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Scottish National Trail Thru-Hike

Home Page > Camping > Scottish National Trail Thru-Hike

Between March and April 2026, we plan to walk the Scottish National Trail between Aberfoyle (just north of Glasgow) and Kinlochbervie (just south of Cape Wrath). If we have enough time, we will try and push on to the Cape Wrath lighthouse and return, but it appears that the area will be closed to military (live firing) activity, and it's also too early in the season for the Cape Wrath ferry. The total walking distance is expected to be about 580 km, and progress will be shown on the map below, with the places where we camp/stay shown by a marker (dot). Scotland should suit us a lot better than the recent New Zealand trip, as the right to roam provides a lot more freedom for wild camping.




We had a little over a week at home before heading to UK and after a fairly disappointing time in New Zealand we are excited about this trip. We were last in UK in 2019 and started our trip staying at the T4 Premier Inn so it was a little nostalgic being back there! The travel from Perth was fine, if a little long. We are very much enjoying travelling with backpacks after so many years of bikes and a collection of panniers. It is great just to self-check everything, having no worries about weight and whizzing through the airport on the other side with our packs on our backs! With bike touring we always had to maximise our carry on weight, taking as much as possible, but now we just have small, foldable, lightweight rolltop day packs with barely anything inside. And then there is the convenience of using public transport to get to the airport so no taxi to arrange. Getting all the bike touring stuff out the front door and down to the taxi used to get us sweaty and tired before anything else has happened! Our flight left Perth at 01:00 and we took the train to the airport around 21:00. We had a couple of hours in Singapore and then an A380 to Heathrow. We actually left Singapore from the same terminal we arrive at which was nice. The flight to London was 14 hours and seemed long, but the flight was pretty calm and our fellow travellers quite relaxed. A woman sitting behind me had been effected by the war in the Middle East as she had travelled to Brisbane from London on Emirates and could not return. After a few days she had managed to get a ticket on this flight. We arrived at Heathrow at 15:30 and were happy that we were staying at the airport as we were pretty tired and just wanted to get to bed. It still took 2 hours to get to our hotel room, although clearing the border and picking up our luggage was efficient. Australians now have to buy an ETA for the UK which is valid for 2 years and costs 16 GPB. We had done this about a month ago. We were able to enter the UK using the e-gates which is actually the first time we had been able to do that outside Australia and New Zealand. E-gates have been around for years but have not been fully functional, or have been for certain traveller groups only. We then had to take the complimentary underground from T2 to T4 and then walk to our hotel through the little skybridge. Much of navigating your way through the terminals has to be by elevator which was rubbish as there are so many people with so much luggage on wheels doing the same thing. Having said that the airport was probably not that busy due to the Middle East situation so fewer travellers.

We were in bed by 19:00 after eating a pack of scotch finger biscuits and up by 05:30, hungry for our all-you-can-eat full-English breakfast. And boy did we eat all we could! Back to our room for a few hours and Mike spent an hour of that chatting to 3 Mobile from whom we had just purchased a digital Sim which never arrived by e-mail and may now take 3 days to arrive for reasons which are unclear. Probably just that they have our money and bow don't care. You have to love how it's the 21st century, and also how it's not when it serves the provider. "Do it all online, it's so easy! Now you have nothing to show for it!". We took a walk to Hatton Cross Station which was about 1km from the hotel and went in to Kensington. We had ordered fuel for our camping stove from Cotswold Outdoors which we collected and then I got some replacement merino wool leggings from Decathlon. Their range of lightweight wool clothing is good. We spent a couple of hours walking through Kensington Gardens. It was pretty chilly however the abundance of daffodils, primroses and cygnets and goslings spoke of spring and in fact this weekend the temperatures had dropped with a sudden arctic blast but are due to rise during the week. Scotland is a long way north though.

This trip will be bookended by two impressive and inter-connected works of art. It is lucky that we were in London only a few days after David Hockney's A Year in Normandy began being exhibited at the Serpentine Gallery. He grew up in Normandy and was exposed to the Bayeaux Tapestry, visiting it often. This frieze, A Year in Normandy is 70m long and drawn using a tablet. The Bateaux Tapestry is also 70m long and was embroidered after 1066. It will be shown at the British Museum from September this year so hopefully we will be able to see it as we fly home from London on 9th. We had not been to the Serpentine before and it is very small but held the frieze perfectly. It might have been made for it. I loved seeing it as I am a fan of David Hockney. Mike wasn't that impressed, and happy that we didn't have to be there long. We popped in to the V & A Museum too, but quickly worked out there was so much to see and it didn't really grab us. Beautiful building though. We got the underground back from South Kensington and were back at the hotel, eating M & S hot cross buns for dinner. We had quite good lamb samosas at South Kensington Station.

A complication with our train trip to Glasgow had emerged before we left Perth. A fire at Glasgow Central Train Station had forced its closure and our train service from London Euston to Glasgow booked for tomorrow had been cancelled. We could use our ticket on any two services before or after the 10:30 which was our train. However, we had paid for good seats when making the booking and the other trains had unreserved seats so it was first come best dressed which was poor. Mike had rung Avanti West Coast (the train service) before we left Perth and managed to change our booking to the 07:30 service which meant a very early morning for us, but at least it was direct to Motherwell where we would change to a metro line to Glasgow. The other trains required a change at Carlisle and some time wasted there.


