Scotland Tour 2011

[gumpt1oo]

Just got back from a 4 day trip up to Scotland.
Day 1
Me and my mate Graeme, set off on Wednesday morning,

ready to roll

We headed up past Carlisle and into Scotland. We found an excellent back road from Dumfries to Carsphairn.

you just had to watch out for the timber lorries!

From Carsphairn we rode up to Ayr and met up with JohnyC from the Rat.net site.
Johny rode with us for 50 or so miles.
We rode up to Gourock and caught the ferry to Dunoon.
Johny and Graeme on the ferry

Leaving Gourock.

Crossing the Firth of Clyde

From Dunoon we headed over the hills towards Loch Fyne on great deserted roads!

Johny left us at this point to return to Ayr. Me and Graeme continued on through Inverrary and on to Glen Orchy

Once we left Glen Orchy, we entered the mountains of Glencoe. This is where he had our first shower of rain.

From Glencoe it was a short ride to Kinlochleven to our hotel.
continued................

 

[keystiger]

Nice pics. Hope to get over that way to ride one day. Looks amazing.

 

[gumpt1oo]

We stayed the night at the MacDonald Hotel in Kinlochleven,

This is the view of Kinlochleven from the Hotel.

From here we rode to the outskirts of Fort William and crossed Loch Linnhe on the Corran Ferry
Loch Linnhe

Corran ferry

from here it was more brilliant twisty roads through the hills of Roshven

Graeme's scrambler started playing up at this point. All of a sudden it would completely cut out and then give a big backfire and start up again.
We checked all the fuses to see if any were loose, checked the connectors on the ignitor box, but could not find anything wrong.
Graeme suddenly had a thought to check the sidestand switch. Sure enough the bolts were loose and the switch was not contacting correctly.
We had both taken every spanner known to man, but neither of us had taken any torx bits. You guessed it, the switch is held on by torx screws. So we did a temporary fix with some cable ties, and we were on our way to ferry at Mallaig.
The man in action!

I could think of worse places to break down, over looking the Sound of Arisaig

We boarded the ferry and headed to the Isle of Skye

After a few miles on Skye we returned to the mainland over the Skye Bridge

We continued north through the Kyle of Lochalsh and up past Loch Carron to the Pass of the Cattle

We continued to follow the coast line passing countless lochs and glens alon the way, on fantastic roads.

The next palce we came to was Ullapool

Still heading north passing more mountains and sandy beaches

Eventually arriving at our destination at the Kyle of Tongue

 

[gumpt1oo]

Day 3
We stayed at the Ben Loyal hotel in Tongue,

and was greeted by glorious sunshine, here is the view from the back of the hotel.

This is the road winding its way across the kyle

From Tongue we travelled along the north coast to Melvich

The hills in the distance are the Orkney Islands

From here we headed south through Strath Halladale to the Strath of Kildonan. The hills are more rolling in nature than the rugged hills on the west coast, but stunning never the less.

We eventually joined the main A9 at Helmsdale where we stopped for coffee next to this monument to the Emigrants

I had not heard of this statue so I googled this, http://www.helmsdale.org/emigrants-statue.html
From here we headed south through Inverness to Nairn and on to Grantown on Spey to the Cairngorms.
The roads are fantastic!

After a blast through the Cairngorms we headed west to Loch Tay

and on to our Hotel at Killin

 

[Silli]

Wow. Lovely pics. Great post.

 

[gumpt1oo]

We stayed in the Bridge of Lochy Hotel,

this is the river at the side of the hotel

And then it was my turn to break down!
I got everything loaded onto the bike, pressed the starter, flat battery!
I was prepared for everything and had some jump leads so we got it going ok, after removing all the luggage and seat to get to the battery!
off course, Graeme was on hand with his camera. LOL

Once we got the bike started we headed to the top of Loch Lomond

Before climbing up to the top of the 'rest and be thankful' hill.

From here we continued west to join Loch Fyne to retrace our steps to Dunoon to catch the ferry

Leaving Dunoon

From here we retraced our route back to England, but not before stopping for some refreshments at the Pub in St John's town of Dalry

1222 miles in 4 days, and only 2 showers of rain all trip, excellent!

 

[Dilligaf]

Excellent camera work, what gorgeous country, looks like a fun ride.

 

[DaveM]

Steve stunning country I always love seeing these pics of all those historical places and buildings.

Just one question though, I never knew the battery needed a number two spanner

 

[shanered6]

you jammed it just right the best week of weather all summer ! i did say id try my best for ya you wont find any better roads anywhere than up here, some great pics and a great ride .
i feel privilaged to live up here

 

[DaveM]

You sure right the weather did play the game

 

[gumpt1oo]

Steve stunning country I always love seeing these pics of all those historical places and buildings.

Just one question though, I never knew the battery needed a number two spanner

Ah, that is sign language for 'please turn off that camera!' LOL

 

[otherwise]

Thanks for posting Steve, enjoyable way for me to drink my morning coffee, traveling those great bike roads with you.

 

[DaveM]

Yes if I just had all the time and money I would not know where to start lol

 

[CarlS]

Steve that is a first class report with great photos of a very enviable ride! Thanks for sharing these.