Packet soups can be supplemented with dried potato. BUT it isnt always open during term time as geology students book the whole place out to study the nearby Lewisian gneiss. The Cape Wrath Trail travels up Scotland from Fort William to Cape Wrath, an isolated lighthouse at the most north westerly point of Britain. The longer trails have mostly been around long enough that any outlet close by has a modicum of food on sale from which something can usually be found suitable for taking on trail for a few days. If youre walking from Cape Wrath to Fort William, as I did, then youll need to get yourself up to Durness to start the hike. As it cannot be omitted from any hiking guide, heres a list of must-have gear on the Cape Wrath Trail! This type of re-usable heat pad has been around for a good few years now. It links Fort William with Cape Wrath, the farthest northwest point of the British mainland. WebI did the West Highland Way and Cape Wrath Trail (Walkhighlands Route along Glenfinnan) back to back in May of 2018 and it was one of the best and the most beautiful long distance hikes i ever did, but i was especially lucky weatherwise.. it was an extremly dry year and many of the boggy sections had dried off. We didnt move, the midges were attacking everyone, but had they not have been, she would have made sure everyone relocated. I sent supply parcels to Fort William, Shiel Bridge and Ullapool with a request to hold the parcel until a certain date. The shop is quite quirky, every little bit of space is used to hold a variety of products. It typically takes between two and three weeks to walk. My base weight everything except food, fuel, and water is 7.5kg including a proper double skin tent. I moved upstream and found a better crossing point, but it was still a scary experience. Surprisingly my leg improved despite continuing to walk 50km+ days. It may be necessary to call into roadside petrol stations, factor in a call to a pub or an overnight halt in their bunkhouse or in a hostel and take advantage of what they have. The hostel was only about a kilometer off trail and it was all along paved road. Think about carrying dense, heavy and fat filled food for the first nights halt. Please go to the Instagram Feed settings page to create a feed. For me, the relationships between centre and periphery, resident and visitor, present and past are a huge part of what make the Cape Wrath Trail such a captivating journey. Those who declined may have preferred to be discreet about businesses run on land leased or owned by an estate. Fancy labelled chocolate smothered cookies can contain oats rather than flour, flapjacks of some form or another are almost universal. Bothies are rarely near trees or woodland on this route, so you must learn aboutother fuels you can utilise such as dry peat or heather. Worthwhile pitstops include the Kintail Lodge Hotel at Shiel Bridge (which has a bunkhouse), the Strathcarron Hotel, the Kinlochewe Hotel (bunkhouse), and the Inchnadamph Hotel (good-value rooms and walker-friendly). Some trails have caught our interest so far: the Cape Wrath Trail (either the North or South section), the Skye Trail, and the Affric Kintail Way. The streams and rivers can rise a couple of inches within just a few hours of heavy rain, so be prepared to wait out the bad weather in a bothy for day or two, until the water levels have subsided. Harveys excellentCape Wrath Trail mapsclearly display most of the more common variants. Do you need to make more supply runs? What keeps him and his daughter there, on the most north westerly point of the mainland? While vitamin tablets can be taken, these should not be necessary provided you also take the opportunity to load up on fruits and vegetables occasionally when the opportunity presents itself. These will seldom provide much in the way of proper meal stuffs and cannot be relied on as an effective means of resupply, to be regarded instead as welcome snacks and supplementary drinks. This is motivated by a recent interest in zero waste, and one of the challenges from the 2019 r/Ultralight Backpacking Challenge. The Cape Wrath Trail (lets call it the CWT from now on) is known as Scotlands most challenging long-distance trail. This leaves you with a highly efficient, if not slightly narrow overview of every possible route variation at a fraction of the weight! For a detailed guide on shelters found along the Cape Wrath Trail, be sure to check out my CWT Bothy Guide! Click the time links for respective bus timetables. The trials of the trail will fade, but committed to memory forever are the wake-up calls of cuckoos and curlews, our close encounter with a golden eagle, the kestrel that quivers above a flowering meadow, a baby otter pottering at the edge of a burn, a black throated diver gliding on a mirror calm loch, and the gentle browsing of a yearling stag at camp. Its the lifestyle really, meeting all these mad people. There is plenty of foraging to do on the Cape Wrath Trail to supplement your diet. There are many different ways to train yourself for an undertaking like the CWT, so Ill leave it to you to find a way to train that suits your preference. This jacket comprises 2.5-layer Gore-Tex Paclite Plus, made from 75D recycled polyester. (LogOut/ WebSome trails have caught our interest so far: the Cape Wrath Trail (either the North or South section), the Skye Trail, and the Affric Kintail Way. A few days later, I meet seasoned hillgoer Liz Steel from Cumbernauld, who summarises the differences well. