Lairig Ghru and Glen Tilt

Matt Boullin

The idea for this trip came from two places. The first, for the Lairig Ghru, came from a "Fellowship People" article in Volume 53 No 5 (Sept – Oct 2008) where the late Hamish Cameron spoke of not being sure about making it over the boulder field. Prior to reading this I had never heard of the Lairig Ghru but a bit of digging around showed that it had to be a challenging and interesting ride. The second was for the Glen Tilt section which came from an article in Singletrack magazine which described, with beautiful photographs, doing the trip in the depths of winter. Poring over the maps showed that these two put together would make for a really nice two day trip. And that was the plan almost two years ago. It has taken this long for the trip to come to fruition.

For a while I "ummed" and "aahed" about whether to camp, bothy, Youth Hostel or whatever for the night in the middle of the trip. However, as I ended up doing it in November and had seen some of the difficulties of the route I decided that travelling light as possible was important and therefore the Youth Hostel at Braemar was the best bet.

So a Wednesday morning in November saw me slinking out of Aviemore after a stock up on a variety of food from Tesco. As the weather wasn't perfect (0 – 5ºc, quite windy with a threat of heavy showers) I needed to be prepared for almost anything.

It was a pleasant ride out of Aviemore and it wasn’t difficult to find the forest track that leads towards the Climbing Club bridge and thence to "Piccadilly". I don’t know where the name Piccadilly comes from; it seems universally known but does not appear on any map that I have. I don’t really know if you should spell it as the London one, or as I have seen it with a single c. All the way up to Piccadilly was rideable and very pretty. All the deciduous trees were putting on a good autumn show. From Piccadilly the track starts to really climb and riding becomes, in my case, more erratic. I had read somewhere that the track was 90% rideable all the ways to the Pools of Dee. Well you would have to have more skill and strength than me, and to be going downhill to ride that much of it! I guess I rode a mile or so after Piccadilly but after that it was much more push and carry.

I think the most feared part is from where the Gap of Chalamain to Brieriach path crosses the Lairig Ghru up to the boulder field at the pass. Here I must confess I had had a sneak preview of the start of this when out walking the previous month. Then I had camped at Corrour bothy and then walked over the tops to cross the Lairig Ghru passing through the Gap of Chalamain back to Aviemore. I had been shocked when I saw the Lairig Ghru path. I couldn’t believe that anyone would attempt such a ridiculous route by bike. I must admit I was at that time on a low ebb. I had walked over four Munroes with the sole of my left boot half falling off and the sole of my right boot completely detached, and it was raining. Not the sort of conditions to put one in the best of moods! So, as I hobbled across the Lairig Ghru, I mentally cancelled my plans to attempt it. Four weeks later here I was – with bike. Amazing what the passing of a little bit of time can do.

The reason for telling all of this is that a little bit of insight into the challenge helped me enormously. Mentally I was very well prepared and I also made sure that I travelled very light. I also put everything into a smallish rucksack rather than a saddlebag so that when the bike did have to go on my shoulder it wouldn't be so bad. I even wrapped the crossbar with a section of that insulating foam used to protect water pipes from frost in an attempt to make carrying easier. I have to say that after the first five minutes or so of carrying it didn’t feel like the foam was having much effect.

So up and over I went, mostly carrying the bike. The temperature was about 3 degrees now and the wind was against me and having a strong windchill effect. I was wearing everything except for my emergency clothing. With all the preparation I didn’t find it too bad. There really is no navigation that you have to do – all you have to do it keep plodding on. Carrying the bike over the boulders was only tricky in that the wind kept gusting throwing me off-balance. And I really didn’t want to take a tumble and break an ankle up here.

I only met three groups of people. The first were walkers going up to Braeriach and we exchanged the usual pleasantries including the almost obligatory "now I know why they call it a push-bike!" The second group were some northern European guys (Nordic, Danish, German?) going the other way, who were not exactly enjoying the fine Scottish weather, but did stop to ask me about my bike. The third group was a couple at the Pools of Dee walking the other way, who eyed me very warily and then averted their gaze as we passed ignoring my hearty greeting; which is what you might expect them to do on meeting a man carrying a bicycle in such an isolated place!

From the pass down to level with the Garbh Coire bothy I tried riding but it never amounted to much. I found I would just get going and then after 20 – 30 yards a deep drainage channel or something would mean I would have to dismount. In fact all the way to White bridge the riding was sporadic. It is however a lovely valley with quite breathtaking views and with no need to navigate you can just "sit back and enjoy it!"

On the way down I did spot a couple of really nice places to camp (maybe next time) which I am sure many of you will know. Certainly doing the trip in summer would tip the balance in favour of carrying a tent. But for this trip I was happy to turn up at the Youth Hostel in Braemar. I just managed to get to the shops in time to get food for dinner before they closed. From leaving Aviemore at about 8am and arriving in Braemar at about 7.30pm it had taken nearly 12 hours.

Of course the main benefit of hostelling over camping, if we ignore the weight of carrying the camping kit, is the luxury of sitting in comfort drinking endless cups of tea, which is exactly what I did.

The next day saw the rain set in early and persistently. In some ways I prefer this as you know what clothes you have to wear from the off. Given the weather a full fry-up breakfast was in order. I think I finally got on the road at 10 o'clock, which was a bit late considering the plan.

Retracing my wheels to the White Bridge was interesting as I was seeing places in a different light and with a different level of fatigue. Below the bridge at Falls of Dee there is a really lovely mini-gorge which was quite dramatic with all the rain.

This part of the trip is very different in character from the previous day. To a large extent you are always going downhill, there is no carrying involved and you know that you shouldn’t have any real difficulties. That is until you meet the first river to be forded. Although I was fairly sure there wasn't a bridge I still spent a hopeful few minutes looking because the alternative was a very cold crossing – and with all the rain it seemed like the river was up quite a bit.

In the end I took the plunge and, although cold, it was only up to mid-calf. The next one however was up to mid-thigh making the third one quite tame at mid-calf again. After the initial shock of the cold I quite enjoyed fording the rivers as it gives you a sense of being alive and doing something more than just cycling to the shops. If I had known how close the crossings were I might not have put my shoes and socks back on each time.

Glen Tilt seems to divide into two parts for the cyclist. The first is the path running high above the torrent and then after is the landrover track running much lower and closer to the river. The first part is more or less ridable but I found that I was paying too much attention to where the wheels were going than enjoying the scenery. So for some stretches I walked just to enjoy the views.

More or less dividing the two parts is the lovely bridge by the falls which is a charming spot. The second leg down to Blair Atholl is easy riding and worth it just for the lovely avenues of trees (beech, I think).

Arriving at Blair at three o'clock meant decision time. Do I hang about waiting for the train or do I cycle to Aviemore to catch it there? In the end I decided to cycle on to Aviemore and I think the lure of a good fish and chips supper had a lot to do with it!

The ride to Aviemore is mostly on the old road and although you can hear the roar of the traffic you know its not going to whistle past inches from your shoulder. Arriving in Aviemore I had time for the fish and chips – and a quick pint – as a suitable end to a great two days.

Finally I would like to thank the late Hamish Cameron and Singletrack magazine for the inspiration for this trip.

Matt Boullin
(Ecully, France)