(for Reg) In fact it's just an antler!
20220419_111439 by Jeff Price, on Flickr


We all love making plans of future bikepacking trips don't we? Back in October 2019 I set off with a plan of heading up to the Assynt for a few days bikepacking. However after 5 hours of driving an engine warning light decided to throw those plans in the bin! Fast forward 2 1/2 years (thanks to Covid) and I found myself driving north once again (thankfully not in the same vehicle this time) but now with my eldest lad in tow.
20220418_052046 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

I had a plan, I had several bothies on my radar and places to visit. However with my lad being with me, I wasn't confident those plans would be sustained.


We played tourist on the 9 1/2 hour drive by stopping off at several places of interest along the way.
20220418_085907 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

And as we left Inverness the scenery was spot on in near perfect weather.
20220418_130732 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

As with most teenagers they either sleep or eat...
20220418_135621 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_145705 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The 'locals' were up for a discussion
20220418_151417 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Ardvreck castle
20220418_154929 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It was good driving on these roads as I'd cycles up here 10 years ago and had forgotten how stunning the area was
20220418_161159 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We finally parked up at 4pm at Kylsku bridge and was ready to ride bikes. At this point I must admit my lad Connor is not a 'cyclist' so he did not know what to expect despite coming on a few rides and camps a few years back.
20220418_165335 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Our destination was the Glendu bothy which is accessed by either boat or the track alongside Loch Glendu which follows the edge of the loch for around 7 miles.
20220418_171312 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_171321 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

A Welshman is always happy to see a sheep!
20220418_172759 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_174529 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

As we got within 400 yards the bothy came into view as did the smoke from the chimney
20220418_180023 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Glendu bothy on the left, the others are estate buildings
20220418_180028 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_180611 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Upon entering we were greeted by two solo walkers, one Glaswegian bagging some Corbitts and a Swiss guy on a mission to get to Kearvaig bothy.
20220418_180556 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The bothy is made up of two rooms on the ground floor and two up top. It was a clean but very basic bothy with just 4 chairs and a table. Fireplaces were in each of the ground floor rooms which were soon glowing as the weather outside took a turn for the worse with wind and rain hitting through the night.

Connor showing his delight that he couldn't get a phone signal
20220418_183937 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_190126 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It ended up being a great evening with the typical bothy chit chat with whiskey passed around
20220418_203244 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220418_205128 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Bothy TV
20220418_213553 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The night was rough outside and at times it sounded like the tiles were going to be blown off the roof. By the morning the wind had eased but there were still a few showers coming and going
20220419_065321 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Typical teenager having a lie in!
20220419_093445 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220419_104602 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

As a bonus I found myself another antler to go with the other two I've picked up from previous trips
20220419_112852 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Dad and lad
20220419_110006 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Steady going on the return to the car
20220419_113119 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It was hard to just keep pedalling as the scenery was spot on!
20220419_120120 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220419_120124 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220419_122057 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Pies!! It had to be done
20220419_141846 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Then we ended up scrapping my plan to ride at Sandwood due to my lad being so bluming tired!
So we ended up playing tourist driving around and stopping in passing places to take photo's!
20220419_131230 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220419_152122 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The weather came good too during the day
20220419_152405 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We were going to wild camp here at Achnaraid beach but I succumbed to checking into a small campsite at Port a Bhaigh instead
20220419_160532 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220419_155132 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

As we arrived at the campsite we ended up waiting for an hour or so as the rescue helicopter hand landed on the beach with the medic treating someone in a campervan. They must have been relatively OK as they did not take them away
20220419_165114 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Tbf it was a nice quiet pitch
20220419_175853 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

To our surprise there was even a bar across the road and they had the footy on, bonus!
20220419_201503 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Dining al fresco at half time
20220419_210057 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

A super clear night sky
20220419_222357 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

It was a bit cosy in the Ordos 2
20220420_065859 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

Bhy this time it was obvious my plans were well and truly thrown out of the window. Again we played tourist driving about and taking pics
20220420_094131 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_094136 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

I thought of heading south to the Cairngorms
received_1456480664754529 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_121244 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

I popped in to see the evere helpful Andy Toop at Backcountry cycles in Aviemore. He gave me some fine advice to head to the bothy in Glen Fishie. He did say that the estate had spent £250,000 on it a couple of years ago!

