Thoughts on Scotland

It’s time for a Scottish round-up as we continue to head south. We first entered Scotland on the east coast, getting a train from Newcastle to Inverness before cycling towards Cape Wrath. Leaving the Scottish mainland, we explored the Outer Hebrides before returning to Oban and visiting friends near Glasgow. Here are our thoughts on the little bits of Scotland we journeyed through…

Off-road tracks

We found there to be lots of off-road tracks and trails throughout the country, particularly in the Highlands from Inverness. Some of these are part of longer distance trails, for example the Great Glen Way, the Pictish Trail and the Great North Trail as well as sections along the number 7 National Cycle Route through Loch Lomond and the Trossachs. We recently wrote about one section of this journey where we were mostly off-road for 3 days. The surfacing has been mixed (from tarmac to gravel to stoney tracks) but generally in good, rideable condition. Even in really remote places these tracks provided us with traffic-free access across some large estates and vast areas of landscape. Though not without some boggy hike-a-bike at times (e.g. around Loch Morie).

Travelling for three days on the Great North Trail also allowed us to test our ability to scale our set up to account for a lack of shops/food. We (well, Sam) carried 3-4 days of food and used our water filter when needed. Sam’s bike was pretty heavy (~50kg) as we set off from Dingwall, but we enjoyed eating the food as a way of reducing the weight of his luggage.

I am not as keen as Sam to consider foraging (there were lots of mushrooms!) as I’m more risk averse and we are wholly inexperienced in most of it. Even so, wild fruit sometimes supplements our breakfast and we make herbal teas etc.

Landscapes

Much of our journey has been through tree-less hills and mountains (see below) interspersed with wooded valleys and some beautiful coastlines. Both rugged coves and stunning beaches have captured our attention and by wild camping, we’ve been able to experience the variety close at hand.

We particularly enjoyed the landscape around Oban which was picturesque - beside the sea, woodlands, crags and a depth to the mountains and hills on the horizon.

The landscape generally softened as we travelled southwards towards Glasgow. I find that this landscape is more ‘beautiful’ for me than the dramatic bare slopes, probably because it’s more familiar being brought up around Herefordshire.

Lack of trees

After Norway with its wooded slopes and bare summits, the tree-less Scottish Highlands have taken some getting used to. After leaving Durness we climbed from sea level to 60m elevation with not a tree in sight. We were more used to seeing this sort of landscape in Norway at around 1,000 to 1500m elevation and it was difficult to get our heads around what elevation we were at. Deer and sheep grazing has resulted in what we have seen as a monoculture. In areas where livestock and deer have been excluded, woodland is regenerating and resulted in (for us) a more interesting and varied landscape. We found the John Muir Trust were providing more information about deer management and control. Much of the deer-proof fencing was signposted with funding from the EU so the question arises what the future holds for the maintenance of these areas, or expansion of woodland restoration here.

Wildlife

Although we travelled a lot off-road, we found that we didn’t stumble across as much wildlife as we were expecting. Deer were a common feature and rabbits made a pretty big impact in Durness, and an otter made a very welcome appearance on the coast near Kinlochbervie. Raptors and birds in general were few and far between, whereas the Outer Hebrides seemed to be brimming with wildlife. This felt like quite a contrast between the mainland and the islands.

Midges

Oh my. Midges. They made a very unwelcome appearance every time the wind dropped. This was particularly frustrating as they prefer dawn and dusk, the very times that we were trying to pack up/pack down at the start and end of the day. Midge nets, fully-covered limbs and deterrents were deployed.

Thankfully, when we arrived back onto the mainland in late September, the weather had cooled and so midges were few and far between.

Ticks

Another unwelcome critter. Most places there were one or two and we frequently did tick checks of each other but on two occasions we picked bad spots. One was manageable and we cleaned ourselves, removed the small number of attached ticks and washed our bedding and clothes as soon as we could. I had said, “this looks a bit tick-y” and it turned out to be correct. Lesson learnt after removing unattached ticks from feet and legs in the tent for 30 minutes (though not as bad as the Outer Hebrides…). We’ve been using a tick card to do the removals which has been effective and now we’re keeping our wits about us for any further signs of Lyme disease (we got a vaccination for Tick-bourne encephalitis before we left the UK). The trouble was that 99% of every tick we saw/removed was a nymph and about the size of a poppy seed so took some careful checking and removal.

