Legs and Borders

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...