Edinburgh to England

Distance: 67 miles (108km) Ascent/Descent: 1380m/1360m  
Start/Finish: Edinburgh - Berwick upon Tweed 
Terrain: First 35miles flat and easy, bikepath/established trail, then it gets bumpy. Short sections of thick vegetation (R. Tyne)   
Transport: train stations at start/end.  Perrymans Buses link Eyemouth, Cockburnspath, Dunbar, Berwick, Edinburgh  
Route: Map Part 1 Map Part 2

Summary
  
A long day, but a fun project to find a route with interest between Edinburgh and England.  Nice rural and coastal bits with hills, but unlike me you should be able to enjoy a prevailing tailwind.  Unless as I suspect global warming has "broken" this!  If you want to break the 70mile barrier, start in central Edinburgh and follow the bikepath around Holyrood Park into Brunstane, part of the John Muir Way and clear on the OS map.

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Brunstane Path - from Brunstane Station

Thanks to Sharon I was setting of from Brunstane Station on the East edge of Edinburgh at 6am - it was an early start just to ensure there'd be enough time for food and drinks in Berwick this evening - possibly the best tasting food and drinks ever!  The sky was a dirty grey and there was drizzle in the air, but it was also mild and calm and I'd had enough coffee so wasn't grumbling.  I felt pretty fit and confident that I'd enjoy most the journey - especially as it was all new trails to me, excluding a few miles along the Edinburgh Marathon route at the start.

Down the recently-surfaced Brunstane Burn Path towards the coast and into Musselburgh, thank God for the garage there as the public loos were locked at this early hour and I was in pain.  Which chocolate bars to buy for the right to use the facilities is probably the quickest decision I'll ever make.

I continued much more comfortably following arrows and signs and police cones prepared for the Edinburgh Marathon tomorrow (I never got my entry in this year - possibly over-compensating for that today!) then cut off along the John Muir Way which heads East between the wierd landscape of Ash Lagoons and Musselburgh Race Course, through Portobello and around the decommissioned coal power station,  Those chimneys are coming down as the facility get refitted with gas-turbines!  This was the first of two concrete walkways around powerstations that featured on today's route. There were some nice bits too I promise!

Re-joining the marathon route, which gets much nicer as it leaves Cockenzie behind and parallels Seton Rocks/Sands, I followed a path along a quiet winding road through hawthorns, about the 15 and 21 mile points of the race. I turned right up a lane by the Golf Course and then into Longniddry Dean, then out onto the road at the top and along pavement for a mile to Longniddry Station where Sharon was waiting patiently with some replacement water for the bottles. 

About 10 very easy miles done, fairly urban, was looking forward to getting into the countryside a bit more...

Looking back along Longniddry - Haddington Railway Bike Path

I entered Longniddry station and crossed the tracks via the footbridge, picking up the railway bikepath on the other side which would swing off SE towards Haddington.  This was more like it!  Again very easy running being an old railway path, it climbed gently through hawthorns with views back NW over wheat fields, as far as Fife's Lomond Hills across the Firth of Forth.  I followed the bike-route signs under the A1 and eventually down through town along West Road with its large houses, through the square and onto the bridge over the Scottish River Tyne, where Sharon was parked with some salt n vinegar crisps ready!  The idea was that next time I'd see her, she'd be warmed-up and ready to run after enjoying a nice lunch in a warm deli/cafe in Cockburnspath that didn't actually exist and was a figment of my badly eroded memory from being there to start running the Southern Upland Way over 3 years ago!  Oops.
 

Abbey Bridge over River Tyne

River Tyne

From Haddington, I'd pretty much be following the River Tyne to the coast near Dunbar, thanks to a right-of-way called the "River Tyne Walkway".  To get onto this, I had to continue East after the bridge until reaching a park after a cemetry on the left, where I turned left down a lane to a bridge back over the river again, then sharply right to pick up an excellent bikepath for about 1.5 miles.
 
The bikepath finishes at Abbey Bridge, from where a much more rustic riverside path continues via a style beneath one of the bridge's arches.  At this time of year (late Spring) the route was already fairly overgrown in patches, so my pace slowed accordingly, and I was glad to be wearing calf-guards as there were a few nettles hiding in there!  Otherwise it was fine to run, with care, I'm not sure what it would be like in July/August, or if it gets any maintenance.

The river is quite modest, the scene was very rural now, if you ignored the A1 a couple of fields away, and it all felt very English already!  Literally through the hamlet of Sandy's Mill, ncluding across someone's garden via gates with signs that ask you to respect the owner's privacy, i.e., don't loiter.  Then past Hailes Castle and back under the A1 into the tidy town of East Linton.  

Hailes Castle across the River Tyne

Mouth of the Scottish River Tyne

Bellhaven Bay

After consulting a map at what felt like the centre of the village, I followed the High Street then turned Right onto Preston Road joining the John Muir Way for the second time today.  A JMW sign pointed me off this back to the River Tyne and a footbridge across it.  From here the good signposting of the JMW took me down towards and then onto an Embankment, which to my surprise turned out to be part of the East Coast of Scotland!  On its other side was the estuarine mouth of the Tyne.  The JMW took a lumpy route along the S shore of the estuary before swinging away more E through trees and back out towards Belhaven.  In spite of the wind which was wearing me a bit, I tried to stay true to the JMW along the outside of the golf course, but erosion blocked the route past the Club House so I was forced S onto "Back Road" into Dunbar.  No great loss, I'm not that keen on flying golf balls as they can make holes-in-one. (Sorry).


It was almost sunny in Dunbar, and it was busy.  Maybe too busy for a thirsty runner who'd run 30 miles.  I grabbed myself a couple bottles of powerade and got on my way, again needing my map to find the path out of town onto the coast - just so easy to just keep following the road instead especially when a bit tired.

Leaving Dunbar, about to brave more golf balls

Barns Ness

Thus followed some more golf-ball dodging, hemmed between a 2ft cliff to the beach and the out-of-bounds markers, with occasional signs reminding you that you were entering the flight path of golf balls. Joy. 