We were awake from 03:00 although we only had to get up around 04:45. We are 8 hours behind Perth here so it's early to bed and early to rise. Anyhow, we ended up getting the 05:30 train from Hatton Cross to Russell Square which took over an hour and it was a short walk to London Euston. We had coffee and a bite to eat and were able to board our train at 07:15. There was a statue of Matthew Flinders outside the station, with his cat. He is credited with being the first person to call Australia, Australia. The Flinders Ranges in South Australia are named for him. His unfortunate remains were located by archaeologists excavating an old burial ground near Euston Station. It is nice that they chose to put a statue of him there. The train trip was fabulous, beautiful views of the countryside and even blue skies and sunshine. Many sheep. The train made a few stops. The minute we crossed the border to Scotland the sky turned steely grey and it was wet and rainy. Spring has not arrived here yet! We arrived at Motherwell just after 12:00. We then boarded a metro train which took 25 minutes to get to the station closest our hotel. We were a bit early for check-in so we walked around the Clyde River frontage and ate a litre of Mackie's of Scotland honeycomb ice-cream, even though it was really cold. Glasgow was pretty quiet and we didn't even see the burnt out train station as the lower level was not effected.


We started our day well-fueled on the Premier Inn all-you-can-eat full-English. Fabulous, especially the coffees of which we have three each. We felt full until the afternoon. We were so surprised to see that it was a perfect day, blue skies and the sun was out! We had hit the jackpot! We had a very short walk from the hotel over the river to the closest train station, Exhibition. We caught a train to Milngavie which is the start of the West Highland Way and had an hour wait for a bus to Aberfoyle. Everyone was in a happy mood due to the glorious weather. Milngavie is a very pretty place and the bus trip was through picturesque and later spectacular countryside, as we drew closer to the Highlands and saw Ben Lomond with its snow dusted top. The bus driver was a friendly lady who greeted her customers by name.

We reached Aberfoyle at 13:20 and remembered it well from 2015 when we cycled through. That was a bank holiday weekend and it was very busy. Today it was quiet. We had something to eat at the Wool Centre and set off on the Rob Roy Way just before 14:00. What a beautiful walk! The trail was perfect and the views just lovely. We walked up through forest and then through grazing pastures for hairy cows. Then we passed a lovely lake with some trout fishermen on row boats. There were very many large frogs along the path around the lake, getting geared up for spring. We dropped down to a loch where you could camp at one spot with a permit. We followed the route away from the loch and passing the woods found easy camping. We walked until 17:15 and it was a great day.


We had a 2km walk to Callander so decided to have breakfast there. It was a spectacular day, we can't believe how good the weather is. Nor can the people of Callander it seems, as so many passers-by stopped to enthuse about the weather being perfect for a walk as we ate our oats and had coffee in the community garden and square in the little village. We love the people we meet here, especially the elderly who just love walking too. We bought some pies, bread and cheese at the supermarket and left Callander after changing into our shorts and shirts as the day would be warm. We had a steep climb up to the Jubilee Cairn. The views were lovely. The walking got better and better as the day wore on and it felt pretty remote amongst the hills, just open countryside, a few sheep and some deer. It was so quiet, not even a breeze.

We had a good rest in the sun with around 8 km to go and ended up reaching a place to camp at 15:30. It was near a stream so we could have a very cold wash and then sit outside for a couple of hours in the setting sun having a tea and a bite to eat. We had such a great day. We didn't even mind when the path was wet as in the puddles and small streams were huge jelly patches filled with transparent frogs eggs. We must have seen thousands of black dots which are the baby tadpoles. I saw one with a teeny tail. It was amazing. We only saw one frog so they have clearly been busy!


So far both nights camping have been very cold but we expected that and are prepared, although last night we both felt it. I wear many layers in bed, Mike does not. We both need to work out how to stay warmer. I have been sleeping in gloves and Mike did last night. We saw many deer yesterday and a stag as well as lots of pheasants, this is deer stalking country like every period drama set in Scotland. Yesterday we saw a grand estate house, dark grey stone, many chimneys. The streams are all beautiful, clear and stained gold with peat. Today we left the wild Scottish countryside for a bit and were back into sheep farms as we neared Comrie. This is a picturesque village where we picked up food for three days, we reach our next town, Aberfeldy in three nights time. It was beautiful walking all the way to Comrie, the sun was out once again. In Comrie we had delicious pies for lunch and sat in the village park.

Leaving the village our packs felt very heavy with the extra food. It was a lovely walk though and we got a great campspot close to a weir where we had a river swim.


Another beautiful day walking in the hills and glens! We dressed warmer overnight which was more comfortable. We were both very tired last night and neither of us even read at night, we just go straight to sleep at about 18:30! This morning we heard a hiker pass our tent at about 06:00! Early bird, it was a Saturday and these poor Scottish people have seen pretty solid rain for 6 months so are probably chomping at the bit to get out! Yesterday we had seen 8 hikers in the climb up to the weir, 2 of which when we were washing in the pool below it, starkers under the water! We saw another hiker pass by when we were having breakfast. Everyone is friendly.

We had a climb up to the pass before dropping down to the River Almond and Glen Almond, which we walked along for most of the day. We had a tea break inside one of the grouse or pheasant shooting boxes before the descent. We had lunch along Glen Almond and a sleep and woke to see a pair of toads mating on my backpack. We saw many, many toads today. We called them frogs at first but the locals say they are toads. They are certainly busy and every puddle or shallow stream has piles of eggs. It was just a great day's walk, culminating in a narrow climb up and over a hillside to the loch we are camping on. Very cold swim in the loch! Every evening so far has been beautiful but it is very cold and bed is the place to be!


