Our Director Cathy, The Climbers Shop Assistant Manager Ali and our customer Hilary took 12 days to fastpack The Cape Wrath Trail earlier this month. Here’s how they got on…….

“And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.” - Paulo Coelho, The Alchemist

I first heard about the Cape Wrath trail 15 years ago from a friend who had quietly walked all the UK’s major long-distance paths on her own. The idea ebbed and flowed in my mind but logistically it seemed too big to deal with on my own and finding one or, better, two people who might consider a 220 mile trip camping and staying in bothies through the UK’s toughest and remotest terrain was, well, tricky. Add to that a growing family, a business, family commitments and a protesting menopausal body and there were just too many reasons not to pursue the idea at all. I put it to bed. Forgot it.

But I hadn’t factored in Ali. A mere mention of it at work one day elicited her fateful words: “I’m in”. A date was set. Leave was booked. The spark wasn’t just lit, it was fanned with maps and guidebooks purchased to lay out the path ahead. But looking at the remote terrain two of us could be tricky in an emergency – three would be better….. a 9 mile fell run with one of our regular customers, Hilary sealed the deal. She was on a sabbatical from her role as a primary Teacher and looking for an adventure. She was in too.

Our research morphed into a spreadsheet full of dates, distances and locations with extra columns added over time for food drops, accommodation and, most importantly, where we could get meals, showers and do laundry. A friend and colleague, James Gibson, shared a wealth of information as well as the .gpx file of his 2019 route which he ran in 6 days 9 hours and 32 minutes. There was no way we were matching that, BUT we knew he would have spent a huge amount of time planning his route, so we figured that was good enough for us to follow.

Team meetings generally involved running in the fells, in the snow, bivvying out and poring over maps in pubs but we stumbled across a problem. We were set to start walking on the 30th September – the same day the ferry from Durness into the start of Cape Wrath ended for the season. The risk of missing the ferry and not even getting to the start was too high. This was discussed and pondered somewhere around Easdale Tarn above Grasmere, yet by the time we had climbed 150m up past Eagle Crag the decision had been made to simply walk from South to North. The odds were, we would have to finish at Sandwood Bay anyway due to live firing on the Military Range surrounding Cape Wrath lighthouse.

The spreadsheet grew with costs and accommodation possibilities as we gleaned more information from friends, customers and the internet. Logistics were helped massively by Hilary heading up to Scotland the week before, dropping off our food parcels in person and generous offers of lifts at either end from friends. Ali and Hilary were out in the fells running a LOT, while after a Spring trip trekking in Nepal, I struggled to find opportunities to spend time on my feet for long periods, having to be content with dog walks wearing a pack, shopping wearing a pack, walking fast with a pack up a nearby hill while my daughter was at karate class etc… I added in swimming and strength work too which helped psychologically but in the final two months before we set off, I was wracked with concern that I just hadn’t spent enough time on my feet. This, coupled with achy veins, inflamed foot joints and other such delightful menopausal symptoms meant a last-minute footwear change to walking boots (I’d planned on wearing trail shoes with waterproof socks) and a job lot of doubt running through my mind about whether I had bitten off more than I could chew.

We had already discussed we would do the trail “our way” - it was a journey to be enjoyed. There were no guarantees we would make it to the end, we all agreed, although secretly each one of us resolved to give the trail our all. Giddy with excitement, we ploughed through a bucket of biryani (literally) in Fort William and emerged the next morning to a mirror calm ferry crossing to Camusnagaul for the princely sum of £2. 26 miles later, a little soggy but ecstatic to finally be on the trail, our first night was spent in Corriehully bothy with a wood fire and an electric kettle.

A brutal wind pushed us across the pass the following morning, warmed by the huge smile of a South African lady on day 13 of the Trail (north to south) and ecstatic at having almost finished. Surely, we thought, we can do this too. Yet after 4 hours Walking, to a rare signpost showing another four hours to Sourlies bothy quelled the laughter and japes a little. As we arrived, the stags were bellowing and the deer grazing just outside, and the Trail jungle drums meant a space was being cleared for us on the bed shelf. The setting sun drove us inside to a roaring fire and good cheer. It was exactly how bothy nights are meant to be.

A high tide saw us set off in sandals, following James “blue line of truth” on the .gpx across the river Carnach estuary and into Knoydart. We had taken sagely advice to increase today's mileage up to 17 and camp at the end of Kinlochourn. It was a stunning blue sky, t-shirt day; so calm, we watched the tell-tale “v” of a sea otter hunting fish in the loch, but as we looked for the camping field the clear sky brought a chill twilight. We enquired directions from a chap power washing a Stag skull who, when he heard we only had bivvy bags, offered us his new workshop to sleep in – even putting down a sheet of roofing insulation for us to pop our mats and sleeping bags on – we slept like babies!

