Scotnatrail

[Wanderer wondering]

The acronym 'SNT' used by many people seemed non-descriptive, and a tad ugly, so I took to calling it Scot' na' trail as one word, and would recommend - same amount of syllables but nicer to say!
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The longest walk I have done yet, and the most impactful.

Had a beautiful time, met so many wonderful people, - such hospitality & kindness shown to a small girl with a big bag-, and fell in love with bothies.

I didn't do the final section, due to the Cape being closed for firing (and being happy with my progress but tired - thankful I didn't feel the need to be completionist), Walked east from Ullapool instead, to Ardgay, staying at three different bothies, with a particularly memorable night at Magoo's. Sometimes think my heart is still there.

I wrote down my thoughts and experiences as I went in a blog: wonderer wandering.wixsite. com /website/blog (I had to put spaces in as Walkhighlands does not allow new users to post websites, but hopefully you can find it via google) I'm not sure it would be particularly helpful for people who are planning the walk, as it was more of a way to communicate my journey to family at home. But might be worthwhile for anyone interested in the glorious highs, midge filled lows, and wonderful serendipity this trail brings.

Scotnatrail is diverse. Sometimes it feels the lesser for it - a sort of mishmash of all the types of Scotland and never its own self, but this richness also made it memorable, with each section bringing uniqueness, and a different character, keeping the overall thing engaging. You learn much about Scotland, passing from the agricultural south, through the industrial heritage that left the Union Canal, to the relative 'wilderness' of the highlands (although, of course, nothing in Britain is unshaped by human impacts), and trace the geological narrative of the different terranes and major faults as you pass into older and older rock units - walking back in time until you can reach the 2 billion year old Lewisian gneiss.

2021 was beautiful summer, with hot dry weather, so the much dreaded bog & river crossing sections of the Cape Wrath Trail turned out to be incredibly easy. I did have many an evening crying over the swarms of midges and saying prayers of thanks for the invention of head nets of course, but these memories fade when you have images of sunsets lighting the sky ablaze to remember, and recall the crystal clear pools you swam in under the sun, and the summiting of high passes, and the birdsong that woke you at dawn. I can only remember three days of real rain - the train up, the day I spent in Edinburgh, and a grim midgy day in the Cairngorms (the next day I was welcomed by a group of young doctors into the wonderful Ruighe Aiteachain bothy, my first ever bothy, and spent the evening playing games, eating fresh potatoes, and drying my clothes by the stove - Scotnatrail always reminded me 'all shall be well').

The walk guide description on this site is excellent. I printed it all out, with printed screenshots of the map, and don't believe I ever had difficulty with navigation. It is also worth noting that the route chosen is very sensible: it doesn't go high when that can be avoided, and sticks to tracks whenever they are around. If anyone wants these files, I'm sure I could find someway of sharing them.