First blog post for months, but why not when I’ve got a good, big run to report?
Knew I wanted something in the 40–50 mile region about now, but not what till I drew up and measured this ‘big Blackwater loop’ on the map last weekend at c.45 miles. At which point, having run everything west of the railway before (most of it many times) but never really considered a pedestrian route between Rannoch and Corrour Stations to link it all up, I was suddenly positively tingling with the anticipation that sent me out to try it yesterday.
So what to say about it here? It’s big, wild and bleak, it’s not quick overall (46.86 miles recorded in just under 10 hours 21 minutes) with much awkwardly arrhythmic terrain on the ‘telegraph pole’ section of Rannoch Moor, degenerating track north-westwards past the ruins of Corrour Old Lodge on the flank of Carn Dearg and ditch-leaping path from Loch Treig to Luibeilt, but it’s very, very satisfying and possibly still the easiest route right round the Blackwater (unless that’s taking Gleann Iolairean and the Ciaran Water from Loch Treig to the reservoir, which just doesn’t make such a nicely balanced ‘loop’ shape on the map)!
Note that the red track is what I actually ran and the largely-obscured blue track behind what I drew last weekend, with the three obvious differences being 1. a slightly different line to the track through the forest north of Loch Laidon (where online satellite imagery suggests there may still be a second track following the drawn ‘map’ line?), 2. an extra wee bit run at the west end of Loch Ossian (strange if I should miss the ‘normal’ way when we do this bit regularly on school D of E expeditions unless it was just chock-a-block with all the heavy vehicles etc. working on the Corrour Estate road improvements!), and 3. the crossing of the Abhainn Rath just east of Luibeilt (where, as usual, I followed my nose to find the best way on the day).
