CWT – day 10
6.5.2023 Saturday
Strathchailleach bothy – Cape Wrath lighthouse
11 km – 350 m ↑ – 386 km total
A night spent in a bothy is a pleasant change. I slept like a baby. In the morning the wind’s finally died down outside of the bothy and it’s warm. I take my time with breakfast, plenty of time today. I say goodbye to the gentlemen and set off north toward Cape Wrath around half past eight. There’s no proper path in this section, just a few animal tracks. Doesn’t really matter which one I pick, as long as I keep heading north. Bogs, little streams and peat everywhere.
Luckily it hasn’t rained heavily for a while, so it’s relatively dry. I navigate by map and GPS. After about 3 km I enter UK Ministry of Defence territory (a live firing range), which gets closed off a few times a year. Clear skies, gorgeous views, so I just soak it in. I run up a small hill, Sithean na h-Iolaireich (231 m), from where I can already see the lighthouse tower.
Almost there now. From the top I plan my final route. Then it’s just a short trek through a few more bogs and streams. I reach a broken-up asphalt road with one last kilometer ahead. The Cape Wrath lighthouse emerges around a bend, and beyond it, nothing but ocean. The real end of the world.
I arrive at a half-abandoned compound with several buildings. No one’s around at first, but there are already some backpacks leaning against a wall. There’s a café here, Ozone Café, and you can even stay the night. John and Angela Ure, father and daughter, live here year-round taking care of everything.
At the café I ask for a beer and some fridge magnets. Turns out you grab the beer yourself 😊. I sit down next to a guy (I think his name’s Steve), who also finished the trail today. We chat and I notice he’s got an older DSLR camera with no lens cap. I pull one out of my pack — two days ago I happened to find it lying on the road near Loch Stack, you can’t make this stuff up. He buys me a beer and we wait to see if a ride shows up. More hikers doing the CWT are coming, plus a group that only walked from Kinlochbervie. Around 1 pm a minivan arrives with tourists from the town of Durness. It’s full, so I’m slowly coming to terms with the fact that I won’t be able to leave until three. I’d honestly stay longer, except my flight’s tomorrow and it’s a fair distance away. Lucky for me, one guy has time to spare and stays behind at the café for a beer, so I take his spot instead. The driver calls me “Mr. Fort William guy,” since I mentioned needing to get there today. The road to Kyle of Durness is 15 km and takes about an hour. There a boat picks all of us up and take us across the bay.
A group of tourists from Inverness offers me a ride there. I’m thrilled not to have to hitchhike and jump straight into their car. In Inverness I catch a bus to Invermoriston, just an hour from Fort William, where Tom picks me up. The trip back, the part I’d worried about most, was surprisingly quick — just needed a bit of luck with the right people.
By ten I’m already sitting with a beer at Peťa’s place at Glen Nevis Campsite. I get chatting with Sam, who’s just finished the West Highland Way, and after a while Peťa joins in too. It’s great here, but it’s time to head home. Looking forward to the kids and Danka, I’ve really missed them these last few days.
The journey home
7.5.2023 Sunday
I can’t wait. Just as much as I looked forward to this trip, I’m looking forward to going home now. Scotland’s beautiful, the people are kind. I met so many great, interesting people along the way. What surprised me was the number of older people on the CWT — you don’t meet nearly that many on the Slovak SNP Trail. Overall I’d rate the trail as tough, especially in bad weather. With 2 extra days I’d have had a more relaxed pace — the ideal time for it is around 2 weeks. This year, even by Scottish standards, it was very dry (my shoes were wet every single day regardless), so I had it somewhat easier. The weather worked out for me too, maybe 2 days of rain total. If you want to experience the true vastness and isolation of the Scottish landscape, I’d definitely recommend the CWT. Maybe I wouldn’t stick so strictly to the official route next time, and with good weather I’d head up a to some Munros — plenty of them along the way. Hopefully I’ll be back here someday. Thanks to Jožko and Mária for lending most of the lightweight gear for the trail, to Peťa for the fantastic accommodation, and to my Danka for holding things together at home on her own with three children, whilst also being pregnant.
I hope you enjoyed these lines at least a little. I’m no writer, but this is one of my ways of holding onto memories too.
Dávid
