Scottish Highland Tour

[gumpt1oo]

Just got back from a 4 day tour of the Scottish Highlands, 1278 miles of excellent roads and beautiful scenery!
I set off on wednesday morning to meet Lake in Carlisle, then we set off into Dumfries and Galloway, stopping off at Loch Ken.

The weather was overcast but dry, we then went on to Ayr and Ardrossan.
This is the view to the Isle of Arran in the distance.

And the bonnies looking towards Bute.

From there we carried on up the coast to catch the ferry across the Firth of Clyde from Gourock to Dunoon.
Bikes on the ferry.

View across the Firth of Clyde

The weather was getting better all the time, so we stopped of for a brew at Shiela's diner in Dunoon.

From Dunnoon we went up to Inverary,

Then up to Loch Awe

The road at Loch Awe was closed due to a train derailment, so instead of heading for Oban we headed east to Glen Orchy,

And on into Glencoe,

After leaving Glencoe we rode around Kinlochleven,

And on into Fort William, 335 miles for the day.
Here's shot of Loch Linnhe at Fort William.

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[gumpt1oo]

Day 2 we set off from Fort William calling in at Neptunes Staircase, a series of locks on the Caledonian Canal.

and onto Spean Bridge to the Commando Memorial.

From Spean Bridge we went north to Invergarry, where there is a Loch that is the shape of Scotland! (can't remember what it was called)

From Invergarry we carried on north through Glen Shiel

arriving at the beautiful Loch Duich

Eileen Donnan Castle at Loch Duich

From here we carried on to the Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye.

View looking back to the Isle of Skye

This was a welcome sight in Lochcarron, for a spot of lunch.

After refreshments we headed on A896 and A832 keeping close to the coastline
passing Loch Torridon on the way.

there are endless bays with blue sea and beautiful beaches.

We carried on to Ullapool, and Durness, and across the top to the Kyle of Tongue

Road across the Kyle of Tongue

The small village of Tongue is where we stayed the night at the Ben Loyal Hotel, 311 miles today.

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[gumpt1oo]

Day 3 we set off, and immediately got lost! Thanks to my map reading we rode 40 miles to reach a sign saying 10 miles to the village we had just left!
Anyway, back on route and we headed across the top of Scotland to the most northern part of the British mainland, Dunnett Head, it was thick mist and raining!

Lake's bonnie at Dunnett Head

From Dunnett we carried on in the rain to John O Groats.
As the sign says, I had travelled 747 miles from my house.

After a bit of lunch we headed down the east coast of Scotland to Wick. The weather started to get better and by the time we got to Caithness the sun was just comming out.

We headed down the busy A9 over the Dornoch Firth and over the Conan Bridge near Inverness

We then headed east to Nairn and then south to Grantown on Spey and into the Cairngorm mountains.

and passing Braemar castle on the way.

From Braemar we carried on through Glen Shee,

and on to our hotel in Kirkmichael, 334 miles today.

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[gumpt1oo]

Day 4 we set off from Kirkmichael to Perth and on to the Falkirk Wheel.
It is an amazing piece of engineering, a boat enters the pod at either top or bottom, then the srtucture rotates 180 degrees carrying the boat and water!

Model showing the wheel in operation.

From Falkirk we bypassed Edinburgh and went to Galashiels, another bacon butty stop!

This is where me and Lake went our seperate ways, Lake back to Carlisle on the A7, I went to Melrose

and back into England into Northumberland. These are the border stones on the A68

From here I rode through Northumberland to Hexham and on to Alston in Cumbria, stopping for a brew at a well known biker cafe at Hartside.

The roads around the cafe are excellent!

From here it was a quick blast to Penrith and then down the A6 home, 298 miles today, 1278 in total and I loved every one of them!

 

[CarlS]

That looks like a beautiful ride. Another outstanding ride report and you usual superb photography. That is a ride I would love to make. Thanks for the great post(s). :y115:

 

[The Seeker]

Yes...again great photos and great reporting of what looks like an awesome ride.

From here we carried on to the Kyle of Lochalsh and the bridge to the Isle of Skye.

Cool......I have a male Skye Terrier!

 

[Geoff587]

You really should have a career in Travel Journalism for some of the Bike Mags, even managed to get the odd sheep in a couple of photos :y115:. Glencoe and Fort William brought back a few memories of a summer Mountain Leaders course I did in November h: Two weeks of being wet all the time.

 

[devo]

very well done once again Steve
Oh, and thanks for the sheep, did take a bit of searching tho. :ya2:

 

[Rocky]

Wonderful adventure! Thanks for sharing :y115: :y115:

 

[Simmer]

Again, wonderful photographs and thanks for sharing the ride. That is great country.

Dave :y115: :y115: :y115: :y115: