Legs and Borders

Amazing day of hiking, it's almost like Isle of Skye Trail had two faces, one before and one after Portree, the second one was why I came here for! Trail was following cliffs for first few miles until it reached the road and first outstanding part of the trail Old Man of Storr rock formation, place was teeming with tourists and with a good reason, the mountain was beautiful. From here path followed a ridge and then an endurance rollercoaster commenced of climbing cliffs, the view on both sides of the island was great and well worth the effort. I've seen quite a few hikers going south as well. Finally the Quiraing revealed itself, an otherworldly landslip at the end of Trotternish ridge, an absolutely spectacular rock formation with hundreds of tourists walking it's 4 mile circuit. It was truly worth to hike across the Isle of Skye to see this and I hope I will one day return and explore this special place again. From here trail dropped to the sea level and followed a coasta...

Big day, I used up the only sunny day best I could. To be fair trail all the way to Sligachan was very straightforward, a lot of roadwalking, no climbs at all but the surroundings were very charming. I had a quick coffee at Sligachan and carried on through surprisingly muddy track along the Loch Sligachan it was only an hour though before the trail was running along a perfectly dry and even road again. I've arrived at Portree just after 5pm, had a portion of chips, resupplied at a Coop and hiked out of this extremely busy but very beautiful place, it was my last shopping before the end of trail as there wasn't any more towns along the way. Trail leading out of Portree was surprisingly tough, after walking along the coast there was a long climb up to the top of a cliff followed by a windy and boggy walk on top of it. I've managed to find fairly sheltered spot here and decided to call it a day with nearly forty miles covered today my legs were not having it any longer. Good n...

After finishing Scottish National Trail I've had a week to spare, and what was better to use it on than another hike! A friend of mine recommended me to walk Isle of Sky Trail, a fairly new and unofficial path in Scotland. It span for 80 miles across the Isle of Skye. Many other people I knew has recommended me to visit the island before so I took this opportunity. Durness where I was staying last night wasn't that far away, plus Scottish government released new bus tickets discounts, so you could get a bus across Scottish Highlands for £2! Because I had to change at Inverness, I paid £4 for a five hour journey, that was nuts. I've arrived at Broadford at 4pm and after a quick coffee I've jumped on the trail. I've met pretty much straight away a dentist from Germany called Henrietta also hiking the trail, she did some hiking in New Zealand before so we had plenty to talk about, she also showed me a cool video of a kiwi bird she took while hiking in Stuart Island. I...

Last 8 miles of the trail went fairly well, it was basically a pathless cliff walk across military shooting range but luckily the soldiers were off duty. I said goodbye to the Sandwood Beach in the morning and proceeded through the grassy and uneven landscape towards my final destination. Lighthouse would make an occasional appearance along the coast as I progressed. About four hours later I've arrived at the end of my journey! Johnny the lighthouse keeper was there prepping breakfast for other three hikers who stayed in the bunkhouse last night, I've joined in and had some eggs and beans in roast and a white coffee. The sea was too rough this morning so the boat back to Durness got canceled, Johnny offered us a lift as far as the road went (there was no road connection from Cape Wrath to mainland) after which we had to walk our way back to civilization. It took few hours but at 1pm I've crossed the last bridge leading to a road towards Durness, after 15 minutes I've ca...

Big day, I've placed myself strategically for the last push, in the most remote beach in UK (apparently). First few miles in the morning were an easy road walk. The stubborn horses were gone, perhaps they went back through the same hole in the fence they escaped yesterday. Cape Wrath wouldn't be itself if there wasn't a pathless section every now and then and soon enough there was one, soon after climbing Ben Dreavie, next four miles were a boggy, shaggy, inarticulate mess (still beautiful though). Gradually it became a road and then the process repeated itself along the lake with super complicated name: Loch a' Gharbh-bhaid Mhoir, very heavy metal sounding name indeed, I loved it. After hiking in deep mud along steep metal sounding lake for few hours, trail eventually surfaced at Rhiconich, small village with police station at which I've been told by Dave I met yesterday, Cape Wrath Firing Range report was posted and indeed there was!  Basically, last 8 miles of th...

Amazing day with the most unexpected ending. I started early and did the first pass next to Conival and Ben More Assynt mountains, it was find your own way kind of ascent, both gps apps were showing different paths one left the space blank at the top with the line suddenly ending. It took me good hour to get to the other side, descent was steep but at least the trail was there to follow, on my way down I've met few people going to climb mentioned above Munros, they didn't realize CWT was running along their path. Second pass of the day just after Ichnadamph was massive, way to the top though was fairly easy as the trail was visible, view from the top was simply spectacular and well worth the climb, I've seen a female Ptarmigan with few tiny yellow chicks on the way up, a lot of birds were raising their young now, they were mostly ground dwelling and they would raise the alarm every time I was passing near their nest. Descent from the pass was long and muddy, so was walking ...

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, chair...

Very good day of hiking and I managed to reach one of the last and biggest resupply points before reaching Cape Wrath, Ullapool. I had a bit later start as I thought I won't be finishing at Ullapool but as day progressed it seemed more and more likely. The terrain wasn't too difficult and the weather was exceptionally good. Halfway through the day I met Ivana, a middle-aged lady from Czechia, she was finishing her Cape Wrath Trail she started last year, she shared with me some tips and tricks for the trail ahead (she has done that section already) and told me about very upsetting incident that happened to her last year, she was hiking with another person, it was very rainy and after they split to tackle the trail differently they been both crossing a dangerous river in two different places, she got a message two days later from her friend that the guy has drowned while crossing the river, a horrible accident and memory to behold. It was Ivana's last day on Cape Wrath trail ...

Today was a bit of a mixed bag, weather and trail were all over the place there were some easy sections followed by hard ones but the scenery kept on getting better. It was cold and rainy since morning, first climb towards Sgurr a Chaorachain was quite tough and pathless, luckily I had to head towards the pass so it wasn't a big deal, descent was steep and muddy but once at the bottom and after doing an easy river crossing the trail followed a stone road, the weather was getting worse though and the wind was getting stronger. After two more small passes and an extremely muddy descent that reminded me of trails in New Zealand, I've arrived in Kinlochlewe, a town with a small grocery store I was hoping to buy some food in. Despite it being Sunday, the shop was opened from 12-5, it was decently stocked and I've bought a venison salami, pack of digestive biscuits, few butteries and a brie and red onion quiche. On my way out of town I've booked the hostel in Ullapool as I re...

A near perfect day on the trail, perfect weather, path was mostly straightforward and the views were spectacular. The trail was running next to two bothies or Scottish huts for hikers early in the morning, I had a peek in the first one and it kind of reminded me the hiker huts in New Zealand but a bit smaller and with less facilities, they were still much better than three walled huts on the Appalachian Trail. As I progressed down the path I've met Anja, an accountant from London who recently left her job to pursue her dream of travelling and self discovery, she has spend 15 months travelling through Asia and now was on a short hiking trip here, her plan was to hike PCT next year which I've completed four years ago, so we had plenty to talk about. Anja was finishing her walk in Morvich so I wished her good luck on her travels and carried on. At the Kintail Outdoor Centre I got offered a coffee and biscuits from a bunch of friendly horse riders who just finished their hike, I co...

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 Heb...