What would now be the start and end of the route is part of the original HT550 route until Alan switched the start to use the singletrack over Bealach Dubh past Ben Alder. This was done as much to move 60+ riders from having to weave in and out of the WHWers all the way to Kinlochleven but it's probably better riding (apart from one bit which we'll come to).
The initial climb is nice and steady.
This gets you to Loch an' Earba. All this is part of the area used for filming the TV series "Monarch of the Glen" so it's quite likely you'd recognise some views.
Easy riding along the loch side.
Rather than dropping down to Ardverikie House (the main house in MotG) and having to climb all the way back out again there's a track that contours around the hillside to meet the current HT550 route at the new Hydro scheme on the river Pattack.
The track by the Pattack is pleasant though the best bit is now under the waters of the hydro scheme
Eventually you get to the rickety bridge. Bad weather brewing over Ben Alder.
This is followed by what at first seems to be a boggy track. It's definitely much less used than that before the bridge, the only tracks seem to be from MTBs. The bogginess isn't really that bad, it's about 10cm of soil and peat overlaying the original hard surface so there's no hidden deep pools to send you OTB. By the time you get to the pillars (probably the boundary between the Ardverikie and Alder estates) you are back on good solid ground.
We dropped down to the back of the main house and followed the singletrack that avoids going through the grounds. It was just about now that the heavens opened.
The lochside track is great but Cath gets spooked by trails with a drop to the left. Not good when there's 14km of it!
Eventually you get to the first deer gate which has seen better days and is easily negotiated.
Beyond this the type 3 fun begins. I suspect that the stalker's track which we'd been following originally kept the same distance from the loch shore but with the damming of the loch the higher waters have eroded things so now it's right on the edge of a large drop onto rocks. Actually the original path has long gone, it's just the current line that does so. Quite why a line further up the hillside hasn't been opened up is a bit of a mystery, doesn't look anywhere near as bad. I've no shots from this bit - it was chucking it down and we were concentrating on not falling or dropping our bikes into the loch. It took nearly an hour to do 400m with lots of shuttling back and forth passing the bikes between us.
Once past the second deer gate you are on another well maintained path. Weird.
Being now soaked we elected to stop in the bothy which somewhat surprisingly was empty.
We'd been there an hour or so and had dried out when I spied a couple of bikers heading our way along the HT550 route. It turned out to be a couple of French lads. They didn't seem happy having "pushed for five hours through the swamp" - I suspect they might have taken the wrong track up from Loch Rannoch and had to squelch around the end of the loch as well.
The following morning was fair so we headed south through "the swamp" which only took 40mins but then we knew what to expect.
Rather oddly neither of us were looking forward to the big climb up the track afterwards but it turned out to be OK and not really a big climb, just our memory playing tricks on us.
Once at Bridge of Gaur it was some easy road (the only bit of the ride) up to Rannoch Station and the tea room.
Next up was another trail I'd not done: "The Road to the Isles". This started with a pretty big climb, a genuine one, that never seemed to end.
A stop at Corrour Old Lodge (an old shooting lodge derelict for over a century) which has amazing views over the Blackmount reservoir to the Glencoe hills.
Then it was descent time to Corrour and more cake.
Finally we picked up the original HT550 route again alongside Loch Ossian and down the Strath, which has more the feel of Canada than Scotland, back to the van.
The only one of "Phil's trails" that I've not now done is the Allt Cam linking Loch Pattack and Laggan. One for the fat bike methinks.
Well done for doing the 'bad step' along Loch Ericht shore. I did it with an un-laden bike and really struggled at one point....
