Moray meanderings
Posted: Sun Sep 01, 2024 11:56 am
The "Moray Triangle" is now so well known that someone should publish the route on that bikepacking. I'll not bother as the GPX from my round this route resembles a dropped plate of spaghetti...
I didn't actually mean to do it. Inspired by Jimmy's and Sean's escapades, I hatched a plan to pedal along to Callander and then do the Badger route up to schneckie, cut east on a route following various tracks and trails (roughly the Pictish trail route) then head south by some suitable means. However this would end up riding through a lot of rain. I've done pretty much all of the BD route so this seemed a bit pointless. Up east looked drier and my new gravel bolide was duly contemplated for such an undertaking. But I've kind of done that and whilst it is very pleasant, I was fancying something a bit more interesting, riding wise. So I duly rode round the procrastination loop a few times before taking the radical step of going onto the Scotrail website and seeing where I could get to on the Saturday. Answer? Up the Inverness line. Aviemore seemed a good bet so I coughed up and did a map re-appraisal.
The train journey went OK after a leisurely pedal down to Inverkeithing. Departing the train at Aviemore was a relief for about 1 minute. The entire town was rammed with extremely large motorbikes and their extremely large owners. Oh gawd it was 'Thunder in the Glens' the Harley Owners Group rally that takes place every year up here. I'd my heart set on a pint in the Bridge Inn but it was queued out the door. There was a terrible band playing 'rock' dross and there were far too many people strutting round wearing leather waist coats. Grumbling mightily about all of this I got out of there. Then I berated myself for such negative thoughts as this lot were no worse than us lot and people being into stuff, whatever that stuff may be is a Good Thing. I prefer the minimalism of my Triumph, however. Then I recalled my last encounter with this rally which was in August 2014 when I pitched up on my successful Cairngorms loop Ride, in fact my first successful ITT. 10 years ago to the day!
The chippy at Dalfaber is a good 'un and Hog free so I grabbed a fish supper and sat under the next door Co-op awning scoffing it whilst a few sprinkles came through. The forecast for up here was also not that great but after grabbing a few supplies at the Co-op and getting going properly, the sun did shine.
On the trail at last, NCN 7 north, the relief of leaving all behind boiling off me like steam. I built this route in 1998 and it's survived the test of time. Part of the same scheme was improving a track over the hill from Boat of Garten to Carrbridge. This has now been abandoned by Sustrans as the NCN, alas. Instead you have to use the not that quiet B road. Last year, Transport Scotland consulted on sorting this route out but nothing has materialised on the ground yet. I suspect the consultants fees for prepping the options and doing the consultation will have been several times what it cost to do up the track over the hill....
Right, enough of all that, let the holiday commence! And a new trail!! This was via the wee road east then north from Carrbridge and up into the hills north of the A938. I'd tried to do this track a few years ago from the north but failed as it wasn't shown on my 2010 OS maps. Of course I'd forgotten this until I was heading into the wilderness and trying to fathom turns. According to the GPS I was in the middle of a blank nothingness. Fortunately, and for the first time, my OS app on the phone worked and I was able to see where to go.
A good 'un!
This eventually spat me out on the Lochindorb road and thence onto the Dava way. Now I'd figured on dossing in the wee hut about halfway along the route only to discover someone else in residence! Bugger. He was cheery enough and even offered to shuffle over to let me in but it's really only a one person hut (the sign on the wall notes "This is not a bothy!") so now what. It would probably rain in the night so a shed would be handy. Plus I was done for the day and didn't fancy yet another mad thrash trying to find a decent bivvy spot before it got dark. So back aways to the other hut I'd passed earlier...
This is scuzzy - the window is out and the floor covered in muck. I swept as much of the dirt up as possible with a bit of heather, wondered if I should just pitch the tarp up next to it, then got my gear out and sat out in the cool breeze having a beer and contemplating my journey to this point. As the sun set, coolness drove me inside and into my bag. Whisky helped me pass the hour to bed time and a sound sleep followed.
The far more salubrious halfway hut. Actually a nice little interpretation center with info about the history of the rail line and area.
The next morning dawned with clear blue skies. After a quick pack up I departed in search of nice trails and breakfast. The Dava way took me into the woods around the mighty river Findhorn and its fab riverside trail, down which I hooned it big style to the Logie Steading cafe for breakfast, my head louping after too much whisky the night before. A large amount of food and tea followed, then.... more ace riverside trails. I rode back up the road a ways and crossed the river in search of more singletrack on the west bank. It's all a hoot and well worth spending some time here.
