SNT (day 12) - Creag a Mahaim to Ciste Dhubh (Cape Wrath Trail)

Morning was very cold. Wind and rain were also omnipresent, I've put on my wet gear and carried on along the trail. The views were spectacular, heavy rain clouds gave the vast landscape a very gothic and unique look. I was sheltering myself from the wind using an umbrella I found yesterday lying somewhere in the bog, I thought I will have no use for it but it came in handy pretty much immediately.

After five miles of struggle I've reached Cluanie Inn, everyone was asleep but the reception was opened so I snuck in to get some warmth into my trembling body, I had to rethink what to do next, the weather for the next week looked all doom and gloom with 10 degrees max temperatures and rain all over, I had to either abandon the trail completely or get a better gear that would keep me warm and dry in this conditions.

I decided on the second option. While sitting in a bakery next door and waiting for the bus to Fort William, a couple from Oxford started chatting to me, they went to Hebrides to celebrate husband's 70th birthday and had to abandon their plans after few days because of the bad weather, after exchanging our stories the guy stood up and gave me a hug, it was very sweet, apparently I reminded him of his son.

At 9:55 I was sitting on the bus heading towards Fort William, one of the roads was closed so we had to detour through Fort Augustus and went along Loch Ness which I wasn't even planning to see on this trip, what a pleasant surprise it was.

In town I went around few trekking shops and decided to buy fairly expensive but high quality hard shell Gore Tex Rab jacket and a Berghaus underlayer for extra warmth, I've also sent back home my old rain jacket and few extra bits I wasn't planning to use to make my backpack a little bit lighter. After that I resupplied for another three days which allowed me to skip resupply point at Shiel Bridge and head to the next one at Kinlochewe instead.

While having a dinner at McDonalds I've met very nice Polish girl Sara who told me just how easy it was to hitchhike around Scotland, she did it herself few years back with her boyfriend, she also confirmed that it was colder than usual for this time of the year.

I've caught the bus back on trail at 5:25pm, and started hiking one hour later after the driver graciously stopped the bus right next to the trailhead (there wasn't a bus stop there). I've carried along a beautiful valley and spotted the biggest herd of deer on trail so far, it was 35 members strong! I really enjoyed them galloping around this vast opened landscape.

Trail very quickly became wet and boggy and my feet were completely drenched, after completing five miles I've spotted a good campsite just across the river on the rocky bank and decided to stay here, it was one of the prettiest campsites on this trail so far, weather also got better and I was crossing my fingers for it to remain this way.

I was happy to be back here after this rough morning.