Highland Pirates - Hitting Scotland's Trails By Boat

I squint through a tiny windscreen spattered with rain and wind-blown spray, and try to steer our boat through the gale. Right in my line of sight sit four bikes and I peer between grimy chainrings to try not to steer a hundred thousand quid’s worth of posh boat onto unforgiving rocks. “If we go down,” I think, “should I save the Mojo HD, or just swim for it?” I hope the boat company has good insurance.


This bike ‘road trip’ is a little different. We’ve swapped the coffee-and-muffin overload and congestion of the UK’s motorways with a sedately paced, week-long cruise across Scotland. Sailing the 65 mile long Caledonian Canal from Inverness to the mountain bike mecca of Fort William and back in a week is, according to the boat charter company, challenge enough for any holiday, but to put ashore to ride too is land-lubber optimism gone mad. It’s ambitious, but do-able I opine, but ‘sedately paced’ won’t come into it.


Onboard are fellow poopdeck swabbers Fraser McNeil, Tadj Henry and Sophie Wardlaw, all hardy locals that laugh in the face of Scottish gales, or at least they would if their feet were atop a pair of flats and their helmet peaks pointing down steep and slippery trails. As we steer out into the open-expanse of Loch Ness - the UK’s largest volume of fresh water- and into the full brunt of a force 4 westerly that is plowing the peat-coloured water into frothing white tops, my crew appear noticeably uncomfortable. I seek to quell their looks of early mutiny by telling them I am a fully-qualified powerboat skipper. It’s no lie, but to my dismay, their expressions of angst remain.


Time and tide wait for no man apparently, so we pass up the worthy local trails of Inverness to make good our escape, having picked out a couple of natural trails dotting our OS map towards the western end of Loch Ness. When I conjured up this idea of touring Scotland’s rugged but rideable interior by boat, I envisaged mooring up of an evening, sitting on deck enjoying a glass of Pinot Noir while around us otters played in the loch waters that lap lazily against the boat’s hull. By chance, the week that is assigned for our aquatic adventure is mid October. Fresh snow cusps the lumpy peaks around us and there’s nay an otter to be seen, leaving me to assume the gale that drives us to shelter at Drumnadrochit for our first night has blown any fauna flotsam to Lochend where it lies strewn bedraggled across the shoreline.


In the shadow of the 13th century Urquhart castle, we moor up for the night and spread our OS map across the table in the galley. With bikes on the deck we’re already standing out from the other boaters, who are mostly about 40 years our senior. This distinction is cemented by the hoisting of a Jolly Roger by Tadj within 3 minutes of leaving sight of the boat company’s marina. The pirate flag and muddy bikes on deck ensures our 12-meter cruiser becomes the most tourist-photographed boat in Scotland.


In truth the OS maps are not jam-packed with trails, but a few do stand out. With the storm persisting, we slip our moorings early next morning to steam to Loch Oich, the highest point along the canal. Here we have a short out-and-back lined up along the banks of the River Garry. Sailing while it’s stormy, we save time for longer rides in the better weather that’s forecast later. We underestimate the time needed to navigate Fort Augustus’ impressive staircase of 5 lock gates, and the 90 minutes of Cap’n Ahab bearded lock-keeper antics are occupied by dispatching repeated raiding parties to the lock-side chipshop to ward off scurvy. Day’s are short in October, and by the time we moor up at the Invergarry jetty we risk riding into dusk, but none of the crew need persuasion to don riding kit and pedal ashore.


We crank up one side of the river, following a track that leads us into winding, wet-root strewn singletrack to a river crossing. Stopping to take in the beauty of the tumbling river we each sway from the influence of 24 hours afloat. Luckily, as the return leg becomes a rollercoaster ride of steep, slippery drop downs and flowing singletrack our landlubber balance is re-found when we begin mashing the cranks. We ride right to the boat, onto the slippery jetty, just as the last grasp of daylight is swallowed by darkness, reload our bikes and settle down to some ship’s rations, warmed with the glow that only a combination of a fast, wet ride and a shot of ship’s grog can instill.


With the weather improving we sail out of Loch Oich, along the narrow 2 mile section of Laggan Avenue to reach Gairlochy Locks at the western end of the unambiguously named Loch Lochy. Here we have arranged to meet Joe Barnes, who has a couple of rides up his muddy sleeve. Remnants of the first wintery snows convince us that the planned big loop behind the 2770 ft high Meall na Teanga peak with its hefty descent back down to the loch side might not be ideal, and instead we pedal up the side of the river ArKaig, mushing our way through boggy sphagnum moss and winding up through moss-coated beech forest. It’s one of the most beautiful trails I have ever seen and the damp that is rapidly edging its way through the seat of my shorts is easily forgotten.


