Anyway, I went for a wee jaunt today on the Mukluk with the aim at tackling the least well known of the rights of way that head vaguely northish from the A9 in the vicinity of Pitlochry, Blair Atholl and Calvine towards the main lumps of the Cairngorms. There are four in all offering different degrees of challenge and rideability. The Gaik which runs from Dalnacardoch due north to near Kingussie is the easiest closely followed by Glen tilt which offers a long through route to Braemar. The Minigaig is a more serious challenge with a long length of single track requiring varied amounts of hike-a-bike depending on the ground conditions and your determination. I've done all of these at various times over the years as part of multi day trips and one day epics, but one that had always eluded me was Comyns Road or at least the main section between Calvine and the Gaik lodge. http://www.heritagepaths.co.uk/pathdetails.php?path=289
Looking on the OS 50k map an estate track heads north from Clunes lodge (abt 3k up the cycleway from Calvine) up Glen Chrombaidhe. Where this track turns NE the ROW drops down to the burn by some old shielings and then strikes north up over a significant bump before dropping steeply into Alt Gharb Gaigh and out onto the main Gaick track just up from the lodge. The challenge being that a lot of it was pathless or at least the path looked vague and largely undefined. I'd never given it much thought but Fatbikes open up endless possibilities for routes such as this so at long last I was going to do it.
Driving up into the horizontal rain didn't fill me with confidence about tackling a large section of trackless wilderness over a featureless heather moor. Neither did my GPS going in the huff and eventually powering down with a dead battery despite it having been fully charged the day before - fecking things. But the weather cleared before Pitlochry and I brought a real map with me as a back up so there were no excuses. After easy riding up the track I stopped for an early lunch at the old shielings shown on the map prior to tackling the main gig. The first section was OK with a clear argocat track following a reasonable line through the marshy ground and climbing easily but steadily. Heading up onto the main ridge the going got firmer but steeper eventually requiring a push for a few hundred meters before remounting to get to the summit of Sron a Chleirich.
Looking back down the first pathless section - in reality a good argocat track shows the way
The actual line of the ROW misses the summit and skirts round to the west but easy pedaling over the short heather encouraged me to keep on the ridge before rejoining the route where it dips down to cross a burn.
The line of the ROW clearly visible but hard going. I stayed higher on the ridge and avoided a fair bit of down then up
Another short push and I was back onto more great riding before dropping down significantly to cross another burn. This was the roughest terrain encountered so far - big tussocks and the beginnings of peat hags. The line of the path is actually quite clear - these routes were all drove roads for cattle and this is clearly evident looking at the wide strip of rough grass marking the line of the route, often benched into the hillside. I've no idea when cattle were last driven over this route but evidence of their passing still hasn't fully grown over even now. There is also minimal evidence of foot traffic - not many people use this route... A final push up to the top of Bac na Creig and a serious area of marshland and then it was downhill all the way to the Alt Gharb Ghaig.
Final summit...
The route is marked by the odd wee cairn but care is needed here as there are many false descents down to the burn line. The line of the route is just about discernible as a bench into the hillside keeping its height until the last plunge. This section is well steep and oddly shows signs of having been worked on - a few eroded waterbars were evident – but a lot of it was rideable, albeit on the brakes at walking speed.
Looking back its hard to see where I came down - its the upper most of the various vague lines you can see on the left hand side of the ravine and much clearer when your on it!
Once into the glen bottom there was a k of nadgery single track followed by easy riding on a grassy then stony track. I emerged into the main Gaick pass glen feeling like I’d conquered some major climb – in truth it was a lot easier than I’d allowed for and definitely worth doing again.
I’d vaguely thought of heading up Glen Tromie and then back over to Calvine via the Minigaig but it was 4pm and there was now a stiff north easterly breeze blowing down the gaik route. No contest. I’ve been doing some incredibly hard riding recently either due to distance, terrain, wind, pace or a combination of all of these so the prospect of doing the Gaik single track followed by the easy run down from Stron phadruig lodge with a generous tailwind seemed like some serious redemption. I’ve done the gaik a few times in recent years and its always been into a headwind – north or south. The singletrack section isn’t particularly difficult just a few wee rocky bits to keep you on your toes but on the fatbike with a tailwind and with plenty of life in my legs, it was a hoot. The final run down the estate track was a lazy cruise with the racket of bud and nate on gravel music to my ears. The tailwind continued down the few miles of tarmac on the cycle way back to the car.
This kind of route is a big reason why I get fatbikes so much. I could have done this on a normal bike but it would have been a slog with far more pushing and carrying. This was the first time I’d tried my fat and a half set up on the Muk with a Bud wedged into the forks up front and my more usual nate out back. It works ace and kind of makes me wonder whether I need an ICT as the big front boot jacks the BB up a bit and kicks out the head angle as well – both criticisms of the original muk geo….
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