to get up as it looks in the photo:


Geldie Burn. Not rideable, but never more than knee-deep:

[kendalpaul]

Fi and Paul from kendal. We turned round from the inner loop too. Headed down to aviemore picked up outer loop. Camped near Tomintoul should have carried on when no headwind. Sunday morning a bit breezy Tomintoul to Braemar. Did the loop at end so we could see pink house! was packing up when fraser and dave turned up. Sometimes hard going but weather made up for it.

[touch]

Oh, I also found a pair of gloves at a river crossing near Loch Builg. I dont expect there is much "normal" mtb traffic up there so they probably belong to someone riding the CL. Anyone?

[fatbikephil]

Well done Fraser - that looked an epic! You'll be well set up for the Highland Trail now then...

[Single Speed George]

Well done those who did it ! I am still happy that I went skiing with Steve instead though as I'm not as hard as you guys clearly !
Here is steve skinning along the corrie tops , we were thinking of you guys though !
Will b back in September and I will actually start then

[padonbike]

[quoteDid the loop at end so we could see pink house!][/quote]

I think you mean Fealar Lodge? Well done if didn't go straight down the Tilt but followed the original route this way. Tough terrain, especially in snow.

[Howard]

What a lot of posts to catch up on! That was quite hard - mostly because of the headwind that seemed to be my constant companion! Will put up some pictures when I get the chance (didn't think I would be home quite so late and work tomorrow!). Great to meet some amazing people

It was definitely the right decision to cancel the group start. Bynack More could easily have gone pear shaped, especially for anybody who didn’t know the area and wasn’t comfortable knee deep in snow! If the Geldie had been much higher today I would have called it a day. Over the years I've been in far worse situations in the hills before and learned some lessons along the way. I've now got a fairly good handle on what I can handle/tolerate and I never went outside my comfort zone in terms of safety. Not sure I can say the same about enjoyment (thinking of 5am this morning)

GregMay had it spot on when he said

Be smart.

The route will always be there.

[biggaygibbon]

Did anyone finish the full loop?
Pictures look stunning.

[NewRetroTom]

Did anyone finish the full loop?

Howard was the only one who finished the full loop I believe.

Fraser and Dave did all but the "sting in the tail" bit and came down Glen Tilt at the end instead.

[ianpv]

hmmm - still umming and ahhing about whether to do this starting on Saturday. Forecast looks very good this weekend - the wind is dropping and temps rising - but that brings the risk of substantial thaw and high rivers.

I'm pretty familiar with most of the route having lived up there for 10 years but am currently based in Bristol so it's a long way to go to drag a bike through slushy snow and potentially dangerous rivers. How are things looking on the ground at the moment?

May just do the transcambrian way instead...

[Howard]

hmmm - still umming and ahhing about whether to do this starting on Saturday. Forecast looks very good this weekend - the wind is dropping and temps rising - but that brings the risk of substantial thaw and high rivers.

I'm pretty familiar with most of the route having lived up there for 10 years but am currently based in Bristol so it's a long way to go to drag a bike through slushy snow and potentially dangerous rivers. How are things looking on the ground at the moment?

May just do the transcambrian way instead...

I can only comment on my experience on Monday and the answer is very wet. There was no snow on Culardoch on Monday (Tom told me that there had been on Saturday when he went through) so I would expect that the Bynack More path would only have patches left by now and without further new snow it should improve further by the weekend. However there were some deep drifts and there is still a risk of hurting an ankle by sinking in further than expected (for example some of the drainage ditches that were inserted by the path builders are hard to detect!). You need to concentrate!

On Monday, I found the Geldie and the Bynack burn a significant challenge (the Tilt was not as bad). It also made tracks that would normally be ridable very stop/start at best. On the Saturday and Sunday, all the river crossings for me were fine (I still had dry feet until Monday morning despite 5 hours in the snow!). But with high levels I think there would have been a couple of tributary crossings along the Feshie that would have been difficult/no go. I'm thinking of one in particular that is quite an exposed rock step as it is, and I wouldn't fancy it if the rocks were under water.

I don't know how much this helps because the levels can change very quickly and everywhere could be very different yet again in a few days time. As you know there are plenty of options to change the route and still have a cracking time. I only live about an hour and a half away from BA so it wasn't a big investment in travel, but if I had to travel from Bristol, I'd seriously consider the transcambrian and think about the group start in September? If you decide to give it a go - good luck and ride safe.

[Howard]

It's taken me a week to get pictures together. I don't have a blog or anything so I've added some comments on the pictures and there are 3 short videos at https://flic.kr/s/aHskyEmcsj

Like most holiday snaps - it looks like the sun was always shining

[johnnystorm]

Well done fella, looks truly epic! I certainly forgive you for breakfast giving you the 7 additional minutes!

[Justchris]

Well done howard. You obviously had to dig deep quite a few times. Great photos as well. I have to admit I am very envious that you completed, and I hope my name joins you on the competion list later on in the year. Well done again.

Thanks.

Chris

Just one thing. What do you think happened to your etrex?

[Howard]

Just one thing. What do you think happened to your etrex?

It was an Edge 800 and I don't know. It exhibited various different behaviours while it was dying before settling on just going blank at the point it reached loading maps. Spent 45 minutes on the phone with Garmin support and they talked me through resets and re-formats but it refused to play ball so it went back and I rode with the replacement unit for the first time today. Garmin Support is pretty good but I doubt I will ever hear an explanation. It might have been water getting in around the usb port. The cover is a really pathetic fit and I recharged it overnight so may not have put it back properly. There was a bit of evidence of dampness when I looked closely at Braemar, but not excessive and for all I know it always gets like that in those sorts of conditions. It will be double checked in future that's for sure. I managed to get a corrupted .fit file off it and used an online site to repair it so at least I have the first two days.