Roam Scotland Rally Day 5 : Fort Augustus to Cannich, Thursday May 14th

Despite the pitter patter of rain on the tent in the night I managed to get packed up and set off in dry conditions. I retraced my route through the forest to get back to the Great Glen Way and set off pedalling, the trees parting occasionally to give some great views over Loch Ness with the occasional yacht or boat breaking the smooth surface. After a while the track dropped down to meet a road which took me on the A82 into Invermoriston, passing St Columba’s Well before a left turn on the A887 and a sharp right up a very steep road with hairpin bends. It was a walk for most of the way up, at the top I was met by an excitable puppy out for a walk with its owner and as expected the height reached gave some cracking views over Loch Ness. I resumed cycling along the forest track, at one point passing a huge pile of felled trees at the side before descending down through where they had obviously stood previously. 

A few miles further on the track climbed through a series of bends to join the Great Glen high route, and as I crested the top of the climb I met Mike from the train coming out of the high route path. The track continued on past some thick gorse and I came across a bit of logging going on, with a winch hauling some fallen logs up from further down the slope. I stopped to watch for a while, then resumed to follow a wonderful bit of singletrack through the forest to reach Grotaig, rejoining the road near the Loch Ness Clay Works Pottery and Tearoom. 

I was tempted by the tearoom bit, but ploughed on along the road for a few miles, passing some more daffodil clumps and coming to a long descent into Drumnadrochit, by which point it was raining steadily. Riding into Drumnadrochit I stopped at Cafe Eighty 2 for a coffee and a Potato Hash Bowl which turned out to be an excellent choice! I ordered a second coffee to wait for the rain to stop then headed into Drumnadrochit to try to find some long fingered gloves, as I had lost mine earlier in the week on one of the rough tracks. At the Whisky Gift Shop I found some leather Tweed gloves, which were clearly not what I needed, however they had a fair selection of whisky miniatures so I bought a couple and headed across the road to the Nessie Gift Shop where I bought some 3M Thinsulate thermal ones. Purchases complete I set off for Cannich feeling a little tired. The road rose gently for four miles before turning off into Balnain Forest where I pedalled along on a smooth forest track, passing trees with little bits of lichen hanging off the branches, something I’d seen before in the Highlands. I’d stopped to take a photo and noticed three other Roamers, a man and two women, riding up towards me so I took a photo. 

They stopped for a chat, and I thought to myself that I recognised the man’s voice. “You sound like you must be Calum” I said, and sure enough he replied that he was indeed. Calum was the founder of the Roam Scotland Bikepacking Society and I’d heard him on a podcast talking about the rally earlier in the year. We chatted for a while and then set off again, Loch Meiklie coming into view on my right hand side through the gorse. Shortly after this I had a little navigational trouble at a confluence of routes, finding myself dropping into a farm with plenty of cows waiting at a gate. I retraced my steps but found myself at the same place, fortunately help came along in the shape of some more Roamers who pointed me in the right direction – this being downhill on a track to a gate with a cow watching on inquisitively on the right. The track met a road at Shenval, then I followed another forest track through to come out near Corrimony Chambered Cairn onto a minor road which joined the A831. 

Back on tarmac I climbed on a gentle gradient for a couple of miles before rolling downhill at speed for a couple of miles with the River Glass on my right to reach the turn off for Cannich. I booked into the campsite and set up my tent, then headed off to Cannich Stores for supplies, passing a house with a large collection of ornamental teapots on the garden wall. I found the stores, which to my surprise and delight sold beer and freshly made pizza, with a bus outside for sitting in! 

It would have been messy if I’d stayed, so contented myself with one beer in addition to the supplies for the night and morning. Back at the campsite I enjoyed a warm shower and ate my food before settling down to relax, the sun shining and the birds singing. It had been another tough day with plenty of climbing albeit over a shorter distance, but another day that I had really enjoyed. 