Last night was warmer as there was cloud cover. Mike had to get up at 21:30 to put up guy ropes as the wind came up quite strongly. Packing up this morning it was very cold and a toad had made a cosy home underneath my seat pad in the vestibule. We walked towards Loch Freuchie where we joined a minor road and then turned off onto a track, through sheep farms.There were fishermen in the loch. We had morning tea sheltering in a pine forest as it was freezing with a headwind which made it very cold. We had a long steep climb to 530 m (our highest point so far in Scotland on this hike). The climb was on a narrow, sealed road with a beautiful surface. Only three cars passed us. It was very steep for a few km's, but so, so beautiful. The Highlands in all their glory. Cold but clear, the views stretched for ages.

We turned off, making our way down through a Glen where there were sheep farms and a herd of cows. There was a shooting hut which you could go into and had it been raining we probably would have stayed there. The sun came out a bit and it was much warmer, also walking with the wind behind helped but even so, a much colder day today.

We are camped in an old forest, back on the Rob Roy Way, just at the Falls of Moness. We went down to the river to get water. The trees haven't any leaves yet but are covered in Old Man's Beard and lichen. Tomorrow morning we have a few km's to go to the village of Aberfeldy. Rain is forecast tomorrow night.


It was a really cold morning in the forest and we had an early start, setting off at 07:00 as we would have breakfast in Aberfeldy, only a couple of km's away. It was a perfect walk over bridges, wooden boardwalks, crossing the Falls of Moness and later getting amazing views of it as we made our way down along the rushing Moness Burn, passed the spot where Robert Burns was inspired to write his poem The Birks of Aberfeldy:

"Let Fortune's gifts at random flee,
They ne'er shall draw a wish frae me;
Supremely blest wi' love and thee,
In the Birks of Aberfeldy.
Bonnie lassie, will ye go,
Will ye go, will ye go;
Bonnie lassie, will ye go
To the Birks of Aberfeldy."

Birks is the Scottish word for birch. The trees are magnificent and on reaching the carpark there is an explanation about the variety of trees and how particular trees have been planted to improve the forest.

Aberfeldy is a pretty village and we went to the bakery, Breadalbane, for coffees and pies, served by a very miserable lady. Also the Coop for lunch and snacks. We sat at a bench just leaving town to eat. The trail follows the River Tay all the way to Strathtay and it was a beautiful walk passed the Dewar Whisky Distillery and through sheep paddocks. For some way it follows the old Aberfeldy rail route and passes Grandtully Estate. We came across such a comfortable and well made wooden bench to sit and make morning tea and along came a local man with two cocker spaniels and sat down to have a chat. He was from Glasgow originally, where he had studied medicine and had lived and worked in this area until he retired. Amazingly he had travelled to Warburton, in WA with a friend who was interested in the arts and had met several Indigenous artists there and seen their work. We had cycled through Warburton on the Great Central Road and I bought a little woven basket from the art gallery there. Warburton is not a place frequented even by West Australian tourists, so how amazing to meet a man in the Scottish Highlands who had been there! He had been struck by the Indigenous paintings and how different they were from what he was used to but had a unique experience when the artists explained the paintings to him, one via a translator. He also spoke to us of shooting parties at the grand estates. It was great meeting him.

We had a good climb up and over the hill to Pitlochry. The walk passed through a golf course in typical Scottish style, crawling up the hillside. These Scottish golf courses rekindle a desire to play again in Mike. They are certainly different from the ones we see in the southern hemisphere. It was beautiful looking back at the view of the glens and hills and at the top was pine forest before dropping down into the town. We had decided to spend two nights in a hotel in Pitlochry. The weather played a major part in this decision as after our stretch of springtime, rain was forecast tonight and tomorrow. Also we were due a rest day after 6 days of walking. We had some time to waste as we could only check in at 16:00 but I wanted to go to the Heathergems factory which we had visited in when in Pitlochry in 2015. I just love the product they produce from the woody heather stems. My grandmother bought my mother a pendant from here when I was a young child and I was always so struck by it. I bought a pair of small stud earrings this time. We had a coffee at Greggs and made our way to the Coop to pick up a few things. By the time we headed up the road to our hotel it has started to rain a bit

We had gone via the laundry but were reminded how expensive it is here to do laundry when compared to Europe or North America. 7.50 GBP for a wash (plus 50p for detergent) and 2.50 GBP for 10min drying time. As we have a lot of wool clothing, this would certainly take longer than 10 min to dry. Anyway, our clothes don't seem dirty so we hand washed our socks, undies, singlets, gloves and dried them on the very hot heated towel rail overnight!


We had a relaxing day off in Pitlochry. It rained all afternoon and as we got ready to leave today it was snowing a little. We headed off at 09.00, stopping at the Coop for some last minute things. We did most of our shopping yesterday. We have four nights out between here and Kingussie, on the other side of the Cairngorms. We have tried to be as varied as possible in our food choices, while also not carrying heavy food. As we set off our packs felt⁶ okay, not too heavy. When we left Comrie after shopping for three days they felt very heavy, we didn't have much choice in food at Comrie so that made a difference. We had such a lovely walk today, along the Tummel and then the Garry Rivers to Killiecrankie and then onward to Blair Atholl. The scenery was very beautiful. We could see new dustings of snow on the high hills, even in Pitlochry. We took a break to eat before Blair Atholl and sleet fell. All through the day light snow would come and go. It was cold, but the sun would come out.

We passed the hugely impressive gates of the Blair Castle after stopping to buy more sweet treats and coffees. There was a small undercover picnic area at the tourism office (closed). Then we set off heading up the Glen Tilt. This part of the walk was even more picturesque and we met some day walkers coming down, one bloke on his own who was Welsh and had really enjoyed the walk on this beautiful day. Shortly after chatting to him we found a really good place to camp in a pine forest. We were able to have a very quick and very cold wash in the Tilt River and then got into the tent to eat and warm up. We had couscous with spices and raisins for dinner. It was okay, the nicest couscous we have had hiking. For lunch today and tomorrow we have coronation chicken on rolls which we really like. It will be -3 deg tonight so we are hoping to get a warm night's sleep.