I sped up and kept my head low, glad when the fairways were behind and I turned a coastal corner away from that wind for half a mile.  Only to re-enter more golf-ball avoidance territory and then a large opencast lime quarry.  You may have gathered this wasn't my favourite bit of the route.  Although not grumpy, I probably hadn't eaten enough to be enjoying my day's chosen activity at this feeling wasn't helped by the non-prevailing NE wind tilting me a bit from the sea!  Thankfully at Barns Ness, with its big white lighthouse, the coast swings more SE and I really felt the difference, especially enjoying the shelter of the dunes there.  Lovely white-sand beaches followed, spoiled only by the blight of Torness Nuclear Powerstation.  And so I was routed onto another concrete nature trail around a powerstation, where I got to run above the sea-water cooling inlets and the site of an infamous jellyfish incident.

A bit overgrown heading towards Cockburnspath

 Things rapidly improved South down into Thorntonloch Caravan Park, where I was immediately routed onto the lovely beach (head for the wet sand ASAP!), then back inland to gain a footbridge, eventually down to the very start of the cliffs that would be major feature of the rest of the coast down to Berwick!  As soon as the N frontier of the cliff appears, the JMW climbs up onto it, and then follows some fairly over-grown and barely-used trail squashed between cliff and fields for a few miles. To make up for the underfoot toughness, the coastal views ahead were becoming more inspiring!  Even the layer of gloom cutting out the tops of the higher cliffs Southwards just complemented the scene.

A dramatic, brief scenery change as the path veered inland then dropped through trees into "the Linn" which felt like a rainforest environment with its ferns, dark greens, waterfall and canopy instead of sky.  At the bottom of this was some tiresome shingle beach, pretty, but tiresome.  

I had missed the track cutting into the next Dean, and ended up pointlessly crossing a burn, only to recross it, pull myself up a steep muddy slope where others had clearly made the same mistake, and found the much more formal route back inland and into an impressive gorge beneath the old and new "Dunglass Bridges".  To think I've probably been over these bridges a dozen times on the A1 without noticing!  After crossing beneath the bridges onto the old A1, a sign for "Cockburnspath/Southern Upland Way" directed me away from my planned route along the road.  It looked much more inviting, a little farm track continuing up the dean, it was uphill but so nice I didn't care.  Just before the steepest part another sign directed me left out onto what felt like an ancient track across a field, then skirting some woods to gain Cockburnspath from the N, where poor Sharon was still doing hill reps to stay warm having taken a bus there from Berwick in her running gear and finding that the Deli/Cafe I'd imagined was actually a Post Office with a Hot-drink Vending Machine.  On the bright side I had arrived bang on time!

Dunglass (High contrast)

Lucy arrived 5 minutes after me on a bus from Dunbar - funnily enough the first and last time I'd been in Cockburnspath before was with Lucy when we were exploring the Southern Upland Way.

Just over 40 miles done, about 27 to go, and having sat down to eat a muffin, half a packet of cheesy watsits and a vending-machine-made cappacino (with powdered-milk-crutons), I was finding it difficult to keep up with the girls as we headed downhill right past the start of the southern-upland-way (mistake) and under the A1 by Cove.  So we just followed the road down to Pease Bay Caravan Park, momentarily joining the SUW before following the road a little South then taking the steps North which were well marked as being part of the "Berwickshire Coastal Trail".  Which was immediately excellent!  Up onto the cliffs proper now, 50m above the North Sea, then back inland to pick up a track winding gently down a vale of bracken and bluebells, then taken right gently uphill to and through a farm and out into fields.

The signposts were pretty good, when they were present and you actually saw them.  A couple times along this very hilly coastal section, we felt a bit lost and travelled of course.  Okay the general rule of keep the sea on your left applies a bit, but its always more comfortable to be on the official route.  So yeah a bit of map-faffing on my part, we did eventually concede to the need to climb fairly steeply South on damp divotted ground, climb a fence into a field of curious bullocks, and thankfully re-attain the waymarkers E, eventually higher into the murk and onto a single-track road about 220m above sea-level, the highest point of the journey today.  This was Dowlaw Road, and it was a shame we were up in the mist because I'm sure the views would have been pretty good.  It certainly had a remote feel, being so exposed and well away from the busy A1.  At Dowlaw Farm we ignored the option of visiting "Fast Castle" provided by a fingerpost, instead continuing more directly for the pub at Berwick.

Heading towards St. Abbs Head

The closer to St. Abbs Head we got, the more up-and-down the route became, and also the more pretty.  My favourite section of trail was actually one of these ridiculous downs-and-ups, Lucy had pointed the fingerpost on the far-side of a deep dell that we would first drop down into almost to the level of the sea from about 130m up then back to 150m on the other side (Westerside Dean I think).  There were more people around as we came down to Mire Loch.  The route ignores the easy option and took us up onto St. Abbs Head proper, then down to the sea and dramatically back up again now facing South with a great view over St. Abbs and miles beyond.  The hills really seemed to have sorted my legs out and I was loving this section!  And it was all new territory for us, although Lucy had walked the dog in the area before.

At St. Abbs, we made our way down to a cafe right next to the harbour for some drinks (and a big slab of malteseer cake that I'd strongly reccommend) before continuing South to the surfing hotspot of Coldingham Bay.  After another short climb over a low headland we were onto a nice secluded, grassy cove for a bit then some easier cliff-top running took us quickly into the top of Eyemouth, quite a metropolis after the last 25 miles.
 

St. Abbs from the North

 We had to go around the harbour, over a metal footbridge and up steps onto a road through a golf course, turning left down a trail nearly opposite the club house, leading back to the tops of the cliffs.  This is where it started to rain, and the air seemed to cool.  We were nearly heading due S so at least the wind was behind, which did make a difference.  A lot of this was beside a stone wall, eventually we dropped down into a place called Burnmouth, had to consult the map to find that we needed to go down a very steep and slimy tarmac road to Lower Burnmouth and its harbour.  I recall mentioning how much of a bastard that brae would be to cycle up, as it happens there's a bike race up it each May!

