After yesterday's dreich afternoon and evening, I awoke to a slightly misty morning. After breakfast though, the sun had burnt off most of the mist so it was shorts on and off we go. Heading through town I passed a little red squirrel running along the road, and soon after passed the Grantown On Spey Caravan Park, climbing up to West Gorton in the Glenbeg Estate. I walked up one particularly steep bit, conserving my energy for the long day ahead. Soon I was on a wide gravel track, still damp from yesterday's weather, and this took me to a gate to follow a farm track uphill through a field of sheep and lambs.
Passing through a couple of gates I waved a cheery greeting to a couple of farmers. Through more gates, the track became a little rougher, but still rideable. I came across a couple of really big gates, which got me wondering exactly what was being kept in by them - Jurassic Park perhaps! I then came across something totally unexpected - sand, it was almost a beach. This continued for a short while, with hoof prints visible, until the track returned to a typical farm track state. I was high up now, and the views were stunning, making the effort worthwhile. At one point I stopped for a photo opportunity and saw a lovely white an black bird, with a call like one of the new emergency vehicle sirens. Another walk up a steep, loosely gravelled track brought me to the summit of my journey over the mountains, and presented a superb view of Lochindorb, with its castle. I descended carefully and reached Lochindorb Road, where I stopped for an energy bar and a photo.
I noticed the smell of burnt undergrowth in the air, and indeed there were several signs of significant heather fires. Lochindorb Road took me round the southern end of the loch and up to the B9007, which gently rolled northwards. It was good to feel the sun on my back and legs. I turned left towards Dulsie, on an Old Military Road, and came upon what looked like an old bridge that had been built, however this was neither on the road (being six feet to the side) nor did it cross the Tomlachlan Burn (being twelve feet away). I could only conclude that the course of the river had changed and a new road had been built since. Further along, the road turned into a fantastic swooping descent, and dropped onto Dulsie Bridge itself. This reminded me of the Bridge of Alvah, which I'd visited last year, being also a high stone bridge over a river, in this case the Findhorn.
People were jumping off the sides into the river, seemingly a popular pastime here. I continued along the undulating Old Military Road, with pine trees and gorse lining the road, and filling the air with their scents. Just before Little Urchany I turned left onto NCN 1, following this until I left the road to take a detour into Foxmoss Wood, for a spot of forest road and track riding. This then threw me back onto NCN 1, where the Moray Firth popped into view in the distance after coming out of the woodland. I then turned off NCN 1 again for another forest detour, this time through Assich Forest, eventually rejoining NCN 1 at Wester Galcantray. At Cantraydoune Cottage I got my first glimpse of the impressive Nairn Viaduct, and followed NCN 1 down and under, stopping for a couple of photos. I set off again, and had gone a few hundred yards when a train crossed the viaduct. If only I'd waited, I thought. At little further on, at Clava, I headed up towards Culloden to visit the Culloden Moor battlefield, site of the last pitched battle on British soil.
As I walked onto the site, a skylark was singing high above me, although all else was quiet. It felt quite an atmospheric site, and I took a few photos of the little cairns marking the clan burials, as well as the main monument. Returning back to Clava I picked up NCN 7 and popped in to visit Clava Cairns, a group of 4000 year old burial cairns. Back on the road, I continued on NCN 7 south, meeting a few cyclists going the opposite way. I wondered if any of them were doing LEJOG? At Craggie, the road turned left and upwards on the B9154. I slowly climbed upwards, passing Auchnahillin Holiday Park, and the Daviot Care Home. The road levelled out and eventually came to Moy Viaduct, also known as Altnaslanach Viaduct. This wooden trestle bridge carries the single-track Aviemore-Inverness railway across the Allt Creag Bheithen just north of the former station at Moy. This line was opened by the Highland Railway Company in 1897, and the bridge is now the only surviving timber bridge on a main-line railway in Scotland, possibly in Britain.
Further on in Moy, I came across some interesting wooden benches by the side of the road, with carved animals at each end. Eventually the road joined the A9, with cyclists being directed along a path adjacent to the southbound carriageway, before being sent across the road to join a path next to the northbound. This take you through Tomatin, past the distillery and on to Findhorn Bridge, but I turned off after Tomatin to Raigbeg to ride under the very impressive Findhorn (Tomatin) Viaduct, after which I rejoined NCN 7 to grind up the climb to Slochd Summit, the highest point on my return from Culloden. At this point it was mainly downhill back to Grantown On Spey, and I followed the cycle track to where it joined the road into Slochd itself. Just before Slochd, I turned off right to go over the railway line, and I stopped for a photo of Slochd Viaduct just as a train was going over. Sadly I didn't have my phone camera ready to hand! The track continued on through forest tracks on General Wade's Old Military Road, and I found myself singing the song from Sharpe, "Over the hills and far away". My objective was Sluggan Bridge, built in the 1830's, and I reached this after a couple of miles of undulating and variable surface.
From here I rode into Carrbridge, stopping to have a look at the Old Pack Horse Bridge, built in 1717, and also the Village Hall which proudly hosts the World Porridge Making Championship (I kid you not - see www.goldenspurtle.com). I turned off the main road at the Village Hall on Carr Road, and found myself on a cyclists dream ride home - downhill onto a long flat stretch. The sun was warm as I sped along, with the scent of gorse in the air, and came to a bridge over the River Dulnain just before entering Dulnain Bridge itself. Once through Dulnain Bridge I took the old Grantown road (I'm assuming the current A95 was built to bypass Grantown) until it ran out just before Craggan, when I was forced onto the A95. Fortunately this wasn't for long, and I soon nipped off the A95 at Glenbeg Road to enter the town avoiding the A95 roundabout. All that was left now was to follow the B9102 which became the High Street, back to the hotel. A superb ride for my last day in Grantown On Spey, with great weather, a fantastic variety of surfaces, and some superb scenery. A particular highlight was the lack of traffic, with only the A95 before Grantown, the roads around Culloden, and being alongside the A9 having any sizeable volume - indeed between Grantown and Clava I hardly encountered any vehicles. I couldn't have wished for a better ride to end my stay in Grantown On Spey.
No comments:
Post a Comment