I’ve been out in the Fannichs today, going up two Munros – An Coileachan and Meall Gorm – from the Lochluichart road. We took the bikes up the access road for Fannich Lodge and walked from a couple of miles before there, heading up around the incredible Garbh Choire Mor onto the ridge.
John on Meall Gorm, with Sgurr Mor in the background (centre)
It’s a pretty steep start but, once we had gained the ridge, it was easy walking for the rest of the day. The old stalkers’ path down from Meall Gorm isn’t in good nick, though; it could do with some drainage being done.
The tops stayed clear for us and we enjoyed some magical views of Slioch, Sgurr Mhor, Ben Wyvis and many more!
Once down at Fannich Lodge, it was a couple of miles along the tarmac track back to the bikes, then a superb descent of around 5 miles back to the road. What a fantastic day!
Testing out bike lights for the Inverness Courier.
It’s well and truly dark now when I’m leaving the office and already you can count cyclists pedalling around with no lights whatsoever on their bikes. It never fails to amaze me how crazy some people are.
As far as I’m concerned, I will do anything necessary to be seen when I’m on the bike, so I have a vast collection of lights as well as hi-vis clothing. But it doesn’t cost much to stick a simple front and back light on (it is the law after all, and it’s there to protect you) and maybe wear some lighter clothing.
I’ve reviewed a selection of bike lights for this Friday’s Inverness Courier – along with my regular cycling route, so pick up a copy if you can! The route is a real cracker too!
I enjoyed a soggy ride up
Glen Strathfarrar yesterday for a route I’m doing for the
Inverness Courier on Friday. I would have liked to see some of the mountains (the weather was that bad) but it’s a great ride in itself, and the tarmac road really opens up access to the Strathfarrar horseshoe, as well as Sgurr na Lapaich, which you can also climb from Glen Cannich.
The road is really quiet, as the number of cars allowed down there each day is restricted, so it’s perfect cycling country. The views, even with the cloud this low, were magnificent, so they must be amazing on a clear day.
You can just about spy the very tops of the Fannichs from my office window – on a clear day – so it’s great to get out and about for a walk there.
A fantastic route is from the Loch Droma dam on the Inverness-Ullapool road, taking in Meall a’ Chrasgaidh, Sgurr Mor and Beinn Liath Mhor Fannaich. I’ve written about this in the November 2010 issue of TGO Magazine, so pick up a copy in the shops now!
The weather’s looking ok the next few days but, as I’ll be stuck in the office, I’ll have to settle for staring out of the kitchen window for a glimpse of these magnificent mountains… for now, at least!
Today I was running in the River Ness 10K in Inverness. The photos make it look sunny but during the race it rained non-stop! Never mind, that’s not too bad when you’re running anyway.
With all this cycling and walking I’ve been doing recently, I hadn’t got round to doing a great deal of actual running during what I will loosely term ‘training’. So I was delighted with my time of 48 minutes 19 seconds, as my aim was to break 50 minutes.
The event has inspired me a bit to get back into some real training and maybe do a few more 10Ks and half marathons – maybe even the full Loch Ness Marathon in a couple of years’ time… we’ll see!
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.
