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!
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