A Highlands biking tour by a french guy [picture heavy]

[6pi]

I'm a long time lurker on PH from France, I always wanted to go to Scotland and reading the Highlands topics here didn't help
By the end of May the occasion was there : I had some spare holidays that I had to use or lose and the wheather was looking decent, so here we go. I also do some photography as a hobby, so I'm thinking why not share here.

It all started with a uneventful ride to the ferry in Calais, followed by a very long ride up North until I reached the hotel in the North Penines, just below the Scottish border.


Then I made my way thought the countryside to Loch Lomond and eventually the West Coast. Wheather was absolutely perfect and after Loch Lomond the traffic became very light.





I got to my B&B in Oban, in time to enjoy a wonderful sunset and an exotic meal aka a Fish & Chips.




The following day I took the ferry to the Island of Mull and went exploring.









To be continued..

[Bairn]

Absolutely awesome

[6pi]

Thanks

So after the Northern part, I went for the other half of the island. I think I've never seen water so stil, it really was like a mirror..



I don't know if somebody still uses these phone booths but they are quite photogenic



And then by the end of the day, I found some hairy animals




Gorgeous lighting conditions...

[Imasurv]

Amazing, thanks for posting. Look forward to the rest of your trip.

[Mr Tidy]

Fantastic photos, thanks for sharing them.

I'm looking forward to getting back up to Scotland later this year!

[DangerDoom]

Photography is incredible

[flatlemon]

Brilliant post, and makes me pleased you're getting some good weather for your touring.

[some bloke]

Great photos 6pi, I think May is the best time of year to come here as the weather is usually good, no midges and it's not as busy as summer.

[Tickle]

Brilliant, great thread

[Slowboathome]

You take gorgeous photos.

Lovely part of the world.

Got any more pics of the bike?

[6pi]

Thanks for the positive feedback, much appreciated

Regarding the weather, my luck was about to change : the next day the nice blue sky was replaced by lots of clouds
Mull was over, I rode further North to the Adnamurchan peninsula.



I wasn't alone admiring the scenery.




As you can see, the clouds were getting darker but at least it wasn't raining...




... until eventually it did. Well, I can't say I wasn't expecting to get wet coming to Scotland.




After visiting the local distillery, I went back East to reach my hostel near Fort Augustus. It was pouring down, so I was quite glad no to be camping that evening.
The next morning the wheather was still very gloomy but I carried on towards Skye.



Once there, the rain stopped for a bit so being optimistic I decided to go for the Old Man of Storr hike. That proved to be quite a mistake as it started to rain heavily again, so the only thing I got to see was lots of fog Oh well.

The ride back to the camping was a bit miserable.



Luckily the rain stopped the next day so I went exploring again, starting with Elgol.








And then the Quiraing, wich looked a lot like Iceland to me.

[6pi]

some bloke said:

Great photos 6pi, I think May is the best time of year to come here as the weather is usually good, no midges and it's not as busy as summer.

It was the second half of May, the midges were already there ! not everywhere but there were places where I got literally eaten alive.

Slowboathome said:

You take gorgeous photos.

Lovely part of the world.

Got any more pics of the bike?

Here you go.

[hiccy18]

Great pics, nice tour. I take it you aren't still on Skye, so is there another part of this tale coming?

[Boxster5]

Great photos - thanks for sharing.
It’s quite a while since I was in the Highlands.

[6pi]

hiccy18 said:

Great pics, nice tour. I take it you aren't still on Skye, so is there another part of this tale coming?

There is !

So after Skye it was time to head up further North. Luckily the weather was more decent, the view from the bridge going back to the mainland :



Then I came across some deers near Loch Carron.




And also the very first off-shore platform I've ever seen.



Then I made my way through the Bealach na Ba Pass.






Applecross bay :



The view arriving on Torridon was something else, it really was like a scenery out of a Lord of the Rings movie so I made panoramic picture (too bad I PH limits the horizontal size)




The final part of the day wasn't too bad either.









I had booked a B&B near Gairloch, or so I thought... turned out I made a mistake on the date, and everything was fully booked. So wild camping it was...



... I could'nt complain about the view though

Edited by 6pi on Saturday 17th August 21:08

[Slowboathome]

Absolutely glorious photos.

[6pi]

The following day I stayed in the same zone. The Rua Reidh Lighthouse :







The weather wasn't perfect but at least I didn't get (too) wet.
After that it was time to continue the journey to the North.

On my way to Ullapool, felt very Evo magazine



Did a little loop towards the Coast to see the Stac Pollaidh (no idea how you pronounce that...)





And the famous classic Kylesku bridge.



Some very nice cars (at least the 911 and the Z4M) were there.



Turned out the owners were shooting a drifting video, there was a G20 M3 with a very loud exhaust leaving skidmarks on several hundred meters and a E92 M3 as a chase vehicle. Probably a lot of fun but not very responsible on a public road in the middle of the afternoon

Anyway, more Lord of the Rings landscape.




And finally I reached the North Coast, the Kyle of Durness was beautiful.

[6pi]

So the previous day I arrived at the Tongue camping just in time to set up the tent before a huge downpour. The next day the weather was calm again, so I continued my journey West.




I hesitated but finally choose to go to the Dunnet head instead of John O' Groats, the reason being it's actually Scotland most northern point and I read average feedback for John o' Groats.



The cliffs were full of birds, I even managed to catch this little fellow which was the only puffin I've seen on the whole trip. I had to be quick since after a few minutes he disappeared in a hole and never got out



This was the tipping point of the trip, now I could only go South.
The following day I continued towards Fort William alongside the Loch Ness, but of course Nessie was nowhere to be seen




So one of the high points of the trip was supposed to be Glen Coe, and it did not disapoint.



I enjoyed a very nice hike called the Lost Valley.





And for good measure I went exploring Glen Etive, just waouh.





And then it was time for my last day in Scotland before starting the journey back. I wanted to clim the Ben Nevis but I was feeling a bit tired, so I settled for the "Harry Potter" train and the Glenfinnan viaduct instead. A bit turisty but enjoyable nonetheless.

[TheFungle]

Great pics - it really brought me there with you and some very familiar sights and framing, thank you.

You have a certain style, what camera and processing are you using?

[6pi]

Thanks !

I'm using a Pentax K5 and CameraRaw for processing.