The track through the glen was superb
20220420_173202 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

However there was a tricky section that had been washed out big style
20220420_174733 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_175857 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The bothy was out of this world!
20220421_061851 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220421_061858 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_182101 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_182106 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_182045 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_182125 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_182206 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

We shared the bothy with a couple of Manchester fella's doing a long walk for their 60th and a German guy bagging some big tops.

20220420_204734 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220420_215506 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220421_084504 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220421_091530 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

The bridge on the map seems to be long gone!
20220421_093547 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

20220421_101003 by Jeff Price, on Flickr


So despite the plans falling through, we both had a great time!
20220421_093137 by Jeff Price, on Flickr

1080 miles driven
30 miles ridden
Worth it big style!

Very nice. Bothy telly beats home telly every time.

Always fancied Glendhu bothy as it's only 5k or so off the Highland Trail route - only ever passed the turn off through the middle of the day though.
I was eyeing up the large sandy cliff where the Alt Garblach emerges at the Feshie the other week on my trip, from the otherside of the river - a massive load of it fell into the river as I watched, just along from where you are on that pic!

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 4:30 pm
Always fancied Glendhu bothy as it's only 5k or so off the Highland Trail route - only ever passed the turn off through the middle of the day though.
I was eyeing up the large sandy cliff where the Alt Garblach emerges at the Feshie the other week on my trip, from the otherside of the river - a massive load of it fell into the river as I watched, just along from where you are on that pic!

It's a neat basic bothy,, there was a bit of a leak on the western side apparently, i as on the dry side!
Yeah that section is well loose. Tbh I don't know why it hasn't been cordoned off what with how H&S is nowadays!

I've had a discussion with the estate about that bit of the path.

The original line fords the river further upstream. The old track is on the OS map and is still clear on the ground. It can also be reached by detouring from the wash-out as a clear path has developed there too.

The estate have no intention of doing anything about the wash-out. They believe it is "someone else's turn". Neither are they in favour of the upstream ford, since they put so much work into the path to and from the wash-out.

They reluctantly agreed to let me put a couple of "danger" signs up but they had to look home-made and not theirs as they might otherwise be seen to have responsibility for any mishaps.

It's all a bit if a bourach, especially as I'm supposed to be updating the Scotways route description in a couple of weeks and I'm in a bit of a dilemma about which option to recommend.

Sounds like a great trip Jeff, and nice to have some "lad and dad" time. Goes to show as always that if you're willing to be a bit flexible you can have a great time even when and change, and that it's not about how many miles you do.
Stunning photos as usual.

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 6:01 pm I've had a discussion with the estate about that bit of the path.

The original line fords the river further upstream. The old track is on the OS map and is still clear on the ground. It can also be reached by detouring from the wash-out as a clear path has developed there too.

The estate have no intention of doing anything about the wash-out. They believe it is "someone else's turn". Neither are they in favour of the upstream ford, since they put so much work into the path to and from the wash-out.

They reluctantly agreed to let me put a couple of "danger" signs up but they had to look home-made and not theirs as they might otherwise be seen to have responsibility for any mishaps.

It's all a bit if a bourach, especially as I'm supposed to be updating the Scotways route description in a couple of weeks and I'm in a bit of a dilemma about which option to recommend.

Thanks for the Caution sign! We did take the 'new' singletrack on the way back, it was much easier moving my fully loaded Mukluk that way! It sure is a lovely part of the world

Verena wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 6:08 pm Sounds like a great trip Jeff, and nice to have some "lad and dad" time. Goes to show as always that if you're willing to be a bit flexible you can have a great time even when and change, and that it's not about how many miles you do.
Stunning photos as usual.

