Last year I tried out bikepacking. I bought a cheapish tent, loaded it and a few bits that I thought I might need onto my trusty old commuter bike and set out for a night at a campsite 40ish kilometers away. Was it the right bike? Probably not. Was I a bit wonky having only one pannier to pack everything in, definitely! But I enjoyed it and decided I wanted to do more. I’ve since done a couple more one nighters but have been hoping to do a multi-day trip.
There are a whole host of existing routes to choose from and I decided that I wanted to ride the Great Glen Way. The Great Glen Way is a 120km waymarked route that runs from Fort William to Inverness. Often walked by people over about a week and some cycling it in just a day! I didn’t want to rush the trip or push myself too far so settled on doing it over 3 days. I could take it easy, stop when I wanted and I would still have time to make my campsites before dark. I decided to takle the route north to south from Inverness to Fort William, this is opposite to the way most people do it. This was so I could get the majority of the climbing out of the way in the first two days, then have a relatively easy final day.
In Scotland wild camping is legal but after a day in the saddle I really appreciate a warm shower, so decided that I’d use campsites. It being a popular area for tourists, walkers and cyclists it was pretty easy to find a site. Getting to and from the start and end was easy. I could book my bike on the trains and from where I’m based, Stirling, the trains we convenient.
Was I ready to do 3 days in the saddle back-to-back, probably not. But I wasn’t waiting round till I thought I was. I was the right mixture for me, hard but not too hard. I hope to do more, but I’m going to have to build my fitness some more. I think I’m going to need to spend some more time in the saddle over the winter and get some hill reps in.
It was also the first big trip for all my equipment as well. It all worked brilliantly but there are some things I’d change. My sleeping bag is too big and too warm and I would like some more space in my tent. Also a small tweak I’d like make to the bike, raise the cockpit a bit so maybe a riser bar. I also need to get a bell, even out on a long distance trail it would have been useful. I need to carry more water, thankfully I was never too far from some shops but I could really do with an extra bottle on the bike. Nothing that would stop be from going out again.
Day 1 - Inverness to Drumnadrochit 🔗
Got to Inverness about 12pm. I could have go there ealier but with only 30km to ride I figured I could get the train at a more civilised time. Once there it’s an easy ride out of town. Up through the outskirts and finally felt like I’d started when the route turned off up a gravel path.
This was the start of a long climb, between 6 and 7 km then it mellowed out. It felt like a challenging way to start the day. Once up it was onto some nice gravel paths throught the forests with a small paved section that you turn off onto some single track, into the Abriachan woods. There is a visitor center in the woods which was a nice place for a pit stop, have a snack and sit relax on a bench for a bit. Then it’s onto a 2km climb on forestry roads. This got steep in parts and lumpy in others, there was some hike-a-bike. Then it was time to lose all that elevation. Some really fast forest roads and nice wooded sections. Including the first views of Loch Ness.
These were my first steep decents fully loaded, something I’m not used to. But I took it slow and made sure to keep off the front brake. Challenging at first but once I got the hang off it I was enjoying myself. After all the decending it was 5km on the roads to the campsite. Perfectly placed, short walk to a Co-op and 500m from the start of day 2. There was a little walk suggested down the to loch, giving a nice view back up the part I’d just ridden along.
Stats from the Garmin:
- Distance: 31.49 km
- Total Ascent: 490m Ascent
- Moving time: 2:38
- Avgerage Speed: 11.9 kph
- Top Speed: 39.3 kph
Day 2 - Drumnadrochit to Invergarry 🔗
Relaxed start to the day, although this was going to be my longest day of the trip I felt like I had enough time so could take it easy. Plus I wanted to wait to see if my tent could dry out a bit, it hadn’t rained but between the dew and condensation it was pretty soggy. Unfortunately I wasn’t lucky, so had to pack away a soggy tent.
Getting started on the day there wasn’t much of a warm up, 500m in and I hit the first climb. It was a road climb that only went on for a couple of kilometers but it got steep. There was a lot of stopping and starting and a good bit of pushing but I slowly ground my way up. Then it was a long downhill to the start of what was going to be the long climb to the highest point of the day. On the Great Glen Way there are two routes, the low and the high. I chose to do the high route, because why not, surely thats where the fun is. I also think there are more road sections on the low route and I want to avoid the roads as much as possible. The climb starts out on forestry roads, a bit bumpy but overall not to bad. Then you turn off on to the really steep single track parts. I pushed my bike up a lot of this. It was hard! I bumped into a few walkers along this section and I think they thought I was mad. It was worth it for the views though.