Lower Burnmouth Harbour

After dropping so far back down to the sea, it felt inenvitable that we'd just be going back up again fairly soon.  We weren't disappointed.  Back up a dean to the level of the railway, then contouring left along a track, eventually path, soon sandwiched between railway embankment and mini hilltops upon the cliffs.  A few trains went by, and we thought about how next time we were on the East Coast line we could look down at this track and remember the day's adventure!  With the damp and the long distance in the legs, we were starting to count down the miles to the pub.  "3.8miles" answered the geek with the mobile application.

At Marshall Meadows Caravan Park we missed the path back upon the cliff-top and ended up at a dead-end of cut-grass surrounded by stone wall and railway.  After some very soggy nettle-bashing (low point of the day) we found the narrow path again, along the top of the cliffs, and soon the industrial estate marking the Northern frontier of Berwick was in view, not too far away.  Then the housing estate.  Yet teasingly the clifftops veered away, curving around what's marked on the map as Magdalene Fields.  The trail was a bit rough and our shoes laden with water now, it really had become beer-o-clock.  Thankfully on arriving at the Caravan Park, we could finally head up a track, around the leisure centre and up a lane direct to the train station, quickly grab some drier gear and head straight for the bar in the Castle Inn.  Mission accomplished.  Those beers and crisps tasted very fine.  6:30pm arrival I think, pretty chuffed with that as it meant plenty time in the pub to refuel and hydrate.

Speyside Way - Part 1

Distance: 50miles (80km) Ascent/Descent: 1260m/1070m  
Start/Finish: Buckie to Grantown on Spey  
Terrain: Mostly easy river-side rail-trail, some long stretches of tarmac, boggy hillside for 7 miles after Cragganmore 
Transport: train to Elgin then good early bus service to Buckie, train and  citylink bus services at Aviemore Route Map1/2 | Route Map2/2

Summary

There's plenty great info on the Speyside Way online, but I struggled to find many blogs covering exploration of the whole thing.  Most blogs that I did find were runners race reports from the Speyside Way Race, which covers the original 36mile length of the route (before it got extended to Aviemore and Buckie).  Being low level and never too far from civilisation it feels like a good Winter option.  The public transport at either end worked out well, allowing a 7am start from Buckie in spite of catching the train to Elgin late on Friday and staying the night there (plenty buses, and not so many trains South from Aviemore in the afternoon/evening).

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It's still dark, not long past 7am on a Saturday morning, three of us running briskly along a frosty railway path directly towards a full moon, sound of waves crashing against the nearby shore, and the whole day ahead to look forward to - just brilliant!  For one day at least, we had become part of those annoying morning people who get up and "do stuff" before everyone else wakes up.  (And then post about it on Facebook).

We left the square in Buckie and with some success followed the waymarkers along the coast, squashed between the road and shingle.  It was dark and I'd never been here before so can't really describe what we were missing, but we weren't missing lots of puddles and stones!

Daylight was imminent as we entered the woods near the mouth of the River Spey - this bit of singletrack was a blast, then out of the trees and past the old empty hotel and along tarmac to the wildlife centre.  Dolphins are a common sight from here.  This morning we just had to make do with a cloudy sunrise and the sounds of breakers somewhere behind the dunes.

From here we were finally heading more S along the bank of the river, starting the journey upstream towards the Aviemore and the Cairngorm National Park.  At first the scene was very flat, farmtrack beside fields of stubble and muddy woodland, then after a few miles of this we were running under the A96 road bridge and into a park on the edge of Fochabers, where the first of many forested hills roll up above the Spey.  The river was always closeby on our right.

Earth Pillars Viewpoint (after Fochabers)

You don't see much of Fochabers from the Speyside Way itself, which heads away from the river along a burn then routes you back S past and around the school to join a singetrack tarmac road.  The next few miles of the route are along this, which from the few other blogs I've read can be a disappointment for walkers, but for runners/cyclists its pleasant enough I thought - climbing immediately up onto hillside, traffic rare, views opening out.  On top of the first rise is a sign for "the Earth Pillars", and curiosity got the better of us so we followed the narrow path into the trees in search of them.  What we found was a nice viewpoint above the river, but no pillars.  It was only after returning to the Speyside Way road and following it down into a deep gully and steeply up the otherside that we understood.  Looking back across to where we'd been, the steep hillside itself was composed of pillars of earth rising above the Spey.  The road here would make for great cycling - challenging but pretty.  Today we had to be very careful with black ice.  Knowing we still had a long journey ahead of us, we took a brief walking break on this hill (its a great excuse) then enjoyed some relaxing downhill tarmac through thick pine forest before emerging onto open hillside that allowed inspiring views over the Spey and to the higher hills cloaked in haze beyond.  That's where we were heading!

The road drops down to Boat o' Brig, an impressive structure, but rather than crossing the river here the route zig-zags offroad up into the trees and so begins the climb onto the shoulders of Beinn Aigan.  I really enjoyed this bit - again other blogs have understandably groaned about the forestry and lack of views, but there was something really nice about the track up through the trees here, really peaceful running country.  And after climbing to 200m altitude we were rewarded with another just-off-trail viewpoint back downstream towards the coast - looking very distant now!

The forest track starts descending, occasionally threatening to climb again but generally allowing downhill coasting, back off the sides of Beinn Aigan to meet another country road by the river.  This is followed to the A94 just N of Craigellachie, where a sign said "Bar" and I so started talking about Guinness, and would continue doing so for the next 25 miles.

Here we made our rendezvous with Norrie, who would join us for an out-and-back run along the Speyside Way (he ended up clocking a marathon!).  Again the way doesn't really enter town, but I needed some water or sports drink so went in search for some, ending up at a garage on the road to Dufftown before I found any so owed an apology to the others by the time I rushed back down.

Looking back to the coast from Ben Aigan (not picnic time of year though)

So now there were four of us heading along the bank of the Spey along old railway trail, the river always near.  Again Aberlour was bypassed closeby on the left.  It was really nice, easy running along the rail path, very enjoyable even on tiring legs.  The Spey wound its way through the hills, quite closed-in at times, and the scene was of damp winter colours (reds, golds, browns of the trees and bracken, green fields with sheep, grey river and sky!). 

I can't describe the speyside way without mentioning distilleries, we passed a fair few, some right against the path.  There were also "preserved" railway stations that I recognised from photographs - Blacksboat being one.  Surprisingly not very many other people about along the way today, I guess it is early January, but I can only remember seeing two groups of cyclists, and I can't recall seeing any backpackers!  We had been very lucky with the weather.  When I'd planned this weeks ago I had kind of hoped for a crisp winters' day with a coating of snow, but what we had was fine - a cool cloudy day and a light wind from the S, which we were sheltered from in the valley and trees most of the time.

After what seemed like miles and miles along leafy railway path by the river, we crossed the Spey and arrived at Cragganmore where Fionna's dad was waiting to take her back home after a 34mile morning's run!  Dad's are great.  We took photos, said goodbyes, then it was just me, Carrie and Norrie for the next bit, heading W along the river.  Norrie had ran more than he planned but was fair chuffed when he realised after another kilometer he'd have covered half a marathon, which meant a marathon by the time he got back to his car at Craigellachie!  So shortly he was saying goodbye to and it was just two of us left to continue the journey along the Spey.

Bridge by Cragganmore

Its not long after Cragganmore where the scenery changes quite a bit - mostly because the route departs the railway and river bank and heads S up onto boggy hillside, and so the enclosed river-side is left behind and quickly we found ourselves surrounded by an open landscape of rolling heathery hills, the Cairngorm National Park was getting very close!  Again I found it quite inspiring - the flat farmlands and coast felt a long way away now.

This was the start of what's described as the "toughest" section of the way.  Its all relative of course - the Speyside Way is generally very easy, but after running 36 miles the  boggy ups and downs along hillsides are never going to feel like a stroll in the park!  The route climbs to cross the A95 road then climbs some more up through birch and onto muddy forest track.  I commented to Carrie how chuffed I was that we had got this far in daylight.  We'd covered the ground a lot quicker than I anticipated having assumed we'd be in darkness now, navigating by headtorch, which other than the obvious "training benefit" really defeats the most of the purpose of doing this stuff, for me anyway.  Neither of us had been along the Speyside way before (well the bit as far as Nethy Bridge anyway) which was much of the appeal of doing this route.

We were now traversing the NW slopes of the Hills of Cromdale, the Spey lost somewhere below on our right, the hilltops lost above grey murk above on our left.  And then the drizzle started.  The next few miles were up and down, forest track interspersed with sections of mud, tufty grass, bog, often enclosed by fences, lots of gates, lots of stepping stones which were hazardous due to a coating of icy moss, and more often than not I opted for the safer if unpleasant cold-wet-feet option!

Some more gates, fences, mud.  Yes I was tired now, and I had enjoyed my day but by this point I was counting down the kilometers to a warm hotel in Grantown and never mind one pint of guinness I was now thinking more a "sesh" of guinness.  Maybe the bar would have some Cairngorm Brewery beers too.  Carrie was after fish an chips, then beer.  It all felt like fantasy here on the cold damp hillsides.

"10km to go!" I announced, somewhere on a steep uphill section which entered thick spruce forest ahead.  I had my phone with the route on it so generally knew exactly how far was left.  We'd recently just passed a stone plaque with the Cairngorm National Park logo on it.  And it was still daylight - although the sky was darkening very, very slowly.  And having not eaten much today I was feeling the cold a bit more now!

I knew we were on the "penultimate" hill of the day before dropping back down to the Spey, the A95 and the railway path again.  When we got there, it really did feel like the final stretch, just 3 miles to town, and mostly easy going.  Back to flat fields, with the village of Cromdale on our left.  We crossed the Spey for the final time today via a tarmac road, and then onto a really nice woodland path which took us into Anagach Woods - pine trees and carpet of heather.  We clocked the "50mile" mark somewhere in here.  It was near-dark in the woods, but we could still just about manage without headtorches, and soon I was able to announce "Civilisation!  I can see a street light!"

We emerged from the woods at a Speyside Way info sign at the bottom of a lane, and agreed to stop running there.  The hotel was found, eventually, and I made contact with the folks who were up exploring the area too, and so it wasn't too long before we were enjoying the beer, food, warm clothes and great feeling of satisfaction in the pub.

Ochils Tour

Distance: 30 miles (48km) Ascent/Descent: 1300m/1300m  
Start/Finish: Tillicoultry, Dollar, Blackford or Auchterarder 
Terrain: Mostly good, runnable hill tracks (steeper on Southern aspects), some back roads and farm tracks
Transport: Buses connect Blackford/Auchterarder with Stirling/Perth.  Buses connect Tillicoultry/Dollar with Stirling/Cupar.
Route: Route Map (and GPX)

The Ochils seen from the "Devon Way" (Old railway route)

Summary  
Again I'm probably guilty of overlooking the Ochils because they're so close.  How stupid. The Glens above the Hillfoot towns are gorgeous, sure, but that's where I always seem to end up when I do go for a run here.  I've never explored the Northern aspects of this range.  The relatively lower altitude of these hills and surrounding area also means they're more likely to be accessible in Winter.  This loop traverses the Ochils twice using historical routes - Tillicoultry to Blackford and Auchterarder to Glendevon then to Dollar.  And between the hill running you get to run a few miles in both the Forth Valley and Strathallan!  I did it clockwise starting from Tillicoultry, although I was looking over my shoulder a lot and thinking anti-clockwise could be nice too.

