Unique Starting Points

[spiderman]

I do not enjoy travelling to the hills by car and will try and minimize the car journey (from Glasgow) by driving to the nearest point from home that will allow me to walk to the hill and back. This often involves long walk ins and walk outs but is an indication of how much I loath driving to the hills. An example of this, which many others do, is to drive to Callander , park there and climb Ben Vorlich and Stuc A'Chroin.
I wonder if anyone has this same feeling about driving to the hills and has been as crazy as me to do one day trips from very unusual starting points. I will quote three day trips from starting points that might want you to question my sanity.
1. Ben Hope and back from youth hostel in Tongue
2. Beinn Bhuidhe and back from The Drovers Inn at Inverarnan
3. Meall Ghaordie from NT car park at Ben Lawers going over the Tarmachans

[Fairweather Softie]

Having just sat in a traffic jam on the A82 that added 1hr 20mins tonight to journey home from Fort William, I feel you pain!

Saying that I'm not nuts so car it is unless I can do a overnight to reduce driving and do a double day.

Only joking about you being nuts.

[spiderman]

Fairweather Softie I feel your pain as I have experienced horrendous hold ups on the A82 starting well before Luss.
The road conditions for travelling to the hills have become so bad that I would leave really early in the morning and after the day in the hills I would sleep in the car until late in the evening before returning home

[Caberfeidh]

Way back when I was carless, I would get the bus or train to Braemar or Aviemore, Kyle of Lochalsh or some such place, then walk and /or hitch. I enjoyed it, I saw scenery, landscapes, historic sites, wildlife and met people I would not have met had I been driving (also I could enjoy a pint at a local highland hostelry!). Now I drive everywhere I feel I have lost a lot of what attracted me about going to the hills...

[basscadet]

Having just sat in a traffic jam on the A82 that added 1hr 20mins tonight to journey home from Fort William, I feel you pain!

Saying that I'm not nuts so car it is unless I can do a overnight to reduce driving and do a double day.

Only joking about you being nuts.

So glad I chose the Laggan/A9 way back from the hills yesterday

I like the driving - I only learned a few years ago so possibly still a novelty factor, but don't think I would be half as keen a walker if I didn't enjoy the getting there too..
Far better than hanging around a cold railway station at 10PM on a Sunday night waiting the hour between the only train that stopped at your station that day and the train home.

[Sgurr]

We parked in the Glen Doll car park once and I believe they were considering relocating it further back down the glen. They handed us a questionnaire , basically asking if we thought the "long walk in" would improve the walk and add to the sense of wildness. Son was about to fill it in, saying emphatically "Yes", but we grabbed it, and with a view to our future declining powers voted "No". These days (in view of husband's crocked knee) I wangle any way I can of getting close to a hill without setting boot to ground (sorry if this offends the purists). We even phoned the estate that owns Eilean Shona and played the pensioner card and told them we knew that the usual way in was across the causeway then over a rhododendron infested Shona Beg before we could climb Beinn a Baillidh, but we were rather worried about doing it in time before the tide came up again, and could we cadge a lift with boat that brought in the cleaning crew that must surely go in to clean the holiday cottages. Result! However they said they would be less inclined to view favourably non-OAPs. They were probably worried about stumbling over our whitened bones amidst the rhododendrons.

[malky_c]

I've definitely got way less interest in driving these days than when I passed my test at 17. It can still be fun in the north, but driving most places from the Central Belt south is just a chore mostly. Although I've been driving a lot this year to get to awkwardly located hills, I still prefer to get the train or bus. Throw in a bike as well (on the train at least), and you can get to a lot of places - Corryhabbie Hill from Keith, Binnein Shios and Shuas from Kingussie, most of the hills in Cowal from Gourock, Ben Armine from Kinbrace etc etc.

If you can plan to finish somewhere that has a pub before you head home (Strathcarron Station is a favourite of mine), then even better. Less bagging to do now, so this will hopefully be my approach again more regularly.

[AlisonFox66]

As a non-driver , I have a few unconventional routes that I like . Stuc a Chroin from Braeleny (handy for the bus from Stirling to Callander); and Meall Garbh and Carn Mairg from the north for example. I also like linear walks - like in the Pentlands or along the coast .

[simon-b]

Two English examples I have done are the Ill Bell ridge from Windermere and the Wastwater Screes Wainwrights from Ravenglass. No driving on either of those days, with longer walks than usual for these hills.

[Tinto63]

I think the principle of a short drive and a long walk is a good one, although it is not always possible. These days I try to avoid the A82/A85/ A9 at weekends, which is one reason why a lot of my walking is in the Southern Uplands, where the roads do generally seem to be a lot quieter. Although recently I was stuck behind a convoy of horse boxes between Gordon and Kelso....

Examples include walking to White Coomb from Talla Linfoots or the Megget Stone rather than the Grey Mare's Tail and Hart Fell from above the Devil's Beef Tub rather than driving round to Capplegill.

[BobMcBob]

If I can walk it from the campsite, even if it means starting at dawn and finishing in the dark, I'll do that rather than drive.

[Old Stag]

I do my walking using public transport.
Last year for Ben Klibreck, I got the train to Lairg , camped at the Crask Inn, went up and down Klibreck, walked to just by Altnaharra, wild camped; then walked to Tongue, stayed at the hostel for a night and then walked to Bettyhill to get a bus.

[AlisonFox66]

Rubers Law from Hawick.
Minch Moor from Galashiels.
Mid Eildon from Clovenfords.
Norman's Law from Newburgh.
White Meldon from Peebles.
Tulloch Hill from Tarbet.
Meall Tairbh from Bridge of Orchy.

and I thought I could compete with RTC

Clearly not, as whilst I did all but Norman's Law by public transport , I got closer to each of the others by bus as i was feeling lazy Mid Eildon is surely a break in a Melrose pub crawl…no ?

[simon-b]

Another point about driving versus walking. If I've to drive to a walk, I always prefer to spend more time walking than driving, regardless of how far the car park might be from the hills. So for me, the National 3 Peaks is definitely out, but the Yorkshire 3 Peaks is definitely in!

[BlackPanther]

Sometimes it's about saving money and time, sometimes about making the walk more interesting. In the first category, we climbed Mayar and Driesh from Glen Isla, Ben Chonzie from Loch Tay, Ben Avon from Tomintoul. In the second one, for example Meall Garbh and Meall Greigh from Glen Lyon, Carn a'Choire Bhoidheach and Carn an t-Sagairt Mor from Callater side or Meall a'Chrathaich from Corrimony. These are not unique routes, just less popular. It's good to do something different from time to time

Also, less popular approaches are more likely to be quiet. I remember arriving on the summit of Chonzie, after walking in from Altdarnaig on a hot Saturday. The top was so crowded we couldn't find a rock to sit on , but we hardly saw a soul on the way up.