Highlands

[Red Devil]

mak250300 said:

Day 1 - Laurencekirk - Aviemore - Inverness - Gairloch

Did you try the route I suggested to avoid using the A9 from Aviemore?


More cracking pics of familiar locations.

Annat (next to the cemetary wall) - https://goo.gl/maps/4zr9is5PRtj


A896 north of Tornapress - https://goo.gl/maps/e69NGuL4GL22


Loch Damh - https://goo.gl/maps/eU8xr7SqCeu


Slioch - https://goo.gl/maps/XYuzckC6SS92


The Quiraing - https://goo.gl/maps/jDzvs1QdYmN2


The Quiraing - https://goo.gl/maps/kKU2Rup8MzB2


The Storr & Old Man of Storr - https://goo.gl/maps/vD2CwXvFsyt


The Black Cuillin ridge - https://goo.gl/maps/k77MTtZPS3H2



Glen Nevis Camping Park - https://goo.gl/maps/8EjPz7gx2b92


Glen Nevis road - https://goo.gl/maps/7tzNKBYbJo72


Glen Nevis road - https://goo.gl/maps/vPqodnNrfCP2

[mak250300]

Red Devil you need to get out more. Thanks for putting the locations in.

No sadly we didn't get a chance to try that road so just stuck to the A9 and watched for the piggy banks.

[Patrick Bateman]

You know they're average cameras, right?

[assadahmed]

Here's a few pics of my 3 day N500 hoon. We started off in Edinburgh at 10am after having our cars transported up from London. Drove up to Perth, joined the Old Military Road to reach Inverness. Had some lunch and then started the N500 across to Ullapool where we reached at 9pm.

The next day started at 10.30am and drove up to Kylesku for lunch and then continued the route to Brora where we stayed the night.

Sunday was back down through the Old Military Road.

Weather was perfect, scenery epic and roads simply awesome. 835 miles covered and loved every mile.

Only question I have...where else to go in Scotland for another hoon?!?!?!??

[Red Devil]

mak250300 said:

Red Devil you need to get out more.

I'm out and about most weekends. Going to a show tomorrow and a drive out the following Sunday.

mak250300 said:

Thanks for putting the locations in.

You're welcome. It helps considerably when there are mountains in the background. Each profile is unique.

mak250300 said:

No sadly we didn't get a chance to try that road so just stuck to the A9 and watched for the piggy banks.

How come? Would have made a nice taster.

I may revisit the Highlands later this year. It won't be until after all the tourists have gone home though.
Nothing worse than being stuck on a single track road behind some who can't or won't observe the correct etiquette.

[giveitfish]

Some guy made this vid after getting stuck in a convoy of Dutch roadsters, thought it was worth sharing!

Public Service Announcment - convoys on single track roads

http://youtu.be/UUzaDuJKW5s

I've only ever done the trip on my own or with one other car, but would be interested how Red Devil and others got on with bigger numbers. Only really a problem in Summer?

[GetCarter]

giveitfish said:

Some guy made this vid after getting stuck in a convoy of Dutch roadsters, thought it was worth sharing!

Public Service Announcment - convoys on single track roads

http://youtu.be/UUzaDuJKW5s

I've only ever done the trip on my own or with one other car, but would be interested how Red Devil and others got on with bigger numbers. Only really a problem in Summer?

You may have seen my comments on the NC500 thread. I pulled in and waited while 22 passed me today. Do people get lonely, or think they'll get lost? I can understand a few mates wanting to share the same experience, but the mega-blats really can cause problems.

I think the main point is that people are just not used to driving on single track roads and don't know what problems they cause when they drive in a long convoy. I'll have a word with the NC500 folk and see if we can get some better guidelines on the website. (They owe me as they use my photos!).

ETA: I've just written to them and will let you know what they say. (Assuming they get back to me).

Edited by GetCarter on Sunday 12th June 06:32

[Patrick Bateman]

Never understood the appeal. If I want to enjoy a road I want zero cars around in an ideal situation.

[coppice]

Snap. Convoys of more than a handful of cars just look ridiculous and the greater the number the worse the driving can be. The whole point of being in the NW Highlands - for me anyway - is the peace, space and the emptiness. Why surround yourself with cars in front and cars behind ?

[s2kjock]

I've led groups of up to around 10 S2000s on those roads and enjoyed it, but it was about 7 or 8 years ago when the roads were quieter and also "out of season".

It wasn't too much of a problem as I knew the roads, the area, and perhaps most importantly knew the people I was driving with pretty well (aside from the one individual who chose to be unnecessarily rude to a local petrol pump attendant who was a bit frosty).

A smaller group is much better though as it makes logistics far simpler and you can trust folk to be sensible and find their own way if the convoy gets split up.

[Frio3535]

coppice said:

Snap. Convoys of more than a handful of cars just look ridiculous and the greater the number the worse the driving can be. The whole point of being in the NW Highlands - for me anyway - is the peace, space and the emptiness. Why surround yourself with cars in front and cars behind ?

Touring with friends is a different experience to driving by yourself, who'd of thought it.

[Patrick Bateman]

Frio3535 said:

Touring with friends is a different experience to driving by yourself, who'd of thought it.

That's not lost on anyone, I struggle to see the appeal from a driving perspective though.

[Red Devil]

s2kjock said:

I've led groups of up to around 10 S2000s on those roads and enjoyed it, but it was about 7 or 8 years ago when the roads were quieter and also "out of season".

