From Nov. 9 onwards we will stay a couple of days in Inverness, Scotland.
Is there a chance to reach (the vicinity of) some of the nearby SOTA summits (e.g. GM/CS-109, GM/WS-304, GM/NS-151 …) by means of public transport (bus, train)?
I was not yet successful in finding a map with bus routes in the Inverness area.
Thanks and 73,
Andy DK7MG
I’m not local… but I am a long time visitor to the Highlands of Scotland.
Beware… the smaller hills can be surrounded by very challenging terrain. Bog, tussock grass, heather, bracken and gorse. Not all of them… but quite a lot.
I’d suggest finding something with a decent path in place.
Looking at the area a good possibility is Cnoc Mor GM/NS-150. Tracks on SOTA Maps and a couple of write ups from previous activators.
You can get a direct bus to Strathpeffer that runs every couple of hours.
If you have the hill skills and kit, you could go to some higher hills like Little Wyvis and Ben Wyvis. Both have good paths, but are proper Scottish mountain days. The route up both starts directly off the main A835 that heads to Ullapool.
If I was nearer I’d meet you and do a joint activation.
Buses are run by Stagecoach, although not sure they have a pdf map but their app is quite good to browse around.
Afraid I don’t have specific summits for you but Google maps knows all the buses and trains.
How about a train from Inverness to Achnasheen, if the weather is OK and a walk up GM/NS-017, Fionn Bheinn - 933m, 6 points. About 5Km walk (10km return) on an established footpath.
73
MM0YCJ
Or a train or bus from Inverness to Aviemore then a bus to Glenmore and a walk up GM/ES-027, Meall a’ Bhuachaille, 810m, 4 points. About 3Km walk (6km return) on an established footpath.
73
MM0YCJ
Check out HamHiker by @MM0UHR. It’ll show all local bus stops by summits, along with any associated routes.
Meall a’ Bhuachaille
Fionn Bheinn
Cracking hills… but as with Ben Wyvis, they are both proper mountains. In November they could be challenging. But on a nice clear day they are straightforward.
They both have good paths, but no way marking as you might find in mainland Europe.
I’m sorry @DK7MG I’ve no idea of your mountain skill base, I may be wildly insulting you! It is not my intention to do so.
Dear all,
thank you for this extremely useful information!
@MW0WML I have “some” mountain skills but I have never been in Scotland before. Therefore I appreciate your advice very much. And I know how misleading maps can be if you are not familiar with the terrain.
@GM5ALX This is helpful: I just downloaded their app and successfully planned a journey (from Inverness to Strathpeffer) - very useful, indeed.
@MM0YCJ Thank you for pointing me to these summits. I am not sure whether I will have the time for a longer activation during our stay.
@M1SDH Thank you for this link. I tried a similar one yesterday - but did not see that I could select the region (in the upper right corner). So yesterday I saw only bus stops in GW. Now - with the proper selection GM - this is extremely useful for my planning.
The main purpose of our stay in Inverness is the observation of northern lights (aurora borealis): For Nov. 11/12 Kp values of 4 are predicted and therefore the probability to see northern lights should be higher.
I will be together with my wife and my cousin and therefore will not have much time for SOTA. But now I am prepared and hope to do at least one short activation during our stay.
Thanks and 73,
Andy DK7MG
Hi Andy,
There are many fine hills (Mountains) around Inverness.
For route I recommend the walk highlands website. It is the website hillwakers use in Scotland for the larger hills.
Also the Mountain Weather Information Forecast is a dedicated weather service for the mountain areas and is great to check the conditions and abuse the Scottish weather is likely to inflict.
https://www.mwis.org.uk/
Ben Wyvs is a fine hill on a good day for an introduction into the Scottish Munros, and close to Inverness.
Tim
Equally good is the suggestion above for train to Fionne Bhienn GM/NS-017
A fine summit cone and great views to Torridon if the weather is good !
Inverness is bright at night and when the weather is clear there is a lot of light pollution!
Oh - thank you for this info Colwyn @MM0YCJ !
Our hotel is in the south of Inverness Castle - and we hope to have a clear view (without too much light pollution) when we look over the River Ness to the north or north-west.
Which location (close to the city) would you recommend for an observation of the northern light?
@G5OLD Thank you for this link. I found that also the easier walks are described in detail. And a good preparation for our stay: The pronunciation of the Gaelic names 
Crossing the Kessock Bridge onto the Black Isle might be one option or head out towards Culloden (East) where you will be high up but need to find a clear spot to avoid the trees etc.
Inverness is very bright and you are really unlikely to see the aurora unless it is very intense
Thank you for your advice, Barry @GM4TOE .
It seems that we should better hire a car when we arrive in Inverness.
If you are hiring a car, then GM/CS-096 is a fairly easy summit about ten miles South of Inverness on the A9.
Good views back down to the Kessock bridge and out over the Moray Firth.
I activated this hill on a “flyby” travelling South from Sutherland a couple of weeks ago.
Andy
MM7MOX
What Andy fails to mention is there’s a good track to the summit and places to park. So it’s straightforward and hard to get lost etc.
My computer says 3.4km to walk, 311m ascent and should take me about 1h10mins.
And, if you can pronounce it you can have a bonus point
Thank you @MM7MOX and @MM0FMF.
In fact we are now planning to hire a car and I am already extending my search.
(I assume that I will not get bonus points for the correct pronunciation of “Mount Eagle” 
)
To steal from Monty Python…
It’s spelt “Mount Eagle” but pronounced “Throat Warbler Mangrove” 
Mount Eagle is trivial! A total ascent of 51m in 2.2km. Note, the trig point is in a clearing in the trees but last time I was there it was incredibly overgrown. You can set up near the small transmitter towers/buildings, I operated on HF bands there and there was no QRM. You should have no difficulty spotting the big transmitter mast from the small ones.
[
Mount Eagle… I agree with Andy - Easy parking and a short walk, but I feel “Mount Eagle” should be done under the Trade Descriptions Act for exaggeration. I knew I wasn’t expecting hoards of Wilderbeast or Sydney Opera House … (Fawlty Towers) but I was hoping for something a bit more, well more summit like. It felt less Eagle and more Mount Gerbil… - but it was easy! Photo is near rather than. at the trig point as the area had some forestry operations and was rather muddy! (April 23)
