SNT (day 16) - Ullapool to Loch Ailsh (Cape Wrath Trail)

Surprisingly good and straightforward day, it felt almost like I wasn't hiking Cape Wrath Trail at all.

I've left the hostel at 7am, headed straight to Tesco to resupply and bought way too much junk food as per usual. My next stop was "Bothie Coffeeshop" just around the corner, where I had "Scottish breakfast" it was pretty much all meat with a slice of toast and an egg thrown into the mix, but I wouldn't be complaining as extra protein at this point was appreciated, overall it was very tasty and the coffee was big and hot.

Hiking out of Ullapool was fairly easy, I've taken an alternative route going along Loch Achall and after few miles I was back on CWT, for pretty much rest of the day and to my great surprise trail was a nice gravel road running along rivers and lakes which allowed me to hike way further than I anticipated.

I've passed two nice bothies along the way, second one was converted from an old school building with a blackboard, chairs and tables still inside, I thought it was a great idea to "recycle" the building which would otherwise fall into disrepair.

At about 3pm I've reached Oykel Bridge and a hotel right next to it which had a public bar, I had a coffee here and overheard fisherman praying for some rain as the rivers in the area were very low. Pretty much rest of my day was hiking along the river "converted" to fisherman needs, there were benches and huts where they could rest, grass was trimmed along the edges of the river to have a better access, road and wooden bridges ran all along the place so the cars could easily drive around the area. For me it meant easy hiking and plenty of spaces to camp.

I've chosen one excellent spot not far from where the road has ended on the river bank with a massive, flat, grassy spot, absolutely perfect to pitch a tent. I've had a venison chorizo and butteries for dinner, when I've read the small print on the label it said "Wild Game may contain bullet fragments" luckily my portion of chorizo was bullet free.

I was observing a pair of birds which I believe were Dunlins, flying around the river stones and chirping in what looked like their method to gather food, I couldn't stay out too long as the midges find out about me and started to pester every inch of my body so I quickly jumped inside my tent and zipped it all up until tomorrow morning. I knew they will be waiting for me.