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Im just planning a few days further north than me and looking for a bit of advise .
Day 1 drive up to Golfie and spend the day there with a stop over .
Day 2 up and drive to Newtonmore and either do Laggan or Sgor Gaoith weather pending and stay over
Day 3 Burnside or laggan or something else round Aviemore . And the latter is what im looking for ideas on . Id be tempted to do Ben Mc from the lift station but want the most from my time there . any ideas greatly received
Day 4, 7 hour drive back ...
Don't do Golfie on way up.
Maybe do Dunkeld or Laggan.
But I would head up to Aviemore and make use of time there.
Don’t do Golfie on way up.
Or Dunkeld or Laggan.
But I would head up to Aviemore and make use of time there.
Though all the above are good, there's even gooderer stuff up there to make the drive worthwhile.
My last 4 day weekend up that neck from Manc was
Macdui
Bhuird
Heartbreak Ridge
Lochnagar &4 Munros
Before that
Cuillin Ridge ( sans velo)
Glen Sligachan
Torridon Loop
Macdui via Cairngorm
Make sure you go tubeless for Macdui via CG...
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/midgie-and-waterbarmageddon-on-cairngorm/
@thegeneralist Thats one thing I thought id miss out on this time of year . Me and Midges DO NOT get on at all . I did the WHW back in March and managed to get away completely un scathed . The year before in Fort Bill I walked from the car to the lift and get bit 4 times same week in March, they just love a bit of me. Id hope that they are not far off dying out now.
Heartbreak ridge and <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">Lochnagar are from the other side at Ballater .. seems a long way around ?</span>
My last 4 day weekend up that neck from Manc was
Macdui
Bhuird
Heartbreak Ridge
Lochnagar &4 Munros
Yeah, but I assumed he’s staying Newtonmore? So only Macdui would be doable from there.
Ben Macdui from Glenmore and back via Fords of Avon and Bynack Mor? Plenty of shoving. Or head down Glen Derry and back via Geldie and Feshie (this would put lead in your pencil, so to speak).
Another half dayer could be Carn a Clamhain from Blair Atholl. Munro and a good descent.
I'd definitely stop off at Dunkeld on Day 2 or Day 4 as it'll break the drive up nicely and it's a nice place to get lunch. I stopped off there for a couple of hours on the way back from Dornoch to Leeds last Saturday and there seems to be a great choice of trails. I just rode Birman Hill as it appeared to be the easiest.
I was thinking of staying in or around Newtonmore as accomadation seems a little easier to find than the premium that is Aviemore .
Ive also toyed with the idea of driving up to Balleter and Braemar as there is an evening in Ballater on the 29th that I wouldnt mind attending. That would throw Tarland in the mix and as suggested <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji';">Lochnagar </span>
Back to the drawing board ...
Ah cool - I wasn’t sure if where you were staying was confirmed. You can’t go wrong really, whether you go for Ballater/Braemar area or Aviemore!
Lochnagar are from the other side at Ballater .. seems a long way around
Yeah, but I assumed he’s staying Newtonmore? So only Macdui would be doable from there.
Yep. Totally agree. I was just chucking it out there as a suggestion of the types of epic rides that are possible when you drive for 7 hours.
Just trying to push the big mountain vibe in preference to the generic ( but very very good ) tree covered loam slopes of Golfie, Burnside, Dunkeld.
Though in fairness I do remember commenting on March something along the lines of " bloody hell, that awesome trail in Dunkeld had more epic single-track in 200m than the whole of the Glen Tilt loop. " So my love for big mountain days doesn't always hold.
Take a Midge net for your head, in case you have to do some repairs !
I've out one permanently into my frame bag on the gravel bike. Take up no room and are a few grams.
Defo helps !