Out onto the hills above Tillicoultry (the route heads high-up to L of lump shown)

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Looking towards the Forth from above Mill Glen

Starting from Tilly (I parked on one of the back streets near Upper Mill St.), I headed up towards Mill Glen, but instead of going into the glen I took the path up to the right which climbs higher up the hillside parallel to the Glen (the Glen's nice though and if you've not been there before its worth taking that route instead, as far as the bridge at the confluence of the Daiglen/Gannel burns, then instead of crossing the bridge, double back  steeply up the rocks (South), and after a few minutes keep looking left for a steep, rough track through bracken to gain the true route to Blackford).

A nice view of the "wrong way" - Daiglen Burn

The "actual" route climbs up out of the trees and through a gate into gorse and open hillside (picture above), the good path continues zig-zagging upwards.  Be warned that higher up its easy to get routed to the left along a more level, obvious path, this swings back towards the glen and ends up at the bridge mentioned above.  That's exactly what happened to me, not for the first time!  The "actual" route keeps climbing, swinging around a rocky "nose" to head NE to reach a watershed between Andrew Gannel Hill and Kings Seat.

Ascending to the col between Andrew Gannel Hill (L) and Kings Seat

Looking N from above the watershed on Skythorn

From the watershed, continue up the (initially steep) track towards Andrew Gannel Hill for about 70m, but look out for a feinter track contouring off to the N towards what looks like a couple of rocks.  This ends up following a fence, negotiating a couple of deep dells, otherwise climbing gently to a gate at the col a little shy of 600m, from where you enjoy two very different aspects of Scotland.  Its also quite exposed (Ben Cleuch and surrounding area has a reputation for being ridiculously windy) - my hands were quickly becoming numb and I was wishing I had mits instead of gloves.  Nevermind, all was good because I was about to enter unfamiliar territory...

Grodwell and Gloich Glens, Ben Cleuch (highest point in Ochils) beyond

The way ahead becomes more obvious, a grassy (or icy!) track, which keeps high on the ridge above the remote Broich Burn.  Eventually it drops down towards the Glendevon Reservoir where a fairly industrial looking bridge forms part of a new access road up to the wind-farm on Burnfoot Hill.  Take the track briefly until below the farm buildings (Blackhills), where a sign directs the walker/runner N into bog. 

Trees and stile to aim for when following shore of Upper Glendevon Resr.

And over a fence.  Aim for the "plantation" just above the reservoir, there's a stile over a fence into the trees, after which a muddy and very steep path crosses the steep dell of Muckle Burn, leading to another stile, and a rare waymarker post.  The path continues slightly downhill and heading away from the shore, reaching a gate at the corner of a field (a field only because of the fence around it!). 

A useful clue for route-finding (R. Devon above Reservior)

Continue WNW, arriving at some peat hags (I lost the path here but found it again a bit closer to the water - by the fence).

The path leads up the W arm of the reservior eventually crossing the River Devon by a narow bridge.  The glen ahead looks inviting (there's a waterfall a few hundred metres beyond the bridge), but the way to Blackford requires doubling-back along the N shore of the reservior following a fence, eventually swinging away to visit some ruins.

From the ruins, narrow paths lead NW into the tiny "Glen Bee", arriving at a stile.  There seems to be a choice of paths from here, I took the easier option keeping lower in the glen, eventually arriving at the last col of the traverse where the path joins a wide gravel track, and a fantastic view opens out over Strathallan and Strathearn, the Highlands teasingly close by.

View over Strathallan with Ben Vorlich and Stuc a' Chroin on the skyline

Descending towards Blackford

Its an enjoyable, easy downhill run from here along the track above Glen Kinpauch, which swings around Kinpauch Hill and descends into Blackford.  The A9 has to be negotiated first, of course - turn left on reaching the parallel road, and then after a couple hundred metres its time to say your prayers and play real-life "Frogger", hopefully arriving into the village beside the retail outlet.

There's a wee shop in town where I picked up some much-appreciated junk food.

The next section of the route is a bit different - now out of the Ochils, follow the B8081 over the rail-crossing, continue around the bends for 500m until just beyond a junction and farmhouse there's a right-of-way sign pointing into a field on the left, from where a good, peaceful track leads up alongside old oak trees, beside horses and after a mile you enter Gleneagles Golf Course!  Way-markers take you from here safely between the fairways, the club house and hotel visible to the left, bringing you out by a carpark adjacent to the A823.  Head N along this briefly, then fork R towards Auchterarder - one of Scoltand's "Lang Toons" (and another chance to get refreshments).

Climbing back into the hills (Cloan Glen) - the start of "Cadgers' Yett"

Its now time to get back into the hills.  I headed almost to the end of the village, taking a right (Abbey Road) down into "Milton" then back over the A9 to a junction, turning R (West) for 300m to gain the start of the minor road that climbs S into Cloan Glen.  This is the start of "Cadgers' Yett" - the historical through-route from Auchterader to Glendevon.  It may start as a tarmac road but there's no doubting its a slog - especially on rapidly-tiring legs.  I made use of the views back North justify a few cheeky rest-stops.

Coul Burn, above Coulshill Fm

The road does level eventually, into forest then out again, undulating towards Coulshill Farm.  Instead of entering the farm, continue ahead on the sign-posted track up the glen through open hillside, keeping to the R of the Coul Burn.  After a mile the track swings up to the R, at first ascending towards the windfarm.  Its no worse going than the tarmac at the start, and eventually arrives at the high-point of the pass at a stile with the noisy wind turbines nearby on the R.  The Forth Valley comes back into view.

This is my first long outing for a while so I was feeling it a bit here, but still quite content because I'd made good time and knew it is mostly downhill from here back to Tillicoultry.  Mostly!

On reaching the A823 road, turn L for 100m then look for the "footpath to Dollar" sign pointing R. This path crosses the River Devon, climbs up to a lovely old bridge (which you cross), and another sign points the way up the hillside towards Glenquey Reservior. There's some nice, native woodland planted on the slopes of Innerdownie Hill to the N here. The path is steep at first but quickly levels out, follows the shore of the reservior, then climbs beyond into a dell before dropping down through a currently-felled plantation and arriving at the road to Castle Campbell above Dollar.

