The Cape Wrath Trail 2012 Part 1

 

 

Day 1

Well this walk report is meant to inspire you into doing the Cape Wrath Trail, unlike my last year’s attempt which was aborted due to being washed out my tent at 2 in the morning, once I reached Sourlies Bothy, With last year’s ghosts behind me, I was off and running with dreams of what lay before me, I was not disappointed!.

The route was the same as last year with the exception of the start point, Glenfinnan was the chosen spot because this was the route I took out last year, and a very nice route it was too!

Friday 4th May.

Glenfinnan to Sourlies Bothy

28.3km

I was up at stupid hour in the morning so that I could be dropped off in FortBilly by a friend in time to catch the first train to Glenfinnan, Once on board and on the way I noticed two lads a few rows in front of me talking to each other about the CWT and their chosen route, these were the strangers I was to spend the next couple of weeks getting to know, having a laugh with and sharing the experiences of the Trail along the way. Stevie is from the Glasgow end of Scotland, Shaunthefish from the Orkney end and I’m from the middle.

After a nice leisurely trip to Glenfinnan on the train and introducing myself to Stevie and Shaun at the station, with the customary photographs out of the way, it was time to begin!

 With a spring in our step, out of the station and down onto the pavement beside the A830, which was full of day trippers walking down to the Bonnie Prince Charlie thingummy bob!, Turning left (or should I say E) passing under the viaduct which looks spectacular in pictures and films and which I had always assumed was built of grey granite only to be disappointed to see that it is actually ugly concrete, but still spectacular in its design!.

By the way I should have mentioned that the weather was good, dry, bright with blue skies and puffy white cotton wool clouds, anyway, onwards and upwards passing and having a look at Corryhully Bothy which to our amazement had electricity in it.

Now came our first challenge to blow off the winter cobwebs and scare our muscles into action, Bealach a’ Chaorainn, track most of the way which tapered out to a footpath and eventually to nothing as you near the crest, flat topped with a gate in the middle flanked by nothing, it’s a must to pass through remembering to close it behind you. Once you reach the end of the flat top you are rewarded with a great view of Gleann a’ Chaorainn streatching out before you as far as the forested Glen Dessarry, no path on the other side but in dry weather it is easy going, we did see from the top what we thought was a quad track on the south side of the burn but this is intermittent so we soon crossed back to opt for the easier side.

On reaching the bottom of the Glen you are confronted with two river crossings, the first you pick the spot, for us it was easy as there wasn’t much water in it, the second is over a wooden estate bridge. Once over the rivers we decided to have our first break at the edge of the forest beside the fire break that we were to go up on a rather muddy track and onto the forest road.

Turning right(or NE), the going was easy with gentle inclines and declines(or is it ascents and descents?) passing the second bothy of the day, A’Chuil. Now you start a steady climb when you leave the burn side,

still in the forest for a short time until you pop out into the open, heather and peat underfoot all the way to Bealach an Lagain Duibh with another intermittent path. Once you reach the top it more or less levels out along the shores of Lochan a’ Mahaim,

 

now remember to cross the burn at the far end of the loch, as soon as you can (unlike myself last year), a small cairn marks the best spot to cross. Once over the burn at the cairn the path may be hard to spot, it climbs sharply behind the cairn, it doesn’t follow the burn. Winding steeply uphill you soon get a glimpse of Loch Nevis for the first time away bellow you in the distance,

 now you know it’s all downhill from here on what may have been an embanked winding cart road at one time to Sourlies bothy, almost at the bottom you pass through some trees that follow a burn down the hillside, crossing this burn on a newly refurbished footbridge taking advantage of the old timbers left behind in a pile, firewood for the bothy, Stevie and I took one plank each which was awkward enough to carry, on reaching Sourlies bothy we threw them down, knackered but proud with the effort that we had put in, only to be shamed by Shaun (the smallest of the three of us) who appeared carrying two planks without a care in the world.

