Highlands

[didnothingfatal]

400 miles of Scotland



West Highland Way (w/ Extension for Glen Etive & Glen Kinglass)
Great Glen Way
Inverness - Pitlochry
Rob Roy Way

10 days out is the plan

Spot tracking here

[gairym]

good luck fella - enjoy yourself!

[Dusza]

Godspeed DNF, looks like a great trip. Show them midges who's the boss

[Taylor]

is that clockwise or anti clockwise?

[Ray Young]

Enjoy :D

[didnothingfatal]

is that clockwise or anti clockwise?

Start and end in Milngavie, going clock wise, Fort Bil, Inverness, Pitlochry

Glen Etive loop anti clock to ensure completeness of WHW

Bike is well loaded, Talon 22 is bursting at seams with dehydrated food. Spot should start lunch tomorrow. Strange apprehension setting in, weather forecast features hail and snow, it's June FFS!!!

[Matt]

Good luck, enjoy :)

Report back

[didnothingfatal]

Great trail, Conic Hill was a slog! Camped on shore of Loch Lomond and the midges are hellish! Anyone thinking of doing the WHW buy a head net!

[didnothingfatal]

NE Loch Lomond is unrideable hell, over 300 midge bikes, they got through the weave of xbionic! Trails are unrideable, push up and push down! Had 8 hours sleep in 3 days! Now suffering shakes from adverse conditions, gales and sleet! Holed up in a hut, sodden and frozen! Weather doesn't look promising :(

[Taylor]

Don't you even think about quitting.

[Dyffers]

NE Loch Lomond is unrideable hell, over 300 midge bikes, they got through the weave of xbionic! Trails are unrideable, push up and push down! Had 8 hours sleep in 3 days! Now suffering shakes from adverse conditions, gales and sleet! Holed up in a hut, sodden and frozen! Weather doesn't look promising :(

Isn't that a direct copy and paste from the Oxford English Dictionary definition of 'Fun'.

Remember, if you don't have a good time you have a good story. You'll look back on it fondly for the rest of your life!

[didnothingfatal]

1993 Scapa is a fine drink! Trying to decide which way to go? The terrain has ripped the studs out of my bike shoes, and the ratchet is dead! Looking at the positives the cold and wind has finally made it midge free :) Also think 'Tablet' may be one of the finest energy foods I've ever had!

[Ray Young]

Hi DNF, you've done the hardest bit of the WHW so don't get disheartened even though the weather is horrible, no more pushing now on the WHW or GGW except The Devil's Staircase and even that doesn't take long. Keep it up matey. :)

[Ray Young]

Also think 'Tablet' may be one of the finest energy foods I've ever had!

"Tablet", sort of a Scottish version of Kendal Mint Cake only it tastes of fudge not mint and is possibly sweeter if you can believe that!

[gairym]

sounds like a hell of a trip so far!

[didnothingfatal]

Bailed, I awoke on Saturday morning and set off in high wind and rain, it just got worse and I was freezing! Got home late last night. Covered in midge bites, I look like a really good dose of measles. The midges sent me mad, words cannot describe how depressing a tent filled with midges really is. I took a few pics of how bloody miserable the NE shore of Lomond is, it has also ad a trail collapse with a tree sliding out and taking a couple of others with it! I've never had a day with a bike like that!

[Ray Young]

Bad luck DNF, , sorry to hear conditions have forced you to bail but the weather has been a complete joke and I can't say I blame you, i'm sure you gave it your best shot. It is a route I have looked at myself and would love to attempt it but home circumstances don't allow me to be away for long enough.
So as not to waste all your planning will you be attempting it again in the future, say without NE Loch Lomond?
Also, will you be doing a full write up with all the gory detail?

[didnothingfatal]

I'll be back, but would never take a loaded bike through the Loch Lomond section ever again! It's just so soul destroying, a 12 step ladder up to a bridge with a 50lb+ bike, and backpack The gates are insane 'kissing' gates that are 10ft high! 5 step stiles??


Scrambling gullies and eroded boulder strewn tracks for hours.

Sign at Tyndrum


Will scribble thoughts when it's been digested! Biggest lesson was the midges are unreal, and the WHW isn't a bike friendly route for the first half!

[Ray Young]

So it wasn't just me then, NE Loch Lomond really is as bad as I remember!!!

[Matt]

Bunny hop at speed?

Shame you bailed sounded like an ace trip but the weather can make or brake these things.

Next time :)

[didnothingfatal]

Speed! It's a climb-a-bike for hours! I was so knackered I could barely lift the bike towards the end! Suggest if you want to bike pack for days out there, lift a lot as training, the ladder onto the bridge was a sickening moment!

I had a hikers hut in Tyndrum, turned the heating on a shook for two hours as I warmed up!

Would I go back? Yes/no! The midges are terrible, the more I think about them the more I shudder! The summer holds plenty more silliness

[Dusza]

Sad to hear that you had to bail out DNF, I guess June wasn't a bikepacking month after all
Looking forward to more pictures and scribblings.

[pedalhead]

Only just found this thread, good effort DNF sounds like it was a 'mare out there & you did well to last as long as you did by the sounds of things! I'm getting a bit concerned now as I'll be in the Cairngorms for a week from July 2nd. I'd be interested to read an account of your trip if you're doing one. :D

[didnothingfatal]

http://didnothingfatal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/whw.html

[Matt]

Good write up, like the look of the camp pod / shed thing. Those midge bites look vicious!

Can't help but think you're gonna have to get better at picking your shelters. It's not like you're short of gear. Multi night, insect infested and high chance of rain why not take full Laser Comp? Although hindsight is great.

Next time fella, next time