2016 Highland Trail route.

[Scott L]

Cheers everyone this is very helpful! Dave particularly, I'm thankful for the assistance of the tech savvy.

[AlasdairMc]

Scott, OS maps on your etrex would be ideal, but if you search on this site you'll find a thread all about ITT maps that Dave Barter has created that would be free. My strong advice would be to carry paper map backups anyway (AlasdairMC published a link to his web space where he created 48 sheets of PDF for this).

Good luck

Was that a subtle hint perchance? ;-) I've not done maps for the new route yet - will do so at some point but I'm a bit short of time at the moment.

Have there been any emails out from Alan yet, or any route clarifications or further changes? I may or may not be on the distribution list as I'm aiming for an ITT and not the mass start.

[AlanG]

With the extreme wet weather at the moment maybe there will need to be some route changes but they will have to wait until the spring. The only change I'm planning on is the start of the Fisherfield prologue at Croftown. Last May I'm sure I saw that they had cut a trail in the hillside behind the cottages where the trail on the map is. We went this way in 2013 but the trail was non existent and overgrown with gorse. Did anyone else notice the new trail?

Alisdair, I will also email the iTT'ers with any updates.

[Mariner]

Re taking maps.
Having been dragged kicking and screaming into using a gps this doesn't seem quite right.
What is the cost of all the required maps say 1:50k, plus volume/weight for packing vs a back up gps?

[Bearbonesnorm]

What is the cost of all the required maps say 1:50k, plus volume/weight for packing vs a back up gps?

I recall I worked out that the old (shorter) route required 18 1:50k maps.

[deft punk]

What is the cost of all the required maps say 1:50k

£18 plus whatever it costs to print them. https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/o ... nline.html

Good luck using a GPS if the MoD are running exercises involving jammers.

[SteveH]

Alan, having accompanied you along that non-existent path in '13 (just out of earshot of Jonathan's remonstrations) I also glanced that way in '15 and noted that a full track had appeared.

[fatbikephil]

I noticed that but it looked like it started in the Croftown cottage back garden. I'm not aware that the floods have damaged any section of the route as such - the great glen way seems to have survived unlike at the end of 2013 when the canal flooded and trashed a big section. I was up by Loch Pattack on the new section last week and the river hadn't reached the track (although the track round the south side of Loch Pattack was about 3 feet under water but its not on route). The falls were spectacular though and possibly for the last time as the Pattack is to be damned as part of a new hydro scheme thats currently in planning.

Gawd knows what the strath sealga is like just now....

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Good luck using a GPS if the MoD are running exercises involving jammers.

This is a largely a myth. GPS use is so pervasive in safety critical areas (maritime, aviation, etc), as well as general use by most of the population, MoD jamming is exceptionally tightly controlled, infrequent, and geographically limited. But if you really are concerned, all the details are published online by Ofcom.

[slarge]

Alasdair, not meant to be a subtle hint! I'm not entered this year so am not overly concerned, just if you are doing that again people might find it useful

[AlasdairMc]

Alasdair, not meant to be a subtle hint! I'm not entered this year so am not overly concerned, just if you are doing that again people might find it useful

No worries.

As for backup map weight, printing on A4 I think it's about 40 sheets, so half that for duplex, and they can just be binned as you go on the route.

[padonbike]

Lone bothy / no bothy
Did anyone else get a bit excited about the perfectly located "Lone bothy" near Achfary ..... only to do a but of googling and quickly discover it's locked!

[Ian]

There is a dry open-sided barn just after that which looks good for shelter, on the opposite side of the river to the locked Bothy. That was two years ago, mind you. Things might have changed...

[padonbike]

Thanks Ian - I had heard about the barn - not in very glowing terms though! Still, beggars can't be chosers.

[whitestone]

Thanks Ian - I had heard about the barn - not in very glowing terms though! Still, beggars can't be chosers.

This looks like a shot of the barn - http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4123962

[AlasdairMc]

Lone bothy / no bothy
Did anyone else get a bit excited about the perfectly located "Lone bothy" near Achfary ..... only to do a but of googling and quickly discover it's locked!

I think the issue with Achfary is that it's not quite right in terms of location for an overnight. You'd have to be going fairly quickly to hit it on day 2, and similarly fairly slowly for day 3. I got there about 8pm day 3 in 2014, and 4:30pm day 3 in 2015, and it's appealing to crest the hill to Kylesku before contemplating a stop.

[Alpinum]

https://highlandhind.wordpress.com/2013 ... one-bothy/

google's answer to "lone bothy achfary"

[ianfitz]

I've slept in worse looking places! It does look very close to the house though. Is it occupied or it that the locked bothy?

As above that would be a pretty decent couple of days riding 400km and 7000m including the 'delights' of what comes after Glen Golly... Or a pretty leisurely 3 days ride stopping at Melgarve and the ruins at lubachlaggan. Actually that sounds like fun!

[fatbikephil]

Suileg bothy is a far nicer prospect and achievable for night 3 if you are making reasonable progress. If you are going a bit slower and pass suileg before say 5pm on day 4 then you can push on (literally....) through to Ledmore and then its easy going until the schoolhouse bothy - another highly salubrious establishment!

[slarge]

Achfary is a challenge for day 2, it does mean that the hills and lochs after Glen Golly are almost certainly done in the dark, which is ok if you can follow your GPS (very tricky without!). It's a 4 hour stint along Glen Golly and not many places to stop as it is either exposed or waterlogged, so it's a choice - stop before (a load of people stopped at the lodge before Glen Golly), or stop in Achfary, or push even further to Kylesku. I think it is a weather driven decision......
Last year I stopped at the substation at the road junction before the whole Glen Golly stretch, and this was an early finish 7pm ish, but I figured an early start would mean getting to Achfary very early morning, and Kylesku for breakfast. In the end I was moving at 3.30am, and in Kylesku for 8 or 9 - this worked perfectly!

[Ian]

In 2014, I bivvied on the ridge above the lodge at the end of my second day - mainly to keep the winged teeth at bay as it was exposed but dry. I had the benefit of going over the Bealach in the daylight - not sure I'd fancy the peat hags in the dark

[AlanG]

Just to be clear, the lodge mentioned above is not an hotel! It's Gobernuisgach hunting lodge, a couple of folks camped in the lee of some buildings there last year with permission.

[larsmars]

In 2014, I bivvied on the ridge above the lodge at the end of my second day - mainly to keep the winged teeth at bay as it was exposed but dry. I had the benefit of going over the Bealach in the daylight - not sure I'd fancy the peat hags in the dark

Ian, do you recall what time you arrived there to bivi on that second day? Just trying to gauge how out of reach it might be for my pace.

[ianfitz]

In 2014, I bivvied on the ridge above the lodge at the end of my second day - mainly to keep the winged teeth at bay as it was exposed but dry. I had the benefit of going over the Bealach in the daylight - not sure I'd fancy the peat hags in the dark

Ian, do you recall what time you arrived there to bivi on that second day? Just trying to gauge how out of reach it might be for my pace.

All of the data is still available on the track leaders page. You can see what time people where anywhere

[Ian]

The light had all but faded, so I reckon about 11pm. I was going again at 5:30am I think.

As Ian says, trackleaders should still have the data up to check.