walkhighlands

This forum is for general discussion about walking and scrambling... If writing a report or sharing your experiences from a route, please use the other boards.

Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?


Postby floorsp » Fri Jul 01, 2022 6:28 pm

Hi all,

Thank you for this amazingly useful website. Here's a Scotland newbie from The Netherlands, who is already having lots of fun preparing for our hiking and wild camping trip. I'm looking for some advice. I learned I did not choose the best time of the year (July), but here we go...

Which walks or areas would you recommend using a wheelie / hiking trailer, preferably from Fort William (as we will arrive there by Caledonian Sleeper although we could take another train/bus)? This means we won't be doing any serious climbs (maybe day hikes leaving tent and wheelie behind), and at the same time we do love wild and rough nature, so we're not looking for perfect paths only. Something in between. Some stairs are OK, just not too steep ones. I'm a little worried about the bogginess. (And the midges, but I guess they are unavoidable.)

We have about 10 days and are thinking of doing the first part of the Cape Wrath Trail and then continue to the Affric Kintrail Way and then finish in Inverness. What do you think? I hope you can advise or share any other recommended walks. Thanks so much in advance!

wheelie.jpeg
Wheelie
floorsp
Walker
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 1, 2022

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby gaffr » Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:13 am

You would have to look for the smoothest paths and ones that are well manicured perhaps. :lol:
Since it involves the use of both hands to use it must upset the balance when not having hands free to use with walking poles that many walkers now use. Each to their own I guess. Can't see that it would be more helpful than having kit in a rucksack....or maybe you will have a sack as well? Could it be that you would have some sort physical problem with having a sack on your back?
User avatar
gaffr
Munro compleatist
 
Posts: 2258
Munros:281   Corbetts:203
Fionas:33   Donalds:14
Sub 2000:11   Hewitts:25
Wainwrights:11   Islands:17
Joined: Oct 25, 2009
Location: Highland.

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby floorsp » Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:00 am

Thanks for you reply. As I mentioned in my reply we don't need perfect paths as the wheelie and I can handle some bumpiness roadwise, just not the most bumpy roads.
And thanks for inquiring about my physical health. I'm not on this forum to talk about that, so I prefer not to go into that topic.

I guess we'll just need to improvise and see where our hiking journey will lead us...
floorsp
Walker
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 1, 2022

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby Booga » Sat Jul 02, 2022 10:23 am

Perhaps head into some of the forestry areas. Forestry tracks are made for work vehicles to use and tend to be fairly well maintained gravel or crushed granite. Likewise some estate tracks are well maintained to allow vehicular access.
Bing maps allows you to switch between Ordnance Survey maps and aerial view so you can search for possible routes of interest then zoom in on aerial view to get an idea of what the track is like.
As you probably already know, a track or "right of way" marked on a map does not necessarily mean it is a good quality path in the real world! :lol:
Good luck and enjoy your trip!
User avatar
Booga
Ambler
 
Posts: 214
Hewitts:10
Wainwrights:5   Islands:12
Joined: Jul 6, 2020
Location: Too far South!

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby davekeiller » Sat Jul 02, 2022 1:37 pm

What you think of as "perfect paths" or "some bumpiness" might not be what we're thinking of!
In the Highlands, a path is really just somewhere that other people have walked rather than something that's been artificially created and surfaced. You'd probably be OK on the Great Glen Way or the West Highland way. Beyond those, you really need to consider how willing you are to cross bogs, streams and heather.
It might be perfectly do-able, it's just that these types of trailer are rare in Scotland, so we don't have much experience to draw on.
davekeiller
 
Posts: 987
Munros:154   Corbetts:31
Fionas:4   Donalds:3
Sub 2000:11   Hewitts:19
Wainwrights:20   
Joined: Oct 25, 2013

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby Girl Outdoors » Sat Jul 02, 2022 3:49 pm

I cant see this type of device being very compatible with hill walking or mountains tbh. Since the OP is in the Netherlands I suspect the use of this is more for manicured bike/pedestrian paths which are common there.
It might be better to look at using a conventional rucksack but keeping the weight down.
Girl Outdoors
Wanderer
 
Posts: 111
Joined: Jun 19, 2021
Location: Fife

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby cruachan06 » Sat Jul 02, 2022 4:04 pm

floorsp wrote:
We have about 10 days and are thinking of doing the first part of the Cape Wrath Trail and then continue to the Affric Kintrail Way and then finish in Inverness. What do you think? I hope you can advise or share any other recommended walks. Thanks so much in advance!


Can't comment about the wheelie, but every report I've seen on the Affric-Kintail being done the "wrong" way says it's a bad idea. Heading west to east it isn't as scenic, there's a much bigger climb at the start and you end on the worst part (the long road section at Cannich).
cruachan06
Walker
 
Posts: 274
Fionas:1   Donalds:1
Sub 2000:2   
Wainwrights:1   Islands:2
Joined: Jun 22, 2021
Location: South Lanarkshire

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby LobeyD » Sat Jul 02, 2022 5:32 pm

Two thought spring to mind.

One would be use baggage transfer services, start from Glasgow and do the West Highland Way and Great Glen Ways.

The other would be to search for offroad gravel cycling routes rather than walking routes as most predominantly walking routes in Scotland would be a nightmare with a trailer. Even the WHW. Rob Roy, Great Glen and Speyside Ways can be done on hybrid bikes so a trailer would be doable. Have a look at gravel bikepacking routes by a guy called Markus Stitz and also the Badger Divide route.

