Hi William
I have a route planned from Torridon via Inverness that finishes at Colliston (or possibly Blackdog Rock) which doesn't involve much road until the last day and then hopefully stretches or road will be interspersed with farm tracks. though I also have an Ardrishaig route planned as well and can't decide which to submit should I be lucky in the draw. Its a wild and probably lonely route versus less dramatic scenery but more yicks on the Munro list a more sociable finish. I do fancy exploring that NE corner though.
Just a thought - if you google OS get-a-map you can join up for, I think £18, and have access to the OS 1:50 an 1:25 maps for the whole UK for a year.
Enjoy the planning!
Ali

Look at ""Where,s the Path Mapping System"pretty
good for most route following. Cheers.

Hi, as Colin Tock said, I was bound to be around sooner or later! Sorry I've been too busy to read the board for a few days.

The Moray Coast Path is still, to the best of my knowledge, irritatingly incomplete, although what's there is often pleasant. It's years since I tried it; inland from Inverness at first is obvious (with some small hills which are very hard going cross-country), but what I found really irritating was the lack of anything east of Macduff that would take one through those picturesque coastal villages - Gardenstown (Gamrie), Crovie and Pennan ("Local Hero" set). I went that way on my first ever, and had sought out a number of off-road bits, but in the event, my main tent pole snapped the night before I stopped over with my sister in Portsoy, and I had to take much more road in order to find B&Bs to allow me to continue to Fraserburgh. There is the path of the old Formartine and Buchan railway line at the end, though.

This year, I was again in the north-east, slightly further south (including Clava Cairns, very impressive), and I found lots of off-road possibilities, especially once the weather improved: Ben Rinnes traverse was gorgeous, and the fairly-new Gordon Way (google that) is lovely compared to a lot of new "Ways", and you can easily divert along Bennachie summit ridge. I've gone north of the Don on other routes, too.

As mentioned in an earlier thread, I did put all my nine routes to date in a compressed file which I can easily e-mail to anyone who'd like it. As a native Doric-speaker, I do have a soft spot for what used to be Buchan and Strathbogie!

Hi William

I walked from Spey Bay to Fraserburg this year. I tried to follow the coast as closely as possible and was only pushed inland by a few natural features, road walking was minimal, mainly through the coastal towns and villages. The only road of any significance is from Rosehearty to Fraserburgh along a footpath beside the road (boring but you can see the finish ahead). After Portsoy there are only bits of path, cliff edges, castles, bulls, gannets, dolphins, seals and a famous telephone box among other things to make this a very interesting walk. Don't expect to meet many other Challengers! As Louise said earlier there is a good path from Findhorn to Spey Bay ( I came down the speyside way via Ben Rinnes). I enjoyed it very much and it is very different to most second week routes.

Roger