Freezing cold and spectacular walk up Glen Tilt. The scenery was magnificent, easy to see why it is viewed by many as the most beautiful Glen in Scotland. The track was great too and we saw two Munro Baggers, each riding a bike up from Blair Atholl to a point from which they would hike. One bloke was on his second round of the 280 Munros. The temperature only got to about 3 or 4 degrees all day. There was plenty of new snow on the hilltops and iced puddles and small snow and ice in our path. We saw a few sheep and apart from them and a couple of farmhouses and a lodge, there was not much else going on up the Glen. Just nature. We crossed the River Tarf via the decorative Victorian suspension bridge. The Falls of Tarf were just to our left, great swimming spot in the pool there on warmer days. The bridge has amazingly been here since 1886. Francis John Bedford drowned in the river on 25 August 1879. He was just 18 years old. Following the tragedy, funds were contributed by his friends, others and the Scottish Rights of Way Society Ltd to build this bridge. To us this underpins the importance placed on safe public passage through the Highlands even 150 years ago. We were unaware how deep the roots were of the Rights of Way Society.

We had sleet for the last hour of walking and are camped on a large flat area near the river. We enjoyed hot chocolate tonight and a spicy meal. No swim or shower tonight, we are trying to stay warm or keep warm. It was a nice early finish at 15:00.


We had about 5 km to walk to the Red House Bothy. It was beautiful walking and we saw a large herd of deer along the ridge across the river. The morning was quite sunny, blue skies with some cloud. We had three river crossings in short succession, ending with the Geldie Burn, right in front of the bothy. These crossings are highlighted in the Walking Highlands app as potentially tricky, usually just a paddle but especially the Geldie is impassable when in spate. We had no idea how much water is required for spate conditions, but the crossings were of no concern. They were shallow and easily crossable, except the Geldie which was a little deeper and my boots got quite wet. The Red House bothy is a restored and renovated original stone dwelling and a delight. It is all wood panelled inside and this was completed in 2022/2023. We sat inside and had tea. It has an interesting pit toilet where there are 4 toilet seats in a wooden bench and the instructions are to use the one which is less full so that they all fill up at the same rate. We left the bothy, turning up Glen Geldie which we would walk along for most of the day. There was a very strong and very cold headwind and progress was slow and tiring even though the uphill was slight. There were a further 4 river crossings, 2 had bridges but the other two were a little deep and fast-flowing so we took a bit of time to choose where to cross. The second bridge was a Rights of Way Association bridge over the River Eidart. The bridge is placed upstream so that you get a dramatic view of the waterfalls. It did say that we crossed at our own risk! Once again, a great piece of infrastructure for walkers. The path was often boggy today and required a bit of concentration. After not seeing toads since Aberfeldy we started seeing them again today, and their eggs in pools we passed. Mike saw an adder which was coiled up in the sun. We were surprised that snakes were already about, it seems pretty cold. He slithered off into the grass but he was slow so maybe it wasn't warm enough which is why Mike spotted him so easily!

After this, small snow started to fall which became heavier and heavier until we were walking in a swirl of white. Mike spotted some trees and we went over there, decided to call it a day and pitch the tent. He had taken the tent out and was starting to put it up when we noticed how wet it was underfoot all over. When you stood on the long grass for a while, the water seeped up around your feet. We decided to press on as camping in a swamp is unpleasant. It was the right choice as not long after the show stopped, the wind died down and all was calm. The Glen, now Glen Feshie, was starting to narrow with conifers growing along the path. We had our final river crossing, quite deep again but we are pleased to end the day with dry feet, not having had to take our boots off for any crossings. We had a bit of a climb up the stalking track and down again, but Mike spotted a large pine tree to the left of the track with a lovely bit if lawn underneath it. Perfect campsite! It started to snow again so we quickly set up the tent and Mike filtered water. Another cold night and no swim or wash. The day felt a slog at times but we are happy to have made our distance.


It was a wild and windy night! Firstly, we were very cold and then the wind got up to very high gusts and built a wall of snow at our feet. We checked out the window at 06:30 and although there was snow on the ground all around the tent, you could still see bits of grass here and there so it wasn't completely blanketed. It was however, snowing so we decided to stay in bed a little longer. The wind died down and the snow stopped and we felt optimistic. We made breakfast in the vestibule and packed up slowly. Too slowly, as by the time we left it was snowing hard and pretty much horizontally with the wind. We were however completely transfixed by the beauty of the new white Glen where yesterday was shades of brown. So, so pretty with snow whirling all around. The hills were white to the ground. We knew that we had about 4.5 km to the next bothy and also we were descending the Glen and would come across pine forests so it would seem we would be sheltered. If it was too difficult we could of course stay in the bothy. There was one tricky bit where the path is routed across a landslip. The alternative would be three river crossings which would be dangerous. It was probably easier walking the slip area with it covered in snow, but there was a sharp corner and drop down against a rock face at a stream which was a bit technical but okay.

The bothy was magical! As we arrived two women were leaving, having spent the night there. They were from Edinburgh. Once again a beautiful, homely and spotless building, this time two beautiful wood-panelled bedrooms upstairs under pointy eaves. So many homely touches. Toilets in a seperate building were squat toilets and you collected water from the pond nearby to flush. Sitting indoors a robin came to feed on some seeds left on the windowsill. While sitting there the snow, which had stopped, came billowing back and we left in it. This was the way of the weather today, blizzard, then sunshine. Repeat. We headed off passed a group of three white ponies which looked luminous in the snow. The trail crossed through pine forests and descended alongside the River Feshie. The views of so many white hills were spectacular. We walked along a road for a bit and then stopped for our lunch of oatcakes with raspberry jam and cream cheese. We walked through a large pine forest, making our way towards Insh. We are camped in the forest on a very thick, springy layer of heather and moss which will be a comfortable bed Three nights in a row without washing is a record for us, but it is too cold.We haven't even sweated once.

