I've fancied biking the Affric Way for a while and with the Highland 'tattie day' (public holiday) it gave me an extra day to play with. So I decided not to pick potatoes for which the day was given and load up the bike....
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| Lets hustle |
Its interesting that 'bike packing' has become so popular/mainstream and trendy, even featuring on Countryfile! I guess I'm inadvertently 'on trend', which for those who know me (and me for that matter) is very amusing!
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| Love an old concrete bus station with village notice board |
So I loaded up the bike and managed to get a lift part way to Drumnadrochit the official start of the trail. It's interesting riding a mt bike that's laden with stuff, almost immediately a slower travelling pace is forced upon you as you and the bike are less nimble. It was a (slower) joy to cycle the forest trails through to Cannich. I definitely observed more around me travelling this way stopping frequently to look at the magical Autumn colours.
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| Love a good log too..! |
I nearly rode the route in a day, but really wanted to stay in the bothy so deliberately split it into 2 days. Getting to Cannich around noon I did slightly panic that I would get to the bothy very early and wish I'd pushed through but I shouldn't have worried....
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| Glen Affric - amazing colours at the moment (bike and trees) |
The Autumn colours were spectacular around Glen Affric too, and I met two hikers fully loaded up with massive packs near the end of the Glen Affric road who said that they were also heading to the bothy.... but I never saw them again - guess they didn't get that far.
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| Open country |
My pace had to slow after Loch Affric as the track roughened and it took longer than I anticipated to get to the YHA, now boarded up for the winter. I had a break here and looked at the cosy winter room that they leave open for travellers (one to remember).
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| Guess its this way! |
Up until this point I had managed to keep my feet dry, but the 3km from the YHA to the bothy was very wet with bog and river crossings so the legs were firmly damp by the time I arrived at the bothy. It had also started to rain and sadly my sleeping bad was a tad damp when I got it out of the waterproof bag at the bothy! Oh dear!
I'd heard mediocre reports of the Camban bothy, but it was pretty good with 2 livable rooms with a fire place in each. There was a guy in one room already with kit scattered (filling) the whole room and after a brief chat it seemed like he didn't want company, so I took the other roof and made myself at home.
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| Hoping I didn't end up like this hiker.. |
I was so glad I'd bought the candles and firelog, and once it got dark it was nice and cozy. It was great to have some hot food and bed down, occasionally waking to hear the stags roaring out on the hillside. I slept well, about 14 hours on and off!
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| The shut up hostel |
The other guy was chatty in the morning complaining of a long night and I got away just as the darkness turned into a gloomy morning light. Unfortunately the rain had now set in but it didn't matter.
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| Yay - Camban bothy |
The section of trail from the bothy to Morvich is brilliant, at first amazing rideable single track that I 'stumbled' through in the morning gloom before it goes through the spectacular pass thats steep and rocky which I didn't risk riding.. I mulled over that if I had a (Santa Cruz) Bronson with dropper post and no bags on the bike most of it would go (I can dream)!
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| Cosy bothy night |
I only took one picture on this section as the day got wetter and wetter, in fact by the time I hit the road I was fairly wet and cold... There didn't appear to be anything at Morvich, but to be fair I cracked on North on the coast road looking for a cafe. Sadly there wasn't a cafe (or anything open) at Dornie so I pressed on for Kyle hoping to get the early train back home to Inverness. This wet slog was mentally draining but only lasted a couple of hours and I made the early train. It was great to board the train after standing shivering at the station in all of my clothes waiting patiently with the holiday makers who had been to Skye and were now homeward bound. I was the only muddy cyclist so slightly stood out. Typically (as lots of stuff shuts down in the Highlands in winter) the station toilets, waiting room and cafe were all 'closed for the season'!
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| Last picture before the rain made me put the camera away |
So what did I learn!?
1) Well the Alpkit bike packing kit works really well apart from the leaky bag which I'm sure Alpkit will sort out.
2) Bike packing is a great way to travel, I covered 65 miles in a day and a half (as opposed to walking the route over maybe 4 days).
3) Its quite tough!
4) Finally I definitely need a frame bag. I had to use a 30 ltr rucksack as well for food and cooking stuff, so transferring this to the bike in a frame bag would be brilliant... Just need to measure up and get one now! A really fun adventure.
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| Homeward bound |
