Meall Chuaich via Glen Tromie bike-hike

[go spazieren]

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Let’s face it, the Drumochter Munros are not the most exciting, and the approaches from the A9 while short are not exactly scenic. The only one of these Munros I had left to tick off was Meall Chuaich. Looking at the map, an alternative route via Glen Tromie seemed like an interesting variation. A much longer approach, but on a track where the bicycle could be used. A recent walk report by MRG1 on a trek through the Minigaig Pass provided some useful information about the route up Glen Tromie, so on Sunday I gave it a go. I left the house just after 7am, stopped in Aviemore to take on some electricity for the car and have a coffee and sausage roll and was at the start point by 9:15 am. Weather was overcast but dry, and all but the highest hills were clear of cloud. Not particularly warm but not much wind.
I had previously scoped out parking spaces while on a motorbike run to Ruthven barracks.

Car Park at Insh Marshes near Ruthven Barracks

I decided to leave the car in the large parking area for the RSPB Insh Marshes nature reserve which is about 1km East of the barracks. There is another smaller parking area for the nature reserve a 0.6km further east, and some spaces beside the road nearer the Glen Tromie road end, but as I had the bicycle, a few hundred extra metres of pedalling were not going to make much difference. Note that parking is not permitted at Tromie Bridge where the Glen Tromie road meets the B970. I had about 1.6km to cycle on the B970 before turning right after the bridge and took the unsurfaced road up the Glen.

River Tromie from Tromie Bridge

Signpost at the end of the Glen Tromie road

The first couple of hundred metres is part of the Speyside Way, but this marked route soon diverges left at a junction. I continued on the track heading south passing by Killiehuntly farm up on the left and after 3km or so, Glentromie Lodge across the river on the right. The track is perfect for cycling, not tarmac, but smooth and well maintained, a gradual climb with a few minor undulations. At no time did I feel the need to get off and push for a change! Glen Tromie is a pleasant typically Cairngorms glen, birch and pine forest lining the route.

Glen Tromie with Meall Chuaich visible in distance

The track passes a couple of cottages, possible keepers' or other estate workers' given vehicles and kennels outside. About 5km up the glen is Lynaberack Lodge, a most incongruous building in these surroundings which looks partially derelict. Some boarded up windows, but possibly part of it occupied so far as I could see from a distance. Intrigued, I Googled it when back home, and it appears that in days gone by the Lodge was let as a large holiday accommodation.

Lynaberack Lodge

After Lynaberack the track is actually tarmac for a few kms, and although a bit broken up it still makes for easy and pleasant cycling.

Further up Glen Tromie

I reached my first waypoint at Bhran Cottage in 50 minutes or so, 11.6 km into the journey. This is where I had to cross the River Tromie. As noted by MRG1, there is a dismantled Bailey bridge and concrete blocks beside the road by the cottage, but the track I needed to take just fords the river.

Won't be crossing that with dry feet

The map shows a possible vehicle bridge and also a footbridge a bit further upstream, but I had come equipped with my trusty Merril Unifly wading sandals and was wearing shorts, so I just walked the bike through the river. The water was over knee height and maybe 8 or 10 metres wide at the crossing point, but absolutely no problem. The usual warnings about river crossing apply though, this is a substantial river and when in spate it will be a lot deeper and faster flowing, so crossing could be dangerous in such conditions. Whether there is a bridge upstream, I don’t know.
Anyhow, once over, I kept on cycling for a bit. My intention had been to leave the bike at Bhran Cottage and walk from there, but the track heading up to Carn an Fheoir Bhuide was pretty good. After about 300m pedalling on the other side of the river, the climb became a bit severe for me. I switched from wading sandals to walking boots and pushed the bike, as I knew the little bit of extra effort at this stage would be worth it on the return journey.

Looking back down Glen Tromie

I did manage to pedal for a few short less steep sections, but mostly pushing the last 1.5km, I eventually arrived with bicycle on Carn an Fheoir Bhuide at 575m where there is an ugly bulldozed turning circle. The bike was left here as the next section was most definitely not best suited for cycling either up or down.
Next up, the Bog Crossing. I could see an ATV track heading up the North East slopes of Carn Thomas about 700 or 800m away, but absolutely no trace of any path or track over the bog. From a distance the terrain appears grassy but it is a maze of pools of water and sphagnum moss.

Looks like a nice grassy field, but it's a proper bog!

Nothing else for it but to strike out over this inhospitable tract of land. It wasn’t actually all that bad as there were dryish bits of grass and heather in between the swampy bits, but it needed a fair bit of zigging and zagging and I was glad to see the back of it. Once the ground started rising, the terrain dried out nicely and I simply followed the track over Carn Thomas then up steeper and pathless but easy ground to gain the broad summit of Meall Chuaich.

Heading over Carn Thomas towards summit dome of Meall Chuaich

It had taken 2hrs and 20 minutes to reach the top, much quicker than I had planned on, due to the easy cycling part and not that much ascent allowing for a good quick walking pace.

Meall Chuaich summit cairn

Loch Ericht and a mist shrouded Ben Alder

Looking North up the Spey Valley - just under the cloud base

There is a large summit cairn and good views all around, particularly North down the Spey Valley and South West down Loch Ericht towards Ben Alder. Ben Alder and the Cairngorms were still in cloud but it was nonetheless a decent vista. I thought there might be some walkers coming up from Drumochter, but nobody around. In fact, on the whole trip once off the B970 I only met a couple of folk walking on the lower Glen Tromie track on the way back.
I had a flask of tea and a scotch egg by the summit cairn before heading back down which was a case of just simply retracing my steps. Still no sign of a path over the bog, but I think I chose a slightly better line so got across a bit more rapidly to reach the bike where I had left it.

Looking back down Glen Tromie from Carn an Fheoir Bhuide

The initial cycling descent was a bit too steep and rocky to make quick progress without risking calamity. Once the slope eased and the track became smoother, it made for a very fast and fun descent however, and I was back down at the River Tromie in no time.

River Tromie ford at Bhran Cottage again

I waded the river again and it was then just an easy pedal down the Glen and along the road to the car park which was by this time quite busy with people visiting the RSPB nature reserve. The whole bike hike had taken just over 4 hours so I stopped for a coffee and cake in Aviemore before getting home in plenty of time to see the football on TV.
I was pleasantly surprised by how easy this route turned out to be. It could be done without a bike of course, but suits the bike approach given the length and quality of the Glen Tromie road, I think. A keen pedallist could make a round trip of it and there was a faint bike wheel track on the slopes up Meall Chuaich on the other side of the bog so looks like this may have been done by someone recently. It would require some bike carrying and pushing, but once up on the summit I believe it would be relatively easy to cycle down towards the A9 and back to Kingussie on minor roads and bike paths.

[MRG1]

Sounds like a good way up that hill, I might give it a go on foot, I want another crack at the Corbett I missed anyway.
I'm glad you got across the river ok, I do hope they put that bridge back in though.
I had similar thoughts on Lynaberack Lodge, I thought I'd been teleported to Cumbernauld centre