It was a long haul up and out of Kinlochourn. An even longer haul up and over Bealach Ciore Malaghain but by now our frustrated mutterings of how Scottish miles were so much longer than Lake District miles began to ebb as we were getting the lay of the land. When we reached the top, we were in awe yet again of the stunning scenery before us. Jubilant, we sat out of the wind, munching yet more calories and got the first sense of “Perhaps we can do this….” Especially when we arrived in Morvich campsite, picked up our tent flysheet, food for two days, washed our clothes then melted under the showers.

Our next day was a 24 miler and buoyed on by the forecast of doom from a helpful naysayer, we steeled ourselves through the wind and drizzle towards The Falls of Glomach. We had no idea what to expect other than a description in Raynor Winns excellent book, Landlines. We had discussed the tricky terrain on a training day happily ticking off the Langdale Pikes, when we’d re-assured ourselves that as seasoned fell runners and climbers, we shouldn’t find it a problem. I’m not going to give too much away here. The words EPIC and MONUMENTAL do it justice and we were very grateful conditions had been dry so the steep path was, for us, straightforward. We were all relieved to drop into the next stunning valley of autumnal birch trees and Mountain Ash laden with jewel red berries. “Our way” involved a 2 mile lift in the back of a farmers pick up where a river crossing saw us back on the trail proper and a loooooooong haul into Strathcarron. We knew the hotel would be closed so we were over the moon to be welcomed into the Carron Restaurant to dine on venison and red wine. Shame we had to sleep in a wet grassy field after, but this made hauling ourselves onto the station platform in time for the 6.55 train the following morning all the easier. It was only one stop to Achnashaellach from where we walked 10 miles into Kinlochewe under the Torridon giant of Bheinn Eighe to collect another fooddrop and arrive with an afternoon to spare for laundry, eating, drinking and good company at the Kinlochewe Hotel.

Our 17 mile route to Shenavall bothy took us through four valleys that could each have been different worlds. Even with so many roaring stags, we were still wary when one bellowed particularly close and were careful to allow them plenty of space. Trail fever may well have been settling in at this point as our Geology lessons morphed into nonsense stories of Dragon Licks and Rolling Haggis that had us giggling all the way to the mighty An Teallach. Having packed a Bag For Life for the purpose, we set about filling it with dead juniper, bleached heather and fallen wood a few miles out from Shenavall bothy which turned into a cosy fire as we had the bothy entirely to ourselves. The local stag didn’t seem too chuffed about our residence though, bellowing and marking all of the surrounding trees with his antlers but there were no signs of him attacking the door so we slept soundly and managed to dry socks, footwear, tent and gloves.

The rain was pouring as we set out chattering and very much looking forward to a night in Ullapool YHA but it was a chill day and the bogs had sucked at my boots so much that for the first time in more years that I can remember, I had a blister on each heel. Shod in waterproof socks, both Ali and Hilary were blister free but the day took it’s toll with all of us getting cold at some point. For me this meant an old knee injury re-surfacing so that mile 12 down to the road was not very comfortable at all. A shower, hot food and dry clothes and boots made a huge difference but the thought of the 20 mile day following filled me with dread, so I explained this to Ali and Hilary. Their answer was to get the maps out immediately and make a plan….. By sheer luck (or perhaps the universe conspiring ?) the MOD had announced the bombing range dates and the only two days we could access the lighthouse were right at the end of our trip. If we leap frogged ahead by one day we would have enough time not just to get to Sandwood Bay but to the lighthouse too. I won’t deny, this was music to my knee and blisters – with a rest day, I knew I could make it to the end.

Back on the Trail after a stay at the wonderful Inshnadamph Trekkers Lodge, we were loaded up with four days food and the end in our sights. It was only a short 13 mile day to Glendhu bothy but the terrain was otherworldly once through the brutal wind of the pass between Glas Bheinn and Beinn Uidhe. We almost trod on a stag rolling in the grass and followed the winding path through a craggy wilderness. Looking across to the falls pouring from the hanging Loch Nan Caorach, music from Lord Of The Rings was playing loudly between our ears. Yet not so loud that we forgot to look up – Hilary spotted it first; a Golden Eagle soaring above us. We were ecstatic and tripped along to Glencoul bothy for lunch. What a spot! Islands, tidal pools, Loch Glencoul itself and all around; towering faces of rock with white veils of water cascading down to the valley. It was only a 200m climb around a craggy nose before descending down to Glendhu bothy for the night but the climb and the distance were hard won. Wind, rain, hail, bog; I was lost in the world of my waterproof hood thinking of a warm fire. All the woodland we had spied on the map was impossible to get to but as we turned a particularly wet corner a dead tree was right next to the path. The Bag of Life was deployed and we arrived at the bothy to a stunning sunset and the call of Oystercatchers. It was a test of skill, but we managed to get a fire going, topped up with coal carried in by another bothy mate – he even gave us some to take with us.

