A Cape Wrath Tale: The travelling stone - Part 3

We left our home for the night when the sun started to peak above the mountain tops. A little more 4×4 and then a pathless climb towards The Saddle. With perfect weather and limited rain the past few days, the climb was easy. Aim between the two peaks and just keep climbing till you get there. While my carrier lady had to drag her heavy backpack uphill, life for me was easy. Look out towards the infinite valley, enjoy the warm sunshine and stay as still as possible to not make the climbing task harder for my carrier lady. I can do that, right?

Reaching the top, they took their lunch break, thinking it would be easy going from there onwards. Whoops, wrong again! The section just after crossing The Saddle was properly tough. Or, like someone passing by nicely said: “It’s quite an iffy bit”. Rather than walking, they scrambled along, using both hands and feet to stay upright. I was tossed around. Fortunately, after an hour, the going got easier. The trail turned into a proper path instead of a wall with stones balancing on top of one another, some ready to slither downhill when given proper motivation. Their pace increased. Downhill, into the valley, across the river and on towards civilisation along an easy going path that only a few times turned into a river. By the early afternoon they reached their goal: Kintail lodge! Or, for my carrier lady and her companion, burgers and cider! Finding a B&B with availabilities was a challenge. I will not bother you with the details, but I can tell you that after an abundance of internet searches and telephone calls, they finally found a place to stay at The Fisherbeck B&B in Ratagan. My first ever experience staying indoors! No wind, no rain, no midges. Nice and cosy. Nothing else to do than listen to my favourite couple in the whole world chat away while enjoying a hot shower.

After a day’s rest, the initial idea was to continue to Maol-bhuidhe bothy and then along to Craig, the same route they had taken three years ago. Still, it was clear to me that there were some doubts. Should they go via Strathcarron instead? On paper the route to Strathcarron seemed pretty boring after passing along the Falls of Glomach (all 4×4 and road walking). However, in the end it was a scary story from the owners of the B&B that helped them decide. They had overheard my carrier lady and her companion talk about the next section and came with a rather odd request: “Could you please send us a message when you have cell reception again after this section?”. Sure, why? There came the story. Some time ago a young German couple had stayed with them before continuing to Maol-bhuidhe. A while later they had been found dead. The owners of the B&B had been the last ones to see them alive. Apparently, the girl had slipped and, while trying to hold on to her, the guy had also fallen. Rather a coincidence that this came up just after my carrier lady and her partner had been chatting to some English guys about whether people had already died along the Cape Wrath Trail. As it turns out, it is more comfortable when such a question remains unanswered! Nonetheless, and albeit driven by an irrational feeling of fear, the decision was made to go to Strathcarron and then walk to Craig along Loch Dughaill. Adding on to the scary stories, a guy in a jeep stopped along the 4×4 track heading towards the loch. He quickly rolled down his window and asked if my couple had a map and water with them. Taken aback by such a question, my carrier couple confirmed that of course they had. Their confused faces made the guy in the jeep tell his story. Not so long ago a man had gotten lost in this area and eventually died. Additionally, a while back, he had met a guy who was looking for help along the road. His girlfriend had been so exhausted that she was no longer able to walk. A little walk from the road she had fallen down and was no longer able to get up. The guy needed help to carry her out of the woods and into civilisation where she could recover. Seriously, did my hiker couple need any more stories about things going wrong along this trail?

Now, back to walking to Craig along Loch Dughaill. When I used the term walking here, I actually meant, walking to the loch and then endlessly scramble and tumble along a very faint to non-existing path. Fortunately, their luck turned. The water in River Carron was so low that they managed to make their way across. Given, without shoes and trousers, but hell, that’s worth saving all those kilometres, isn’t it? To be honest, in hindsight, they might have been able to keep their trousers on, but why take the risk? Essence of the story, they got across with ease. And, most importantly, don’t try this if it has been raining the past few days!

With evening approaching, they crossed the train line at Achnashellach train station and started making their way towards Kinlochewe. They set up camp along the track with a magnificent view across the valley. A view I could fully enjoy while they prepared for yet another battle with the midges, the true summer rulers of Scotland! The evening routine could begin. Same as the last hiking day and the day before that. Filtering water. Boiling water for a cup of tea. Boiling water again to prepare the dehydrated meals. Making the beds. In truth, there was no water to be found, so the filtering portion of the evening had to be postponed. The other things went as usual. Dinner and tea in the tent to avoid contact with the midges while I kept guard outside. Then, to end this celebratory evening, the unavoidable tick removal before bed. I really started to know these guys! Such a different life. So many stories and so much chitchat!