Ours are always in double digits (for example 2014:12, 2015:18, 2016:15). The key point is 'out of season'. We seldom encounter any traffic worth mentioning although we usually encounter one or two other groups at some point most years. However that is hardly ever on the single track roads. Whether that's just luck I don't know. The only time I can ever remember meeting one of a similar size to ours in the 'wrong' place was in 2013 on the Applecross coast road - https://goo.gl/maps/EihJGggPLos



Even then, with people who know what they are about it wasn't a major issue. No more difficult than shuffling a pack of cards.

s2kjock said:

It wasn't too much of a problem as I knew the roads, the area, and perhaps most importantly knew the people I was driving with pretty well

In our case not everybody may know everyone else but we have a kind of de facto vetting process in that we have a core of regular attendees and any first timers are likely to be already known to one of more of them.

s2kjock said:

(aside from the one individual who chose to be unnecessarily rude to a local petrol pump attendant who was a bit frosty).

The frosty attendant wasn't in Ullapool by any chance?

s2kjock said:

A smaller group is much better though as it makes logistics far simpler and you can trust folk to be sensible and find their own way if the convoy gets split up.

I live in the south east of England and I have always found it a lot more difficult to prevent a convoy getting split up down here than up there. If/when it does happen in the Highlands we all end up in the same place, be it a for a photo opportunity or food so it's of little or no significance.

Our solution to the logistical issue is to stay in one place (Ullapool) and make daily out-and-back loops. Not having to unpack/repack every day is a bonus: all non-essential items can be left behind at base. Another advantage with this arrangement is we get a really good deal on the room rate.

For us the emphasis is as much social as driving. Our group usually works out as 50/50 from each side of the border and it's a chance to come together for those whose paths don't often cross.

Frio3535 said:

coppice said:

Snap. Convoys of more than a handful of cars just look ridiculous and the greater the number the worse the driving can be. The whole point of being in the NW Highlands - for me anyway - is the peace, space and the emptiness. Why surround yourself with cars in front and cars behind ?

Touring with friends is a different experience to driving by yourself, who'd of thought it.

+1

I don't get the need to be disparaging. Each has it merits. Life would be deadly dull if everyone thought the same. I may make another visit later this year: if so it will either be solo or in tandem rather than as part of a group.

[Red Devil]

assadahmed said:

Only question I have...where else to go in Scotland for another hoon?!?!?!??

How much time do you have available?

Here's a suggestion which totals a whisker under 1000 miles. It starts and finishes on the opposite side in Glasgow.

https://goo.gl/maps/cMrfwxHmgq42
https://goo.gl/maps/BryYunc62go
https://goo.gl/maps/5zi4zwnAAtn

A few sections use the NC500 route but most of it is completely different. It's in three consecutive parts which is simply due to Google Maps limiting the number of waypoints (it was too much faff to drag and drop). Accordingly I haven't broken it down into manageable daily mileage nor by places to stay each night.

[GetCarter]

giveitfish said:

Some guy made this vid after getting stuck in a convoy of Dutch roadsters, thought it was worth sharing!

Public Service Announcment - convoys on single track roads

http://youtu.be/UUzaDuJKW5s

I've only ever done the trip on my own or with one other car, but would be interested how Red Devil and others got on with bigger numbers. Only really a problem in Summer?

NC500 got back to me. They are going to add a new section to their website to try and advise/mitigate the 'large convoy' issues.

Edited by GetCarter on Monday 13th June 11:54

[Ennoch]

I'm glad it's not just me finding the standard of driving from NC500 visitors to be poor. We were up there climbing last month and I couldn't believe how many people seemed to think that it was okay to travel nose to tail in convoys of 10+ cars while driving slowly enough to be a rolling roadblock to everyone else who actually had somwhere to be. Even the single cars really didn't seem to get the etiquette that despite being in a performance car, a nasty old diesel estate may actually be wanting to go faster than you and therefore you should pull in to let them past.

[mikey k]

Red Devil said:

How much time do you have available?

Here's a suggestion which totals a whisker under 1000 miles. It starts and finishes on the opposite side in Glasgow.

https://goo.gl/maps/cMrfwxHmgq42
https://goo.gl/maps/BryYunc62go
https://goo.gl/maps/5zi4zwnAAtn

A few sections use the NC500 route but most of it is completely different. It's in three consecutive parts which is simply due to Google Maps limiting the number of waypoints (it was too much faff to drag and drop). Accordingly I haven't broken it down into manageable daily mileage nor by places to stay each night.

That's a cracking route!

[s2kjock]

Red Devil said:

s2kjock said:

(aside from the one individual who chose to be unnecessarily rude to a local petrol pump attendant who was a bit frosty).

The frosty attendant wasn't in Ullapool by any chance?

It was in Tongue actually and I was embarrassed and annoyed (at my "colleague") as leader and organiser of the group.

Also rather daft of my colleague to antagonise someone who runs a fuel station given how few and far between they are up there.

We regularly did plenty of single track roads, and generally had no issues, but would split up for tighter sections if required.

Stopped organising them as the main protagonists (including me) no longer have the time to spend the time up there at the best times of the year.

[Red Devil]

mikey k said:

That's a cracking route!

Thanks.

s2kjock said:

It was in Tongue actually and I was embarrassed and annoyed (at my "colleague") as leader and organiser of the group.

Ah, that one - https://goo.gl/maps/AtMs7cWxeHr

s2kjock said:

Also rather daft of my colleague to antagonise someone who runs a fuel station given how few and far between they are up there.

Indeed. I've never used it though. It's only open during the Spar shop hours and the time window on a Sunday is very short.
If your tank has a limited capacity/range the one at Scourie is 24/7 (pay at pump) - http://www.scouriefillingstation.uk/

[mikey k]

Red Devil said:

Indeed. I've never used it though. It's only open during the Spar shop hours and the time window on a Sunday is very short.
If your tank has a limited capacity/range the one at Scourie is 24/7 (pay at pump) - http://www.scouriefillingstation.uk/

I've used that one a fair few times.
It now has a card terminal at the pump so no need to piss the attendant off anymore