To make sure I had enough in the tank to get to the lighthouse, I opted to carry the tent out to the road and hitch the next section while Ali and Hilary, still going very strong, took the bogfest path to Riconich traversing under peaks dusted in fresh snow. We’d heard warning about the river crossing here but they both crossed it comfortably in running shoes and pants. Meanwhile, I had the tent and hot water waiting for drinks and food right next to the trail in the only dry wild camping pitch available. It was a wild night in the tent, and we were frequently woken by roaring wind, roaring stags and (with no inner) condensation being blown onto our faces. We gratefully left a donation at the Riconich public toilets, our safe dry haven for re-packing in the morning.

We were now on a 16 mile mission to Sandwood Bay but not without two very important stop offs. 1) to the famous London Stores in Kinlochbervie – both a step back in time and a source of fresh fruit. 2) Highland Charcuterie and Smokehouse to buy a rather decadent lunch which we chomped on happily while sitting on magnificent sweeping white sands. Just the fuel needed for the boggy trudge to Strathchailleach bothy. The last inhabited house without utilities in Scotland. It was lived in right up until 1999 by “Sandy” whose ghost is said to still haunt it, we were quite chuffed when some bothy mates turned up to share our fire of wood, coal and peat. Sandy would have enjoyed the craic.

Day 12 was lighthouse day. One pack between the three of us and we were skipping like bog faeries from lochan to river to barbed wire fence as we crossed into the military range. It was a tunnocky, tussocky, boggy, soggy trudgefest but once we got to the road we went into top gear and the lighthouse hove into view! We’d done it and the wonderful folk of the Ozone café opened straightaway so we could celebrate with tea, coffee, soup and gargantuan beans on toast.

After 15 years, the universe had conspired to provide two nutter friends who literally laughed the whole 200 miles with me through the wildest and remotest parts of Scotland in almost all the weather possible. Friends who rejoiced in a night spent sleeping on roofing insulation in a shed, stood on stag watch so the other could pee in peace, who hid plastic in each others packs to be discovered at the next nights stop, listened to ridiculous geological stories then added and improved them until we were all roaring like stags with proper belly laughter. Yet all of this was made possible by friends off the trail too, like Dave who drove three hours out of his way to drop us in Fort William and Denise who drove three hours out of her way to provide champagne at the end and THEN cook us a full roast dinner at the wonderful Clachtoll campsite.

It was a long haul to get to the start of the Cape Wrath Trail but once we were there, the twelve days passed in jaw dropping wonder at the aching beauty of Scotland’s wilderness. All we had to do was set a date to complete it – the universe did the rest.

Training:

Ali and Hilary are regular fell and ultra trail runners so all they had to do was add a pack to their regular routine. For me, I had to ratchet training in around family, work and a menopausal body that threw all manner of challenges at me including fatigue and, most notably, inflamed joints in my feet made them super sensitive. I aimed to get out five days out of seven, which I managed for the most part, and while I added a pack to my distance and added as many inclines as possible, I was unable to fit in a lot of long hill days. My legs and core strength were strong enough, but I missed the time on my feet I needed to strengthen the muscles and toughen the skin. The knee injury was an old one which I thought was dormant, however, I could have managed this better by supporting it earlier. All in, I trained with focus for a year mostly walking, running, swimming and paddling.

Logistics:

We opted to leave food dumps at Morvich, Kinlochewe and Inshnadamph. It was also important for us to factor in showers and laundry en route. We used Camping and caravan club sites in Morvich and Kinlochewe, the excellent YHA in Ullapool and the magnificent Inchnadamph Trekkers Lodge. We can’t recommend the Strathcarron Restaurant enough for food – they made a long day a LOT better! The Kinlochewe hotel served fantastic food and has a superb selection of whiskies, due to the time of year, all of the other hotels on our route were either closed or were not open to non-residents. We have included our planning spreadsheet below to help with logistics and James .gpx is available here.

We deviated from our original plan a little but we did have lots of numbers for B&B’s and Hotels en route if we needed them!

