The Badger Divide
We’d first heard of the Badger Divide at Brother in the Wild 2021 when Luke, Co Founder of Outdoor Provisions and designer of the Second City Divide spoke about ‘adding it on’ to the Second City Divide to make it the Double Divide. A couple of weeks later, our bike mechanic pal Vicky Balfour rode it with some friends. Vicky Said it was a magical route and that she wished she’d taken longer to enjoy the views. Jay and I had 12 days. Plenty of time to do the Double Divide.
I’d ridden King Alfreds Way with Jay and friends back in May 2021 but this would be our first big off road adventure together. I couldn’t be more excited. I also couldn’t be less bike fit. I’ve prioritised beach days this summer instead of being on two wheels. The confidence I’ve gained from doing two rally’s made me think I could do the Double Divide with no training. We would have loads of time and each other for support.
The Badger Divide can be ridden in 2 days by some riders. If you are Jay and I, it will take you 4 days and a few hours, I can’t recommend that time frame enough. We had leisurely 2 hour lunches, finished riding before dark almost every day and generally, we were able to prioritise pleasure.
Day 1
20 miles.
We started our adventure at roughly 6:30pm, Monday night. Our train had got us in 5 hours earlier than expected so instead of staying with our mate Vee for the night, we cracked straight on. We climbed out of Inverness and within a short time we were out in the wilderness. We cycled through open land, a windy road and then through forest single track. The fire roads then descended through a forest which was fun but also a bit sketchy as it was getting dark at this point and it was incredibly steep and hard to see exactly what was in front you. We read about how in the Second World War, Canada sent lumberjacks to Scotland to help fell the wood needed in the war. Loads of Canadian lumberjacks married Scottish Lasses.
We slept at a campsite on the edge of Loch Ness which offered a great night sleep, a shower and a picnic bench which now seems positively luxe. Jay said it was a magical start to the adventure. I loved how it felt, just like a rally but with Jay and I as a team. Working things out; bit by bit, not having a plan but making things work. I loved it. We both slept well.
Day 2
34 miles
We set off, and had Fort Augustus in our sights as a lunch stop. Straight out of the campsite we were pretty much onto a climb and rode through a gorgeous forest. The trail skirted around the trees and heather with Loch Ness to our left. It felt magical. We were already a bit fatigued and I hadn’t eaten enough. I’d convinced myself it was straight down from the camp site to Fort Augustus but there was actually lots of climbing (it was beautiful though).
Jay gave me an Outdoor Provision’s nut butter sachet to keep me going and we finally made it to Fort Augustus and found a little cafe to stop in. I ate a chicken burger, a cranachan cake and a hot chocolate. The burger was delicious. We sat there for two hours, charging devices and refuelling before heading off again.
As soon as we were out of Fort Augustus, we had the highest climb of the route to tackle. Over the Corrieyairack pass on General Wades Military Road. We got to the top at 5:20pm, arriving at the bothy at 6:30pm. This was mine and Jay’s first mountain pass together. It was rocky and tough, we are both not exactly athletes. But we did it. Together as a team.
Jay stayed with me as we rode. Even though he would be much faster than me by himself. He gave me water, we took photos, and at the top we kissed each other. It was lovely. That’s the highest we climb on this trip. The other days will be hard but none will have as much climbing. Or so we hoped at the time.
We arrived at the bothy after a really fun, very rocky descent. The bothy’s name is Melgarve, it’s on the right hand side of the track as you come down from the pass, you can’t miss it. Although we were both at the point of delirium where we thought large boulders in the distance were it for a while. It was a welcome sight when we finally did set eyes on it, I had a wash in the river whilst Jay filtered water.
The bothy is well maintained, although missing any form of furniture, which we learned hadn’t always been the case as one guest book entry simply said ‘who the fuck took the sofa’. Shortly after arriving we were joined by a lovely man called Tom. He’s was doing a bike tour towards Cape Wrath and had lots of things with him.
We ate, chatted for a bit around the fire, then went to sleep. We made a plan to wake up early and cycle 20 miles in the morning to make it to Corrour, that would mean we arrive somewhere great for lunch and then can push on to where we will sleep.
There is another bothy on the Corrieyairack Pass, before things start to get really steep. It’s called Blackburn Bothy. It would make a great stop over if you had bad weather or hadn’t started as early if you were planning to do the climb on the first day.
We followed “General Wade's Military Road” for almost 20 miles all in all. You can read more about the military roads of Scotland here.
Day 3
63 miles
We set off from the Bothy at around 8:45 after our breakfast of porridge and coffee followed by the usual faff of packing the bikes back up. Tom had already set off, heading the opposite way up over Corrieyairack pass on his 26” wheeled steel tourer with panniers fully loaded. The sky was dark and it was drizzling with the kind of rain you can hardly see but this didn’t last too long.
Today, our lunch stop was at the infamous Station House at Corrour, which we prayed was open as it was the only real spot for miles to resupply. After riding along sweeping tarmac and fire roads we passed through the most beautiful valley, riding right along the side of one Loch. I found the view of the Loch Guilbinn and the valley absolutely stunning and whilst I was ready for lunch, I would have ridden through that valley on repeat, all day.
We got to The Station House and ate the most delicious Venison Stew. Loch Ossian was breathtaking. There’s a YHA in Corrour if you fancied calling it a day there. The Youth Hostel looked beautiful and the manager gets great reviews for being really accommodating. We seriously considered hanging around for the rest of the day and staying there. With no rooms free we were forced to carry on which we knew was the right thing to do with so much light left.
