Our first
opportunity to get away since the outbreak of Covid-19: This was supposed to be
the week that we did our cycling holiday, but given the uncertainty, with
lock-down at a moments notice, we opted to spend our
week in the Tongue Hotel – our second visit to this area.
Below are a
series of photos of our trip.
Day-1: we
cycled into one of the most remote parts of the British Isles. We cycled to Altnabreac, in the center of a area of land accessible only on dirt tracks.
Only a few
gravel tracks pass through this part of Scotland
River Thurso
and Morven, the high summit on the horizon
The bridge at
Loch More with Ben Alisky in the background
On our second
day we opted to climb Ben Loyal, the most picturesque mountain in the area.
Not the best
weather day, but at least the summit was clear of cloud
An 11-miles round trip,
our route to the top was via the saddle to the left of the summit
|
|
|
Bits of a
Hampden P2118 aircraft that crashed 25 August 1943, it was itself on a search
and rescue flight.
The view east
towards Loch Loyal
The following day it was back on the bikes for us
We cycled The
North Loop from Tongue <Click Here>
for gpx and kml files
This is a
very quiet part of the North Coast: impressively isolated hamlets
Torrisdale Bay
The village
of Borgie
A little off
the loop, to the south-east, the is The Unknown
Julie feels
she had a connection – but he is a rather quite soul
The next day:
more cycling :-)
We cycled along
Glen Hope. Great views of Ben Hope as we head south
We saw only
two cars during the day
Our turn
around point was the broch Dun Dornaigil
The broch,
not the best preserved of its type in Scotland, is around 2500-years old
Our return
back down the glen, towards Ben Hope
The river
Strathmore flows towards Loch Hope
Loch Hope
As we drove
back to Tongue we stopped briefly to visit Moine
House on the old road
In the 19th
century Moine House was a refreshment stop on the
long north-coast road
Left deserted
for many years after the new road bypassed, the ruin was stabilised in the
1980’s
In the evening
at the Tongue Hotel, we were treated to a lovely sunset
Sunset over
the Kyle of Tongue
The following
day, you guessed it, we did more cycling: over the Kyle bridge and north to Strathan
The view over
the Kyle of Tongue towards Ben Loyal
Strathan Bay
Loch Vasgo
On route for Talmine
Talmine Bay: not as
sunny as when we were last here in 2018
The following
day, our last day of the holiday, we cycled around the Kyle of Tongue
From Tongue
we cycled over the bridge and then south towards Ben Loyal
This used to
be the main coast road until the construction of the Kyle Bridge. John Lennon
had a car crash here in 1969
The Kyle of
Tongue and Ben Loyal
|
|
|
It was a
fabulous last day of a great holiday!