Cape Wraith Trail is more a concept with some rough and virtually pathless sections so would be a very definite no.
LobeyD
 
Posts: 164
Munros:254   Corbetts:94
Fionas:38   Donalds:27
Sub 2000:1   
Joined: Jul 28, 2017

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby JWCW2014 » Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:25 pm

I think looking at the design of that I can’t imagine that it would be easy going over anything but a relatively flat and maintained path. As others have said many paths are really unlikely to be wide or well surfaced enough for that - and often disappear into boggy sections where I would imagine those wheels would sink down quite a bit.

It might be worth exploring alternative options such as those set out above around companies that will cover your logistics and carry gear from one place to another - but let us know how it goes perhaps it will be the start of a new chapter in carrying gear here!
User avatar
JWCW2014
Walker
 
Posts: 429
Munros:90   Corbetts:4
Fionas:1   Donalds:1+0
Sub 2000:12   
Islands:11
Joined: May 31, 2022

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby Ewen1966 » Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:19 am

JWCW2014 wrote:I think looking at the design of that I can’t imagine that it would be easy going over anything but a relatively flat and maintained path. As others have said many paths are really unlikely to be wide or well surfaced enough for that - and often disappear into boggy sections where I would imagine those wheels would sink down quite a bit.

It might be worth exploring alternative options such as those set out above around companies that will cover your logistics and carry gear from one place to another - but let us know how it goes perhaps it will be the start of a new chapter in carrying gear here!



Alternative idea :D
I have a pack with an airframe pad. If I filled that with helium, would it take the load of my shoulders?
Ewen1966
Mountain Walker
 
Posts: 85
Munros:24   
Joined: Jun 1, 2020

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby ChrisButch » Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:52 pm

LobeyD wrote:The other would be to search for offroad gravel cycling routes rather than walking routes as most predominantly walking routes in Scotland would be a nightmare with a trailer. .

Many of the tracks usually described as 'Land Rover tracks' through the glens and passes, mostly constructed as access tracks for stalking etc, are maintained for use by 4WD vehicles, and most would thus be usable with this buggy device. The difficulty is knowing where they are, since the OS map rarely gives you an indication of surface quality.
A series of guides to the Highland Glens by Peter Koch-Osborne used to be an invaluable help with this, since the comprehensive sketch maps of the routes systematically classified the surfaces, graded from 'almost like a road' to unrideable (the guides were aimed at both mountain bikes and walkers). Unfortunately they're long out of print, but they're still available second-hand, eg:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Peter-D.-Koch-Osborne/e/B001K8CR48%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share
ChrisButch
 
Posts: 200
Joined: Apr 18, 2016

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby DopeyLoser » Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:13 pm

To assess whether a route might be feasible, whether by bike or this wheelie thing, geograph.co.uk is a really useful resource. Photos quite often let you see some of the path or track where the photo was snapped from. There tend to be photos taken along many of the tracks all over the UK.

Satellite images were also mentioned, they help to get an idea of the width of the track, and often there are tracks that are not yet on the OS map (and sometimes tracks on the map are barely paths or barely exist). So, definitely use those images.

I will just add that whereas a bike and a wheelie both have two wheels, the bike's wheels are in line, so when it comes time to push or pull along an eroded boulder strewn path, what is feasible with a bike will be extremely hard work with a wheelie.
DopeyLoser
 
Posts: 165
Joined: Apr 7, 2011

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby floorsp » Sun Jul 03, 2022 6:44 pm

Dear all, thank you so much for all your usefull replies, providing me with lots of insights. I didn't know about the Bing / OS maps option yet, as that doesn't work outside the UK. And also the geograph website is super insightful for an ignorant foreigner like me :wink:

It seems best we'll let go of the Cape Wrath Trail / Affric Kintail Way plan and find out other feasable options like the cycling routes. Or base our camp somewhere and do day trips from there (and change every couple of days). Thanks again, and if you see a hiking trailer like that in the next weeks it's probably me :D
floorsp
Walker
 
Posts: 3
Joined: Jul 1, 2022

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby JWCW2014 » Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:14 pm

If you use a VPN extension (you can add this as a plug-in to chrome such as nordVPN) you can access sites from a UK IP address - no idea whether that id allowed or not of course!

All the best and if I spot someone with a wheelie/trailer will be sure to say hi!
User avatar
JWCW2014
Walker
 
Posts: 429
Munros:90   Corbetts:4
Fionas:1   Donalds:1+0
Sub 2000:12   
Islands:11
Joined: May 31, 2022

Re: Hiking the Highlands with a wheelie / hiking trailer?

Postby JWCW2014 » Tue Jul 05, 2022 5:44 pm

Just as an addition I met a lovely gentleman today in the north west on the path heading back from Canisp where it joins the ‘turn off’ towards Suilven who was carrying gear in a similar device. He seemed to have got very far indeed on his travels prior to us meeting.
User avatar
JWCW2014
Walker
 
Posts: 429
Munros:90   Corbetts:4
Fionas:1   Donalds:1+0
Sub 2000:12   
Islands:11
Joined: May 31, 2022

Next



Can you help support Walkhighlands?


Our forum is free from adverts - your generosity keeps it running.
Can you help support Walkhighlands and this community by donating by direct debit?



Return to General discussion

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Arthurs Eat, tony-c and 17 guests