Steve T
Well-Known Member
Took a ride west to Spean Bridge with eldest son yesterday, Sunday 9th November 2014, to pay our respects at the Commando Memorial. The scenic route via Daviot and Fort Augustus was taken, to miss any lingering tourists that might still be about on the main Loch Ness road. The temperature sat at around 5o C for the first part of the ride, but rapidly dropped to - 2 o C 
as we headed into the glen to the south of the Loch. In this picture, taken on the tops just before we dropped down towards Fort Augustus, you can see the mist/fog that blankets the length of Loch Ness itself.
The roads, whilst wet due to the council gritter doing its thing with salt & grit, were still covered in places with ice & frost
. As we dropped down to loch level, we rode into the mist/fog, only to find that it was of the freezing kind 
. An even colder ride was had until we rode to within 400yards of the memorial, some 15 miles down the road, where the sun had burnt away the mist, leaving the memorial and surrounding area bathed in sun light.
After paying our respects along with several serving and fellow ex-servicemen, women and families of the fallen, we headed into Spean Bridge for a warming bowl of soup. From Spean Bridge we headed for Newtonmore along what is one of my favourite roads up here – the A86. This picture of a roadside waterfall gives some idea of the amount of rain that fell yesterday evening, before the frosts came down.
On reaching Laggan, I asked eldest son if he had ever been up to the Corrieyairack Pass! He hadn’t, so as the sun was still out, we made a little detour, to help eldest sons education.
Haven’t ridden up to the southern end of the pass for many years, so I was surprised to see the new, overly large, power pylons that had sprouted up alongside the old ones. Side by side, the new ones dwarf the old ones, such is their size.
Of note on my last visit was the newly erected gate across the old road, put up by the local estate. When we got there today, a small group were walking up the pass, and we observed them walking round the previously mentioned gate. Well, if they could walk round it, we could ride round it . . . so we did.
Looking up the pass from the bothy
The Bothy
Looking back towards the bothy. See how large / small the pylons look
We only went about a mile, because as can be seen from the last picture, the drainage cross ruts have been made using the old stone that made up the bed of the generals road. I was just waiting for one of them to stop me in my tracks, leading to me having to lay the machine down before I’ve got some engine bars on it. My home made sump guard took quite a battering going up and coming down as it was. Did the trick though.
Uneventful ride back to the tar, then homeward bound via a fuel station – those 800 Tigers have a drink problem I tell you.
Great day out, even with the freezing conditions at times, and all to say “Thank You” to those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Steve T
as we headed into the glen to the south of the Loch. In this picture, taken on the tops just before we dropped down towards Fort Augustus, you can see the mist/fog that blankets the length of Loch Ness itself.
The roads, whilst wet due to the council gritter doing its thing with salt & grit, were still covered in places with ice & frost
. As we dropped down to loch level, we rode into the mist/fog, only to find that it was of the freezing kind . An even colder ride was had until we rode to within 400yards of the memorial, some 15 miles down the road, where the sun had burnt away the mist, leaving the memorial and surrounding area bathed in sun light.
After paying our respects along with several serving and fellow ex-servicemen, women and families of the fallen, we headed into Spean Bridge for a warming bowl of soup. From Spean Bridge we headed for Newtonmore along what is one of my favourite roads up here – the A86. This picture of a roadside waterfall gives some idea of the amount of rain that fell yesterday evening, before the frosts came down.
On reaching Laggan, I asked eldest son if he had ever been up to the Corrieyairack Pass! He hadn’t, so as the sun was still out, we made a little detour, to help eldest sons education.
Haven’t ridden up to the southern end of the pass for many years, so I was surprised to see the new, overly large, power pylons that had sprouted up alongside the old ones. Side by side, the new ones dwarf the old ones, such is their size.
Of note on my last visit was the newly erected gate across the old road, put up by the local estate. When we got there today, a small group were walking up the pass, and we observed them walking round the previously mentioned gate. Well, if they could walk round it, we could ride round it . . . so we did.
Looking up the pass from the bothy
The Bothy
Looking back towards the bothy. See how large / small the pylons look
We only went about a mile, because as can be seen from the last picture, the drainage cross ruts have been made using the old stone that made up the bed of the generals road. I was just waiting for one of them to stop me in my tracks, leading to me having to lay the machine down before I’ve got some engine bars on it. My home made sump guard took quite a battering going up and coming down as it was. Did the trick though.
Uneventful ride back to the tar, then homeward bound via a fuel station – those 800 Tigers have a drink problem I tell you.
Great day out, even with the freezing conditions at times, and all to say “Thank You” to those that have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Steve T
