Great North Trail

nice. would love to see some pics if you have any.

slick road tyres? Fun times!

Yes, will put some pics up shortly when I get sorted out.

Just did this from fort William up to cape wrath then we did our own route back down to garve.

Ferry wasn't running on the day we arrived across to cape wrath and we were pushed for time because of firing range so we pushed round the Kyle of durness with some bits of riding on the beach. Totally doable, though glad there was two of us for some of the more scrambly bits.

Highly highly recommended! Will get some semblance of a report up soon enough I hope

@boomboom have you acquired some semblance? would love to hear a report / see some pictures.

Of course not.

But luckily my companion did. Here's his write up: https://cm-th.uk/stories/capewrath

Excellent pictures! Not read the words yet, will save for tomorrow.
I recognise a few of the views. Great to see them again!

"We had cycled all of 50km in 5 hours by the time we gave up looking for a scenic camp spot and unrolled our mats on sleep obstructing ground. "

Touring in a nutshell. :D

Enjoyable read that, thanks...

Nice one! Thanks for the nice words and photos.

Bumping this in case anyone else has had a chance to do it and can share tips, experiences etc.

Hi, can I ask some practical questions please?

• What dates did you do it?
  
• What were the midges like?
  
• How many days Ft William - Cape Wrath and Cape Wrath - Garve; was the pace good?
  
  

Thanks!

Sure.

Mid September. Good time to go, although we got totally rained out one day weather was generally fine.

Midges no problem on the bike. Off the bike when it was still they were a pain. Tiny bit of wind and they were gone. Cheap foldable midgy hat was a must and I was glad for the tent.

Think it was three big days up to CW then three more chilled days back down to garve. On the way back we went past suilvan, which was a solid four or five hours of hike a bike but probably worth it. Also, an incredible track into Kylesku Bridge. If you're interested I can stitch together my gpx for the whole route.

Other practical things:

Probably try to book trains back from Inverness. We didn't and were lucky with a 4 hour wait and only squeezed on because the train staff were sound and we took the handlebars off. Sleeper train is the best way from London. We would've got it all the way to FW, but seats were cancelled a week before because of covid.

We carried all food. There's probably enough shops and cafes to pick up on the way, but not having to deal with that stress was great. Water plentiful everywhere, didn't use a purifier. Great well stocked bike shop in Muir of ord (orange fox bikes). Loads of mobile reception anywhere near nc500, patchy elsewhere.

Nice images of GNT and some dog packing to boot.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCD3i5L8noc

Frank did you do it on a mountain bike? I'd like to try some of the GNT this year, but not sure if my road bike with 40mm tyres would cope.

Ha! No, I did it on 25mm road tyres - TCR style.

Most of what I did was rideable even with those. I would say it was not harder than the South downs way. Other bits further south might be harder, though. @hippy did more of it.

thanks, that is good to know.

Planning to do Glasgow to Cape Wrath in 8 days at the end of May. Hardtail MTB and first solo trip.

Going to do the West Kernow Way with friends in April to test kit etc, although a midge hat might look silly in Cornwall