Another weekend was on the horizon. As usual I was watching the weather forecast during the week and noticed that early Saturday morning was looking good for sun, low winds and also low temperatures! Perfect I thought for a revisit to Glen Strathfarrar, to see whether I could reach Loch Monar this time, that is just over 14 miles from where I park the car.
I prepped the car the night before with the bike carrier and set the alarm early, to be up and out before sunrise. A cold frosty morning greeted me, but I managed to arrive at the car park approximately on time - and headed off with Willow down the single track road with views of the distant mountain tops lit up with the rising sun.
It’s about five miles to reach the first loch (Loch Beannacharan). On the route I had some great glimpses of the distant snow capped munros - Sgurr na Lapaich being the highest of that grouping of summits, reaching 1151m.
I only had a small amount of optimism to see some reflections this morning. So I was well pleased to reach the loch and have a few moments of a reflected view of the Squrr na Lapaich as cloud drifted towards the summit, until the breeze picked up and wiped out the reflection!
Onwards we went, encountering many deer on the way. We were having a completely different experience from the last time I cycled up the glen when it was cloaked in low lying fog!
With the forecast of sunny weather, it was a little concerning when I noticed the cloud continuing to build up over the munros and started to wonder whether we were in for a change.
As we headed further west the weather was going in a direction I was not prepared for! The glen itself was soaked in sunlight with the sun still low in the sky, but the head of the glen where we were going did not look at all inviting! I hadn’t come prepared for encountering extreme wet conditions - so stopped at the point in the photos below and took a moment to consider whether I should continue onward or not.
It was precisely at this time that a rainbow appeared and I thought I would continue up the glen in the hope that the dark conditions ahead were only temporary.
The rainbow just got stronger and stronger and looked fantastic against the dark background of the mountains:
As we continued, mile after mile, the clouds thankfully moved south and other than a few drops of rain it remained dry on the route ahead. The top part of the glen had excellent views from the road.
The last mile or two started to climb upwards as we headed towards the Loch Monar. I dismounted from the bike to walk up one of the climbs, seeking to conserve energy for the long ride back.
You can imagine the relief when finally I saw the dam ahead of us and we reached the loch!
14.05 miles my watch read as we looked across the loch from the dam. The views justified the expended energy to get there.
Looking back down the glen we had a long ride back to the car and the clouds in the distance didn’t bode well for it being dry all the way! Yes - we did get wet at one point.
As we headed back down the glen from the dam, a group of red deer dispersed from in front of us up the slopes by the side of the road and were perfectly lit by sunlight.
Willow by this point was starting to slow down. For most of the route up to the dam she had been running ahead of the bike (on a lead) with me trying to slow her down, but she was spurred on by scent of deer no doubt. It was obvious now that she was finally tiring. As a result it was a slow journey back that felt like endless miles - keeping a pace that she could just trot along behind the bike at her speed, and taking rest breaks at certain points.
We finally made it - completing what turned out to be a great time out with Willow and the camera and burning a load of calories in the process!! Onwards and upwards.
