9 minute read
What would Mary do?
What would Marydo?
Following in the footsteps of Mary M Harvie
With The Adventure Syndicate
In the summer of 1936, 17 year old Mary Harvie set out from Glasgow with her two sisters to ride their bikes more than 500 miles around Youth Hostels in the Highlands of Scotland. In 2020, her son presented Hostelling Scotland with the diary she had kept during these magical two weeks.
When we read Mary’s diary, the deal was done. There would be no refusing the suggestion of a recreation of her journey. And so it was that three time-served representatives of The Adventure Syndicate* - Alice Lemkes and Philippa Battye and Lee Craigie - would follow a rough approximation of Mary’s route and together with Maciek Tomiczek (photographer, film maker and bikepacker) we would tell a modern day version of her story. We would do this in real time by posting to social media but in order to do Mary’s story justice, the more considered and reflective telling would come later by way of written articles to support a majestic photo album and a short film capturing the magic of self-supported bike travel and it’s natural alliance with Scottish Hostels.
Day One Glasgow to Crianlarich,
“Off to a somewhat soggier start to Mary. Didn’t make it half a mile before Phil’s first puncture. But we soon got onto the West Highland Way and le the sprawling city behind. It was beautiful but hard going along the loch and then the rain finally found us. We were all soaked through by the time we got to Inversnaid. The hotel was closed but thank heavens the ferry was running. We wondered what Mary would have done next and we are almost certain she would have stopped at The Drovers Inn for a pint
Day Two Crianlarich to Glencoe,
“We le just before sunrise in freshly dried clothes and rode into a crisp clear morning with frost on the ground, crossing steaming rivers into inverted clouds typical of this time of year. We stocked up on food in Tyndrum and headed into the hills - up and over Rannoch Moor where the autumnal colours were ablaze with the brightness of the sun. A er a fast, flowy off-road descent we briefly crossed the A82 - brief yet long enough to
too. Thanks to her recommendation we also spent some time at the Falls of Falloch, allthough it wasn’t really the weather for sunbathing. Rolled into Crianlarich YH a er dark. So grateful for the drying room, hot showers and pizza.”
Alice Lemkes, 2021
A er a fast, yet long
know that pushing our bikes up and over the Devil’s Staircase was preferable to sharing the road any longer with the speeding traffic dominating the beauty of Glencoe. On reaching the col, we brewed some coffee and gaped at the everchanging light of the glen. Lee, the more experienced of us, took it upon herself to teach Alice and I how to jump cross drains. It was all laughs, japes and ge ing air until I slammed my rear wheel one too many times into a rock and dinged my rim to high hell. A shame, but oh how Lee laughed. Tube in, I limped to the road at Kinochleven as the clouds moved in before speeding onto the hostel in Glencoe. A warm greeting from Thomas and we were directed to the bike shed then shown into the comfortable timber lined hostel. Entrusted with a monkey wrench I did further damage to my already crimped rim... so we walked to the Clachaig Inn for pints and dinner.”
Philippa Battye, 2021
Day Three Glencoe to Ratagan
“This morning a set of borrowed mole grips, some electrical tape and a tyre lever returned Phil’s wheel to something resembling round. A er a lovely breakfast of coffee and croissants we said goodbye to the intrepid pupils of James Gillespies who were off to climb Ben Nevis that morning then rolled northwards via the Corran and Camasngual ferries to avoid the A82. Far too long was spent in the sunshine in over a second breakfast, bike shop faffery and snack resupply in Fort William before we finally got going up the canal towpath on the Caledonia Way. Only a few miles up the road we got cha ing to a couple of gents driving 1925 Ford Model T’s and before we knew it we had our bikes loaded and were being whisked along
the road by Loch Lochy. This is how you get back on schedule ;) The plan had been to ride west via an old drove route to Kinloch Hourn then around the peninsula to Glen Elg but 1. It was raining 2. We couldn’t get a table for dinner at the popular wee pub 3. We would have had to ride up and over the Ratagan Pass twice. Instead we spent 30 miles peddling hard into the rain to reach Ratagan by Kintail instead. None of us could resist the pull of the Clunie Inn at 6pm a er a day like that. It would have been unreasonable to expected us to ride by. And so it was dusk and still raining hard by the time we dropped down towards the sea, the South Glen Sheil Ridge and Five Sisters of Kintail looming high above us. Ratagan Hostel twinkled enticingly in the darkness by the shores of Loch Duich. We’ve never been more grateful for the use of a drying room. We may say the same tomorrow.”