We continue by way of the impressive Kaig falls, a tumble of foaming river that slices a 3-step set of cliffs, before we grunt up one of the steepest climbs I hope to ever attempt. “This is one of our singlespeed challenges,” quips Joe, a rider who has way too much ability in all disciplines of mountain biking. I look down at the 22/36T set up I’m spinning and cry inside. Our climb sheds us out onto open hillside and into sunshine where we snack on Clif bars until the roar of randy rutting stags echoes too close for comfort and we head for the safety of our ship. Sophie is first out of the gate.

Following Joe, we leave the obvious trail behind and nip into one of the Barnes’ ‘secret’ trails, a vertical ribbon of trail carved out through a carpet of green moss. We rejoin the established singletrack in time to pass bonnie Prince Charlie’s cave -his alleged hideout from 18th century English invaders after his defeat at the battle of Culloden- and roll down switchbacks to the edge of the loch for a pedal back along the road to our mooring at Moy Swing bridge. It’s been a long tiring day and galley duties are shunned in favour of a flat pedal along the canal side to Fort William town and its treasure trove of curry houses and ale.


The mighty Neptune’s Staircase, a flight of 8 locks that dump the western end of the Caledonian Canal into the sea 70 feet below, mark the limit of our cruising area. Mooring up at Bonavie locks we set ourselves up for a big day out: a beautiful out and back ride to the north face of Ben Nevis. The weather is on our side and short sleeves emerge as we pedal up the steep climb that will bring us to the natural trail beneath Britain’s highest peak. Water channels dot the outward leg with puncture-risking challenges, but add a dozen fun jumps to the return descent.

As the trail tightens up and spirals impossibly upwards towards the Carn Dearg Meadhonac we stop to take in the view. Behind us is the mighty Ben Nevis, and in front of us the crinkle-edged west coast of Scotland. It’s spectacular. We’re four days into our odyssey, and will squeeze in a couple more short rides on the sail back to Inverness, one which will see Sophie fall and break her hand. But for the moment we have found our bounty: a 7 mile singletrack descent back to Fort William and the comfort of a posh boat. No traffic jams, no motorway coffee stops. “Sometimes road trips just need a fresh approach,” I think, and push my right crank forward.


The Caledonian Canal
Stretching 65 miles and linking together 5 natural lochs, the canal opened in 1822, taking 19 years to construct. Lock gates at each end separate the fresh water from the North Sea and Atlantic Ocean, with the canal draining both east and west from its 35m high point at Loch Oich. For 22 miles the canal uses the 750ft deep Loch Ness, the loch holding more fresh water than all the lakes of England and Wales put together. Castles, many ruined during the 18th century Jacobite uprising dot the landscape and peaks rise to 2700ft on each side of the canal.


How, When and How Much?
Boat charter is easy, with no previous boat handling experience needed (you are given a 2-hour instruction on arrival), and while winds can be an issue on exposed Loch Ness, there are no tidal waters to navigate. A week-long cruise allows plenty of time to marvel at the scenery between Inverness and Fort William and back, get away from the hustle of life while leaving enough time to ride several times en route. Inverness based Caley Cruisers (www.caleycruisers.com) offer boats suitable for 2, 4, 6 or 8 people and all are fully equipped including fridges, hot showers, on board heating and bedding. Prices for 1-week charters start at £512 per week (for a 4-berth boat), plus fuel. The boating period is end of March – late October. Summer sees long days (up to 18 hours riding time) but has the downside of midges. April and September can be the perfect balance.


The Riding
Unless your tackling the Great Glen trail, which parallels the Caledonian Canal end to end, good day rides are to be had along the canal’s route. While not exactly mooring at the trailhead many trails are accessible from the specified boat mooring locations. We rode fun natural trails shown on OS maps up the river Tarff (Fort Augustus/Loch Ness), Invergarry (Loch Oich), Gairlochy/Achnacarry (Loch Lochy) and north face Ben Nevis trail near Torlundy (Fort William/Bonavie locks). For a big day try riding from Gairlochy to Kaig falls and up behind Meall na Teanga on the north side of Loch Lochy, dropping back down to the loch side and returning via the Great Glenn way path. There is also riding on the south side of Loch Ness from Foyers via Inverfarigaig (6 mile loop) and a 6 mile out-and-back, 1700 ft climb/descent from Drumnadrochit mooring to the summit of Meall Fuar-mhonaidh, the highest peak above Loch Ness on the north shore. Due to Scotland’s open access policy, tap into the walker’s website www.walkhighlands.co.uk for more possibilities.