Hal where is the tour report

[Charlieharley]

come on Hal leave it any longer and it will be forgotten undr Xmas wishes

[Hal]

Hi Charlie ... your right. You can't rely on anyone! I promiseI will do it today with out fail. Thanks for the reminder ....

[Hal]

Hello Charlie

Sorry for the delay in the promised trip report. We had a great visit to the Lakes and the Highlands of Scotland. Although the weather was not very good I will be the first to say that a return trip will definitely be planned in the future. The scenery in the Highlands is just something else. We started off with a few days in the Lakes to break up our journey north. We had a good ride over Wrynose Pass and Hardknott Pass before stopping for lunch at Ravenglass and then heading around the northern lakes. My wife insisted we stopped for a cream tea, which was something else. Both the A591 and A592 were excellent roads and we were fortunate to ride both when there was hardly any traffic, so that was good fun.

We head north to Glasgow in pouring rain and caught the ferry from Wemyss Bay to the Isle of Bute. The weather was not kind but we ventured out and had a nice visit to Mount Stuart a thrilling paradigm of Victorian Gothic that has been restored in faultless fashion. Our next stop was Fort William and we rode here via the Kyles of Bute, through the Argyll Forest Park and then on to Tarbet. It was then onto A82 for the ride to Fort William, via some lovely scenery along Loch Lomond and then of course the ride through Glencoe. Although a little misty, we had no rain and the views of the sculpted peaks that rise against the Highland sky and towered over the road with formidable presence was breathtaking. I think we all can experience riding somewhere like this on your bike. Whilst the car drivers have to keep stopping and getting out of their vehicles to fully appreciate what is on offer, us motorcyclists experience it all the time.

I think Fort William was a good base and with our B&B overlooking Loch Linnhe we had some lovely views whilst eating breakfast. We rode along the A830 the Road to the Isles which winds its way through spectacular country, taking in mountains, forests and historic loch side communities until we reached Mallaig. We had a lovely picnic at Morar where we walked on the Silver Sands and enjoyed the panorama of coastline, ocean and islands.

Our return to Fort William was a little noisy as a weld on the exhaust broke, but as per my early posting on this subject we were treated to some first class service by David a guy that was heaven sent. The afternoon after the bike was fixed we rode to Loch Ness, camera at the ready, but no luck, Nessie was not out playing today, well it was pouring of rain and pretty dark so he could have been out there somewhere.

We then heard about a music festival taking place at Ullapool and decide to head that way via a long tour around the coast. We stopped at Eilean Donan Castle and took a number of pictures, and later learned that it is one of Scotland’s most photographed monuments, I think I understood why.

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We wanted to say we had been to Skye so we cheated and rode over the soaring arch of the Sky Bridge, with its breathtaking views over the Minch and rocky islets. Stopped for a bite to eat and then rode back, well at least we can say we’ve been to Skye.

We then rode over the mountain pass (Bealach na Ba) reaching some 2053 feet with a gradient and switchback bends worthy of the Alps which was fantastic, although the mist at the top did spoil the view a little. We had a great lunch at the Applecross Inn right on the each before heading north and following the coast road. around the Applecross Peninsula. We continued on a really nice ride to Ullapool. Well to say it was busy would be an understatement and we found there was no room at the Inn. The whole town was fully booked up due to the music festival. Well we should have known, however just out of town we managed to find a pine lodge just hidden from the main road, which had a room available and it was here that I experienced my first vegetarian cooked breakfast, interesting to say the least.

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The atmosphere in the town was brilliant and I nearly paid a £100 for two festival tickets so we could see all the bands amongst them the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, (until I realised I was a little drunk and it was the Red Hot Chilli Pipers). That was a close call.

Our return south was via Gruinard Bay and Poolewe which could have been a lovely ride had the weather been kind to us but we experienced every weather condition possible in a 20 mile ride which was not a lot of fun.

So at the end of 10 days we had covered some 2,000 miles, had some lovely experiences, met some fantastic people, saw some wonderful scenery, got wet, got dry, got wet, got dry … I think you’ll see a pattern emerging here and we are looking forward to visiting the Highland again. Brilliant.

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[MacHarry]

Great story hal
Thanks for sharing

Harry

[Charlieharley]

Hi Hal
Now don't you feel better for that? Not only have you just relived your run too the Highlands, you shared it with some that could only dream of such adventures this year. As I read your story I was there on the open roads I could smell and taste the highland mist and your pictures of sights I have seen refreshed my memories. So thank you for posting even if it took a reminder.
Perhaps Basa and co will move it to the touring section?
As for me I'm already planning a run north next year.

[Hal]

Charlie you were spot on. It did bring back really good memories which with all the bad news we keep hearing from TV and the news papers was a lttle refreshing today. Good call - thanks for the reminder. Have a good trip next year - as if you need telling

[Urrell]

Originally Posted by Hal

The atmosphere in the town was brilliant and I nearly paid a £100 for two festival tickets so we could see all the bands amongst them the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, (until I realised I was a little drunk and it was the Red Hot Chilli Pipers). That was a close call.

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots pipers are hot new talent

[Penfold]

Good write up!

Originally Posted by Urrell

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots pipers are hot new talent

Remember that the definition of a Scottish Gentleman is someone who can play the bagpipes..............................but doesn't!

[Charlieharley]

Originally Posted by Urrell

BBC NEWS | Scotland | Scots pipers are hot new talent

Hi Urrell
Just for fun I think that "the Red Hot Chilli Pipers" were inspired by a canadian comedian called "Johnny Bagpipe Johnson" who used the pipes on his stage show see you tube.
Aye