[Closed] Carn Ban Mor/Sgor Gaoith switchbacks

Do you mean the zig-zag path off the low ridge to the west of Creag Dhubh? At the northern end of the Feshie ridge, I mean.

Wouldn't mind a copy of that GPX if you have it Stace, thanks.

Yes they exist and they are great. You need to head down to the weather station and the track starts slightly south east of it.

Have a look at my Microadventuring the arctic plateau piece for images of the descent. It is mint.

http://singletrackmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/microadventuring-the-arctic-plateau-the-easy-way/

Sorry but I am a map and compass kind of guy so no GPX from me! 😆

What I want to know is what the descent from lochan nam bo down to the bothy in Glen Feshie is like?

Cheers

Sanny

Oh and the traverse over Sgor Gaoith is excellent too! I love it. Brilliant high level riding.

Cheers Sanny, it was your article that got me thinking. Now only need the weather!

Hmmm, I've just been told we're having the May day holiday off from work

*begins watching long range forecast*

Weather was interesting (but not unpleasant) last week...
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It's currently snowing.

And I mean at street level 🙂

As regards the original question, there's no track/line across to the zig-zaps, just a general direction. Without wanting to come over all elitist, if you can't find it then maybe you should think about whether or not you should be wandering around up there.

Sanny- I have the same question. I've half a mind to walk/run it sometime soon for a wee recce.

It can change a lot in a week though 😉

Happy to navigate but I have an etrex gathering dust I thought I must try and justify its existence 🙁

Weather in Scottish Southern Uplands has been dry and dusty for the last 2-3 weeks. I know they are only up to 700m but riding has been excellent.

Funnily enough, I was looking at the satellite images of the Lochan nam Bo descent recently and wondered whether the path off the munro summit down the bald ridge met up with it???

I'm certainly not going up tomorrow to check it out!

Thanks for the help. Great fun ride, very dry but unfortunately the cloud was too low to get a decent view of the drop down to Loch Eannaich from Sgor Gaoith. The ride from Sgor Gaoith to the valley floor was fantastic. Rocky at the very top to a narrow rut/path with almost shoulder high heather in the forest.

It's an absolute classic, my god what have the path builders done to Carn ban mor, an over engineered monstrosity of a path now graces it's slopes, the NP certainly seem hell bent on turning the gorms into some sort of highland theme park.

It's an absolute classic, my god what have the path builders done to Carn ban mor, an over engineered monstrosity of a path now graces it's slopes, the NP certainly seem hell bent on turning the gorms into some sort of highland theme park.

Aye, was really no need for that, given there's a bloody road all the way to the plateau already.

Is that Carn ban Mor path ridable all the way up? It used to be a cracking descent before they worked on it! The road up to plateau is a slog so wondering if walkers path eases the slog.

If Sanny says in his blog he got off, then no, is it **** 😆

Yeah was a great descent, one of my first.

more of a push up after the lower section, but does save going over to the Landy track.
PS. Was pretty skeptical about how far he actually got considering the size of some of the rock steps.

cheers folks.

Was pretty skeptical about how far he actually got considering the size of some of the rock steps.

Sanny generally uses a 2x IIRC and his granny is a 20t, and he can climb like a homesick angel!.

I can only ride around 50% of that climb, but I have seen some riding gods do probably 80%+. The path does sanitise it, but to be fair the old one was a 5m wide scar and getting wider. Personally I prefer going up the new path compared to the grind up the LR track

Aye, the LR track is horrible.

Chipbutty - Member
Is that Carn ban Mor path ridable all the way up? It used to be a cracking descent before they worked on it! The road up to plateau is a slog so wondering if walkers path eases the slog

Planning this soon Mick? 😉

The path is totaly unsympathetic to the landscape, as i said over engineered, it wouldn't look out of place in an urban area, just a big blot on the landscape, like the erosion but worse in a so called wilderness area, some may like following the yellow brick road to OZ! not me.

It's not pretty but I suspect it will "fade in" over time. Something certainly had to be done about the old path.

FWIW the group responsible for constructing it have recently expanded their remit to cover other areas in Scotland too.

FWIW the group responsible for constructing it have recently expanded their remit to cover other areas in Scotland too.

Ben Ledi perchance?.

The landrover track up is OK as these things go but it extends from Mullach CB to Carn Ban Mor and given its construction I don't imagine it will disappear into the landscape soon. I was wondering what it was for - stalking?
I thought there was a move by the JMT etc to push for more scrutiny of any new track proposals into wild areas.

http://www.hilltrackscampaign.org.uk/index20.htm

We are refering to the upgraded footpath on Carn ban mor, the LR track has been there for quite a long time, certainly going back to the early eighties.

Ah, my mistake. Oddly enough and probably because I never knew the old path I have less of an less of an issue with upgrading walking paths. However the land rover track across the plateau just feels wrong.
We did the Ardverikie loop on Sunday and the bit along the River Pattack is one huge industrial site presumably for a hydro scheme.

The CBM "path" is garbage...It's actually a knee jarring nightmare to walk down let alone bike, and each year it seems that the edges are being used more and more by people whenever they can, rather than use the path they built judging by the wear and tear...