Food & Drink:

We used a mix of Expedition Foods, Real Turmat and Firepot foods so we could be sure of taking on enough calories during the day. These we supplemented with tins or packets of fish, salami, biltong/jerky, cheese (squeezy tube variety), flapjack (Chia Bars), chocolate bars, nuts, sweets and a sizeable amount of Scottish Tablet. We also drank tea, hot chocolate, horlicks, squash and High 5 Zero Electrolyte Replacement drink. It was essential we went to bed each night full and hydrated so our bodies could recover for the next day. The Expedition and Firepot meals are slimline and don’t take up much space while the Real Turmat meals are bulkier due to the lovely great big chunks they have in their meals - the texture can make a big difference when you are eating little else! We found the Firepot foods needed a bit of extra seasoning so will pack some more next time.

We didn’t always feel hungry for the food we’d prepared but there was rarely any left!

Kit:

Even though we have all been active outdoors folk for years we still, believe it or not, needed to buy more kit for this trip, usually kit that was smaller and lighter. We’d already tested a lot of it before headed out and the flurry of WhatApp messages in the final weeks helped us all start the trail with almost exactly the same amount of kit we finished with. e.g: There was nothing surplus. What we did find was that we’d over packed our drop bags and where we had stopped for meals, we then had more dehydrated food than we needed. We shipped a box back home from one drop and then arranged to collect another on the drive home, which worked really well.

As with any trip, you get quite attached to your kit, which now have even more happy memories attached to them. Here are our top 5 picks:

Ali’s Top 5 Picks:

Good trail companions – an essential
Rab Mythic 600 lightweight sleeping bag; brilliant pack size with Sea To Summit compression bag. Mythic 400 could also work well earlier in the year or if you sleep warm.
Dexshell sock s worn with a thin Bridgedale Liner Sock, these were a game changer. It was amazing to spend a day bog trotting and/or river crossing and still have dry feet at the end of the day. The full length calf compression sock version that goes up to your knee was great due to the depth of the bogs!
Rab Muon 40l Pack; comfortable light weight hiking pack.
Suunto Vertical Watch; Easy to download the route gpx and set up a route for the day. I don’t like using electronics on the hill, but I found the occasional glance at my watch to check the blue route line on the map screen quickly, easy, and not too intrusive. An Anker powerbank kept all of my electronics topped up.

Hilary’s Top 5 picks:

Dexshell Long Compression Socks – no foot issues at all.
Rab Electron Pro Down Jacket – perfect for keeping warm at the end of the day.
Nalgene water bottle which doubled as hot water bottle (buy a wide necked one)
Rab Mythic 600 Sleeping Bag (Funnily enough, we all had one of these!)
Warm Hat and extra pair of Rab Xenon mittens – I kept these dry during the day so I could warm up quickly and stay warm in the evenings. They are super lightweight and come with a teensy stuff sack.

Cathy’s Top 5 Picks:

K Tape: Essential for supporting my sad knees and a lot comfier than a crepe bandage, their You tube channel helped me work out the best taping method.
Sea To Summit Frontier Ultralight Collapsable Kettle: We carried dehydrated food so this was our only “pan” and a really efficient way to boil water.
OMM Front Pouch: Used with the brilliant Rab Muon pack this pouch meant my snacks, hats, gloves, map, compass and phone were really easy to access.
BeFree Water Filter: I never go on a trip without one and even though we were in the wilds of Scotland there were Deer everywhere and a lot of poo! We had also been warned of folk falling ill at bothies due to contaminated water. On this trip we all used one and were bug free 😊
Leki Walking Poles: Perfect for river crossings, traversing rocky terrain, balancing with loads on our backs and reducing the colossal load that would otherwise have gone through our knees. I used my running poles on this trip as they were so lightweight and compact, however, they were in continual use so regular walking poles with a comfier grip would have worked better.

I am going to add an extra item too as we all wore a similar layer which played a key part of our layering systems:

Rab Vapour-rise Summit Jacket and Mountain Equipment Switch Pro Hooded Jacket

These mid-layers were an invaluable windproof and dried very quickly when wet. At any given time; they were outer layers, mid layers or could be worn next to the skin while base layers were drying. I also used mine every night wrapped inside out around my pillow – another Trail essential!

What we packed and didn’t use: Smidge!!! (Trekking in October in Scotland rocks!)

Our Cape Wrath Trail in Stats:

Duration: 12 days walking

Total Distance: Ali & Hilary: 220 miles Cathy: 200 miles

Total Elevation: Ali & Hillary: 29,400 feet Cathy: 27,400 feet

Bothy’s: 5

Camps: 4

Hostels: 2

Nights In A Nice Man’s Shed: 1

Sea Otters: 4

Golden Eagles: 1

Roaring Stags: Lost count

Ratio of Belly Laughter to Bog Miles: Incalculable but very, very beneficial to health!

Read here about James Gibsons Cape Wrath Run

The Cape Wrath Trail

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