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Lat/Long: 56.832430, -04.223266
OS
Grid ref: NN 64362 73404
Cold overnight
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Overnight snow of about 50mm depth on car. Set off around 06:20
and headed for Railway Crossing. The green light on the crossing
reflected in the snow so managed to get a photo. There was some
cloud blowing by but the moon was bright enough to illuminate
the way. I followed the left track towards the Loch Garry outlet
overflow and could see the lights on the indicators by the
penstock wheels. First over the narrow footbridge then over the
larger bridge over the main outlet. |
Some overnight snow. |
Level crossing green light reflected
in the snow. |
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Up the short climb I reached the track where I turned right to
follow the track along the east side of the Loch. I could see
the way ahead reasonably well but on the dark stony track I
needed my head torch as I couldn't tell if water patches were
covered in ice. The water level of the loch was the highest I
had seen and was soon lapping directly by the track. I was
hoping for a few miles of easy walking but that ended when the
track dipped below the waves and I had to scramble up the steep
heather and snow to continue. I found the occasional narrow path
but it was still difficult in the dark. |
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Eventually the track appeared below so I descended to rejoin it.
Unfortunately it didn’t last long before vanishing beneath the
loch again. Fortunately the way through the heather above wasn’t
as steep. I eventually reached the south end of the loch by the
sheep pens. I started up the snow covered track until I reached
the point where I needed to leave it to head across the heater
to find a group of abandoned shielings. |
The track vanishes into Loch Garry. |
One of several old shielings. |
I’d seen a quad bike track on the aerial photos but couldn’t see
it on the ground. As I climbed I could see the area where the
stone ruins were and soon reached the first ruin on a mound.
It was one of the highest shielings and I could see several more
spreading out to the east. Through the middle a river flowed
down from the mountain. My original plan was to climb up and
continue over the summit of Leitreach but that was obscured by
cloud and the wind was getting stronger. Instead of climbing up
I decided to follow the contour and rejoin the track I was on
earlier. I knew it followed round to the east of the mountain so
I followed it as a safer option. It was an easy climb to the
summit but there the wind was strong and icy patches on the
track. I stopped to fit my ice studs to my boots then continued
down the valley. |
Cake 12 miles ! |
Cycle track over Drumochter Pass. |
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When I reached the main track along the west side of Glen Garry
I took the minor track to the pedestrian bridge across the River
Garry and then up to the railway. The level crossing is private
and the gates are locked. I had to climb over and then into the
Story contractors compound. There were some men and vehicles
there so I walked round the outside perimeter fence to reach the
cycle track. This was an easy walk north back to Dalnaspidal but
the path was covered with frozen snow and would have been a
problem to ride a bike on. Walking with ice studs was easy. |
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