Tbh I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the plans. Thanks

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 6:01 pm I've had a discussion with the estate about that bit of the path.

The original line fords the river further upstream. The old track is on the OS map and is still clear on the ground. It can also be reached by detouring from the wash-out as a clear path has developed there too.

The estate have no intention of doing anything about the wash-out. They believe it is "someone else's turn". Neither are they in favour of the upstream ford, since they put so much work into the path to and from the wash-out.

They reluctantly agreed to let me put a couple of "danger" signs up but they had to look home-made and not theirs as they might otherwise be seen to have responsibility for any mishaps.

It's all a bit if a bourach, especially as I'm supposed to be updating the Scotways route description in a couple of weeks and I'm in a bit of a dilemma about which option to recommend.

On the CL in 2020 I crossed a bit upstream from where Jeffs pic was and it was OKish. One of those situations where it's up to people to find their own way across I guess. But local knowledge is always a good thing!

Looks like a great trip Jeff. My sons are still surprised when I laugh at them to answer their questions about the wifi password or phone signal.

It's a shame you couldn't make it to Sandwood Bay. I walked there a few years ago and it's stunning; at the time I thought that it would be good on the bike.

The Cumbrian wrote: ↑Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:13 am It's a shame you couldn't make it to Sandwood Bay.

Tbh Sandwood Bay was my primary objective for going up that way. However like I say sometimes plans get changed.
I'm pretty gutted not to have visited during the fine weather but it does give me a reason to return to the Assynt one day

Although the track to Sandwood Bay would be great on a bike, if you go on foot you can cut across the moor from the track to overlook Am Buachaille and then follow the cliff top path to the beach. I'm glad that I did that as it gives a different perspective to the bay as well.

Brilliant write up Jeff. That bothy is something else.

If you got more smiles than miles, then it was a good trip.

Thanks for sharing.

...and here's my film from the trip, enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5FN5qGt1sg&t=

I hope you enjoy it and let me know what you think

It's weird watching that given I was on the same track just a few hours ago. You'll be pleased to know that the woodstore at the bothy is now full too!

The next update of OpenStreetMap will have an alternative to the gorge crossing in Feshie too.

(Pedant alert - I've never heard it called THE Assynt, just Assynt will do ).

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 5:41 pm It's weird watching that given I was on the same track just a few hours ago. You'll be pleased to know that the woodstore at the bothy is now full too!

The next update of OpenStreetMap will have an alternative to the gorge crossing in Feshie too.

(Pedant alert - I've never heard it called THE Assynt, just Assynt will do ).

My bad!
Thanks for the view!

Hey, you wouldn't want to experience my attempt at Welsh!

ScotRoutes wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 6:54 pm Hey, you wouldn't want to experience my attempt at Welsh!

Fab Jeff. That track out to Glendhu bothy looks a corker. I've only ever done the bit on the Highland Trail and all three times I've been completely wasted so never really appreciated it much. Must get there - nice wee stony tracks with grass growing up the middle are becoming a rarity as many have been upgraded for wind farms, micro hydro schemes or for stalking access.
10/10 for weather too!

fatbikephil wrote: ↑Thu Apr 28, 2022 10:50 pm Fab Jeff. That track out to Glendhu bothy looks a corker. I've only ever done the bit on the Highland Trail and all three times I've been completely wasted so never really appreciated it much. Must get there - nice wee stony tracks with grass growing up the middle are becoming a rarity as many have been upgraded for wind farms, micro hydro schemes or for stalking access.
10/10 for weather too!

Cheers Phil
Yeah it's a lovely area made even better in fine weather, I'll definitely be returning!

Lovley vid

do you mind me asking which drone you use?

BobCatMax wrote: ↑Tue May 03, 2022 4:56 am Lovley vid

do you mind me asking which drone you use?

The DJI Mavic Mini (1st version). I believe there's a 3rd one due out next week!