In places the trail is a bit hairy, running right to the edge of the large gorge the Findhorn runs in.
I exited the trails to check out Darnaway forest and another possible shed, which turned out to be a water tank.... It's raised up above the ground so you could kip under it, in a pinch. There then followed an excess of road riding on NCN 1 to Nairn and a fine harbourside cafe. An American chap was asking after my bike so we chatted about various outdoor adventures and I gave him some shouts about stuff to do hereabouts.
The sea.
So off we go on the Moray Coastal Trail. After a bit of faffing through the dunes I picked up an easy trail into Culbin forest. There is a ton of single track in here so I tried to bag as much as I could. On emerging onto the beach I noted a large amount of grey cloud incoming. After the sunny start, it had steadily clouded over so this looked like rain on the way, contrary to any weather forecast I had seen to that point. Sure enough, a wee while later the drizzle started. I'd an inkling it would dry up later so I figured that the best way to manage the rain was to stick to woods and I rode pretty much every track I could find and remember from previous visits.
This edifice is smack in the middle of the forest. It's not marked on any maps but offers a fine view of the Moray Firth, the Northern Hills and the rain.
I can see the pub from here!
The rain never really got that heavy and when I finally exited the forest, the horizon did indeed look to be clearing. I cruised along NCN 1 past Benromach Distillery and out along the River Findhorn once more to Findhorn itself. On approach, the rain did actually get quite heavy, despite the horizon now being all clear. So of course I had to go to the pub to sit it out. In fact I ended up eating here (£21 for an average burger and chips and a pint) whilst contemplating my onward moves and digs.
Right, I'll head to Burghead, grab some evening snacks and a beer or three from the Co-op and then head back into the woods for a bivvy. This worked incredibly well, as I bagged as much of the fab singletrack as I could remember, scoped out a spot, grabbed beers, headed back and got settled in.
Whilst sat on the loo earlier that day, I noted a tick crawling across my leg. It must have got caught up in my shorts or something, however, as it didn't look like it had sank its teeth into me. I was somewhat wary of more in my woodland retreat but in fact, the only insects I noted were devils coachman beetles, which are rather large and tend to curl their abdomens up, scorpion like, which is a bit alarming. Anyway, a very pleasant evening followed followed by a good kip.
I was up and away early, back to the Co-op in Burghead for breakfast. Oh joy of joys, they had a hot food counter with bacon and sausages - one of each in a roll please! Better still, I say out on the sea front eating this, contemplating a fine sunny morning.
So off we go. To Hopeman, it's coastal trail is a cycleway but beyond here it gets more interesting. A bit of heaving up some steps leads you to a lovely gravel singletrack which twists and turns its way long the top of the low cliffs. The views north were fab, and the ever present sea a fine backdrop. Then it got much better, a few k short of Lossiemouth. The nice path dumps you onto the beach and the high tide route is a somewhat overgrown and vague line through the dunes. I got lost on this section the time I did this route, ending up in the adjacent golf course. Today the tide was well out, so I hit the beach and cruised easily along the sand, all the way to Lossie, where I indulged in more cafe culture having a nice and expensive cappuccino on the harbourside, sat out in the sun, the sun!
This is a new bridge put in a few years ago to replace the old wooden footbridge across the bay. I rolled off it onto the sand and fairly flew along the beach, finally leaving it as the tide was coming in and the shingle a bit hard going. A short push up over the shingle bar got me onto the a rough trail along the edge of the forest.
Gun emplacements are dotted along the coast, along with miles of tank stoppers. Looks like a certain amount of anarchy goes on here, given the graffiti, fire sites and much evidence of use by motocross bikes. They would make a good bivvy spot, but probably not on a weekend...
Finally I emerged at Kingston, did a nice trail to Garmouth and then joined NCN 1 at the fab old railway bridge. From here it was all on the Speyside way up to my friends place at Blacksboat.
Another great old railway bridge, this one carries the Inverness to Aberdeen line
Looking back to Fochabers and Garmouth.
After spending two days helping my mate Rob stapling tyvek to his new steading roof, I bottled a ride home as the weather was looking a bit damp. I've done this a few times now so saw no need to do it in the rain. Instead I had an easy pedal to Aviemore by various means and then trained it down to Gleneagles, finishing with a very damp passage of the Ochills.
Total distance was 220 miles. The 'triangle' is defo worth doing and you can throw in a few variations to add interest. So a good trip for my August Bivvy. September next but Dad is having another crisis so not sure how it will pan out...
blog link for a few more pics and words:
https://philsbikepacking.blogspot.com/2 ... rings.html
I didn't actually mean to do it. Inspired by Jimmy's and Sean's escapades, I hatched a plan to pedal along to Callander and then do the Badger route up to schneckie, cut east on a route following various tracks and trails (roughly the Pictish trail route) then head south by some suitable means. However this would end up riding through a lot of rain. I've done pretty much all of the BD route so this seemed a bit pointless. Up east looked drier and my new gravel bolide was duly contemplated for such an undertaking. But I've kind of done that and whilst it is very pleasant, I was fancying something a bit more interesting, riding wise. So I duly rode round the procrastination loop a few times before taking the radical step of going onto the Scotrail website and seeing where I could get to on the Saturday. Answer? Up the Inverness line. Aviemore seemed a good bet so I coughed up and did a map re-appraisal.
The train journey went OK after a leisurely pedal down to Inverkeithing. Departing the train at Aviemore was a relief for about 1 minute. The entire town was rammed with extremely large motorbikes and their extremely large owners. Oh gawd it was 'Thunder in the Glens' the Harley Owners Group rally that takes place every year up here. I'd my heart set on a pint in the Bridge Inn but it was queued out the door. There was a terrible band playing 'rock' dross and there were far too many people strutting round wearing leather waist coats. Grumbling mightily about all of this I got out of there. Then I berated myself for such negative thoughts as this lot were no worse than us lot and people being into stuff, whatever that stuff may be is a Good Thing. I prefer the minimalism of my Triumph, however. Then I recalled my last encounter with this rally which was in August 2014 when I pitched up on my successful Cairngorms loop Ride, in fact my first successful ITT. 10 years ago to the day!
The chippy at Dalfaber is a good 'un and Hog free so I grabbed a fish supper and sat under the next door Co-op awning scoffing it whilst a few sprinkles came through. The forecast for up here was also not that great but after grabbing a few supplies at the Co-op and getting going properly, the sun did shine.
On the trail at last, NCN 7 north, the relief of leaving all behind boiling off me like steam. I built this route in 1998 and it's survived the test of time. Part of the same scheme was improving a track over the hill from Boat of Garten to Carrbridge. This has now been abandoned by Sustrans as the NCN, alas. Instead you have to use the not that quiet B road. Last year, Transport Scotland consulted on sorting this route out but nothing has materialised on the ground yet. I suspect the consultants fees for prepping the options and doing the consultation will have been several times what it cost to do up the track over the hill....
Right, enough of all that, let the holiday commence! And a new trail!! This was via the wee road east then north from Carrbridge and up into the hills north of the A938. I'd tried to do this track a few years ago from the north but failed as it wasn't shown on my 2010 OS maps. Of course I'd forgotten this until I was heading into the wilderness and trying to fathom turns. According to the GPS I was in the middle of a blank nothingness. Fortunately, and for the first time, my OS app on the phone worked and I was able to see where to go.
A good 'un!
This eventually spat me out on the Lochindorb road and thence onto the Dava way. Now I'd figured on dossing in the wee hut about halfway along the route only to discover someone else in residence! Bugger. He was cheery enough and even offered to shuffle over to let me in but it's really only a one person hut (the sign on the wall notes "This is not a bothy!") so now what. It would probably rain in the night so a shed would be handy. Plus I was done for the day and didn't fancy yet another mad thrash trying to find a decent bivvy spot before it got dark. So back aways to the other hut I'd passed earlier...
This is scuzzy - the window is out and the floor covered in muck. I swept as much of the dirt up as possible with a bit of heather, wondered if I should just pitch the tarp up next to it, then got my gear out and sat out in the cool breeze having a beer and contemplating my journey to this point. As the sun set, coolness drove me inside and into my bag. Whisky helped me pass the hour to bed time and a sound sleep followed.
The far more salubrious halfway hut. Actually a nice little interpretation center with info about the history of the rail line and area.
The next morning dawned with clear blue skies. After a quick pack up I departed in search of nice trails and breakfast. The Dava way took me into the woods around the mighty river Findhorn and its fab riverside trail, down which I hooned it big style to the Logie Steading cafe for breakfast, my head louping after too much whisky the night before. A large amount of food and tea followed, then.... more ace riverside trails. I rode back up the road a ways and crossed the river in search of more singletrack on the west bank. It's all a hoot and well worth spending some time here.
In places the trail is a bit hairy, running right to the edge of the large gorge the Findhorn runs in.