Lee Craigie, 2021
Day Four Ratagan to Portree
“We woke in the dark while the rain continued to beat down as hard as it had done the night before. We got our first sight of Loch Duich in the grey dawn with the Five Sisters of Kintail dominating the landscape beyond. The wind rolled clouds between the peaks and brought some brighter weather. We tore ourselves away from the comfort of Ratagan Hostel and immediately began to climb steeply over Mam Ratagan to Glenelg where we awaited the Skye Ferry - the last turntable ferry of its kind and where the next road climb erupts straight from the sea. We resupplied in Broadford and headed west toward Elgol. We were swept along the coast with the Red Cuillins in front of us and the hillside burning russet, bronze and mahogany with the autumn fern before turning off-road towards Sligachan and dropping into Camasunary Bay. We passed here to take it all in and to brew coffee by the calm sea between us and Rhùm. It had become late and we were at least two hours to Sligachan through the heart of the Cuillins. But what a treat! The low sun accentuated the reds of the scree-streaked peaks to our right whilst the black Cuillins loomed on our le as we edged our way around lochans. Stags bellowed on the hillsides. We looked, but the white wisps of cloud and deep, black fractures ion rock in the distance suggested they would be far too small to spot. As dusk fell the lights of the Sligachan Hotel beckoned us toward the end of the technical singletrack and out of the Glen. We made it to the Portree hostel well a er dark, flung our muddy clothes into their washing machine and headed straight to the pub.”
Alice Lemkes, 2021
Day Five Portree to Torridon
“We le in the dark having decided the night before we’d try to catch the bus to avoid the busy 30 miles of tarmac to get off Skye. From the Skye Bridge we followed the scenic railway line along Loch Carron before turning off the road into the big hills to take the ‘direct’ route over to Torridon. We mostly pushed our bikes up rocky single track as it wound up past the river which flowed against us. Coulags bothy appeared just as the rain set in, so we cracked out the stoves and our emergency couscous rations. Realising the rain wasn’t going to stop for us, we continued on but surprised by the unseasonal warmth... we could not resist the pull of an icy cold swim in the moody Loch Cian. As we approached the col we were stopped in our tracks by a stag, seemingly guarding the pass, unfazed by our presence as we breathlessly stared back. A er a while he grew bored of us, and we got moving again, already soaked and ge ing colder by the minute. The descent was full on and some may say we were under biked... (however my cracked and crimped wheel has held up remarkably well considering the terrain it’s been subjected to over the past couple of days...) The elements were out in force as sheet rain dri ed past while gusts buffeted us sideways. We took brief respite in the emergency shelter to add layers before continuing down to the lights of Torridon as dusk fell. As always, we arrived at the hostel in the dark with soaking wet feet. We were greeted by the wonderful Emily who welcomed us in and looked a er our every need, filling us with much needed curry and local beer.
Philippa Battye 2021
Day Six Torridon to Cairngorm
for a nights rest before catching the train home “With the weather now having completely crapped out we woke this morning feeling very smug in our warm, dry hostel. Towards the end of yesterday I’d taken a belter of a fall and biffed my shoulder badly. The latent pain of the fall combined with lashing rain and foreboding low
night, sometimes you need external forces to present themselves to force you to stop pushing onwards. And so with feet now off the gas we took our time over breakfast then po ered about the glen swimming and exploring the beach before returning to the speculator panoramic lounge of the hostel building.The satisfaction we all felt at having self propelled our li le team over hill and Glen from Glasgow could now be enjoyed. Tired muscles relaxed into comfortable chairs and we passed the time playing guitar, drawing maps and writing stories occasionally looking up to check the weather hadn’t changed it’s mind. It hadn’t. It struck us all how our experience of travelling by bike through Torridon’s timeless landscape would have been very similar to Mary’s journey made nearly 100 years ago. We also reflected on how this illusion might be about to be sha ered as we head south again. Back to busier roads and more built up areas, more people and less headspace. We have a day to get back to Glasgow…”