Descending Borland Glen towards Glendevon Village

Glenquey Reservior

To descend into the Glen (recommended if the area is new to you) head R steeply down towards the castle to pick up the top of the walk that will take you down by the burn into Dollar. I took the easy option of just following the road back into town. Whichever option you chose, stick to the burn-side on reaching town, following it downstream on the W side to the bottom, then cut R on the short path into Strathdevon Place, from where access down onto the Railway-path should be obvious, via the old station platform! Here follows the easiest 3 miles of the day, which is probably why I'm glad I started the circuit where I did. Old railways can be boring but this one has plenty interest thanks to the Ochils rising to the R (title picture), and frequent rendezvous with the River Devon. The railway path enters Tillicoultry near the Sterling Mills retail park.

Above and Through the Lairig Ghru

Distance: 33 miles (53km) Ascent/Descent: 1860m/1860m 
Start/Finish: Linn o Dee (near Braemar) 
Terrain: 70% trail, 20% gravel/surfaced road, 10% Rocky Tundra (off trail) 
Transport: car  (or bus to Braemar & taxi)
Route: Route Map

Nice single-track by River Dee, Devil's Point behind, slopes of Bheinn Bhrotain to L

Summary
The Lairig Ghru is part of a classic 18 mile walk between Aviemore (Rothiemurchus) and Linn o Dee (Braemar).  The strange loop described here takes a high route Northwards on the mountains to the West of the Lairig Ghru, then returns back through the Lairig itself.  There are some interesting variations of this, e.g., a tour of the summits around Glen Geusachan, thereby including Carn Toul and the Devils Point.  When I set off I wasn't sure exactly what I'd end up doing, especially given the weather forecast.  The described route does provide two contrasting aspects of these mountains - they look a bit lame when seen from the rocky high ground to the W, whereas they rise impressively above cliffs and hanging corries.when viewed from the N or E.

Heading to White Bridge by the River Dee

Blog

The forecast wasn't great - reality check from met. office indicating rain, 70mph gusts and -5degC windchill on Cairngorm summits, a bit different from the 19degC and cloudless skies I was enjoying as I left work on Friday, walking through Edinburgh and watching festival-goers enjoying their beers outside the pubs.

Saturday morning in Braemar was dull but not that bad, the wind was still to pick-up and let's be honest 14degC isn't exactly bad for Scotland, just half what it was last time I was here.  

Might as well give the Cairngorms a try, I figured, if it got too nasty I could always come back down and do a low-level loop like Lairig Ghru followed by Lairig an Laoigh.  That appealed more than experiencing a Winter's day in August, being buffeted across a stony plateau which I could only see 50 yards of in any direction.  And it might clear up!  So we all tell ourselves.

Like two weekends ago, but in quite different weather, I left the car at Linn o Dee, this time heading W towards White Bridge where the Dee makes a right-angled turn.  I crossed this bridge and followed the river's E bank upstream, the wide track followed for the first 3 miles now left behind and replaced by a well-constructed singletrack that still had enough rocks on it to demand concentration.  I became aware I was already "in the zone", loving that feeling of heading off into the wilds again.  That's what the Cairngorms do best - they don't have the pointy shapes of the NW Highlands, but they do give a great feeling of "out there".  An intrepid mountain biker with a German accent (and probably a bruised arse) slowly bounced his bike over the stones towards me, he was also clearly buzzing with enthusiasm, already been up and down mountains and now on his way to bag the remote lumps of "Sgarsoch and Ealar" to the SW.  A reminder of how late it was - already afternoon.  Well I guess it gave the clag more time to b*gger off.

I followed the track until it does a U-bend to cross the Allt Garbh just beyond where title photo taken, then as the weather looked fine from down here I took a L fork to follow a seemingly newly constructed path that ascended the N bank of the Allt, this pretty much being my route up Beinn Bhrotain.  I was quickly reduced to a walk (back to UTMB training!) and the trail quickly reduced to a muddy strip through bashed knee-high heather, all a bit awkward, it quickly improves but I wasn't running again until above the waterfall higher up where the burn changes course.  Once on higher ground the path seems to disappear.  The clag was coming down the mountain-side now so time to reach for the map and compass (no pre-programmed garmin route today).  The jacket and gloves came on as the rain arrived, assisted by a sudden strengthening of wind.  Pretty bleak.  Nothing to see here.  I basically took a direct NW line towards the rocky dome of Beinn Bhrotain's main summit.  Terrain was runnable at first, wind-clipped grass and heather, but when I hit the gradient and barricades of rocks I gave up on the pretense of running and settled into a big stride that was probably faster anyway.  I arrived at the trig-point, sheleted by a fanatastic wall, so I quickly got myself low to the ground against this to escape the wind and consult the map.  And eat some more of those Jaffacake bars.  And flapjacks.  And wonder why the hell I had chosen to come up here and not stay down in the glens.  No regrets. 

A glimpse Glen Geusachan - sun shining somewhere!

From here it was pretty much a case of continuing on the NW bearing, which meant slightly traversing whilst descending, the rocks were pretty evil  (Derry Cairngorm was nothing in comparison), they were wet with ankle-hungry gaps between them, and the wind wasn't helping my balance.  I dropped down below the clag and could see a bit of the world again.  Just a bit, but enough to get me reaching for the camera in case I never saw anything else for the next while.  I could see the bealach below and a definite path emerge from it heading up towards Monadh Mor.  To my right I

A path emerges from the bealach towards Monadh Mor

could see down into Glen Geusachan - which looked like a pretty wild place to be.  It was a really steep way down from here but I judged it safe enough should I decide the need to escape the windy plateau!  For now though I was surprisingly cosy in the Haglofs LIM jacket, and keen to go on.  

