Ben Alder via Culra Bothy, 19th/20th November 2011

Myself, Gordon, Mark and Willy were up at Dalwhinnie today to cycle the 10 miles into Ben Alder Forest with the plan to stay the night at Culra Bothy and climb Ben Alder on sunday. Note the Logs taped to the cross bars of the bikes.

Willy and his impression of a D-Day Landing paratrooper! Maybe a bike rack of some sort might be a better option next time. 

Mark struggling to get his two rucsacs on before setting off!

Myself with two rucsacs, the front one with boots and bike kit, just at the railway overpass behinf the garage at Dalwhinnie.

The guys setting off into the sun along Loch Ericht. Only ten miles to carry all this kit, to go!

Our first view of Ben Alder Lodge. At this point Gordon realised he'd left his boots back in the van at Dalwhinnie! So he dumped his bags with us whilst we waited for him the cycle back to collect them.!

Gordon and Mark, back on the move again after a bit of a wait. No harm done, but it put us back a wee bit time wise and we weren't confident of making the bothy before dark now. 

A closer look at Ben Alder Lodge, before the last climb up the landrover track past the lodge's gates and onto the open moor.

At the top of the hill above the lodge, you cross a bridge with a gate and by now the light has faded fast! From here, we crossed the open moor, through a herd of deer and wild ponies before taking the "shortcut" across the bog to the bothy. The shortcut turned into a nightmare as the track was very wet and err, boggy! This might not have been too bad in daylight, but as it got darker there was more walking than cycling, with much falling off and swearing to go with it!  

Luckily there was someone already at the bothy so I could just make out their lights. We also managed not to miss the new bridge that crosses the river just before the bothy, and we finally arrived at about 6pm in total darkness. Fortunately the big room with the fire was empty so we moved in for the night.

After lighting the fire we all set about cooking some well earned food. Soon the place was warm and cozy and we managed to dry some wet kit on the pulley over the fire. We did candles of our own, but there were a few already there, so once they were all lit too,  it was quite atmospheric.

Gordon, Mark and Willy enjoying a drink by the fire.

Using the flash on the camera loses some of the atmosphere of the moment!

The next day, sunday, and our view of Ben Alder and our route up the Long Leachas Ridge and descent route, the Short Leachas Ridge to the left. Sadly the could never lifted from the summit all day so not many photos were taken en route. 

Culra Bothy and our bikes in the morning.

Looking up into the coire after we had descended and still the cloud would not move.

On the way back to the bothy with Loch Pattack in the distance. We would return to Dalwhinne by the landrover track the skirts the loch. 

Final view of the bothy before the bumpy, but drier ride back to Loch Pattack, then over the moor to Loch Ericht and Dalwhinnie.

The "slightly longer", but stonier route back via Loch Pattack involves the entertaining suspension bridge which avoids the ford, which was frankly too wide and too deep to even contemplate.

Not the best photo (cheers Gordon) of me on the wibbly-wobbly bridge. From here it's a straightforward ride over the moor. A slight drag uphill , but a nice fast cruise down to Ben Alder Lodge, Loch Ericht and Dalwhinnie.