Back in August 2021, Calum Maclean and Jenny Graham took on the longest straight-line hike not crossing a road in the UK. Their route was based on Ordnance Survey mapping and a route that had been automatically created in 2018 previously by the OS. As the pair found out at the end of the hike, the OS called many farm and moorland tracks “roads”. This allowed them to extend the hike when they realised their original finish point was actually a track.

Jonathan looked at the route and was impressed by how tough it looked. However, looking at a map, he realised that there was a route several kilometres longer not crossing any road. This route started near Spean Bridge on the A82 and finished on the A9 near Carrbridge traversing the remote hills of the Monadhliath. Jonathan discussed this with his son Sam Bellarby and Sam found a blog by Alasdair Rae in 2023 that also found a similar route and went into much more detail and looked at many variations.

After a reconnaissance trip up Glen Roy to define where a road ended, Jonathan and Sam selected the longest route which was 78.8 km. Their plan was to traverse from near Spean bridge to the A9 near Carrbridge whilst keeping a tolerance of +- 50m. Navigation was by GPS device and GPS watch aided by compasses set at 57° ! Essential equipment were walking poles, waterproof socks and gaiters. With food and camping equipment their rucksacks came in about 10kg each.

On the 22nd April 2025, Jonathan and Sam set off from near Spean Bridge. They were unprepared – neither of them had attempted any precise navigation of this type before. They were also naïve with respect to how hard it would be. Day one was particularly hard with some very steep and craggy ground and much traversing high above Glen Roy to the accompaniment of white-tailed eagles. Approaching the valley, we were confronted by a large house and its tennis court. We had already agreed to abide by responsible access, so we were able to detour round – just within our 50m tolerance. By day two, the terrain got a little easier and bizarrely the route went directly over the summit of the highest hills in the area – Gairbeinn. Day 3 traversed through several windfarms and onto extensive bogs with a few steep descents, river crossings and reascents. Day 4 included some truly miserable parts through deep marshes, dense forests and many high fences but finally finished somewhat abruptly beside the very busy A9.

Overall, the weather was kind apart from a very wet camp high up in the Monadhliath. Starting early in the season, they also avoided both the dreaded midge and the equally terrifying dense bracken. Through a lot of mud, sweat and groans, both Jonathon and Sam completed the 78.8km longest straight-line route, but said they would never do it again and acknowledge how hard the previous record set by Calum Maclean and Jenny Graham must have been!

Jonathan and Sam