Coming back to the mainland in the autumn has meant there are far fewer ticks and we’ve become a bit more savvy about where to pitch our tent when wild camping.

Community/local shops

These have been an absolute blessing on our travels and allowed us to get supplies as we’ve gone through the more rural parts of Scotland. A particular huge shout out to the shop in Durness where we stayed at a campsite for four nights. With fresh bread, fantastic selection of fruit and veg and then everything you could possibly need, run by super friendly and helpful staff. We would go back just for this shop.

NC500

We ended up on the North Coast 500 route around the northern end of Scotland. Generally this was OK for us but we recognised it as one of the busier sections of our route. Pulling into the frequent passing places allowed vehicles to pass us without hassle and at our slow pace, this is no problem. We were towards the end of the season so it could be busier at other times. It’s also harder to keep stopping in inclement weather, as we experienced in the stretch towards Durness. This wasn’t such a nice section because we experienced some fairly inconsiderate driving to boot.

Off the beaten track

Some of our most memorable bits have been where we’ve left the main routes and travelled along some of the minor roads through tiny hamlets and small communities. We particularly enjoyed the coast road sections through Drumbeg and then south of Lochinver.

CalMac/ferries

We’ve had a great experience of CalMac so far. I know that there have been criticism of the company for lack of maintenance of some of their vessels and for those who are dependent on their services for day-to-day life, but our experience has been generally good. I booked a crossing from Ullapool to Stornoway but had to delay it by one day. I called up the customer helpline which was quickly answered and they changed my booking immediately. Having a customer account on the website means you can amend your journey yourself as you wish and I have found the website really useful and easy to use.

On arrival in Ullapool, the staff were super helpful in pointing us in the right direction (towards a covered cycle hut where we could wait to board protected from the elements). We were boarded first and there were load of friendly staff to help us.

After this initial great experience, the ferries on the Outer Hebrides were a real mixed bag! Staff were excellent but the facilities/ships varied in quality. The larger ship from Leverburgh to Berneray was good with a waiting room and toilets available at both ends, which was very much appreciated in the high winds. There was no covered area for cycles to wait to be boarded which meant that when we were queuing before boarding, we were stood in the elements.

From Eriskay to Barra, the ferry was small and pretty worn! As it was only a short route it wasn’t a problem. Again there was a waiting room but no sheltered space for bikes - weather was good for us though.

The final ferry was one of the largest off the island from Castlebay to Oban. Due to the weather forecast, our ferry was brought forward from a 6:55am sailing to 5:30am sailing. Despite the poor weather and early start the waiting room was locked and we were left outside in the dark in the wind and rain between check-in and boarding (45 minutes). There was no shelter for us and the other cycle tourists and we were relieved to finally get on board. Given the Outer Hebrides are so exposed to the weather, some shelter for cyclists/foot passengers whilst others wait in their metal boxes would be nice!

Bike Shops

A huge thank you to Barnes Bits and Bikes for sorting us out with some spare bolts for our bikes. We’ve got a little issue with our frame splitter section which we’ll chat more about when the bikes go in for their service shortly and we needed some spare bolts just in case. After calling up, we dropped in and they had spare parts (in a wonderful shed) and just what we needed.

Highland clearance

We’ve read and discovered more about the Highland Clearances on our travels which have been eye-opening. Upon reaching Croick Church we read about how those fleeing the clearance sheltered beside the church and engraved their names in the window as a record of their existence, in fear of their lives. Notably, we stopped here for our lunch and behind the interpretation of this tragedy, was a sign for the estate’s holiday accommodation. Quite the juxtaposition.

Love Scotland

Whilst our time cycling in mainland Scotland on this tour has been quite limited, it was great to explore many areas of the country that were new to us. We’ve cycled toured in Scotland many times now and each time it thrills us with the variety and remoteness of the landscapes, the quietness and diversity of the cycle routes, and the culture and people. We’ll be back…and we might even visit this camp spot for a third time. In fact, it’s going to take some getting used to travelling south, back into a country where wild camping isn’t permitted.