The problem with a plan is that it can quickly go wrong! Anyone who’s travelled on a motorcycle in Scotland will likely have contended with bad weather – particularly strong winds and heavy rain, breakdowns, ferry cancellations, uncertain road surfaces, crazy drivers and that most terrible Scottish resident – the midge!

So, it’s difficult to imagine everything going according to our carefully laid plan for packing in visits to all twenty-four volunteer MRT bases throughout Scotland in just eight days.

That said, we’re going to give it our best shot and so here’s our planned schedule…

Day one – Saturday, August the 23rd: We’re starting out from our home base of Oldham MRT in Greenfield and heading North up to the Scottish border. After donning our kilts at Gretna (only joking), we’ll turn Eastwards through Dumfries and Galloway to our first base at Newton Stewart, just inland from the Southern coastline of Scotland.

After literally ‘touching base’ there, we’re off to spend the night at the house of friends near Gatehouse of Fleet ready for a gigantic second day…

Day two – Sunday, August the 24th: We need to be up bright and early for a two hour cross country blast to Troon just South of Glasgow where we’re hoping to catch a ferry to the Isle of Arran. Arran MRT’s base is on the East of the island after which a half hour whiz up the North East coast gets us to Lochranza with its famous distillery and another ferry crossing over to the Kintyre peninsula.

The road North to Oban is twisty and if dry is a bikers dream! After a quick pitstop at Oban MRT’s base, we’re headed up the West coast to that most magical of mountain valleys, Glencoe, and the mountain rescue base located in the village. Hopefully we’ll get time to pay a quick visit to an ex team mate, Ron, who’s working the summer at the campsite close to the fabled Clachaig Inn.

Back on the road again, we hope to meet up with some folk from the busy Lochaber Team in Fort William – they have the UK’s highest mountain on their patch, Ben Nevis.

We were hoping to stop for the night at Fort William but because of the time of year, the town’s mobbed and we can’t find accomodation. Therefore, we’re going to push on past the world famous Commando memorial and along Loch Lochy before turning North West at Invergarry onto the bendy A87 which connects the Great Glen with Glenshiel. Just along the road from Shiel Bridge, near the famous Eilean Donan castle, our friend Alasdair Earnshaw, a Kintail MRT member and SARDA dog handler, has very kindly offered us hospitality.

Day three – Monday, August the 25th: Can probably afford our first lie in till 08:00 at Alasdair’s and then we’ll be heading back to Glenshiel where there are spectacular views of the Five Sisters of Kintail and the Forcan Ridge – both must do mountain walking routes.

Kintail MRT have a base at Morvich, a couple of miles from Shiel Bridge – Alasdair will accompany us there. We’re excited at the prospect of meeting one of the motorcycling members from the neighbouring Glenelg MRT who will ride with us from Morvich and guide us to his base.

After a quick social with a few of the Glenelg team, we’re going to take the original Isle of Skye ferry crossing and then ride on stunning roads to Sligachan, the home of Skye MRT where some of their members are hoping to meet us. After drinking in views of the stunning Cuillin mountains and ridge (visibility permitting), we’ll push on through Portree where there’s a great chippy! Fuelled up, we’ll continue onto the Trotternish peninsula of Skye where the rock pinnacle known as the Old Man of Storr pierces the skyline of the North Eastern coastline.

After riding the spectacular single track mountain pass past the famous Quiraing, we’re hoping to camp at the port of Uig ready for the following day’s island hop…

Day four – Tuesday, August the 26th: Need to be up early today as there’s a ferry to be caught from Uig on Skye to the distant and mysterious Isles of Harris and Lewis in the Outer Hebrides. Because Andy’s never visited the islands (one island really) and the big effort made to get there, we’ve treated ourselves to an extra day to tour round and see some of the amazing scenery and beaches.

Day five – Wednesday, August the 27th: Please let the weather be good today! We have the Seilebost and Luskentyre beaches, the mountain of An Clisham, the North Harris Eagle observatory, the Tarbert distillery, Loch Shiphoirt, the Callanish stone circle, Great Bernera Island, the Port of Ness lighthouse, the famous ‘road to nowhere’ and stacks of other places to see during our one day on the Outer Hebrides before bedding down in Stornoway for the night courtesy of our kind colleagues at the Hebrides MRT base.

Day six – Thursday, August the 28th: We need to be up at the absolute crack of dawn, as the ferry back to the mainland at Ullapool leaves at 07:00. It’s a nearly three hour trip so plenty of time for breakfast and more kip on the boat if the sea state allows.

We weren’t sure where Assynt MRT were located until an old friend from the team, Nick Ogden got in touch! Because of the sheer size of their patch, they don’t have a definitive base but maintain an RV point in the tiny hamlet of Inchnadamph at the Eastern end of the mighty Loch Assynt. We’ll spin up there to meet Nick and a couple of his team mates – if time permits we’ll extend our journey to the stunning fishing village of Lochinver – home of the famous pies!