Sourlies bothy was full so we set up camp outside, making sure not to pitch in the same spot as last year as the ghosts of last year were going to be with me until the morning. The little stream beside the bothy had next to no water in it, we had to climb the hill to where the water was at least running, or should I say trickling, to fill the water bottles, unlike last year where it was a raging torrent flooding the area in front of the bothy.

A nice relaxing end to the first day, having dinner whilst admiring the scenery and the wildlife.

 

Time for bed!, looking forward to tomorrow. ZZZZZzzzzzzzz!

Day 2

Sat 5th May

Sourlies Bothy to Kinloch Hourn

The second day started early at Sourlies for me, I had breakfast (2 packets of Alpen porridge oats with a heaped spoon of sugar, 2 spoons of dried milk which had been mixed together and vacuum packed, followed by a mug of coffee) and was packed up and on my way by 07:30. The tide was in so I climbed up and over the rocky outcrop of Strone Sourlies, which didn’t take to much effort to take me into the next glen, presumably called Glen Carnoch.

It was again a nice morning, the same as yesterday with a gentle breeze behind me coming off Loch Nevis. I decided not to follow the path that crosses the flat boggy estuary following the river Carnach up the glen but to stick to the side of Coille Ghoirtein where it was drier underfoot until it met up with the river, from meeting the river there was an intermittent path all the way up to the start of Carn Mor, At the end of Carn More where the river turns east, this was the point that I was to turn west, Mmm!, it was steep, with no path!, but somewhere up there was the path that I was to connect with.

It didn’t take me too long to get to the top, Attacking it head on, zigging and zagging all the way up with a minutes rest at every zag, I was puffing and panting, coughing and wheezing all the way, muscles and lungs still not awoken from their winter slumber, that was the hardest part of the day over and done with, from now on the going was to be nice and easy.

The path was simple to find at the top and it wasn’t a footpath like I had expected, but an over grown or little used quad track which was easily followed up, over and into Gleann Unndalain.

With the last views of Glen Carnoch fading away to my left, I kept an eye out for Stevie and Shaun, who could have only been half an hour behind me, but they weren’t to be seen. Unknown to me, they were hidden bellow me, attacking Carn Mor with a frontal assault which was longer but not as steep, rather than my flanking move which was shorter but steeper. Once over the top and into the descending glen Unndalain the wind was cold and strong, the view down into Barridale was magnificent. So despite the cold wind, time was dutifully taken for a break and to admire the breath taking view.

The descent down the glen was simple, on a well established track all the way to Barrisdale bothy where a long midday break was taken. It was now time to break out the honey stove and make a mug of coffee and have a pot of custard with fruit and nuts, ''Mmmm'' that hit the spot!. During this time Stevie and Shaun caught up and we exchanged our experiences of the morning.

 

My break was over to quickly but I was itching to get going again, leaving the pair of them to finish their break at the bothy I was off again, back onto the track/road passing the scattered houses of Barrisdale, each with their own generator rumbling away in the background.

Rounding the headland of Barrisdale Bay that takes you to kinloch Hourn,

leaving the track/ road at a junction with a narrow foot path on your right, the path from here on in undulates all the way to the scattered village of Kinloch Hourn with various degrees of ascents and descents, but more or less following the shores of the loch all the way with great views, passing the narrows of Chaolais Mhoir and the island of Eilean Mhogh-sgeir which lies off Runival.

 

On reaching the village of Kinloch Hourn, dwarfed by the three tops and steep sides of Sgurr nan Eugallt, Sgurr a’ Mhaoraich and Buidhe Bheinn, the rumble of the generators becomes apparent once again.

Now then!, just past the car park on the opposite side is a café, this is where my obsession for the elusive fruit scone and jam began, and was to stay with me for the remainder of the walk. The day was done, so in I went for the refreshments of tea and cake, not a single fruit scone to be had, but refreshed anyway it was now time to enquire about pitching the tent. Stevie and Shaun arrived for their refreshments as I was leaving. I was informed that about 100 yards further on down the road turning left over a bridge lies a thin strip of grass sandwiched between the river and the road which leads to the keeper’s cottage, this is the area for camping.