We pushed on though and started climbing with Loch Ossian behind us. The 8 miles after Corrour were great. A steady climb and a gorgeous, flowy descent. I don’t know if it was because we had bellies full of stew or because we had hit our flow but this was one of our favourite days of the whole trip, every mile felt magic.
After a brief but welcome stint on tarmac, we were off road again. We had Kilvrecht Campsite in our sights. The stretch from Bridge of Gaur to the campsite felt like a wild Scottish Safari. A herd of about 100 deer followed us from a distance through the whole valley. I’ve never seen anything like it. I’ve only known deer to be skittish but they would all run towards us for about 5 seconds before stopping and turning away. I was scared at first and shouted to Jay, “Should we be scared?” I thought I’d heard him say no but it turns out he’d shouted back “hopefully not, but keep pedalling anyway!”
We rolled into the campsite about 7:30. We’d had a brilliant day and were feeling really grateful for the adventure. There was no hot water at the campsite, just basic facilities. We warmed water on the stove and had flannel washes, ate a delicious army provisions curry and went to sleep. What a day. I love Scotland.
Day 4
59 miles
We climbed out of the campsite through a lush forest with bilberries growing along the side (which we didn’t eat at the time as we weren’t sure what they were). Birds of prey circled above us.
We had Glenlyon Post Office in mind for our second breakfast stop. It was closed when we got there, devastatingly, the menu boards were still outside so we were haunted by the delicious food we could have been eating. With the Post Office closed, it was Killin where we would be able to get lunch. Just after the Post Office, it started to rain. Our first proper rain since the beginning of the trip. We stopped to put on our waterproofs, thinking this was us for the day, but the rain stopped almost as quickly as it had started.
We meandered through a sweeping valley, all tarmac, before getting to a bridge near what looked like a hydro-electric dam, just before the last climb before Killin. We had a pitstop, coffee, baby bell and mushroom pate for me. Jay had some of his new favourite ride snack of bombay mix, before we headed off. The climb was gentle and the roll down to Kilin absolutely beautiful. It felt like it rolled on forever.
Lunch and a rest in Kilin. We made the most of the Co Op and an outdoors store. We bought some freeze dried food and I bought a new Opinel knife which I was very excited about. If you need anything, food pouches, gas, new shoes, you can get it from here.
After a good 90 minute recharge, we were off again for the final section of the day. Leaving Kilin, there was a very steep climb I basically pushed all the way up. Then followed a speedy cycle track on ncn 7 that rolled us down to Loch Earn. We stopped at the roadside at Loch Earn to eat the Veggie burgers we’d got to take away from the lunch stop. We were both feeling really happy and strong. We had no idea we were about to endure what we felt was the hardest part of the route.
The 8 miles between Loch Earn and Loch Lubnaig were punishing. It was the most hike-a-bike of the whole route for me. Views for days but super slow going as you go through some very overgrown singletrack alongside a river, then up and down you go as the rough trail undulates up the valley with small streams crossing the path at every dip.
We eventually rolled down to Loch Lubnaig where we were buzzed to see a lakeside coffee shop open. The two lads served us tea and helped us sort our camp spot for the night. They told us to head to Loch Drunkie. We had to book a spot on a website, it cost £4. It was a lovely place to call home for our last night before Glasgow. We ate mackerel and rice and thought about the day of riding, asking each other our favourite questions. What was the best bit? Which bit was the hardest bit?
Day 5
35 miles.
We woke up to rain so decided to pack the tent away and head to Aberfoyle as quickly as possible. We arrived in Aberfoyle and ended up having the breakfast roll of our lives from The Aberfoyle Delicatessen. It gave us the fuel we needed to get to Glasgow.
It rained heavily for the last 20 miles or so. We bumped into a couple of guys by who were about to head out on the route, in the opposite direction. I didn’t envy them having to set off in this weather and was feeling very smug about our Premier Inn reservation in Glasgow. I remember one of the guys was wearing a Patagonia puffer and it was already soaking, I can remember wondering if he would have anything else warm to put on later when they stopped. I hope he did.
Rolling into Glasgow along the cycle path was lovely. We were soaked through but the combined feeling of accomplishment, relief and the prospect of a hot meal made us both feel elated.
We rode to the art gallery, I made a mental note to revisit next time I was in Glasgow. We got a friendly tourist to take our photo in front of the Gallery and then headed to Lush to get a foot scrub (lord knows my feet needed it. I think I had most of Scotland's gravel stuck under my toe nails), a body moisturiser and 2 bath bombs. I was heartbroken when our hotel room didn’t have a bath. The Lush team gave us water to wash the grit off our bikes and the excellent ramen from Maki And Ramen made up for the lack of bath.
Mile for mile, the Badger Divide is the best bike ride I have ever ridden. Awe inspiring views*, beautifully wild and a real adventure.
At the end of the 5 days, Jay and I felt like we’d had 5 months of adventure. You get so much bang for your buck on this route. If you’re a dirty southerner like me, who isn’t used to seeing Loch’s, gorgeous valleys that have been carved out by glaciers and miles and miles of riding without seeing another person, you can’t help but feel like you’re cheating that you haven’t had to put your bike on a plane to experience all of it.
Badger Divide, Inverness to Glasgow, romeo done.
Badger Divide route on Komoot.
Badger Divide write up by Luke from Outdoor Provisions.
Badger Divide instagram.
July 2023 update, I’m pleased to say that Martine and Grace have now both ridden the Badger Divide. It’s become the most popular route amongst ride leaders. Assemble a bunch of adventure hungry mates and get it in the diary.
