Cape Wrath Trail in Winter: Archive

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2012 - we have liftoff

So here we are, finally in 2012. It’s an exciting year for me as all being well, the new Cape Wrath Trail guide will be published by Cicerone later this year. Much of the basic text is written and I’m now well into the laborious process of checking and re-checking the route description and updating information about accommodation and amenities en route. Most of the route sections...

Jan 3rd

Cape Wrath Trail Guide on Twitter

Work on the new guide continues apace and I’ll be posting a more detailed update here in late October. A lot of work has gone into the route between Shiel Bridge and Kinlochewe, a section that has previously been rather a let down. If you’d like more regular updates then you can now follow us on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/CWT_Guide (@CWT_Guide)

Sep 17th

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A new Cape Wrath Trail route alternative for Assynt As followers of this blog may be aware, I’m currently working on a replacement for the venerable North to the Cape to be published by Cicerone next year. As part of the writing process, I’ve gone back to first principles, looking at the whole Cape Wrath Trail route and its many variants and trying to find places in which it can be...

Jul 16th

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Quick update...

Heading off tomorrow to nip up the West Highland Way and then check out the main variant for the start of the Cape Wrath Trail, along the Great Glen Way to Invergarry and then north via Cluanie to Morvich where’ll I’ll pick up the main route and head over the falls of Glomach and onwards to Starthcarron. I’m testing a new website called Social Hiking so you may be able to follow...

May 20th

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Cape Wrath Trail Guide - April Update

It’s fantastic to see spring finally arrive here in the rolling Cotswolds after another cold winter. It was the first Christmas in two years that I haven’t been in the North West Highlands and I think my wife would have divorced me had I even suggested it. So I’ve been using the dark winter days to chip steadily away at the new Cape Wrath Trail Guide and most of the practicality...

Apr 13th

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The new route starts to take shape

For the last few weeks the OS 1:250 000 map for Northern Scotland, Orkney and Shetland has been spread out on the office floor and I’ve been scribbling on it in crayon like a Skittles-crazed child. The aim for the new Cape Wrath Trail guide is to bring together the best of the alternative routes that have been suggested by previous authors into a new all singing, all dancing edition...

Dec 8th

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Calling all Cape Wrath Trailers...

Some very exciting news. After a series of discussions I have reached agreement with probably the foremost publisher of outdoor books to write a new guide for the Cape Wrath Trail. My aim is to draw together and update the many variations into a definitive guide to this fantastic trail. I’m also planning to scope out the feasibility of a completely new section across Assynt. I would very...

Nov 15th

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Photos and video from Cape Wrath Trail expeditions winter 08/09 & 09/10.

Jun 14th

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Trail Magazine article - July 2010

May 28th

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Over to you!

Over the last couple of years, I’ve done my best to gather together much of the information you’ll need to plan an attempt on the Cape Wrath Trail. In the process, this blog has become rather big and unwieldy I’m afraid, and some of the useful info has been posted by others in the comments on various posts. Eventually, I may try to marshall it into something a bit more...

May 24th

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May 24th

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May 24th

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May 24th

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May 17th

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Apr 22nd

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Apr 19th

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Apr 11th

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Apr 10th

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Apr 10th

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Apr 9th

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Apr 8th

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Apr 7th

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The revised kit list

Quite a few people have enquired what sort of gear I used on the trip, so here’s a fairly comprehensive list along with some comments on how it performed. Most of it was tried and tested, with the exception of my footwear choice, which was a calculated experiment. As time has gone on I’ve made more and more concessions to “lightweight”, but with the focus always on stuff...

Feb 4th

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Jan 22nd

More Cape Wrath photos... →

Finally, after much snow-related delay, the postie arrived today with the photos from my Cape Wrath Trail companion Bob’s camera. So, finally a few of me gurning into the lens and the all important pics of me being a prat in front of the lighthouse. Work commitments have slowed down the rate of posting the day reports, but these should re-commence shortly I hope. To view photos, click post...

Jan 16th

Cape Wrath Trail in May 2009 - report from Alan... →

Alan Bellis got in touch with his excellent report and route description from his expedition in May 2009 (click on post title for link). Some stunning photos. My favourite observation was “even though [this section] looks easy on the map, its hard work” - never a truer word spoken! We actually camped at the exact spot pictured by the bench next to the River Oykel, the night before the...

Jan 8th

Our expedition makes it into the national papers... →

In a highly amusing turn of events, we’ve become bit part players in a story that has made it into the national press. It rather makes it sound like we popped up to the Cape for a quick cuppa, but never mind eh? For the record, the cafe was resolutely shut as you’d expect, but we did run into the man who now lives at the Cape and his six springer spaniels (along with plenty of their...