£1 per tent per night, payable at the Keepers cottage, also with an invitation to use the only phone in the village, Toilets are available back at the cafe 24hrs, but don’t expect hot running water or a mobile phone signal and be prepared for the rumble of distant generators all night!

With the spot chosen for the tent, it was now time to begin the evening’s ritual of setting up camp, pitching the tent, unpacking and getting dinner on. There was Plenty of wind blown, dried twigs about at the river side so I decided to conserve the meths and use the Honey stove for the first time as a wood burner to boil the water for my dehydrated chicken casserole and couscous, this worked brilliantly in about the same amount of time as the meths.
 

Again Stevie and Shaun arrived and again we exchanged the day’s events. I was now getting tiered, before retiring for the night, the last thing to do before bed was to have a leisurely stroll over to the toilet for a wash and brush of the teeth, MY GOD!, I think it was glacial water coming from the tap, I was no longer tiered, wide awake refreshed by the ice water! Eventually the day came to an end when I nodded off at some point to the rumble of the various generators in the distance. ZZZZzzzz!

Day 3

 

Kinloch Hourn to Morvich

Sun 6th May

23.2km

 

The morning of the 3rd day began with the same routine as the previous two mornings and the same as the subsequent mornings, as the days go by you become slicker at the routine, the more you do it, the better you become at it, knowing what to do, when to do it and what is the best way to do it. At the start I would be taking about an hour and a half to get ready to set off for the day, already I was noticing the improvement, that also goes for packing the rucksack, packing it in such a way that if I needed something during the day I knew where it was and could get to it without unpacking the whole bag.

After saying my goodbyes to Stevie and Shaun I was off, I chose to cross the open hillside of Coire Sgoireadail to connect with the track on the hillside rather than complete the dog-leg down the road to the start of the track at Loch Coire Dubh. It was slightly overcast but looked as if the sun was going to burn through later on, which it did. The way up the glen was easy, a gradual ascent on a good path/track to begin with, becoming intermittent the closer you got to Bealach Coire Sgoireadail,
 

once at the foot of the Bealach it became rocky and rose up quite steeply, but it wasn’t too far to the top and was covered in no time at all.

From the top of the Bealach you could see the grand vista of Wester Glen Quoich and the next Bealach on the route, Bealach Duibh Leac off to the left on the far side of the glen, Also visible was the track that came up the Glen, but it didn’t go any further than where the path that I was on met. "that’s not what it showed on the map", it shows a path all the way, That meant that the next section up and over the Bealach was going to be tough going as the glen floor looked boggy, haggy, tussocky and Bealach Duibh Leac looked steep sided.

Now it was my turn to attack a Bealach head on in a frontal assault, unlike the Bealach on the second day. I broke it down into digestible chunks and just chipped away at it for over an hour, zigging and zagging until I finally crested the ridge, to my amazement there was a dry stone wall on the ridge that followed it all the way round in a horse shoe for what seemed like miles, I remember thinking at the time “who in their right mind would build a wall up here at 700m and why”?, the effort that must have gone into building it is mind boggling.

The view down into Glen Shiel with the A87 winding along its bottom next to the River Shiel is impressive, worth every step of the hard slog up the Bealach.

Whilst standing on the ridge admiring the view, which had a freezing cold wind blowing over it, I could see Stevie and Shaun tackling Wester Glen Quoich floor far bellow me.

I received a text whilst standing there, the first phone signal since leaving Glen Finnan, so I took the opportunity to phone home to Moira. I started shivering whilst talking to Moira, after only a couple of minutes I had to cut her off and get moving again due to the cold. The descent into Glen Shiel started very steeply over rocky ground without a path, but at least it was a rapid descent, once out of the rocks it was a simple all the way on a good path to the A87 where I had a good rest sitting in the sun beside the road catching up with home.
 