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We did have a comfortable sleep on the springy heather and moss, although Mike did feel the cold and slept in his down jacket. I slept well and was much warmer than usual. It was the start of daylight savings today so we lost an hour. We woke to rain but got going and were on the trail before 09:00, which for us was still before 08:00 so all in all that was okay. It rained off and on all day and it was cold, maximum temperature today only 3 degrees and even then only for an hour between 12 and 1! The walking was sublime! The first part of the day was through pine forest and the Insh Marshes Invertromie Trail through the RSPB nature reserve. We reached an amazing bird hide with a indoor area all encased in wood panelling and with double glazed floor to ceiling windows. They looked out over the marshes and the building was tower shaped. The weather report painted a pretty grim picture for the day and we were now in need of a shower. There were public toilets and hot showers at Kingussie but the thought of having a hot shower and walking out into the rain did not appeal. We looked at hotels in Kingussie, but most have 16:00 check-ins and we would be there before lunchtime, which would be a waste of time. Mike noticed that although the walk bypassed Newtonmore we could easily still walk there, it was only 200 m from the trail and we could get a room in a hotel tonight. We booked it and went on our way.

Shortly after leaving the bird hide we passed the imposing ruin of Ruthven Barracks which we had cycled passed nearly 11 years ago. The sun was out now and the white hills shimmered all around underneath fresh snow. A sheep farmer and his dog rounded up a herd of sheep grazing on the marshes. There were many sheep and one had a lamb. We have seen this before, the sheep dog is trained not to bother the lamb and mother. The farmer even opened a gate for us to walk through," Nice day for it," he said. He might have been sarcastic. It was a quick walk from the Barracks to Kingussie. We went to the Coop to buy lunch and coffees and then it was pouring with rain again. We sat in a nearby busstop to eat lunch. Pretty soon there were quite a few people there waiting for the bus. A girl waiting told us that with the current fuel crisis caused by the war in the Middle East, the Ember Bus which is an electronic bus service is charging only 2 GBP per trip! She was going to meet friends in Inverness which would take an hour each way! Wow! We were impressed! That is really cheap. We left the busstop and went on up the hill to take the long way round to Newtonmore.

The walk after Kingussie was something special. The path wound up through birch forest and had been really well laid out and constructed using large stones so that you could step from one to another when wet underfoot. After reaching the summit we descended to views over Loch Gynack which is really spectacular with the hills behind. We met a group of day walkers coming towards us and had a chat. Soon we were on the open moors and boy, were we buffeted by a headwind! It was so strong and cold and we were even hailed on. Back into sheep farms and happy to see a bridge over a burn which was definitely "in spate" we soon joined the road to Newtonmore, just after Mike slipped on some muddy pathway and hit the road quite hard. We ended up getting to the hotel just at the check-in time of 15:00 which was great. The hot shower was amazing! Once again we have handwashed some things and are drying them on the piping hot towel rail. We managed to get to the Coop between rain and snow showers to stock up on food as from here we have 3 days to walk to Fort Augustus.


A night in a hotel with all the warmth and comforts really helps! We got going at 10:00, after the first snow flurries and rainy periods were over. We picked up some lunch at Coop and went to see what they had at the Harris Tweed Shop. Lovely things but nothing we needed. The first 5 km of walking up into Glen Banchor were lovely. We stopped in a small pine forest for morning tea when the sun came out. The Glen Banchor Estate is red deer country and we saw a large herd. We had 3.3 km to walk to a bothy and it took 90 min due to the boggy, indistinct path and also three tricky river crossings which took time to work out the best place to cross. Our feet stayed dry! We had a headwind and the rain came and went. No snow, however the surrounding hills were white with it. We stopped at the bothy and had lunch, sitting on benches outside in the sunshine! This bothy was not maintained by the Bothy Association, it was just a sweet, tiny stone building, single room with two comfy sofas and some chairs and a cooking area. Would definitely be paradise in poor weather though!

After the bothy we turned down another glen on a good 4x4 track. The route actually then tracked across the boggy moor again, but we stayed on the track, through a farm and onto the A86, which we walked on until Laggan.It was fairly quiet and when we joined it we saw a plaque by a post box saying that this was the oldest operating horse coach postal delivery route until 1915, running between Kingussie and Tulloch. We were both pretty tired by that point and took a rest in the busstop at Laggan, which was a pretty village. On the other side of the village, along the Spey we found a lovely campspot.


When we got up this morning, the river level had risen by a lot. The spot where Mike has gone to filter water last night had vanished under water. After a couple of km's we reached the Spey Dam and the water was just shunting over the spillway, which would account for it. We saw our first herd of hairy cows with calves. We walked about 14 km along a sealed road, but it was beautiful, all through farmland and wilderness. It was all General Wade's Military Road, but this only starts properly when the public road closes and the road is no longer sealed. Gen Wade was a British Army leader who marshalled troops to build this road so that they could get up the Corrieyairack Pass and defeat the Scots. The Scots ended up defeating them. The road was built in 1731 but the battle occurred in 1745. The road and bridges remain and are declared an ancient monument. Interestingly no signs or info boards or anything like that. I guess it was no one's finest hour when it's a United Kingdom. We met a pair of day walkers coming down the pass and had a chat. We were able to have lunch indoors at the nearby Melgarve Bothy which is not always open. It rained off and on all day and we had wind, but this was the first day in ages where we didn't need gloves. We might just have acclimatised.