This route also takes you past the Viewcatcher.
The downhill into Invermoriston was nice and very welcome at this point. I needed a break at this point. Thankfully there is a nice Cafe to stop at, Glen Rowan Cafe. Had a really nice lunch, if you are in the area I definitely recommend stopping by. So suitably refuled it was off to the climb out of Invermoriston.
The climb out isn’t the longest or the highest but it’s steep. Fuck me it was brutal. I pushed up most of this section. Slowly, picking small targets to get the bike to before stopping again to gather myself. Parts also felt way more exposed than I expected due to the tree felling. Once the climbing was done the going was a lot easier. I was pretty spent though so I found myself pushing up even some of the smaller climbs. Eventually I got to the top of the final small climb and was able to look back before starting the decent.
The downhill to Fort Augustus was brilliant, it was fast and just technical enough. Not too techinal that I’m slowing up constantly but enough that it kept me engaged. You have to keep in the back of your mind though that this is a route primarily used by walkers, so keeping an eye out of any one coming up the trail is crucial.
I was knackered at this point. So I stopped in Fort Augustus to grab some snacks and top up my water. Then it was onto the canals. They felt hard at this point, slight head wind and the first rain of the trip. It was flat until just after the Bridge of Oich, then the route turned off onto a small wooded section. This was just a grind, I was ready for my tent by now.
Got to my campsite after about 8 hours. It was a long day, not something I’m used to doing. My rides are usually 4 hours at most. Thankfully I think all the hill walking and running I’ve been doing this year helped me get through the climbs. Now I had to setup my soggy tent. I really should have packed the tent better :( had to dry the inner with my towel. Nothing like having shower and drying yourself with a damp towel. Whilst sorting that out the midgies made their self known. I’m glad a brought a midge net and some smidge, but thankfully this was the only time I was bothered in the trip.
The route I planned was 48.3km but because the climbs and my pushing being so slow the garmin didn’t record about 2km.
Stats from the Garmin:
- Distance: 46.26 km
- Total Ascent: 964m
- Moving time: 4:34
- Avgerage Speed: 10.1 kph
- Top Speed: 42.1 kph
Day 3 - Invergarry to Fort William 🔗
The final day, the flatest day. I’m so glad I did the route in the direction I did. I think if I did day one as the last day I wouldn’t have enjoyed it was much. The night before I decided I needed to get packed down at the latest between 8 and 9. There was rain forecast from 9 onwards and I didn’t fancy trying to pack everything away in it. So it was a quick coffee and get packing. I learnt from my mistake the day before and took the outer off the tent before folding it all up to avoid having to dry the inner with my towel later.
The beginning of the day was along forestry roads and single track, running along Loch Oich and Loch Lochy. There were a few small climbs and I had very little left in the legs, so they all felt hard. Still easyish going, there isn’t much along this part of the route. So no opportunity to refuel before the outskirts of Fort William. About a third of the way through the day I was regretting not stopping early on. On my way out of Invergarry I saw a sign for a cafe at the community hall, at least thats how I recall it, I should have stopped and fueled up more but I wanted to get going. Towards the end of Loch Lochy you get onto the road. Which at this point was a nice relief, the route I planned took me along the road all the way to the canal but I spotted a diversion. This took me along the loch shore, a bit of a mistake as it was hard going with some sections of deeper gravel making it a slog. And even along the road there were some nice views.
Eventually the route turns off on to the canals, at this point I was reaching my limit. It was starting to get hard to find comfort on the bike and you could add in a side helping of head winds to make this section unpleasant. But I knew it wasn’t far. Eventually I reached the outskirts of Caol and then worked my way through Inverlochy and along the Glen Nevis Road to the campsite. The campsite is a popular one and busy one, it’s near the start of the walk up Ben Nevis and the start of the route I’ve just done. This means is had more amenities than the other sites I stayed at. So after pitching the tent and having a shower I grabbed a well earned beer from the on-site shop and watched people coming down the Ben Nevis path with my dinner.
Stats from the Garmin:
- Distance: 46.34 km
- Total Ascent: 471m
- Moving time: 3:29
- Avgerage Speed: 13.3 kph
- Top Speed: 46.4 kph