I’ll be taking entries for next year’s Highland Trail in six weeks so I’d like to make public a few changes I’m making to the route.

On day 1, after just 3 miles on the WHW the new route will take a right turn at Auch. There follows 65 miles through all new territory. Scenic double track up past Loch Lyon, down Glen Lyon on tarmac to Bridge of Balgie (café/shop) and then off road north past Loch Rannoch, Loch Ericht and Loch Pattack until it re-joins the current route just before Laggan Wolftrax. A big thank you to Phil Clarke (Fat Bike Phil) who suggested this new section. I rode it a few weeks ago and was very impressed, only a couple of miles of pushing and a superb 10 mile singletrack on the flanks of Ben Alder. Going this way avoids the relatively busy Tyndrum to Kinlochleven section and misses the boggy trail across to Loch Treig.

The second change is the exit from Fisherfield. It will go to Kinlochewe via Letterewe on the Postman’s Path, an historic track that goes down the east side of Loch Maree. This is mostly singletrack, not all of it rideable. The disadvantage with this track is that parts of it will disappear under bracken by the end of June. Hopefully it should be fine in May. Going this way avoids the “horse sh*t bog”, the Tollie Path and the main road to Kinlochewe but on the downside also the fantastic last 5km of flowing singletrack out of Fisherfield. By missing Poolewe and with no services at Letterewe you’ll need to leave Ullapool with plenty of food to make it to Kinlochewe.

The last change is the Torridon crossing. I have decided to avoid the carry over the Coire Lair and go an easier and more rideable route via Loch Coulin and the Easan Dorcha to rejoin the current route at the top of the slabby descent to Achnashellach. I made this change as the Coire Lair track is getting badly eroded now Torridon has become the must do big mountain venue. To be truthful I was also worried that someone might come to serious harm up there with the grim weather we had this year.

These three changes mean the route is now 23 miles shorter at 535miles. Most of the missing miles were either tarmac or pushing. If you’d like a gpx file of the provisional route contact me at the email address on the Highland Trail website. Feedback welcomed.

Good move on Torridon Alan.

G

I'd heard rumours about the Postman's path change. I didn't realise that the Coire Lair path had become so eroded, even though it's one of the "must do" routes it can't get that much traffic (?). The changes at the start look <ahem>interesting</ahem>, especially past Ben Alder.

Too much for me for next year, I'm nowhere fit enough or got enough multi-day experience.

Damn! Another reason to attempt the ride I said I'd never do again... I may be interested once more.

Sounds good Alan. Looking forwards to it already

Will be in touch

A wee tastie of the Ben Alder single track.....

I agree - the Coire Lair section was marginal this year. One mistake or spot of bad luck would have been really serious. Ben Alder cottage to Culra is great. The Tollie path won't be mourned by most but I quite enjoyed it.

Looks good at least on the map.

Hoping the weather is a bit kinder this time.

When is it planned for?

When is it planned for?

End of May.

http://www.highlandtrail.net/

Bugger. Might be asking for the GPS route then.

Bugger. Might be asking for the GPS route then.

For a place at the grand depart, you'll need to prove that you've already ridden one of the qualifying rides/events ... I'm assuming this is true for 2016.

Quick one....

What are these qualifying events you speak of? Been out the uk most of this year so not to speed on this.

Do you have to do group starts to or could i do one of them as an ITT to qualify ?

Do you have to do group starts to or could i do one of them as an ITT to qualify ?

You could ITT them.

LL200 and CL are certainly two and probably the easiest to tick off.

Do you have to do group starts to or could i do one of them as an ITT to qualify ?

Terry, There's no group starts before entry date which fill up fast. ITT the Cairngorms loop or the Capital Trail maybe up your way in the next few weeks?

Yeah im trying to fit in a capital trail between now and nov 28th .... It just moved up the priority list.... I was gonna do it the weekend of the group ride on dec 5th .... No dice.

Should have known this sooner , me being dumb , would have done one of the routes of self supporteduk.net instead of the coast to coast i did. Damn.

See how many holidays i have left when i get into the office tomorrow. Might be a mad dash to do capital trail after a wedding in 2 weekends time if i can get the monday off .do it over sunday/monday.

please don't laugh as i am easily upset, but if someone were to enter this event to simply get round and enjoy it as a tour, would that be possible?

i have done plenty of 50 mile days back to back on offroad tours in the highlands, and i would love to give this a go.
a proper tough challenge, and something to aim for and get proper fit for.

I believe that there's a nine day limit to be entered on the official finishers list, either as part of the group start or as an ITT. Of course there is nothing stopping you doing it for your own satisfaction.

You could start an ITT on the Friday so you still have all the social side of the group start as folk catch you up; without the pressure of having to knock the route off in the time limit

ton wrote:please don't laugh as i am easily upset, but if someone were to enter this event to simply get round and enjoy it as a tour, would that be possible?

IIRC there was a guy this year that entered it, stayed on route for a bit and then buggered off & explored pretty much everywhere else in Scotland :D

htrider probably has the better idea though.

Tony, it would make a cracking route taken at a steady pace over 12 days or so.

htrider wrote:You could start an ITT on the Friday so you still have all the social side of the group start as folk catch you up; without the pressure of having to knock the route off in the time limit

That's quite a good idea

Tony, it would make a cracking route taken at a steady pace over 12 days or so

Stu, i was thinking about 10 days, with a few pub stops along the way.
like i said, i have done plenty in scotland, the new bit just after the start, i have done in the opposite direction. fantastic scenery and riding, even the sinking sand at the head on Loch Ericht.
i like the idea of setting off a day before the start, and being picked off.....

Everyone that requested the gpx should have it now.
The Coire Lair descent has definitely been damaged a lot since I was first there in 2012. You would think the major hike to get up there would put most people off but on Strava there are 187 recorded passages for this year alone, you can probably multiply that by at least 3 or 4 get the true number. Maybe someone is running a heli-biking operation? By contrast some of the best segments on the new day 1 route have seen just 3 or 4 riders for this year.
I'm going to take up to sixty names for the group start given that normally about one third drop out before the start. Don't enter the group start unless you are confident you can complete the route in under 8 days. There are no hard and fast rules for getting a place but the more you have done the better your chances will be. If you have finished it before or done the CTR or AZTR you are guaranteed a place. If you've tried before and got a more than halfway you'll probably get a place, as you will if you've done the Cairngorms Loop or Lakeland 200. Other routes I haven't heard of yet may be good enough just let me know me what you've done and show you are not put off by a bit of pushing! Basically I will pick up to sixty people that I think have the best chance of getting round. Hopefully next year we can get the finish rate above 50% for the first time, weather permitting!
If you don't get a place on the group start please don't turn up anyway like one rider did last year. Just start it on any other day or at least wait a couple of hours! I think it's important for the future of the ride that it's kept to around 40 people. The new start should help prevent conflict with walkers on the WHW as we'll be off it after just 3 miles and onto seldom traveled trails.

Thats for the clarification on expectations Alan.

That puts a little less pressure on trying to do an ITT at short notice in the next 5 weeks.

Not that it will stop me trying to get it past the fun police !