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. This is all about learning from my own mistakes. I find going mostly vegetarian and carrying loose split red lentils with the aforementioned additions for curries does me well. Train tickets from Edinburgh or Glasgow to Fort William vary between20 and30 for a one-way trip. Getting Lost: Lessons Learned the Hard Way, Future Forests conservation project boosts Nevis native woodland, Ive become increasingly concerned for the planet: Frozen Planet Cameraman Doug Allan on Climate Change and his Career, Landmark ruling will force the removal of Cairngorms vehicle track, The best moments in life should never be rushed: another update from Chris Townsends 450 mile Colorado walk. There are also other shops that sell food for the trail hence this is a good place for a bit of R&R and restocking. In the months leading up to your planned hike, get out in the mountains as much as possible with a big pack. It is in Scotland that more days of food may be required if you want to stay on trail and not wander off for resupply. As expenditure is something that varies strongly from one person to the next, Ill say only this: in the end, you decide how much you want to spend. But thats just part of the story the trail meets tarmac and passes through villages, too. Just how hot was that sweltering climb up? Hi there! Further resupplies at Ullapool Tesco and London Stores allowed me to go on for the remainder of the trip without posting food packages. Perhaps five or six nights camping followed by a single night in a hostel is the ideal (also giving opportunity to recharge electrics) but hostels and the like are where they are and can also be booked up solid. The secret is not to get hung up with must haves and be prepared to work around what there is on the shelves. This website uses cookies to improve your experience. Yup, seven days. On our own way north, we pass dozens of ruins, evidence of crofted farmsteads, small gardens and lazy beds. WebThe following is a list of notable deaths in January 2023 . Despite not being an officially recognised National Trail it has grown to be one of the most highly regarded backpacking If you want to cook over a fire there are many bothies on the route with fireplaces, but you wont pass oneevery day. We run a five-month season for visitors, which leaves seven months to renovate the building. The Knoydart variant is more in the spirit of the route, but its challenging, with much rough ground and several river crossings. Everyone I met for the first four days had bailed somewhere along the route by hitching or cutting their trip short. It is often possible to resupply at these places. Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), creating an efficient backpacking food menu, My final itinerary is based on 9 days on the trail, 40g jumbo oats (not rolled) pack more of a bite to them after cooking, 40g granola mix I chose for half my meals to have a berry-based mix and half to have a chocolate based one, 3 tsp of milk powder thickens the mix and gives extra sugars and protein to start the day, Just add half a cup of boiling water and eat after 5 minutes of sitting (use a, It saves some packaging as Im not packing for each day, The days are not equal in length and Ill be walking a combination of long day-short day-long day-short day etc. My basic Cape Wrath Trail menu consists of two cooked meals a day (breakfast+coffee and dinner+desert drink) and lots of easy-to-consume-foods for while I Most CWT hikes are roughly 230-250 miles in length, depending on the exact route taken, and youll need at least two weeks to do it. Most dried foods dont need to be cooked, you can cold soak noodles and other instant foods in a flask for three hours and it will still be edible. Clockwise from top: Bothy visitors Amazon, Aaron and Merlin. I can highly recommend the local Durness Bus service. Hardly any paths, wildlife, elements, me against time. For me its about the space, the remoteness, getting away from everything, she says. I met my calorie requirements by posting food parcels and supplemented this with food fromcafes, shops andforaging. I dont want this hike to sound like a washout, but it is in the wettest area of the UK. There are several pubs, restaurants and cafes along the way. As always, Im always available for any questions you might still have! From Fort William to Cape Wrath! A 250g gas can lasted me the whole journey and proved more efficient than alcohol. By contrast, the occasional estate houses we pass seem perversely ostentatious. Knoydart Lodge: Cape Wrath Stay - FANTASTIC! They became my best friend on the trail! Its not like here, so open and free. For the dozens I meet over nearly three weeks on the trail itself, their passion and appreciation for peace, space and nature is completely sincere, whether they are aware of its wider context or not. This goes to show it really doesnt need to be an expensive trip, as long as you take care to watch your spending a little bit! I will list only what I consider to be the essentials here; Ill leave it up to you how much extra gear you want to bring. We are already organizing food for the expedition. After a week or two, we become part of the furniture and the animals begin to ignore us. To resupply at these places renovate the building on shelters found along the route by hitching cutting. About businesses run on land leased or owned by an estate supplement your diet the animals begin to ignore.! 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