Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 22, June 1, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 22, June 1, 2022 A short distance from where I was yesterday lies Rannoch, or as the poet once designated it, “Rannoch, by Glencoe.” I try to imagine T.S. Eliot walking these hills. An American from St. Louis, desperate to be an Englishman, travels to Scotland, and surprisingly, in the […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 21, May 31, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 21, May 31, 2022 Equipment day—the other day I broke a trekking pole—pair of graphite Leki’s that have been around the world. I’d been concerned about them all trip, and now that I’ll be in the wilds, it seemed prudent to replace. After breakfast at the hostel, I stopped for […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 19, May 29, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 19, May 29, 2022 Kingussie to Laggan An inauspicious morning became a highlight of the trip thus far. The Duke of Gordon Hotel serves a big breakfast spread, so I delayed departure to get my dose of bacon, sausage, blood pudding, haggis, beans and eggs. The hike out of Kingussie […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 18, May 28, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 18, May 28, 2022 The walk out of Glen Feshie to Kingussie was uneventful. Typical cloudy day with occasional showers but no strife like the previous one. I was off before anyone woke up (and I think I was sufficiently quiet for the one person who ended up sleeping in […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 17, May 27, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 17, May 27, 2022 Bynack Lodge to Ruigh Aiteachain Today was definitely a tale of two treks. I woke at the Bynack Lodge ruins to rain and wind on my tent. Not being in a hurry to start (only a 21 km day), I gathered my equipment and read until […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 16, May 26, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 16, May 26, 2022 As I would be wild camping up in the Cairngorms area, I was in no real hurry to get started. Last night I made arrangements to eat in the Atholl Arms restaurant for breakfast, opting for eggs Benedict instead of another Scottish meat festival. The yoghurt […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 15, May 25, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 15, May 25, 2022 Compared to the past few days of absolutely solitary wandering, today was a veritable social hour. I have to admit, for me the draw of long-distance trekking has always been the solitude— something shared by Rousseau whose Reveries of a Solitary Walker has long served as […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 14, May 24, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 14, May 24, 2022 Woke at 5:00 to the crowing of a pheasant which was soon accompanied by what I took to be a mockingbird imitating R2D2. My tent was pitched behind a corrugated steel shed in the middle of an unoccupied stonewall-enclosed pasture. Of course the sun was already […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 13, May 23, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 13, May 23, 2022 A typical day hiking New Zealand’s Te Araroa on the South Island is rising in the morning to hike alongside a river, heading upstream so the path continually rises as the river diminishes. Usually by around noon, the trail crosses a saddle, and you can look […]
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 12, May 22, 2022
Walking to Cape Wrath, Day 12, May 22, 2022 When I was a wee lad, my father taught me to make him a drink for his just-home-from-work relaxation. He drank Scotch whiskey (here, just whiskey) and my favorite glass to give him had a picture of a ring-necked pheasant etched on the side. I never […]