Charity Walk- Cape Wrath Trail
Lorraine McCall and I decided to walk to Cape Wrath- a 200 mile journey. We walked to raise money for the Christina Noble foundation in Mongolia. We only had 10 days to do it in, a journey which usually takes anything from 14-21 days. It meant some long days and lots of walking! -But we managed it with a little help.
On April 13th we started our walk from the edge of Loch Arkaig (just North of Fort William) leaving Lorraine’s little Golf in the hope it would still be there when she returned!
The first night we walked to Kenbreak bothy where we spent the night after a lovely evening walk into the bothy.
The next day we awoke to clear skies and sunshine, walking in shorts and t-shirts. We had a picnic lunch along the way- flapjack of course was included along with our reliable loaf of Soreen. At this point we were carrying alot of food for our journey so we could take our pick. The scenery was stunning through heath land hills and across rivers. We walked on the Clunie Inn that evening where we had a warming hot chocolate and whisky!
Lorraine McCall and I decided to walk to Cape Wrath- a 200 mile journey. We walked to raise money for the Christina Noble foundation in Mongolia. We only had 10 days to do it in, a journey which usually takes anything from 14-21 days. It meant some long days and lots of walking! -But we managed it with a little help.
The next day we continued on to the Iron lodge, we walked about another 30km, through a lot of bog -but again in sunshine, which was lucky as on one of our river crossings I got a little wetter than planned.
Friday morning we headed off from the lodge in the direction of Achnashellach, passing by Maol Bhuidhe bothy and having a snack in cosy Bearneas bothy before heading up and over to Achnashellach, which has a path down to it which feels like it might take forever!
Here we had to make a decision, our supplies were getting a bit low, it was Lorraine’s birthday and some good friend of ours had rung to say they had cooked us dinner in Kinlochewe (where we were hoping to get to), so after crossing a river, through Gorse bushes, over the railway line and over a fence, we could not resist the thought of Pam’s mince pie and birthday fruit cake! (it was Lorraines birthday).
In the morning we left from Kinlochewe and walked across to Loch a Bhraoin. The rain came down and we were soaked, but luckily as we were passing through Leckmelm we could dry off at my house and Alex cooked us a big pie for supper which was perfect!
The next morning (Sunday) after a breakfast of eggs we walked from Leckmelm across to Rhidorroch and onto Knochdamph bothy where we had our lunch. We then continued on to Oykel bridge, where we found a little spot to put our tent up by the river- at this point we felt cold, so after a supper of delicious sausage (donated by Duncan) we headed for the bar where the very friendly bar man was happy to chat to us all evening while we drank whisky Macs and hot chocolate.
After packing up our rather frosty tent we headed on (Monday), our destination was Glencoul bothy- which looked a long way off- especially as our route crossed over two maps! We thought perhaps we might camp in the middle. However, after quite warm start the weather started to change, it got windier and wetter with quite a lot of sleet falling. As it got later we decided to try and make it to the bothy, the ground was boggy and knowing we were meeting a friend there who might have cooked our dinner spurred us on! That night we walked until 11.30 pm to reach the bothy- but when we got there it was definitely worth it- Steve cooked us steak, gave us red wine and brandy and had lit a fire- it was a great evening once we had become human again!
The next day we headed along to Glendoe bothy where we had our breakfast of sausages, bread and jam (very good combination surprisingly) we walked out to Kylesku and then went onto to the Rhiconich hotel.
The Rhiconich hotel was just what we needed, very welcoming and cosy- We had supper there, dried our clothes and had a bath. The next morning we were greeted by a mammoth breakfast- perfect for a day’s walking.
Unfortunately at this point my knee was giving me quite bit of jip so when Alex joined us with Clara and Olivia we started our final walk from Blairmore, to try and cut out road walking. We walked from Blairmore to Sandwood Bay, where we had a lovely picnic on the beach in the sunshine; from here we headed to a bothy once in habited by Sandy- a colourful character, who has left his mark by painting murals on all the walls. We had a lovely evening around a peat fire.
The next morning we left to walk up to Cape Wrath and the light house. It was quite boggy underfoot but by now we had got used to the ups and downs of the bog! We reached the light house at about 3pm and had a celebratory cup of tea and a chocolate bar- curtsey of the lighthouse. Thanks to Tony the warden of Cape Wrath we got a lift down the road and boat across to Durness, where we warmed ourselves and had supper in the pub before camping on the beach.
After breakfast in the dunes and a stroll down the beach Alex picked us up from the craft village.
Overall it was a fantastic trip- we seemed to have been very lucky with the weather for the first 4 days, with a bad spell in the middle and sunshine again at the end. We passed through some really wild country and until we walked to Sandwood Bay we had only passed one other person while walking! It was a truly fabulous time- and thank you to everyone who donated money to the Christina Noble foundation in Mongolia, so far we have raised over £1000 but hope to make it more…
Thank-you to everyone who we met along the way and all those who supported us.
Xxx
If you are interested in doing your own Cape Wrath walk, or would like to do another long distance walk, please get in touch as Lorraine is a fully qualified summer and winter mountain guide and would be happy lead you.
If you would like to donate to the Christina Noble Foundation please follow the link at the bottom of the page.
Mongolia, like us, has had an extremely tough winter with temperatures still as low as -20. The extreme weather conditions have led to the loss of over a million head of livestock and threatens the very existance of lifestyle of the nomadic herders. There are reports of severe malnutrition amongst herders and their families. The Mongolian government has asked for international help as they have admitted the situation is grave and out of control. The Christina Noble foundation works with homeless children in Mongolia, providing shelter, food and the chance of an education. At the moment the foundations work is vital, as the number of homeless children within Ulaanbaatar is increasing due to the current conditions within the country.