Roam Scotland Rally Day 4 : Loch Ossian to Fort Augustus, Wednesday May 13th

No dawn chorus today, but I did wake up and go for a wee anyway. To make up for the lack of birdsong a few geese began having an enormous argument around 6 o’clock. The day was grey and chilly, but that didn’t stop a woman going for a swim in the loch! After breakfast I packed up and set off, heading north east along the side of Loch Ossian on a road through the trees that gently rolled. Once past the loch the trees stopped and the landscape opened out in a broad valley, the road running past Loch Ghuilbinn in between the snow capped hills. 

After five miles I came to some woods and the road started descending. I heard more cuckoos, and for the first time in a very long while heard the sound of road traffic. Riding through Fersit I came to the An Dubh Lochan and stopped for a photo of the hills and trees reflected in the still water. 

The road continued descending to reach the A86 where I turned left and rode through Roy Bridge, with a closed cafe, reluctantly passed the Glen Spean brewery and shop and came into Spean Bridge where I stopped for lunch at Faith’s cafe with a few other Roamers. After a very pleasant lunch break I headed back on the A86 for a short while before turning off onto a public path that ran alongside the River Spean on the trackbed of the former Invergarry and Fort Augustus Railway and went past General Wade’s High Bridge, where the first shots were fired in the Jacobite Rebellion of 1745. I had a good view of Ben Nevis from here, and also passed the remains of a railway viaduct over the Spean. The path joined the B8004 just down from the Spean Bridge Commando Memorial, but not before I had to clamber over a slightly wobbly stile after lifting my bike over a fence. 

Turning west here I rode towards Gairlochy, passing the Mucomir Hydro Electric Power Station which takes water from Loch Lochy, and crossing the Caledonian Canal to turn right onto NCN 78, the Caledonia Way. I rode for a couple of miles with Loch Lochy on my right, then turned off towards Achnacarry for a pre-planned diversion to see Loch Arkaig and an impressive looking waterfall. I passed the Clan Cameron Museum, a long single storey whitewashed building, and what looked like the seat of Clan Cameron with some old Steading Apartments opposite. At the head of Loch Arkaig I crossed a wooden bridge and turned back east to come to the Eas Chia-Aig waterfalls, which certainly turned out to be impressive. 

I rejoined NCN 78 along the loch, and in a few miles came across a large wooden statue of a bear and cub, with hiking equipment, which signalled where a basic camping / rest spot was situated on the loch side. Shortly after this a series of hairpin bends diverted the route away from the loch due to exploratory works for the Coire Glas Hydro scheme. 

It wasn’t a long diversion though, and I rejoined the original route and came to the Laggan Locks where I crossed the canal and continued on to North Laggan. Here, I continued on NCN 78 and came across Invergarry Station, where the Invergarry Station Project were restoring the platform and buildings. The former line continued for around three miles through gates, bridges and some wet patches in places before leaving to run alongside Loch Oich to the Aberchalder Swing Bridge carrying the A82 over the canal. As I pulled up at the gates to cross the road the swing bridge started closing, allowing me to nip across unhindered by traffic, and in a short while I came to the Cullochy Lock where I crossed to the other side of the wide canal towpath. It started raining now for a while, and I rode along the towpath avoiding the potholes and puddles where I could. Four miles later, and with the rain having passed, I rolled into Fort Augustus where I stopped to pick up some supplies and have a coffee, and managed to get a photo of a rainbow over Loch Ness. 

I rode out of Fort Augustus to find my campsite for the night which was four miles along the Great Glen Way, passing Morag’s Hostel where I knew a number of my fellow Roamers were staying. I found the way onto the Great Glen Way, which was a short steep scramble up a soft slope, and at the top followed the way for a few rolling miles until I came to a sign for my campsite. I had to follow a track through the woods, waymarked with white tree stumps and over plenty of tree roots, but managed to find it ok. I checked in, put the tent up and had a hot shower then had my tea before retiring for the night. 

