Bikepacking The Scottish Highlands - A Solo Adventure

Hi, my name's Alan and I've come back to the Scottish Highlands for another adventure. Ha! Just look at it! I had fun stopping and allowing myself time to explore, unless I end up in this river. It's nice to be able to stop and look at it. Okay, note to self, there is cars on this road. There's a couple of really nice houses down here, so this must be like the Rome private driveway. Not sure if you can make out on the camera, but do you know all that nice weather that we had? We were like walking around in shorts and t-shirts. Well, managed to avoid all of that and come to Scotland when the tops of the mountains have got snow on. You can just about make it out in the distance on the left over there and on the right just there. Oh dear. It's a good job I'm not going up high. No chorearic pass like last March. I'm getting quite hungry. I haven't really done a great deal, but my belly's telling me that I have. I'm glad I'm not on that road. Super glad. Triple super glad. Wish there was more cycle lanes like this. Imagine the whole UK had this. It'd be so good. Second breakfast, here I come. Or is it third because I had a couple of bowls of cereal. Could be third. So I was just riding up here, but then I seen MacDweeb's rest area. I have no idea what it is, so halfway up that little slope I started to bob down. Let's have a little look at what it is. Looks like a normal bench, but have you seen what it is? Three sets of skis turned into a bench. Probably cost a fortune in the day as well, didn't he? And we've got a little totem pole as well. A set of handlebars for years. It's quite funny when you're driving a 60 along here, you look out and see the tracks that you think you're riding on and then you're kind of happy that you're not because it kind of goes up and down quite a lot. The camera's kind of flat in here, but if you can have a see. It's a bit undulating, isn't it? Whereas this is nice and easy. It's official, we're in the Scottish Highlands. Like Ness. Don't worry, everyone's complaining about him. He's right there on the picture. Whiskey! I'm due to go somewhere over in that direction, but first, noticing about whiskey, I'm going to go to the cafe because it's open. If you can get across the road. It's quite funny that a cafe is open for me. Usually they're closed or there's no ice cream or both. My plan almost worked to hide in the cafe until the rain went away. The rain went, sun came out, I left, started raining again. I'm going to head towards Dalney Distillery now. I can smell it in the air. I can smell whiskey in the air. That's so cool. I've just found my new favourite whiskey. A really nice guy was talking me through it and even said, do you want a little try? I was like, yeah, go on. I've just had a couple of wee drams of whiskey. Everything's so much fuzzier now. life, but even if the camera catches maybe 10% of how good it looks. Okay. It's nuts. Like I promised where it might look as good on camera. Look at that. But first a climb. Mash through the gears. The climb wasn't even that big. It was still a bit of a first gear grind up. Love riding downhill like this. Just so easy. I want to be like this all the time. That'd be nice. It's just nuts. Look at it. Look at the mountains. Genuinely think someone lives in that. Live in a castle. Retaining the chilled vibe of this trip. I'm almost at camp. It's like half four in the afternoon. I have to sit around and chill out for a while. Oh well. It's just not rubbish, is it? Found two potential spaces there. Around a little private plunge pool. It's quite close to the trail. I could go down there. It's a bit breezier. I don't think it's going to be too windy tonight, but if I could get out of the wind or not necessarily be in it, I'm on to a winner. picks it up or not, but I think I'm in for a really nice sunset. The clouds are starting to clear over the mountains just a little bit. Blue sky. I think the next few days are going to be really quite nice. It's taking a little bit of time to get back out there on the bike. It's just been a little bit, you know what I mean? It's just, everything just seems such an effort. You're sitting there and I wasn't even looking at maps. I usually spend a long time planning routes that I'm never going to ride, planning routes that I might ride, or looking at routes that I have done in the past and just seeing where they go and what alternatives there is. But yeah, I think it's starting to come back a bit now, which is nice. I've had my tea, chicken fried rice, but it was like soup. Got us some of Lidl's finest Glen Lidl. There's a theme here, isn't there? And I've got my ferry lights up. That looks nice. So I'm going to say goodnight now. It's quite early. It's about quarter past eight. Starting to get nice and toasty. It's always warmer in the tent when you zip it up and everything. Even that little net just adds a tiny little bit of extra warmth. I'm going to go to sleep in a bit after I've had a little bit of whiskey and a bit more chocolate. So I'll see you in the morning. Good morning. What a morning it is as well. It's actually warm. I've just got a jumper on