A miserable sod descended out of the mist (so called because he didn't say hello or even acknowledge) and disappeared again below.  I climbed up towards where he'd come from, the path eventually disappearing but the terrain was much nicer and all runnable - it became all flat and featureless and cloaked in clag again so I had to keep an eye on the bearing ( NW till it starts to drop again then N).  

And so I unemphatically arrived at the cairn-topped lump called Monadh Mor.  And departed just as quick.

Harsh landscape of Moine Mor - Bhrotain & Monadh Mor in background

The cloud lifted and suddenly I could see for miles, there were splashes of sunshine on distant hillsides.  It was quite featureless to the W - the Moine Mor - I preferred looking E over Geusachan.  I found some inadequate shelter from a band of rocks and sat to eat and take photographs of this strange place.  Ahead near the watershed was a lochan, beyond which rose the slopes leading to Cairn Toul, Angel's Peak and Braeraich.  And a spring to take water from.  Three of the highest summits in Britain not looking so exciting from this remote, elevated angle - their much more celebrated corries and precipices hidden from view. It was good to see this contrast during today's run.  

After descending to the watershed, trying to decide where to go next, I again looked across the Moine Mor, rolling for miles towards Sgor Gaoth etc, wondering if there were any other dafties getting buffeted around up here.

In the end I admitted to myself once again that I like bagging Munros - worse still - bagging Munros that I haven't already done!  Carn Toul and the Devil's Point I'd done years ago as a student, the days when there were 273 Munros and Sgor an Lochain Uaine wasn't one of them.  The latter would eventually be my next target (sometimes called Angel's Peak), there was no Angel up there today, just wind and clag again.  As I ascended from the SW on increasingly rocky, pathless tundra (which was easy enough going) I started to see other walkers on the "main ridge" - more of a wedge than a ridge - gentle from my direction, cliffs on the other.  I eventually gained the path the walkers had been on, and headed ENE through the rocks, back into cloud, it was like the edge of the world to my left, and the wedge had narrowed into a ridge up here when I reached the small summit area.  I immediately dropped down as safely as I could to the lee side, which meant my feet were dangling over an abyss of cloud whilst I ate a roll and packet of crisps.

Retracing my steps down the path, I headed for Braeriach, certainly the highlight of the day for me.  Perhaps because by the time I'd hauled myself onto its rocky plateau (Carn na Criche), the clag had been dispersed and the more impressive aspect of Sgor an Lochain Uaine and Cairn Toul was on display.  I ran across the plateau assisted by the wind, crossing the river Dee again, this time no need for a bridge, a single leap was enough (the Wells of Dee were about 400m to my left), and climbed up through the stones back towards the crest of Garbh Coire, then finally NE for 300m to the summit.  Wow.

Looking over the Lairig Ghru from near the summit of Braeriach, Lochan Uaine beneath Cairn Toul

I'd certainly left the best for last.  Descending E and very quickly I was on a nice rocky ridge from which I could look down and across both sides.  Aviemore not far away, the world looking rather civilised over there in contrast to the other direction!  I was heading along the path marked on the OS map which descends 3 miles over Sron na Lairige.  Path improvements were taking place on the steeper, lower slopes.  As I dropped down, there was more and more sunshine and by the time I arrived at the Lairig Ghru beneath Lurcher's Crag it was Summer once again.  Jacket off, hat off, gloves off.  Now to finally tick-off another thing I'd always wanted to do - actually go through the Lairig Ghru.  

Lairig Ghru

And into the wind.  The Lairig Ghru is runnable, to a point, then its boulders.  Its also very beautiful (on an evening like this) and so I hardly minded the enforced slow-down, trying to ignore the fact I might miss my dinner back down at the Fife Arms Hotel!

Currour Bothy puts the Devil in perspective

I saw other walkers/climbers hanging-out at Corrour Bothy - a building dwarfed by the Devil's Point which in turn was dwarfed by its higher neighbours.  What a great evening for sleeping out wild.  At this point I reflected on my thought's about how the Cairngorm's don't really do "pointy and rugged" - from this angle the Devil's Point does a reasonable impersonation of the Buachaille!

I took the uphill L fork away from the River Dee to head for Glen Lui and eventually Glen Derry.  27 miles done and feeling good, the trail improving, and so I started to really run, like old times, taking risks now I was off the hill and seeing others about.  And sure enough I clipped a rock and became airbourne, this was going to be a nasty one, stupid boy.  God knows how but I

Looking N up Glen Lui from Lairig Ghru Path

managed to get my other foot beneath me, immediately clip another rock, repeat, regain control and continue forward.  What a recovery.  I went back into conservative mode after that, feeling very lucky.  Sure enough a through-packer came past me the other direction just moments later.  Back down to Caledonian Pines with the River Lui meandering through them, another highlight of the day, more people with their tents around Derry Lodge where I crossed the footbridge in the opposite direction to 2 weeks ago, and then a 3 mile easy run back to the car at Linn o Dee.  And yes I made it in time for dinner, by about 10 minutes.  Another great day.

Glen Geusachan, enclosed by Beinn Bhrotain (L) and Monadh Mor (M), Devils Point (R)

Lawers Group

Distance: 19.7 miles (32km) 
Ascent/Descent: 2250m/2250m 
Start/Finish: C.P. N of Lochan nan Lairige 594416  
Terrain: 80% good tracks, 15% Road, 5% grass (wee bit of bog but not bad)
Transport: car for sure
Route: Route Map
 

(L to R) Ben Lawers, Beinn Glas, Meall Corranaich from Meall a' Choire Leith

Summary
Classic round of the Lawers Munros, walkable in a day.  My original route was to drop down into Glen Lyon (drop N from Meall Greig, follow tracks along S bank of R. Lyon and pick up access track up Glean Da Eig back towards start).  Instead, I opted for the longer (but less climbing) option so that I could maintain mobile-phone reception as it was getting late and there were storms brewing!

Blog
A late start, as this was a bit spontaneous.  I had planned on re-visiting the cairngorms this weekend having really enjoyed last weeekend, but the ongoing "stomach" problems prevented any thoughts of doing much over the last few days - it was already afternoon before I realised something might be on today...