I exited the trails to check out Darnaway forest and another possible shed, which turned out to be a water tank.... It's raised up above the ground so you could kip under it, in a pinch. There then followed an excess of road riding on NCN 1 to Nairn and a fine harbourside cafe. An American chap was asking after my bike so we chatted about various outdoor adventures and I gave him some shouts about stuff to do hereabouts.
The sea.
So off we go on the Moray Coastal Trail. After a bit of faffing through the dunes I picked up an easy trail into Culbin forest. There is a ton of single track in here so I tried to bag as much as I could. On emerging onto the beach I noted a large amount of grey cloud incoming. After the sunny start, it had steadily clouded over so this looked like rain on the way, contrary to any weather forecast I had seen to that point. Sure enough, a wee while later the drizzle started. I'd an inkling it would dry up later so I figured that the best way to manage the rain was to stick to woods and I rode pretty much every track I could find and remember from previous visits.
This edifice is smack in the middle of the forest. It's not marked on any maps but offers a fine view of the Moray Firth, the Northern Hills and the rain.
I can see the pub from here!
The rain never really got that heavy and when I finally exited the forest, the horizon did indeed look to be clearing. I cruised along NCN 1 past Benromach Distillery and out along the River Findhorn once more to Findhorn itself. On approach, the rain did actually get quite heavy, despite the horizon now being all clear. So of course I had to go to the pub to sit it out. In fact I ended up eating here (£21 for an average burger and chips and a pint) whilst contemplating my onward moves and digs.
Right, I'll head to Burghead, grab some evening snacks and a beer or three from the Co-op and then head back into the woods for a bivvy. This worked incredibly well, as I bagged as much of the fab singletrack as I could remember, scoped out a spot, grabbed beers, headed back and got settled in.
Whilst sat on the loo earlier that day, I noted a tick crawling across my leg. It must have got caught up in my shorts or something, however, as it didn't look like it had sank its teeth into me. I was somewhat wary of more in my woodland retreat but in fact, the only insects I noted were devils coachman beetles, which are rather large and tend to curl their abdomens up, scorpion like, which is a bit alarming. Anyway, a very pleasant evening followed followed by a good kip.
I was up and away early, back to the Co-op in Burghead for breakfast. Oh joy of joys, they had a hot food counter with bacon and sausages - one of each in a roll please! Better still, I say out on the sea front eating this, contemplating a fine sunny morning.
So off we go. To Hopeman, it's coastal trail is a cycleway but beyond here it gets more interesting. A bit of heaving up some steps leads you to a lovely gravel singletrack which twists and turns its way long the top of the low cliffs. The views north were fab, and the ever present sea a fine backdrop. Then it got much better, a few k short of Lossiemouth. The nice path dumps you onto the beach and the high tide route is a somewhat overgrown and vague line through the dunes. I got lost on this section the time I did this route, ending up in the adjacent golf course. Today the tide was well out, so I hit the beach and cruised easily along the sand, all the way to Lossie, where I indulged in more cafe culture having a nice and expensive cappuccino on the harbourside, sat out in the sun, the sun!
This is a new bridge put in a few years ago to replace the old wooden footbridge across the bay. I rolled off it onto the sand and fairly flew along the beach, finally leaving it as the tide was coming in and the shingle a bit hard going. A short push up over the shingle bar got me onto the a rough trail along the edge of the forest.
Gun emplacements are dotted along the coast, along with miles of tank stoppers. Looks like a certain amount of anarchy goes on here, given the graffiti, fire sites and much evidence of use by motocross bikes. They would make a good bivvy spot, but probably not on a weekend...
Finally I emerged at Kingston, did a nice trail to Garmouth and then joined NCN 1 at the fab old railway bridge. From here it was all on the Speyside way up to my friends place at Blacksboat.
Another great old railway bridge, this one carries the Inverness to Aberdeen line
Looking back to Fochabers and Garmouth.
After spending two days helping my mate Rob stapling tyvek to his new steading roof, I bottled a ride home as the weather was looking a bit damp. I've done this a few times now so saw no need to do it in the rain. Instead I had an easy pedal to Aviemore by various means and then trained it down to Gleneagles, finishing with a very damp passage of the Ochills.
Total distance was 220 miles. The 'triangle' is defo worth doing and you can throw in a few variations to add interest. So a good trip for my August Bivvy. September next but Dad is having another crisis so not sure how it will pan out...
blog link for a few more pics and words:
https://philsbikepacking.blogspot.com/2 ... rings.html
It's also nice that I've now been to Scotland enough that I actually recognise some of the place names, even if I'd still struggle to pinpoint them on a map 
