Ben Alder & Beinn Bheoil, Bike & Hike.

[quagga64]

Got up at 4 a.m. had a shower and as I,d loaded Tommys bike into the car and packed the 30L rucksack the night before, I was off driving before 5 a.m. Roads were quiet as I headed up the M9/A9 to take care of some unfinished business from last weeks trip to Culra. Arrived at Dalwhinnie just before 7 a.m. and wasted no time putting the front wheel on the bike, donning my aldis adventure ridge rucksack and setting off across the railway line and down the track to Culra, there was low mist covering all the hills but it was still early and I was confident the forecast for a sunny day would come good. Went via Loch Pattack and the suspension bridge arriving at Culra Bothy at 8:30 so a cycle time of one and a half hours to cover 9.97 miles compared to the 3 hours 20 minutes it had taken to walk in last week or the 4 hours it had taken to walk out ! Took the front wheel off and put the spindle in my rucksack then chained the bike to the drainpipe on the bothy, checked inside the bothy to see if my tent was still there from last week and it was ! 😮. Began walking at 8:50 heading back and crossing the bridge before turning South along the side of the river, there were only 2 tents sitting next to each other at Culra this morning. As I left the path to cut across the moor to the foot of the Long Leachas Ridge there were 2 mountain bikes and helmets so there was obviously two people ahead of me but I never saw them all day. On the way up the ridge the mist began to lift and the views opened up and I changed into my shorts half way up taking my trousers and pants off as it was very warm. At the top of the ridge it was a walk across the huge stoney plateau keeping the crags to the left. Stopped and had a look around the ruined shelters built by the original Ordnance Survey mapping party led by Major General Thomas Fredrick Colby in the early 1800s which sit just below the summit of Ben Alder. Arrived at the summit at 12:15, three hours 25 minutes after leaving Culra. The summit has a crumbling trig pillar with a small shelter around it and a huge cairn with another shelter built into the side of it. Spent about half an hour here taking photos and having a bite to eat before heading off around the curving edge of the plateau, was looking forward to seeing the small Lochan a'Garbh Choire which is supposedly the highest body of water in Britain but it was completely dried up with only a tiny puddle remaining nestled in the stoney depression ! After curving round to the Southern end of the plateau it was down to the Bealach Breabag and then back up onto Sron Coire na h-lolaire, a minor summit before the climb up onto Beinn Bheoil itself. Got to the summit at 14:40 so about 2 hours from top to top, this was number 262 so I now have exactly 20 left to go. Great views up Loch Ericht and all around, after 25 minutes I set off along the long North ridge before cutting diagonally down the slopes to rejoin the outward path, on the descent spotted someone behind me and he caught up and passed me, him and his friend had came in on e-bikes, (his pal had stayed at Culra for some reason) and he said he,d waited 40 years to bag these two hills as he,d not been able to go the day his walking club had done them back then. Saw one other guy heading up the path towards Loch a'Bhealaich Bheithe which sits in between the two munros and those were the only people I saw all day. Just cut across the river at the bothy rather than go back down to the bridge and arrived at 16:50 after an 8 hour walk. Got the wheel back on and left at 5 p.m. and returned across the narrow path over the moorland which was terrible before rejoining the track, all went well untill I reached the Gatehouse about quarter of a mile from the car when I cycled up the path which runs along the top of a retaining wall to bypass the Gatehouse, the bike hit a rock sticking out of the ground and both myself and the bike fell over to the right and off the edge over the wall and crashed six feet down onto the monoblocks below ! I was in a bit of shock as I picked myself up and was lucky to escape with minor injuries, a staved left thumb with the nail going slightly purple, a sore left elbow, a scraped right calf, a bruised right thigh and a scraped right fore arm with a ripped Karrimor top to go with it, the piece box in my rucksack was also broken but the bike suffered the most for as I began cycling again I was immediately aware the front wheel was buckled not sure at this stage yet if this is the actual wheel or the front forks which are bent as there is a big dent on one of the fork ends. Unbelievable that I should have an accident 5 minutes away from the car on a grassy bypass path after cycling almost 20 miles in and out on rough terrain ! Arrived at the car at 6:20 p.m. so an hour and 20 minutes to cycle out, 10 minutes quicker than the inward journey despite my crash. Packed the damaged bike away and the drive home was from 6:30 to 8:30.