Roam Scotland Rally Day 3 : Killin to Loch Ossian, Tuesday May 12th

Having been woken by the dawn chorus at 4:10 I had to go the toilet. Back to the sleeping bag for a couple of hours then got up at 7:30, packed up and left at half eight on a sunny but chilly day. I rode back down the A827 to Killin, turning right before the Bridge of Lochay onto a road with the River Lochay running alongside to the left. I rode past a whitewashed cottage that looked boarded up, then came across a small patch of wildfire damage on the left of the road. I continued on into Glen Lochay passing an information board for the Woodland Project, and then turned right to go over the first climb of the day. I stopped to take a photo and noticed two more Roamers behind me, so waited for them to come through and took their photos. The climb up gave some great views back to where I’d ridden from earlier, and further up passed Lochan Learg nan Lunn before descending again down to the Lubreoch Dam at the head of Loch Lyon. 

The ride down Glen Lyon was absolutely magnificent in the sun, and further on I came upon the Stronuich Dam and reservoir. The road climbed occasionally and on one such rise I stopped to take a photo of another two Roamers who were coming up behind. Shortly after this I came across a herd of Highland cows on both sides of the road, including some calves, and there were also a number of clusters of daffodils still in bloom beside the road. 

A few miles on I came to the Glen Lyon tea room and stopped for soup and coffee. There were a fair few Roamers in there already when I arrived, and I sat at a table with a guy called Jim. After a lovely lunch I reluctantly stepped out into the cold and set off again, and in a mile left the road to head up over a track towards Loch Rannoch. It had started raining at this point and I stopped to put my overshoes on. The track was steep in places and I resorted to pushing more than a few times. The rain turned to hail at one point, covering my handlebar bags. 

Over the top the track started to descend with a few stream crossings where the track had been washed away and repaired with rubble. At the entrance to Rannoch Woods I went through a gate where there was a large piece of bone on the ground, after which the track became a wide forest track and at one point I stopped to let a forest lorry pass. Some time around here I realised that on the descent I’d lost my glasses, which I’d foolishly hooked into the straps of my handlebar bag – obviously they must have shaken loose on the way down. The track continued on through the forest on good gravel, at one point the left side of the track had high stacks of tree branches piled up for a stretch. 

On leaving the forest the track dropped down to Loch Rannoch at Camghouran, and at the road junction I turned left towards Bridge of Gaur. Not long after this I heard a loud roaring, and a plane passed me overhead at a fairly low level. I passed another herd of Highland cattle and stopped for a photo, wondering if these were the same cattle that I’d seen when I passed here in 2024. As I was taking photos the inquisitive herd began to make their way towards me, perhaps hoping I’d have something interesting for them. I set off again, and after Bridge of Gaur turned left on the B846 towards Rannoch Station, into a stiff headwind. It was a bit of a slog for four miles, passing Loch Eigheach Gaur Reservoir after which the Garmin indicated a right turn on Road To The Isles. This sounded exotic, I thought, until I reached it and saw that it was a rough gravel track. 

It was a long slog over this track, with the surface very variable with some wide stream crossings, and some hike-a-bike sections. It was as quick to push as it would have been to try to ride at some points, but as before the payback was some fabulous views over the surrounding area, including the iconic conical Schiehalion peak to the east. To the west black skies and occasional rainbows suggested heavy rain, and although the clouds kept away the wind occasionally blew showers at me. I met a couple of women doing a short tour based in Kinloch Rannoch who were heading in the opposite direction to me, and they warned me about the upcoming “road we all love to hate”. 

I ploughed on doggedly and eventually came to where the track started descending. Because of the surface this was almost as tricky as the ascent, but I made my way down safely to the shores of Loch Ossian and rode to the Youth Hostel. It had taken me two hours to cover eight miles. I’d planned to try and find a spot to wild camp on the north side of the loch, but with dark clouds threatening and it being fairly late in the day I decided to camp at the hostel, and pitched my tent on the edge of the loch with an amazing view. 

A tough day, but at the same time a very rewarding one. Oh, and a bonus – Jim had found my glasses I’d lost, and brought them back to me at the hostel!