 

Now began the first of two boring plods of the walk on the horrid black stuff all the way to Morvich, the few miles were relatively quickly covered, So what can I say about this part of the day?, absolutely nothing!, I hate tar!, As dull as dishwater!. The only good thing was that I had changed my boots this year from my old faithful Scarpa Nepals to the Salomen Cosmic 4D's, which were fabulous on the black stuff but would later let me down. Once I reached the filling station at Shiel Bridge I stopped for refreshments and to have a stock up on snack bars, also having another look for the elusive fruit scones, still none to be had. Once again Stevie and Shaun arrived, their break and refreshments were going to be taken at the pub this time so I left them to it and carried on along the roadside past the Kintail hotel finally turning off the A87 onto a minor road heading to Morvich Caravan and camping site for the night and more importantly the use of their showers and laundry facilities, which by now I was desperately in need of, “a bit ripe”!.

The campsite has good facilities and it wasn’t long before I was feeling fresh and smelling of summer flowers in the meadow, the tent was up and organised and it was now time to get dinner on.

This year I decided to leave the sturdy Vango Tempest 150 behind and opt to take the GoLite Shangri-la 3 with the Oook nest half inner as the tent of choice instead, This decision was based on purely the amount of floor space and its weight, 1.2 kg compared to the Vango at 2.5kg, a decision I would later regret, the reasons will become apparent at a later stage of the report.

Stevie and Shaun arrived whilst I was having my evening meal, they had a glow about them, suitably refreshed at the pub. The evening was spent relaxing and discussing yet another days events and tomorrows route before turning in for the night. ZZZZzzzz!

Day 4

The river crossing

Morvich to Berneas Bothy

Monday 7th May

34.2km

Yet again another glorious morning which started as the rest have started, Steivie and Shaun were up but Stevie was complaining of feeling unwell. After breakfast and packing up Stevie informed me that he was going to start later or have the day off depending on how he was feeling later on, Once again I said my goodbyes and off I went, Out of the campsite back onto the road from last night, this time turning right and then right again onto a farm track leading up Strath Croe, This is a nice easy forest walk, on a good forest road all the way until it terminates at a concrete bridge, at this point it becomes a narrow path, uphill into Bealach na Stroine,

Once over the Bealach the ground is relatively flat for a short distance on a good path before the steep descent down to the Falls of Glomach, these falls are impressive,

standing at the top looking down at the cliff sides I chickened out of taking the path down because it looked narrow, damp and very steep, I decided to change the route down and opted to go up river for a short distance and then to cross the side of Meall Sguman where I would connect with a path at the side of Loch Lon Mhurchaidh. This path is intermittent and is at times hard to follow over haggy peat bogs, From a junction in the path I turned left to take me down the steep sides of Coire Easach to Carnach. During the descent at one point the path stopped abruptly where there had been a land slide, only about 50 feet away the path resumed but in-between the steep ground was very loose and sandy, I decided to cross it, not a clever move as I just made it across, the ground was slipping away with every step. In the distance looking at Carnach I could see Shaun approaching the farm, So I knew he had not gone down the path at the falls either.

 

From Carnach, after a short break, the walking was easy again on a good farm road up Strath Duilleach, past Iron Lodge and then keeping left at the next junction, now it was up hill for a short time with good views of Killilan Forest and the surrounding hills, this is where I caught up with Shaun or he waited for me, A nice easy walk all the way to Maol-Bhuidhe Bothy where it was time to take a long break.

At the bothy, which is in good order, we planned the route which would take us over open ground with no path so that we could connect up with the track on the shores of Loch Calavie, we agreed that we would stay high on the shoulder of Beinn Dronaig where it would be drier underfoot and easier to spot the track and pick a route to it. Once on the track quick progress was made along the shores of loch Calavie in light drizzle,

down and around the corner to Loch an Laoigh which leads to the open ground in front of Bearneas Bothy (NH021430), which is only a short distance but is peaty, haggy, tussocky and wet underfoot.

 On reaching the Bothy it was time for dinner, get the fire going and organising ourselves for the night. A nice warm night !

ZZZzzzz!