Before the memories fade, the pain, the exhaustion, the injuries, the frustration....oh and the joys of course.....of the latest long distance walk fade, a summary.
Firstly, for the purposes of this post, the blog may, temporarily, have to be re-named: something along the lines of trudging-slowly-with-much-falling-and-stumbling-and-cursing.
So much walking recorded here (and quite a lot that isn`t) and yet and yet...........this was Walking or Hiking even or, as the French have it randonee which apparently is derived from the Old French meaning to "run headlong" (cue derisive laughter.)
It began so well and as veterans (i.e. done them once) of The West Highland Way & The Great Glen Way we might have been forgiven for thinking we could handle this, especially as the first day dawned warm and Springlike .We knew The Cape Wrath Trail would be several more degrees of difficulty and had promised ourselves to take our time and be sensible.......decisions we would come to hang on to with gritted teeth.
It started on a little boat that took us to the start of the walk.
The owner had clearly seen it all before and didn`t bat an eye-lid at our enormous backpacks or the slightly confused looking dog accompanying us. In fact he had a dog as one of his 2 man crew.
The previous night`s worries and doubts (could we? should we?) were dispelled as we arrived at the other side and set off along the road under cheerful skies and full of optimism.
First night camping and we woke to more good weather, warm even, and made it, eventually, to the first bothy,* Glenfinnan, passing under the infamous "Harry Potter" viaduct. A bothy with electric is not usual but, having lit the fire, we charged (soon to become redundant) phones, boiled a kettle and made the most of it.
And overnight it rained. And rained. And blew. And rained. Which is when we began to realise what we`d taken on. After that it all becomes a bit of a blur.
Without detailing every stumble and fall of the next day, suffice to say that what should have been a "comfortable days walk" turned into a ridiculous battle with the elements, negotiating what should have been nothing more than a wet path which the rain had transformed into a series of raging torrents surging down the sides of the mountain, crossing the actual river when we finally got down to it and then "yomping" through the glen with the bog dragging at our legs while the wind viciously attacked us from behind.
In a way it was a good day to get over and done with as weatherwise it was probably the worst - it began to feel as if the wind was singling us out for special attention and never missed a trick to grab the pack on my back and use it to swing me over. Suffice to say that when we eventually arrived at the next bothy, albeit in the dark, we had never been so grateful to the volunteers who look after these shelters** as well as the hiker who`d been in the night before and left a ready made up fire so we didn`t even have to build one. (We did the same before we left in the morning.)
From then on it was ups and downs - both literally and metaphorically - and maybe the fact that we took fewer photos - a lot fewer - on this trip than previous ones points to us having neither the time or the energy for getting the camera out quite so often.
We never really expected to crack the whole route though would have liked to maybe complete the southern "half" as far as Strathcarron. In the event we were thwarted about 50 miles in by weather (being sensible about not attempting a mountain pass in forecast snow) and, ultimately injury which meant proceeding became problematic.
Learning curve was off the scale but has resulted in a determination to go back and pick up where we left off. How realistic that is only the gods know but it`s something to think about, maybe even actually aim for.
In the end, though we didn`t know it at the time, this turned out to be our last camping spot. Not a bad way to finish.
And a special shout out to the couthy Cluanie Inn which went out of its way to find a room for us despite being pretty much fully booked for the Easter Weekend, where we sat out the dodgy weather and eventually came to the conclusion we`d have to call it a day, where we ate massive breakfasts, and spent far too much on their excellent evening meals - and their whisky - as well as indulging in the spicy samosas from their bakehouse across the road. We couldn`t have found a better place.