Then, it’ll finally be time to head back South from the remote Northern tip of Scotland to pay a visit to Dundonnell MRT whose territory includes one of Scotland’s most rugged and beautiful mountain ranges, An Teallach.

We’ll treat ourselves to the scenic coastal road leading to Poolewe and Gairloch, passing first the infamous Gruinard Island, scene of a live anthrax test in WW2 and then Loch Ewe. During the same period of history, this massive expanse of water would have been filled with hundreds of merchant vessels and warships, all taking part in the convoys that supplied both the UK and their allies with supplies at great risk. Si has kayaked in many locations along this part of the Scottish coast – if you get the chance then it’s well worth it.

It’s a fast road with sweeping bends that leads past the 13 mile long Loch Maree. Also a great place for kayaking, the loch has more than sixty islands to explore and even a recursive island which Si managed to get to some years ago. That’s an island in a lake on an island in a lake that’s in turn on another island! Or some such thing…

We’ll turn off at Kinlochewe where we might get a brew and something to eat at the Service Station ‘Sitooterie’ before heading up the single-track road to Torridon. This runs through the most amazing scenery of both Beinn Eighe and the Torridon mountains to arrive at the base of Torridon MRT. We could reverse our route here and high tail it towards Inverness, but we’d like to push on to the picturesque village of Shieldaig and look in on our friend Ruairidh and his lovely family. More single track will take us into the middle of nowhere before dropping down at the foot of the infamous Bealach na Bà mountain pass and onto Lochcarron for supplies.

Then we need to get a crack on to Inverness and Aviemore where the end of the day should find us visiting Cairngorm MRT and their colleagues at Scottish Mountain Rescue’s HQ who are based at Glenmore Lodge.

Hoping to get a bed at one of the two local youth hostels – if not it’ll be a wild camp after a huge day!

Day seven – Friday, August the 29th: Another massive effort needed today as we have six teams to visit, and they’re spread out from East to West meaning the mileage is high again. First up is Aberdeen MRT via the scenic route through Grantown on Spey and Tomintoul. Hopefully we’ll get a quick brew before dashing off West to visit Braemar MRT’s base which provides cover for the Southern part of the Cairngorms including the impressive mountain of Lochnagar above Balmoral.

We’d love to spend time in this beautiful part of the world, but time dictates we crack on through Glenshee and on to Tayside MRT in the busy little town of Blairgowrie. The route gets narrow and twisty now with stretches of single track as we’ll thread our way West to Killin at the end of the long and spectacular Loch Tay. Killin MRT cover a huge area including the immense Ben Lawers and have very kindly agreed to meet us at Killin village for a catch up.

After parting ways with our colleagues from Killin MRT, we’re headed out to Arochar at the base of the famous ‘Cobbler’ or Beinn Artair as it’s also known. Arochar MRT must see a massive footfall on their terrain as Glasgow is just an hour or so away. We’ll then swing South down the shoreline of the mighty Loch Lomond to rendezvous with some of the fantastic members of Lomond MRT who’ve very kindly offered us the use of their base to recover from what will no doubt have been a tough day. Hopefully we’ll be early enough and have the energy for a modest session in the pub with these good folk!

Day eight – Saturday, August the 30th: The biggest planned mileage yet at well over three hundred miles should see us heading East through Stirling to visit Ochils MRT near Alloa. Then things turn more urban as we need to traverse Edinburgh before turning towards Peebles and on to our friends at Tweed Valley MRT in Melrose who are planning a meet up. We know this area through many trips in past years to both Glentress and Innerleithen, both renown as World class mountain biking venues.

Nearby are the Border SAR team based in Kelso – these two teams work together in a surprisingly large and sometimes remote area bordering the Cheviot region of England. Some of their members have kindly agreed to meet up with us as we pass through – hopefully this’ll be a top brew opportunity!

After leaving Kelso we may have a surprise mission – stay tuned on Si’s blog page for details and be prepared for some emotion!

Our last team on this epic journey is Moffat MRT, located in the lovely town of the same name. If you’re visiting Scotland and come off the motorway there for fuel, you’ll see the petrol station sponsors the rescue team!

Just prior to starting the trip, we were very kindly offered accommodation by a Moffat team member and her family. This has been gratefully received as it means we can use our ‘reserve’ day (Day 9) to make the most of the trip back home. We’re hoping to repay our host and some of her team mates with a sociable evening in the fine town they’re based in!

Day nine – Sunday, August the 31st.

This was always our ‘reserve’ day in case of unforeseen issues enroute. But after the offer of accommodation in Moffat the previous night, we’re going to use it for the final leg home. If the weather permits we’ll take the scenic route back through the heart of the Pennines to keep the spirit of the trip going a bit longer. It’ll also give Si a chance to re-visit some of the places experienced on the notorious Montane Winter Spine Challenger North race earlier in the year…

And that, all being well, will be that. Thank you for reading the plan – now we’d love you to follow the actual journey, either here on the website blog or via the OMRT Facebook page.

Stay safe, Si and Andy