Return to the Cape Wrath Trail

Having had, as I assume did others, all of my hiking plans ruined for 2020 by Covid, and also having abandoned my LEJOG hike at Carlisle, I find that the pull of the trail is getting ever stronger as the months pass. Whenever I picture myself getting back on the trail, it is invariably to the Cape Wrath Trail that my attention turns.

Camping alongside the River Oykel

Since my superb 2015 hike along the Pennine Way and the continuation from Kirk Yetholm the following year to Strathcarron during which I followed the first half of the Cape Wrath Trail, I have encountered many problems while hiking.

Loch Ailsh

In 2017, I was forced to pull out of the following section of the hike from Strathcarron to the Cape with illness. Although, I successfully completed the Coast to Coast walk and the South Downs Way the same year after recovering, the start of my Land's End to John O'Groats hike in 2018 ended in Hay on Wye after a catalogue of unfortunate incidents. This bad luck carried over into 2019 when I re-started the hike from Hay on Wye and I eventually finished this section in Carlisle, having walked around 400 miles on each section. 

Loch Ailsh

As I stated in a previous post, I have now decided that my LEJOG walk will become my 'England End to End' walk as I feel that the long delay and uncertainty surrounding the Covid virus, coupled with the many other delays, has compromised the integrity of the hike. Which brings me back to the Cape Wrath Trail.

Climbing above the Oykel River

I first encountered the hike in 1999 when Phil Hinchliffe, one of the authors of the first guidebook, 'North to the Cape' gave a talk for our local ramblers group. Having completed the first section across the tough, remote Knoydart peninsular, I pulled out of the hike feeling unwell.  This retreat has always rankled with me and I looked forward to finally reaching the Cape in 2017 as the finale of my hike from Derbyshire to Cape Wrath but was thwarted yet again around sixty miles from the end with a virus.

Approaching Conival 

With the current situation surrounding the Covid virus, firm plans are impossible to make but I am hoping to return to Fort William in Scotland in May 2021 to restart the Cape Wrath Trail from the beginning.

Looking down to Loch Assynt & Inchnadamph

My last encounter with the trail before retiring with illness in 2017 was a superb day of hiking from Oykel Bridge, having resumed the hike from Strathcarron. Thunderstorms were forecast for the afternoon so I set off from my campsite on the riverbank of the Oykel River opposite the hotel after a night disturbed by constant coughing where I had found sleep difficult. I set off at 5am and hiked in superb weather to Loch Ailsh where I was rewarded with a loch so flat and calm, the surrounding mountains and sky reflected a mirror image on the still water.

Looking back towards Conival 

There then followed a long uphill, trackless hike, towards a pass below the peak of Conival where I had stunning views down towards Loch Assynt and Inchnadamph. I camped alongside the River Traligill at Inchnadamph after a stunning day of hiking through the mountains of the North-West highlands. Here, I spent a really uncomfortable night coughing and shivering and it was this that convinced me I needed to call a halt to the hike, which was particularly galling as I was only around 60 miles from the Cape. These photos were taken on this last day from Oykel Bridge to Inchnadamph. 

Remembering the Cape Wrath Trail 2000

Loch Hourn from the path to Kinloch Hourn 

In just over a week, I will be back in Strathcarron ready to start my next leg of the Cape Wrath Trail, a route that has hovered on the fringes of my consciousness since the spring of 2000. Back then, I had some experience of long distance hiking and wild camping having walked Wainwright's Coast to Coast walk alone in 1998 and the Southern Upland Way in 1999, which I had walked with my friend Ian. On this fairly remote and often testing walk, we had enjoyed a great trip using tents, bothies and B&B's and upon our return, looked around for something similarly challenging.

My Scottish National Trail - Return to the Highlands

In around two weeks, I am returning to Strathcarron to continue my walk that effectively began in 2015 in Edale with the start of the Pennine  Way. Having completed this epic trail, I decided to continue the hike last year by returning to Kirk Yetholm and continuing the walk for around 310 miles across Scotland via a section of the Scottish National Trail, the West Highland Way and finally  finishing at Strathcarron on the Cape Wrath Trail. It is this last trail that I am returning to complete on the 22nd May. I have already had a tough baptism on this trail through Morar and Knoydart and I am now itching to get back to complete what is considered the UK's toughest hike.

The Cape Wrath Trail (SNT3) - 27th May to 1st June

Loch Eil

After a rest day in Fort William, I left the town the following day on the small ferry across Loch Linnhe to Camusnagaul and the start of the Cape Wrath Trail as my wife waved me off from the jetty. I had expected this part of the trip to be hard, having just spent eight days hiking with her, and so it proved. My mood deteriorated throughout the day as the early sunshine degenerated into grey gloom along with my mental state. The early part of the walk in the sunshine alongside Loch Eil was very pleasant but soon the miles along the roadside became monotonous, although there was little traffic. Eventually, I reached the head of the loch and crossed the road into Glenfinnan and passed a sign stating ' Strathan 10 miles' as I headed into Gleann Fionn Lighe, which signalled the start of the walk proper. As I followed the clear wide track into the mountains, I thought of the time sixteen years earlier when I had set off on this walk with a friend. This time however, I felt very lonely without my wife walking alongside me. This mood deepened as I progressed through lovely countryside with forest to my left and a river to my right. Eventually, the surroundings became wilder as the peak of Gulvain appeared ahead like a huge sharks fin. Soon, I left the main track for a strength-sapping climb through tussocky grass and bog to the summit of the Gualann nan Osna pass, which seemed to take an age to reach. When I finally did reach it, it was with great relief and I stood staring at the mountains ahead and down into the Glen Camgharaidh as a number of red deer, disturbed at my approach, scattered down the steep slopes into the glen below. On my earlier trip with my friend, we had passed this spot and descended into the glen and turned west to set up camp on the bank of the River Camgharaidh. For some inexplicable reason, I didn't want to do this, my whole being told me to go in the opposite direction down the valley, so I did! I still don't know why I did it but as I squelched along, I suddenly spotted a potential campsite by a tree next to the river and set my tent up. Once my tent was up, my mood improved and as I ate I looked up at the near vertical slope of Gulvain and pondered what to do next. After eating, I slowly settled down for the night and studied the maps and guidebook for the onward route as rain began to fall on the tent. I wasn't quite sure exactly what I would do in the morning but I fell asleep listening to music on my MP3 player. Tomorrow would bring a solution!