and a base layer and it's eight o'clock in the morning and I'm already toasty. Last night was cold though. It really was. I don't know what temperature it turned to but it was frost all over my tent and all over my bike. Around about five o'clock in the morning. I'm just going to sit here in the sun for a while. I've got my washing on the go. What a day. Morning guys. go via this lock, wiggle around on the Badger Divide, wiggle around a bit more, head to Cora station, then up and over and then maybe camp somewhere around about here because there's an old... oh there it is. I'm going to camp somewhere around about there. I take myself to Scotland daydreaming a lot. This is one of the places I come. It's incredible. Just look at it. Look how amazing it is. There's a couple of houses down there. You know, just in the forest. I'd love to live here. I actually think I'm about to cycle past people. I haven't seen people for hours days. Hours? Since this morning. There you go, that'll do. Hello people. Hello. I've seen nobody on bikes for days. You're about to see 21 people. Dirt divas. Dirt divas, how cool. We're going out to the hostel, staying two nights. Nice. So we're going to do mechanics. Sarah bought the ponies. I wanted to do that. Hang on, you've just said ponies and bikes. What's your name? Rosie, Max and I. Yeah, I thought so. I've got a chair in there. Yeah, it's a... hey, ace bike buddy. We can be ace bike buddies. I mean, I've used it for yonks. Yeah. So first time up for you two, second, third, fourth, ninth million. Nice. Oh, they're all behind me. There's me saying I haven't seen anybody for ages. No bike packers. I just stumbled across 20 all heading to the same place as I am. So they're all putting their order in for what they want. And I was just like, oh, just hang back a bit. I believe this section of the route's lovely. Just so we could get there and get a coffee order in quick. Just about in front. 600 meters until Carra station and then decide what I'm doing. Amazing, amazing, amazing. Yeah, yeah, you're right. After a three course meal at Carra station, I'm full as a boot. I'm in a bit of a food coma and I'm in a tent. A dad and lad who's doing the Badger Divide invited me to sit at the table with them. I just thought it was really nice. So I had a three course meal with them, chatted all things bikes. I feel my eyes getting tired, starting to close a little bit. See you in the morning. What a long night that was. It was nice to relax for that long, but it was pouring now. It rained all night. Water's made its way into my tent a little bit. My sleeping bag's a bit wet. Trying to debate whether to go to the station for breakfast or then just have some porridge and get going. It's likely to be the station though, let's face it. Camp is a little bit on a slant due to a bad pitch. I had a little puddle build up which ended up feeding its way inside. It's drying up a little bit now, but you can see it's wet underneath my bike. Poor bike had to stay outside, but she's had a bit of a wash. It's looking good. The wind is coming from down there, up and over, all the way through. It's like a channel for the wind. Where I was though, it's tucked out of the way. The only I had to deal with was rain and I can deal with that, that's fine. Time for round two. Three hours at the station again, maybe. Have a good day. That lad has got some kit. He had front panniers, back panniers, a massive rucksack. Blimey, it's business. We're going to go and see the bridge that was filmed in Trainspotting. Where the famous line, where the lowest of the low was said. Let's go film that. I'm going to go and see where it was filmed. Well, are you all right? I was touching you last night. Oh, how are you doing, man? So I've just went to try and find the bridge from Trainspotting. Really nice guy that I've just been chatting to. He gave me the tip off for the good camping spot last night. Said it wasn't the first bridge, then it's the second. So I've seen the second, I've seen the third. I actually think it might have been the first. Looking at the pictures. Oh, oh, oh, bog, bog, bog. I'm okay, I'm okay. It's not as deep as it looks. So it's not this one. I reckon it's the one after that. And look at that, sun's coming out as well now. It's been really nice relaxing at the station. Had my breakfast, a couple of coffees, then I decided to have some cake. So my breakfast turned into my dinner. They did say it was going to rain at 12 o'clock. It's 12 o'clock and the sun's come out. So I'm not really sure what's happening with the weather. But here we are. Yeah, it must be this one. I actually don't think it'll be that bad being Scottish. Scottish are quite nice people. Just trying not to fall off in the front of a load of people again. Under this little tiny gravel bit. I think that's the first one, you know. This is the second bridge and the third bridge are both tiny. I mean, I've seen all three anyway. I don't suppose you're on Instagram, are you? I am actually, yeah. I've followed you on Highland Railways. Oh, sick. I've got a couple of photos of you up there. Oh, have you? Oh, quality, yeah. Obviously, it's not the best because