Tarmachan Range from the slopes of Meall Chorranaich

The weather was perfect for the drive up, but forecast to deteriorate.  I decided to head to the Lawers area and try and get some desperately last-minute "UTMB" training in (hence hills rather than glens).  This year hadn't gone great running wise for reasons mentioned, so when I do get out I am all the more appreciative of having health, fitness and such fantastic countryside on the doorstep.

View NW, feat. Loch Lyon and Ben Nevis

After a bit of Lake-District-style parking somewhere around the tiny car park beneath the cairn (594416), I was jogging up a well-engineered track NE, the sun beaming down, the sky full of fluffy clouds, for now anyway.  It was already after 2pm so the majority of folks were coming the other way, having already earned their pints or whatever.  The path stops at bog, but it is a downhill bog so that's okay, I was aiming for the burn (Allt Geann Da' Eig) and then drier, steeper grassy hillside beyond it.  A feint path emerges beyond the burn and ascends around the corner of Coire Gorm, crossing its smaller burn (water bottle refill already!) before taking an uncompromising line up the steepening side of Meall a Choire Leith.  I stupidly tried to run all the way from car to summit (not clever UTMB training), so when I got to the top I was burst, but buzzing on endorphins and really happy to be up in the hills again.

Lawers & Ghlas, from start of descent off Meall Chorranaich

From then on the gradients are much easier so the running was great!  In particular there's a nice path over to summit No. 2 of the day, Meall Corranaich, with fine views of the next summits on the list, and also far-reaching views to the N horizon, Ben Nevis particularly prominent. 
About 100 or more deer ran in front of me as I ascended!  (Worth pointing out that the path passes by another fine spring for filling the water bottles).

The next bit was steeper, a sharp drop down beneath Beinn Ghlas - as you descend to the bealach ignore the gently-ascending "good" track that crosses between the mountains and look for the much fainter, steeper trail continuing up onto the NW ridge of the Beinn - it keeps South of the rockier bits and curves onto its crest via a grassy slope.  I of course missed this and ended up crawling up from the NW on all-fours. 

Once on top of Beinn Ghlas I was almost grateful to join the motorway up to Ben Lawers - another great trail run.  The ridge swings N immediately from the summit of Lawers, and suddenly things look a bit wilder.  Less people.  More rocks.  But a perfectly good and less ugly track descends down the ridge, steepening as it approaches the base of An Stuc (descend the bealach slightly N to get another stream for filling the bottles).

An Stuc above Lochan nan Cat

The ascent up An Stuc is initially steep but it levels off again towards the top. A fine place to be.
Now I've never been particularly confident with heights, but I seem to be getting softer with age.  I don't get any thrill out of being in exposed places, quite the opposite, so when I started the descent off An Stuc's E ridge and found myself above wet, slightly mossy slab of rock with a 30ft drop if I screwed up, I was actually pleased with myself for accepting my limitations and turning around.  Maybe okay for ascending but not descending, certainly not by me anyway!  Especially since vertigo is listed as a possible side-effect of the medication I've been put on! When I got back to the top I spotted that I'd come off the main path (which swings to the S and takes a much easier line).  This I was much happier on, it wasn't so much a scramble as a bloody steep path requiring lots of care (and testing loose rocks before putting weight on them).  I personally wouldn't go near here in Winter.

View down into Glen Lyon

The rain had started briefly, I knew it was coming, but I could still see most of Northern Scotland basking in sunshine.  The South was getting a soaking.

I continued over to the summit of Meall Garbh (a great view back over An Stuc and the Ben), steep in places, but from there to Meall Greig the mountainous feel evaporates into rolling grassy country-side, perhaps a bit of a drag to walk but it was a great place for a run!  A note left on the summit cairn brought a tear to my eye (definitely getting softer with age).  So that was that, seven Munros unceremoniously bagged (including one I hadn't done before - An Stuc weren't on the list when I were a lad!).
 

Lawers and An Stuc from Meall Garbh

As the sky started creating its own set of mountains in the form of storm clouds, and as it was quite late in the day, I decided against my original plan of dropping N into Glen Lyon.  A slight regret - it looks like a nice route (Glen Lyon is beautiful), and is actually shorter than what I ended up doing, although a bit more re-ascent required to get back to the car!  Because today had been a bit spontaneous, I hadn't really read up on the route through Glen Lyon (I'd planned this circuit a year or so ago and forgotten the details), and knew I wouldn't have phone signal down there, so stuck to the S aspect of the range instead.  

Meall Greig being threatened by the sky

  I dropped down to the tiny dam on slightly awkward tufty-grass, crossed the burn beneath the concrete sluice and attained the fantastic track on its W side.  This bit kind of made up for missing Glen Lyon - a chance to really run along this elevated smooth track above Loch Tay, with the Lawers summits rising above to the R.  It makes for really fast progress back towards the start, but there is a price to pay...

Loch Tay from the contouring track

After almost three miles of heavenly running, its important (I think) to take the feint upper-fork in the track, which ends abruptly above a defile.  I followed the fence-line on its far side, but there's no path and the terrain is quite rough going.  I was wary of losing too much height here, and aimed to remain above the lump marked on the map as Creag Dubh, which meant climbing slightly, and I was reduced to power-walking.  Once over Creag Dubh the contours turn more NW (into Corrie a' Chonnaidh), and I was finding traces of sheep-trod along the fence line here.  Eventually I was looking over the fenced-off deciduous plantation about 70m vertically below, and ignored the direct line down (involving climbing a deer fence and feeling naughty!) and continued to contour more N to pick up the main path down off Beinn Ghlas, which is all very civilised and uses a gate!  I was being soaked by thick drizzle by now, but grateful to be off the ridges and not exposed to thunder/hail storms - there'd been many of these lately.  From the N.T.S. car park it was a 3 mile uphill road-run back to the car sitting on its own at 8pm.