In sight of the Pass, we made our way up the climb but intended to camp before the top. We soon found a dry, flat area which had some shelter to set up. We even had a wash in a nearby stream.


It was a gusty night down in the hollow just before the Corrieyairack Pass rose up above the snowline. We had breakfast in the tent and set off into the rain. It was a couple of hundred metres climb to the top, along Gen Wade's Military Road with a few zigzags thrown in. We had a deepish burn to cross but found a reasonable crossing point. There were pretty strong winds heading up the pass and a few quite deep snow drifts. Crossing one at the watershed, my right leg plunged straight through right up to my hip and I could feel the stream below rushing over my boot! Only the handle of my right pole stuck out the snow! Had to get my pack off and get myself out of the hole. I had gloves on but prising myself out of the snow had them soaked in no time. Just before the top of the pass was a concrete hut but it was not a great spot to shelter, being full of old power metres and dials and cables, so we kept going. A bit later we passed another concrete hut full of deer droppings and rubbish left behind by other hikers. Revolting! Even though at 770 m this would be our highest point on the whole trail, it was a complete whiteout, no view to speak of in any direction.

We aimed for the Blackburn Bothy and crossed the burn via a ford. The bothy was a 250 m up the burn and we had to walk around a poor dead deer on the path. Inside the bothy we had hot chocolate and oatcakes, cheese and jam. Our wet clothes were steaming as we sat feeling wet and cold. This was the only break we took all day. Heading out it was at first warmer. On this side of the pass the Glen was narrow and steep sided to our right and there was no snow to be seen. We had over 800 m to descend and the rain returned with a vengeance. We really appreciated the good track and the bridges over streams and rivers! We saw a few deer and eventually we were walking through pastures and joining a minor road. Our route took us right to Loch Ness, today shrouded by rain and we did not bother with the view point. We were shortly in Fort Augustus which was teeming with tourists who cane for the Loch Ness boat tour. It is a tiny place, one Spar supermarket, pouring with rain, and full of tourists! This we do not like. We sheltered under the outdoor laundrette by the fuel station and I went into the Spar to pick up some food. It was 14:30 and we made our way up the road to our accommodation. Our room was ready and we were dripping wet. We were so happy to get inside! We pretty much dumped everything in the bathroom. It was almost too much to think about but we slowly got sorted, handwashed a lot of stuff and the towel rail, radiator and fan did wonders drying everything out.

Our room had feather pillows and doonas which was a lovely treat. Woollen tartan carpet and curtains. We slept well and when the sun came out around 11:00 we ventured out into Fort Augustus, had a lovely walk along the canal and sat on a bench in the sunshine. No crowds! It was bliss! We remembered cycling in to the village along the Great Glen Route from Fort William in 2019. We collected an Amazon order from the post office, a second pair of merino wool leggings for me (warmer for sleeping) and a new pair of hiking socks for Mike as his are getting worn thin. We have decided to take the bus to Inverness tomorrow and have booked a night in a hotel there. We will then catch the bus back through here to Invergarry on Saturday to continue our walk on the Cape Wrath Trail. The weather is not going to be good as there is a storm called Dave which is going to arrive on Saturday so we don't want to be in the high country.


We booked seats on the 10:22 bus from Fort Augustus to Inverness, but it was a clear morning and we were awake so we moved the seats to the 09:07 bus and got to Inverness an hour later. It was a beautiful drive along Loch Ness. The Ember Bus is an electric bus service and there are many buses travelling on routes in Scotland. At the moment due to the fuel crisis, tickets are only 2 GBP for most trips which is pretty excellent! Good time to be a tourist in Scotland, and if we hadn't taken shelter in the busstop in Kingussie and spoken to that local lass we would never have known!

We walked all over Inverness after dropping our packs off at our hotel, the Travelodge. The weather was good and although it was Good Friday, everything was open. We had a great time. Mike has found that his rain jacket does not provide enough protection for his face, mouth and chin. He wondered about replacing it before we left home. It's a few years old, as is mine. We both found new one's in Inverness although I wasn't seriously looking. We are heading into snow according to the weather report so this is a good thing! Our room at the Travelodge was good, but the check process was quite unfriendly and they also offer a 30 min cap on free wifi, which, I mean...come on! The bus offered better wifi than that! We haven't stayed at a Travelodge before and won't do so in a hurry again, but it was nice and central. We booked the Ember bus to Invergarry for Saturday morning at 07:19 so we can start walking around 09.00.

We had a restful night and an early start. Skies were clear over Inverness this morning with a bright orange sunrise out of our east facing window. We were the only people booked onto the bus to Fort William, other than a young bloke who got on at Drumnadrochit. It was a beautiful trip once again, this time all the fields were twinkling under a layer of snow, frost or ice! The Loch was still and Urquhart Castle stood proud on its banks. We can't praise this bus service enough! There are so many scheduled buses each day and they are new with really fast wifi on board and USB charging ports on each chair. Our bus even had a toilet today! We got off at Invergarry, passing Fort Augustus. We had decided to get further along the trail as we have already cycled the Great Glen Way from Fort William, so walking from Fort Augustus to Invergarry would have been repetitive. Our packs were very heavy as we set out with 6 days worth of food.