you're miles away, but I did get quite a few there. Oh, that's so cool, that. So I'll send you them. Oh, awesome. Take care, mate. Photobomb coming. Hello, everyone, again. Are we all okay? Yeah. Yay, I've done it. They all look like they're having so much fun. I didn't want to stop and start trying to gag in on the fun. I think they said that they're offering Easter egg hunt. So I don't know what that consists of, but if there's chocolate in these hills, I am going to find it. I don't often use commutes. What I did do for this section, I got commuted. It's like a 500 meters long section and it still got it wrong. So, oh yeah, just cut across. Path is right there. No, it's not. It's back here. How's that, feeling well? Yeah, you're not too far away from Corry now, though, are you? Enjoy. Just about make out. Camp Spot was down there last night. Much better than doing this climb in the wind and the rain. This is Road to the Isles and I've seen it as a point of interest on commute. This climb goes up and over to Corry Old Lodge ruin and it drops down into Rannock. If you turn right, you can get to Rannock Station Cafe. I may end up there for a coffee and then make it from there, I guess. So, it's worthwhile having a coffee and then having to ponder where I want to go next. I love this type of riding. It's great. I'm not sure if it's warm or cold or what. Where are you guys headed? Are you both okay? Yeah, all right. What a place. Just look at it. It's just incredible. It's always incredible, isn't it? Immense. Beautiful. Astounding. It's good. I am nowhere near the top. We're about the same again, maybe. I'm just at a loss for words. Welcome to Corry Old Lodge. A bit of a ruin, a bit of a baggy mess, but some history. I'm going to have to Google some photos of this to see what it was like back in the day. So, if I was going to camp somewhere last night, it would have been around this way. I think I've seen a cute smile on the back of my head. Saying that he'd had a lovely little night. Quite low down, there's no wind. So, I would have been all right, really. Definitely putting this on our places to camp next time I come up. Hopefully, the sun will be out next time I'm here. I can sit in my little chair and take it all in. It's like the floor is lava. Do you know when you were a kid and you used to jump across the couches, try and not touch the floor because it was lava? Well, the land is bog. Just as bad. So, the Road to the Isles is well-recommended. It's really, really nice up and over with views out of this world. Well, I was going to ride up towards Loch Eriks and camp there. And I thought it'd be really nice there. So, I was having a chat just in the Rye Station Tea Room there with one of the staff. She was like, oh, have you not thought about camping down by the loch? I was like, no. Well, yeah, I have. But looking at the route, it just kind of goes through the trees and it's double track. And she was like, no, there's a nice little beach there. You know, people camp there all the time. So, you know, it'd be a nice little spot for you. She goes, watch out though. If you do hear strange noises, don't worry. It's just wildlife. Apparently, there's a lot of deer around here. We've already seen some at the cafe. So, I'm likely to be woken up by some deer at some point. There's my tent just over there. There's people on boats. It's just so peaceful. I just bought myself a cup of tea, some crisps and some sandwiches. All from the Amnesty shop at my next station. I don't ever have cash on me because I never remember to draw it out. But I paid on card. It was brilliant. Ah, so cool. Tell you what, I very nearly missed that. I'm so happy that I was a bit more inquisitive than just riding past. I've had everything. I'm freezing cold. Bad rain. And I'm sweating. That's the first time I've had no gloves on. It's absolutely boiling. Dare I say that my feet are still dry. Okay, my right foot's now wet. Well, at least my left foot's dry. Thanks for holding the gate. Enjoy your day. From day one, I was like, I'm glad I'm not on that road because it's hilly, blah, blah, blah. And now I'm on this road. I'm actually quite happy I'm on it now. The A9 is on my left, which means that my adventure is almost over. Four amazing days in Scotland. Thanks for Charlie for giving me the route and giving me the inspiration to get up here. And thanks to the Tea Rooms for not kicking me out when I was taking way too long deciding where I was going to next. So it's been an incredible adventure. There might be a few more this year, who knows. As always, thanks for watching and I'll see you again. So it's private level crossing, authorised users only. And there's some sort of industrial work inside. You know, there's forklifts and other heavy machinery. Tried shouting the guy to get his attention. He didn't hear me. And that means that I've got to go right back. That's so rubbish. You do a point to point and end up completely stuck. So now I'm on route number seven. I'm on the correct way home. Now the adventure is drawing to an end. That's how close I was. It was only about 20 metres between me and the trail. Yet I had to ride all the way back.