Another scorcher, great!
After a delayed start (surprise surprise) myself and Luke set off from Tomintoul on mtb's for 3 miles west then on foot over rough ground to the top of Geal Charn in about 2 hours. A good feed and sycronised timer photos of us on the cairn before heading down, with Luke not feeling 100% (or even 50% I suspect) after only just flying in from NZ, and not having done any running for about 6 weeks, heading straight to Ryvoan bothy, whilst I headed down and across what must be one of the great untouched wildernesses in Scotland towards Creag Mhor. I dare any of you to try and link these 2 hills to find out...Not a trace of human hand to be seen or heard, utterly still and boiling hot. Every peat hag would reveal new wildlife hiding from the sun. Grouse exploding from my feet every 5 minutes and flapping away with fake injuries to lure me away from their clutch of tiny chicks. Deer lying down in the shade. Curlews crying in the air. Fish diving for cover in the river. A special but desperately rough place.
At last, another 2 hour flog including a twisted right ankle with much whinging and punching of the heather, I finally fought my way to the top of Creag Mhor where the chunky summit tors allowed superb views into Glen Avon, Bynack Mor, Cairngorm etc etc. I had my chit on the top and soaked it up. A fast descent, climb & descent over the Bynack path lead me to a fast ascending Alan Smith. The cunning plan of him shoving his bike up the path as far as possible for me had come unstuck when his rear mech had somehow got damaged and fell off! So an unavoidable longer trot and very brief but exciting freewheel on his undriveable bike lead me to Ryvoad bothy to meet up with Brenda, Luke, Davy Duncan, Dave from Cairngorm Runners, and then the sweaty but ever chirpy Peter Porteous and his mate Keith. We enjoyed a very relaxed plod up Meall a' Bhuachaille to the summit where Daves missus Val waited on us before gentle jog back down to Reindeer House for drinks and food. I nipped of to finish the day with a fast 8 mile bike ride to Lynwilg junction outside Aviemore, then whizzed back to Glenmore Lodge to get a long overdue massage by the ever patient Kirsty Wright - a woman who can knead your legs to dough...as long as you bring your own bite stick! Thank you Kirsty. Judy & Will had arrived had arrived at Reindeer House, sorry I had to dash off, thanks for the wine, nibbles & cakes. Hope you will be able to do a hill soon with me. Thanks to Aidy for making tea and a cracking couple of pints were had in the grand Suie Hotel, Kincraig, before retiring to bed for a bit of bloggercise - Brenda is now snoring.
Short day tomorrow, hopefully catch up with 2 handsome sons!?
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9 comments:
Well done Manny. That's everything east of the A9 cleaned up, and by Friday you should be crossing the Great Glen and well over halfway. I'll aim to join you Saturday and Sunday for the Ardgour hills.
Ah yes - Aviemore - lost all kinds of things there...
Great Job, Manda - Hopefully the weather is going to stick around a little longer...
Does anybody know why it's called "The Burma Road" ??
Hi Swaz
You've never heard the legend of the infamous Burma Road??
Over the last 20 years 143 people have perished whilst trying to cycle over this perilous pass. Most have succumbed to heatstroke and exhaustion due to the severity of the incline and the fact that it faces directly into the sun. Many others have come to grief on the mad, fast very very scary descent on the other side.
We can only sit and wait to see if our hero ever makes contact again!!
Tune in next week for the next thrilling instalment!
I hope you got on OK yesterday in the Carn na Saobhaidhe peat hags and wilderness. And today you ought to be passing through the 110 halfway point. Keep it going!
Yesterday Manny set off up the Burma Road on mtb's with two others - Peter P and Luke - to Geal Charn Mor. By the time he arrived at Slochd he was minus Peter P who had to turn back due to the sole coming off one of his cycling shoes. Then a fast road cyle to Coignafearn Old Lodge passing huge herds of deer cooling off in the Findhorn. He was able to cover most of the Carn na Saobhaidhe to Carn an Fhreiceadain area by mtb on tracks which aren't all on the map, though it still took longer than he anticipated, leaving no time to do the road cycle to Garva Bridge which will be the start for today.
Yet another sole lost on the Burma Road!
Ha Ha - Archie
Was this lost sole a former partner of some chips; perhaps a 'solo mio'; a sole attempt at punning or maybe just a lost soul in the wastelands of the Burma Road?
Finlandia's crew is still following Manny's enterprise with interest and a lot of sympathy.
The First Mate (Finlandia)
Right - o,,, does anybody want to explain what Burma has to do with Aviemore ??
Swaz
OK Swaz, I might have been telling a few porkies to try to create a bit of drama. After all we've been missing out on monsoons, hurricanes and plagues of locusts for at least a week now.
A quick google suggests that the Burma Road was built by prisoners of war in the 1940's so presumably that's how it got its name.
Mind you, you don't want to believe everything you read on the internet!
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