We did another epic walk in the mountains on Sunday with a 19-mile trek in the Cairngorms.
Starting at the sugar-bowl car park, we headed through the Chalamain Gap and down into the Lairig Ghru, heading up past the Pools of Dee to scramble up the north east ridge of Angel’s Peak – Sgor an Lochain Uaine.
It’s a great little Grade 1 scramble from the edge of the lochan, with wonderful views across to Ben Macdui and down into the Lairig Ghru. I found it a pretty easy and fun scramble, though I admit being a wee bit nervous nearer the top where there’s one boulder that’s better to climb straight over rather than skirt around.
The granite is grippy on a dry day like we enjoyed (until nearer the end of the day, anyway) so there isn’t anything technical in the ascent.
From there we took a compass bearing or two to find the top of Braeriach through the mist before a long, bumpy path (my feet can still feel the sharp rocks!) back to the Lairig Ghru and through the Gap.
A great day out but a long one, and I’m sure the views would be magnificent on a better day!
My legs are still aching this evening after an epic trek up Suilven yesterday.
We set off from Lochinver at 9am (after a two-hour drive from Inverness) firstly heading along the minor road to Inverkirkaig, from where a long path leads to Assynt’s iconic mountain.
It’s only classified as a ‘Graham’ but in the grand scheme of things that doesn’t matter a toss; this is a magnificent lump of rock majestically rising from the mass of bog and rocks that surrounds it. Suilven stands proud and impressively tall and we had already walked 81/2 miles before we started the real climb.
After an undulating start, it came as a shock to the legs to scale the steep bealach. Then you see the bizarre wall built up over the bealach. One question – why? But walking through the gap in the wall, a nice easy scramble with some incredible views down over the surrounding landscape leads to the summit. Beautiful!
It’s a long walk back but a good track takes you most of the way, past Glencanisp Lodge to the village – thankfully we were kindly given a lift just after the lodge, which saved us nearly two miles of tarmac walking at the end of a long, long day. One piece of advice, though – if you want to eat in Lochinver in the summer, book a table! We drove to Ullapool to get a well-deserved meal before heading back to the big bad city!
The second C2C Challenge took place at the weekend and Meg and I were there, along with Meg’s brother Tommy and his mate Tony. We all finished the ride in good time despite a few ups and downs – not least when Meg’s rim blew on her rear wheel and locked the brakes on!
The C2C is a 140-mile cycle route between Whitehaven in Cumbria and Sunderland on the east coast. It heads through the Lake District, climbing the Whinlatter Pass, before going through Keswick and Penrith to reach the Pennines. The big test at the end of day one on this two-day challenge is to get over Hartside’s 1903ft summit at the end of a nearly 80-mile bike ride.
Once that’s out of the way, day two begins with a cobbled climb out of Alston and continues to climb and drop steeply through Nenthead, Allenheads, Rookhope and Stanhope before one last massive climb up over the moors to Parkhead Station on the disused Waskerly railway line. From there it’s downhill (ish) all the way to Roker in Sunderland, where you dip your wheel in the North Sea.
I’m posting some photos from our trip here, hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed the ride! See you again next year… maybe!
It’s not a paper I normally read (he adds quickly!) but I was directed to this article in the Telegraph about the British couple allowing their kids, aged 5 and 8, to cycle 1 mile to school on their own.
It’s by London mayor Boris Johnson and, whatever you could say about his general politics, I think he’s hit the mark with this one!
I'm a journalist in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland who specialises in the great outdoors - including walking, cycling and mountaineering. I write a regular Active Outdoors feature for the Inverness Courier as well as contributing to other publications, including leading hillwalking magazine TGO.
John Davidson's Guide to Walking and Cycling in Inverness and the Highlands
I'm a journalist in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland who specialises in the great outdoors - including walking, cycling and mountaineering. I write a regular Active Outdoors feature for the Inverness Courier as well as contributing to other publications, including leading hillwalking magazine TGO.