We also decided to cross Loch Garry via the bridge and continue on the north side to Tomfoun and onto Poulary instead of remaining on the boggier southside. This meant that almost all day was walking on road, mostly forest tracks. It was quick walking and the first part very picturesque with fir trees covered in snow which also blanketed the hills. We then entered an area of intensive forestry operations which meant that Glen Garry looked a bit naked and worn out with much forest removed and often the forest that was left quite crazy and overgrown. We ended up walking a little further than planned, seeking out a campspot. The weather is forecast to be very wet with snow or rain overnight and much of the countryside is very boggy. We found a muddy track which enabled us to reach a flat area up high which seemed dry.We tried out our new rain jackets as the rain came the last hour of walking. Tomorrow we have quite a lot of climbing to do and also a tricky river crossing.


It snowed a lot overnight and there was heaps of snow packed round the tent, but overall there was still less snow than it sounded like on the ground! The wind came up overnight and stopped so much snow accumulating on the top of the tent. When we looked outside this morning we could see that a lot of snow had fallen on the surrounding hills. We breakfasted in the tent and got going, a couple of km's on the road and then we turned off up towards Mam na Seilg pass at 474 m. The going was tough from here. The path was narrow and a little stream at first, but as we climbed higher, the snow got thicker on the ground and the path disappeared beneath it. Mike set our map program to 15 m alerts, so that the warning signal went off when he strayed only 15 m from the path. After a few hours it got paranoid and just went off all the time, even when we were obviously directly on it.

It snowed at intervals and got cold, we couldn't really rest on top due to this, which was a mistake as we should have eaten. By now the snow was generally knee deep. Descending to Glen Loyle took ages as there were large snow drifts which covered boggy ground so it was easy to slip and fall, which we both did quite often. Mike got quite stuck in boggy ground under the snow and found it hard to extract himself from it.

As we reached the river the snow was much less so it was just muddy ground to contend with. River Loyle is wide to cross and we had to take our boots off as it was too deep to get through without overtopping. We apologised to our poor feet and put our sandals on, pulling out pants legs up. It took a few minutes to cross and our feet were in agony from the cold by then. The weather up and down the Glen looked okay and it wasn't snowing, so we decided to have some tea and lunch, but then it started snowing again and quite hard, and also Mike dropped his tea in his lap so it was all a bit sad face. His rain skirt saved the day. The trail left the valley via the next hill and we were freezing cold and worried about the weather. It was after 14:00 already with the slow going over the snow. Mike checked out a group of boulders a bit higher up and it seemed a good place to put the tent up, which is what we did. The weather forecast was much better than the reality today. It didn't seem sensible to get up into higher country, not have time to descend and be looking for a campsite up there. But we are amazed to find we have wifi here! Of course the ony other living thing we saw all day was a goat stealing food from a pheasant feeder. And there was actually a man walking along the road when we set off this morning. Having the shorter day set us back but we have options moving forward with public transport if we need it.


Strong winds overnight but no snow, we woke to a calm day. It had dropped to 3 below (deg C) overnight so all around the ground was frozen. We had breakfast outside the tent for a nice change and then set off. We decided to climb straight up to where the trail joins the old Road to the Isles instead of climbing back up to 500 m. It was a beautiful snowy scene and the snow was deep on the ground. We saw 2 deer. Having morning tea we saw some people high up in the closest peak, must be Munro Baggers, so at least we aren't the only crazies out here! Later on, along the road, we came across their footprints in the snow. It was a nice break to walk the road as the snow was shallow. We descended to the main road (A87) at Cluanie where we had lunch before heading off up An Caorann Mòr.

The climb started on a gravel track, which made for easy, if steep walking. The track continued for 3 km and then turned into a path. The snow lay thicker and thicker as we climbed. We came across 6 other hikers. It was nice to have other people's footprints to follow in the snow. The snow hampered our progress in small ways, but eventually over the top at just under 400 m, we started to drop down again. As we descended the snow grew a little less but not much. We came across a fenced wooden enclosure at an area where new trees have been planted and pitched the tent right there on the snow. There was a large herd of deer high up on the hillside above us


It is always cold sleeping on snow. We tamped it down with our feet so it was hard, but Mike woke up during the night feeling the ice through his mattress, and put more air in it. A short time later I needed more air too. Our mattresses are new for this trip, Sea to Summit Etherlight XR Pro, and we find them excellent at insulating from the cold. Our sleeping bags are rated to minus 2 comfort, so we have been pushing the limits on those. This morning I felt exhausted, the walking in the snow had been tough! It was a perfect day, the sun was even out, and much of the snow around the tent and on the hillside had melted. We had breakfast outside and got going. We had just under 3 km traipsing through melting snow, bog, paths which are now streams before descending into Glen Affric. This was a beautiful Glen and today's weather made it even better. As we passed the most remote hostel in Scotland, a lady appeared at the door and invited us in for tea! We were amazed and said yes please! Her name was Chrissie and she had come from Belfast to manage this hostel for the summer. It opened for the season on Good Friday, the day before Storm Dave and she had arrived the day before that. There is a Landrover track which leads to the hostel and she was driven in. She does 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off. What a spot! It is beautiful, but hard work we imagine. She was so kind to invite us in! The hostel, being a day walk from the closest public road and carpark is very popular, especially with Munro Baggers who come to climb the peaks in the area. It was a very nice place. We had a great walk from there up the next valley, the route is Allt-Beithe to Carnoch. This was a deviation from the main Cape Wrath Trail that we are on as it saves us 14 km as we do not go through Morvich. We stopped to have lunch and a lunchtime swim in the river. As we set off again, there was even a section of brand-new path being constructed. After crossing the saddle and dropping down towards the first of four lochs in a row, the path became very difficult, boggy and unreliable. The lochs were: a'Bhealach, Gaorsaic, Thuill Easaich and Lon Mhurchaidh.

