Welcome

to my bikepacking blog!

Pictish Trail, Scotland – September 22nd (Day 6)

In the morning, a trail runner passed by our almost disassembled camp. I wondered what he thought of it. Again, the rising sun presented itself proudly in all of its glory as we cycled along the road.

We passed by a house with many of the dogs barking at us as we entered a double track leading into the nearby woods. Hopefully, the annoying noise didn’t wake anyone up. It was chilly as usual, but we warmed up by climbing. We took layers off. The peacefulness and smell of the woods filled me .

There was one huge climb awaiting us. We saw it on the route profile. It was supposed to surpass all our previous efforts. And indeed it did. I walked most of it. Chris asked if I wanted to look at something on his phone, but I declined. Instead I stated that I just want to be done with this climb. It seemed never ending. Again, the scenery was breathtaking. I wish everyone could witness it. From top it was a long and steep descent. Laziness got over me and I didn’t mount my GoPro to record it. It would have been a cool thing to look back at. I regretted that later. At the bottom, I stopped as a beetle caught my eye. Yes, I talked to him or her for a minute and took a picture.

Then we passed through pastures and a young guy with guns on his four wheeler. The gunshots enounced his presence first. We stopped to talk to him. He said he hunts here often. There was a small church later on the paved road near town and we entered it. Chris washed his hair in the bathroom sink. I stood near the altar, waiting. There was Christmas tree there.

The weather was sunny until it drizzled. We rode some narrow overgrown trail. Looked like we were off from our route but parallel to it. It was not clear where we were supposed to ride. In town, we stopped at Chips and Fish Restaurant. Older couple ran it. The lady brought the menus. Fish and chips sounded great! We felt famished and ordered lentil soup as well with bread. Chris even fit in a dessert. Both owners were quite inquisitive, asking a multitude of questions. They advised us to roll our bikes to the back of the place. They were both very nice, and we took their phone number to text them later to let them know if we finished our trek safely. I felt cold for a while. It was cloudy, but it didn’t rain. I had my first flat tire upon leaving the town. Chris helped me to change it and we continued.

We passed by a church with multiple of Pictish stones laid against the stone fence.

We passed by Arbroath Abbey too, but it was already closed.

Approaching the shore, we pedaled through Dundee. We experienced a brief downpour, but it quickly passed.

Leaving the enormous city was a lengthy process. We stopped at Pizza Hut at about 10pm and looked at the map and plan our camping spot. There were only a few options available. We found some green area on the city’s outskirts and rode there to see if we can set our camp. We were lucky and hiked up away from the gravel path in the park to set camp by a big mother tree.