Jan 7th

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Jan 6th

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Jan 6th

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Safely back at home now, thawing out, eating proper food and reflecting on an amazing trip. It’ll take me a while to pull all of the images off our cameras together (hence none of me yet!), but here’s a sneaky first peak. None of the Cape quite yet (film is being developed) as I managed to fall and break my own camera on Sandwood Bay! As time allows, I’ll also be adding full...

Dec 29th

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I’m doing this year’s trip to try and raise some money for a very worthy cause. Any contributions gratefully received. You can find more about Vitalise, the charity I’m supporting and my reasons for doing so at http://www.justgiving.com/iainswalktothecape

Dec 7th

The new route (at last)

It’s taken a while, but here’s the route we’ll be taking this Christmas. On the face of it, it looks too easy, but given the shortage of daylight, the true wilderness conditions and the likelihood of terrible weather, this is much more achievable than last year’s route. Bothies have been chosen where possible to safeguard against the elements. If we get good conditions,...

Dec 7th

Nov 19th

Ultralight in Winter →

Interesting blog post about an expedition between Ullapool and Kinlochewe in midwinter, experimenting with various bits of ultralight gear. Some of the kit mentioned I’m not familiar with but it’s an interesting read and the general feeling seems to be that winter in Scotland isn’t the time to be mucking about with untried kit, which puts an interesting perspective on my boot...

Nov 4th

Applause for Paramo...

A big thank you to those kindly folks at Paramo who have agreed to reproof my Aspira Smock and repair a small rip in the crotch of my salopettes (don’t ask!) free of charge. I’ve already made my views clear on how good Paramo kit is at dealing with the very worst conditions and it’s nice to find a company that is also so pleasant to deal with. My day job is in marketing and I...

Oct 27th

Christmas at the Cape - It's back on!

Lots of excitement brewing as it’s now official - Cape Wrath in Winter 2009 is on! I should be clear that this unfortunately won’t be the full Cape Wrath Trail which I’m disappointed about. It will be a journey to the cape using Strathcarron as a starting point (it’s on the railway network). Am I disappointed? In some ways yes. I set out to do the whole thing in one go and...

Sep 28th

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Kit - what worked and what didn't

With planning for this winter starting again, I was reviewing my kit list and looking at the things that worked well and what is firmly getting left behind next time. Without doubt the stars of the show were my Paramo smock and salopettes and my PH Designs down sleeping bag. Paramo seems to be one of those “marmite” brands that people either love or hate. All I can say is that...

Aug 6th

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Mid-summer optimism

Well here we are in mid-summer again, sun streaming through the windows and memories of shivering in arctic bothies far away…sound familiar? Anyway, thanks to those of you that got in touch following my last post. It now looks like I may well have a companion for the next attempt on the Cape Wrath Trail this winter. So, at last there may be a few more things to post about on this blog, and...

Jul 16th

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May 15th

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Latest photos from various expeditions

Feb 27th

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Questions, questions...

With my Cape Wrath Trail plans temporarily on hold until another window of opportunity presents itself, I thought it would be a good idea to revisit one of the original intentions of this blog. When I started out 6 months ago I struggled to find all the information I needed and wanted to draw it all together in one place to help others tackling this amazing trail. In the process this blog has...

Jan 4th

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Jan 4th

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Jan 2nd

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My Cape Wrath Trail route…as it stands today. View on larger map I should also add that my feelings are now that a few of these stages would be very dificult in winter. In January I found that seven hours of light and weather conditions made stages of over 20km pretty much unrealistic. You could do the odd day as I did starting and finishing with headtorch, but it’s not much fun. In...

Dec 25th

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Route updates - hot off the trail

As mentioned previously, one of the great things about the Cape Wrath Trail is that the route is very much down to personal choice. Access laws and the wild open places the trail traverses allow a lot of flexibility. However, there will always be obstacles and difficulties encountered and these will often change from year to year or even month to month, making it impossible for any guide book to...

Dec 25th

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Dec 24th

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It all ends in teas (this time)

It was going so well. I was the fittest I’ve been in my life, completely prepared and incredibly excited about the trip. After a overnight stop in Glenfinnan, I was so pleased to finally be on the road. Even with a very heavy pack, my steps felt light as I made my way up into Glenfinnan. As I passed Corryhully bothy, a huge stag ambled nonchalantly onto the path and stood eyeballing me in...

Dec 24th

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So long for now... →

So this is it then, 6 months of preparation are almost over and the trek begins on the 20th December. I’ll be posting brief updates from the trail direct to this blog whenever I can get a mobile phone signal. Don’t forget you can also follow my progress live thanks to the miraculous SPoT satellite tracker. Just click on the title link above or click here and you can monitor my daily...

Dec 14th

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Dec 7th

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Dec 5th