Monday 11 April 2016

The Roads to Nowhere on the Cowal Peninsular - Part#1


With the weather grey and cool and me suffereing with a cold there aren't any "Tales from the Road" so I'm going back to a run I did in the middle of last month. (In three parts) 

The Cowal Peninsular is an area I've visited often. It's a part of the Highlands within easy reach of Glasgow. I usually ride there the "long way" via Arrocher and back on the ferry from Dunoon to Greenock. 

Looking at the map recently I realised that there are some dead end roads on the peninsular and thought that exploring them might be interesting.

The route
Beinn an Lochain and the road called "The Rest & Be Thankful". This road has often been affected by landslides in recent years.
My first "road to nowhere" ends at Lochgoilhgead

The next one ends at Carrick Castle on Loch Goil. Built in the late 15C it seems to have been restored and is now a private house.

The Moses Well in Hell's Glen - water from a stone - how does that work?
Looking across Loch Fyne to Inveraray
A rare sight these days but I saw a few on the peninsular
Loch Fyne
  


4 comments:

  1. The scenery in your pictures never fails to stun. Always so beautiful.

    Both sides of Troubadour's family are Clan McLaren and touring Scotland by bike has always been on our bucket list.

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    1. Thanks for that, I'm glad you like the photos, it was a great day out.

      I worry though that people from abroad might get the impression that Scotland has a sub-tropical climate with unbroken sunshine. This is not the case. Days like this at this time of the year are rare. I'm lucky that I can ride any time. Today, for example, was 9C (48F) with drizzle falling from a slate grey sky. Our scenery can be spectacular one day and miserable the next.

      Patience and a close eye on the weather forecast are necessary.

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    2. The weather sounds a little like the Pacific Northwest....ever changing with a decent amount of rain.

      Oh look, it is sunny. No wait, 10 minutes later, it is pouring down rain.

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    3. "Four seasons in one day" is common here. I had sun and hailstones on a recent ride.

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