Highland Trail 550 - 2020

[Richpips]

Just seen that Sofiane is in.

[Dave Barter]

Just seen that Sofiane is in.

You heard it here first....viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14885&p=186327#p186327

[stevewaters]

Just seen that Sofiane is in.

Yes - but what about Minipips ?

[AlanG]

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!

[Jurassic pusher]

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

[whitestone]

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 ...

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.

If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.

[padonbike]

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 ...

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.

If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.

The view to the causeway in Fisherfield, I presume?

[Mart]

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.

Just reread - that is indeed a special moment at that point

[Jurassic pusher]

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

edit, email from Alan received. Maybe another year.

[fatbikephil]

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 ...

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.

If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.

Not if its pishing with rain and the cloud base is at 150m

[whitestone]

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 ...

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.

If you've been there you'll know to within a metre or two of where he was standing.

Not if its pishing with rain and the cloud base is at 150m

Well if you'd been going quicker you'd have seen it

[boxelder]

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.

[ChrisS]

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 :)

[Dave Barter]

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 :)

Me

[fatbikephil]

Yup

[Mart]

[stevewaters]

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.

[Bedmaker]

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

[sean_iow]

The Hydro bothy?

[whitestone]

Ooh! That'll change a few strategies.

[FLV]

Was it unstable?

Never slept in it but once sheltered from the sun for a while behind it

[sean_iow]

It looked OK in 2018 when I went past. It wasn't a MBA maintained one though?

[ScotRoutes]

It was basic but always seemed pretty sound.

There is another (open-sided) shelter/bothy very close by.

[GregMay]

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

[Dean]

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)