There was now no snow left at all, the sunny day melting it. But the rivers and streams were full and water flowed everywhere. It was difficult walking and very tiring. The views of the lochs and hillside grew a little boring after awhile, but still, we were here to walk and had the place to ourselves. We had a couple of river crossings which we took our boots off for and crossed in our sandals as they were very deep and the water was very fast flowing. For the most part we tried to stick to a dodgy 4WD track which went up down, up down, up down. It was exhausting. The final stint was a very dramatic 300 m very steep descent to the farm buildings at Carnoch. The views were among the best we have seen anywhere, very dramatic! We found a great spot to camp still pretty high up, so did not descend completely. We even had another swim in the burn nearby and feel very clean and much warmer tonight. The rain started when got in the tent. It was a full-on day, the distance does not reflect the effort!


It was the warmest night we have had in ages and a good sleep. We got going just after 08:00 and had a pleasant walk along the farm road, passed a herd of deer who were not worried about us being there at all. We then had a long, steep, slow climb up a Glen but on a good story track. I felt exhausted by it! After this we descended towards a bothy, however it necessitated crossing a river twice which we didn't want to do. We had to put on our sandals to cross the next one. We then had a pathless hill to climb up, making our own way. It was all beautiful and we did not see another person all day, even from a distance. It was a pretty unique experience. Underfoot it was pretty boggy getting up this hill, but once at the top there was a lovely track running along the loch shore which we followed. The water of the loch was perfectly clear. We reached a larger road which we followed along towards another loch and here we found a camping spot with sweeping views of the loch and the hills around. This Scotland seems very close to Norway or the Hebrides. It is exceptionally remote, no farming even seems to take place here. Tomorrow we will reach Craig and will probably take public transport from there to a town where we can have a comfortable rest day before returning to the trail.


We woke to a cloudy day with rain threatening. We are still amazed by this route, to be the only people in this beautiful landscape seems so unlikely in such a busy world. We can't believe our luck. We wore rain gear as we knew it would rain and set off. We had a climb up to 600 m but the route was much better than we thought it would be, with a well-defined path for much longer. It eventually disappeared as we had some boulder-strewn areas to get across and a bit of bog but it was still quite easy to aim for the saddle. We enjoyed the walking although it hailed off and on. We stopped for some biscuits but mainly kept walking as it was very cold. Once over the summit the descent was all on a good path, if a little damp!

Mike has not been well with upper respiratory symptoms and we carry antibiotics which he started taking as he had a fever overnight, might be a sinus infection. We had decided that we would get the train from Achnashellach, which is a request stop about 4 km further on from Craig. The trail does not pass through there, going on to Kinlochewe, however we had planned 6 days walking to Kinlochewe where there is a small shop for resupply and with Storm Dave would have taken 7 days to get there so we are a bit short on food, Dingwall has hotels and indoors is calling and now Mike really should be indoors too. The descent we were on ended at a river with what looked like a death trap to cross it in the form of a single wire tightrope for your feet and a slack rope for your hands. The crossing was wide and deep and with the weather we had "boots off" was unattractive. Mike wondered if this contraption would be survivable and was willing to give it a try. To his surprise he found if you just kept downward pressure with straight arms on the rope you would take up all the slack and be able to shimmy across. Even writing this now, after I actually followed him and did it myself, I can't believe it. It seems so unlikely that we didn't get a dunking! Scottish engineering and a simple and cheap solution. Still, with a full pack and walking poles! Anyway, happy days. At this point we were not sure if Mike was well enough to walk the 10 km further to the train stop. We sat and had lunch as it was not raining, although that soon changed and it POURED as we sat there. It was around 3 degrees C so very, very cold when wet. We then had a forestry road to walk on until we reached the sealed road. Along this stretch we had internet on a higher section of road and booked train tickets for the 18:05 from Achnashellach as we would not make the 14:26. We also booked 2 nights at the National Hotel in Dingwall which was 200m from the Dingwall train station.

We did not have to walk along the road all the way which was good as it was a pain getting onto the spongy verge when cars passed, although it was a minor road so not very busy. We took a forestry road again which led right to Achnashellach. It was really cold and raining and hailed again. There was a tiny shelter on the platform with a bench inside. We were there about 2 hours early and ate our remaining food which was four Snicker bars and some cheese. It was so cold you could snap a Snickers in half. By the time the train arrived we were frozen. We were pretty excited about using a request stop. You have to hail the train when it draws in to the platform. It was a 2 car train and quite full. It was an hour 23 minute trip to Dingwall and just lovely looking out the window. Our feet did not defrost the whole way. We were happy to get into our hotel and see that we had been upgraded to a delux room with a lovely corner bath and heated towel rail and radiator in the room. Dingwall is a lovely village and the hotel was central to everything. After buying some food at Lidl, having a hot shower and bath and finally being warm, we started feeling quite hot. We could not open the very high sash windows. Eventually I sought advice from management who assured me that the windows were 200 years old and could not be damaged if we just gave them a really good yank, which did the trick.

Mike mainly rested the next day to get over his ilIness and we made good use of the bathtub for the old handwashing of clothes. We got them dry on the radiator and towelrail. I visited a lovely art gallery and traditional outfitter and haberdashery. We had a delicious curry meal from a local takeaway. Next day we were back on the bus to Inverness, this time the Stagecoach service, once again 2 GBP a ticket! My walking pole tips were very worn and Mike actually broke the metal tip off one of his when he had a tumble on our last hiking day. Craigdon Mountain Sports confirmed via e-mail that they had replacement tips in stock and would replace them for us. We like this store a lot, it's an independent outdoor store. The owner was expecting us and we left the poles there and did some other errands, then collected them. We were back in Dingwall early afternoon. It was nice going back to Inverness.