I was meant to head out last weekend for a 3 dayer in the Borders which would have been three days of spring weather and sunshine. Instead I ended up on a last minute skiing holiday which left me with no option but to squeeze a trip in right on the last day of the month. Cue crap weather forecast for this weekend making 3/3 in the cold, rain and (a bit of) snow.
I Departed the house at about 4 into a decidely uninspiring afternoon. I was heading due west to the Trossachs with a stiff tailwind and a mix of sleet, snow and rain encouraging me onward. It did clear up later apart from one parting shot of a shower so I actually ended up having a pleasant ride via various trails, cycleways and back roads to Alloa, Stirling then Callander.
One of many good cycleways around Clackmannanshire, Dummayat in the background and 1 million gallons of whisky in the sheds just visible behind the trees
Callander provided food for breakfast and the next day as well as fish and chips for tea. Sitting on the riverside eating them highlighted how chilly it was. I'd debated which sleeping bag to bring given the forecasted sub-zero temps and in the end had gone with my winter bag as there is nothing worse than trying to sleep when you are cold.
Leaving Callander I headed along the south side of Loch Venechar via the excellent cycleway - this is a wee twisty gravel path which is a hoot. I'd planned to bivvy here but a group of youths (with the inevitable fire) had beaten me to the first spot and it was a bit early anyway. The national park have extended the managed camping zone to this area for this year. There were numerous fisherman camps along the road with fires and litter everywhere. Another excellent idea I don't think...
After the venechar cycleway you follow the forest drive up a steady climb past a couple of lochs. Annoyingly they have permitted campervans to stop overnight here (they do at least have to pay) and they were everywhere, it being easter. This lead me to pass several more good bivvy spots as I wanted to keep as far away from these numpties as possible - generators, loud music and, of course, fires. The cycleway leaves the forest drive for the final climb over to Aberfoyle and as the light was failing the hunt was on for a suitable spot to pitch up. This turned into a model of bivvy spot finding as I passed and discounted several sites in the quest for that perfect spot (which ususally ends up as being an anthill, bog, back garden or minefield). To be fair I ended up in a reasonable place with a view and shelter, albeit a bit lumpy. The tarp went up and I snuggled in for a cosy night. It snowed a bit later on but not to any degree so I had a reasonable night and woke up to the forecasted nice day, in a break with tradition.
I packed up after a leisurely breakfast feeling suitably smug that all I would leave was an imprint of my body in the dead bracken. I noted that even here there was the remains of some old tent poles and another former fire site which I'd missed the night before. I guess that is the price of being close to civilisation, but you'd think that anyone who had the nous to get to this fairly remote spot in the forest would be the sort to make sure they left no trace....
In view of the sun, I opted for an extened route through the Queen Elizabeth forest (I passed numerous excellent bivvy spots well away from civilisation) followed by a lap of Loch Katrine and then back home by my outward route. This was meant as a bit of a training ride for the forthcoming Dirty Reiver 200. The Straggler proved itself well capable of dealing with a variety of paths and tracks even with the bags on so it looks like this is going to be the bike I use. My fitness isn't all it should be thanks to a lot of skiing this winter but I'm fairly confident I should be able to stagger round the DR route in reasonable order.
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