Highland Roadtrip 2010

I'd rather go north than sit in a pub in Bath said Haydn, moments later an e-mail from Rob appeared and so the tale began.

Introduction

Currently the plan is for Haydn, Bryn, Paul (Nowster), Kenny and James (Truvelo), plus hopefully Chris (El Pres) to head into the Highlands for a grand tour...

Day One - Thu 19th Aug

This was the plan:

Driving north to meet up near Carlisle, then head over to collect Kenny via as yet undetermined route, then onwards, taking a brief look at the M74 Extension and the M80 upgrade then via hopefully the B822 to Callander, then A84/A827 to the The Inn on the Tay just off the A9 - 2 triple rooms booked at £65 per person for dinner, bed and breakfast including £20 towards dinner - Rooms booked for six, please let me know if you wish to join us.

This is what happened:

From Gretna, the route followed the A75, then the A712 to New Galloway, followed by the A713 up to Ayr. After collecting Kenny, the obvious route was the A/M77 back into Glasgow, but without joining the main M8. After a little exploration of the bridges and route of the M74 extension's route, it was onto the M8 proper, across the Kingston Bridge and round through Glasgow's notorious traffic to pick up the M/A80. Much fun was had in Cumbernauld, before a quick jaunt along the M876 to see J2. Then up the A9, back down the M80 and onto the A803 through Kilsyth.

This double-back was to allow for an enjoyable drive across the Campsie Fells on the B822, before turning onto the B818 at Fintry and so across to the A81. It was north now, detouring through the Trossachs and past beautiful Loch Venachar on the A821 before reaching the A84 at Kilmahog Bridge. A quick blast now up Strathyre, through Glen Ogle (on the A85) and onto the A827 through Killin. After crossing the old Killin Bridge and Bridge of Lochay, it was the 'home straight' along the shores of Loch Tay. Finally, after crossing the mighty River Tay at Kenmore Bridge, it was just a few miles through Aberfeldy to The Inn on the Tay for the night.

Day Two - Fri 20th Aug

Here's the Plan: Heading north up the A9 to explore either the A838 to Laxford Bridge or the A837 and A894 to Kylesku, returning south via the B869 and an as yet undetermined route to the Plockton Inn - 3 twin rooms booked at £47 per person inc breakfast - It's a pub, so has beer and food - Rooms booked for six, please let me know if you wish to join us.

Here's what happened: Headed up the A9 and A838 to Laxford Bridge, then down the A894, via Kylesku, A837, A835, A832, A896 and over the Bealach na Ba. Then u-turn, back over the Bealach na Ba, A896, A890 and unclassified road to Plockton.

Day Three - Sat 21st Aug

Meeting up with Rob at the Commando Memorial car park, to pay some respects to fallen heroes before a grand driving and walking tour of some historical roads build by General Wade and Thomas Telford doing a long circuit around onto Skye, then back to the Glenuig Inn south of Mallaig where we shall be joined by Steven (cb a1) and Nicholas - I've booked the bunkhouse at £25 per person including breakfast and we have room for two more - The bar has real ale and they serve food at night - it's very remote.

Day Four - Sun 22nd Aug

Continuation of the tour by Rob, finally reaching final night at a place in Arrochar on the A83 called the Village Inn for £75 for the room including breakfast.

Day Five - Mon 23rd Aug

Heading home via as yet undetermined routes....

Want to join the fun ?

Some members have expressed an interest in coming along and it would be good to have an adhoc meeting with some of the Scotish members, even if it is just for a beer one evening, so anyone wanting to join the fun needs to contact Haydn either for a room, or just let him know you are meeting the group so we don't set off without you...

Details of the bits organised by Rob can be found here - http://www.rileyrob.co.uk/blog/sabre-roadtrip.htm

Progress Blog

GPS tracks on SABRE Maps:

The progress blog can be found here - http://telfordwade.blogspot.com/

Anyone wishing to contribute needs to have blogger account, send me your user name and I'll add you to the list of authors. I use BlogPress for the iPhone, but I'm sure there are many other mobile blog editors on both iPhone and other smartphones that work with Blogger accounts, or just via an internet browser, although I cannot guarantee the quality of wifi or even a service.

Highland Roadtrip 2010

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