free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
See attached route map, drawn by hand, and not actually walked. This is an armchair exercise for fun, and a work in progress at that. The idea is to see just how long and difficult it would be to walk or build a trail along the west coast from Cape Wrath to Fort William. This is for all those who say Scotland will never have a complete coastal path. (Wales completed 2012, England due 2020.) But how long will the Coastal Cape Wrath Trail be? Any guesses? Feel free to add a stage.
By the way, I assumed that Stage 1: Cape Wrath to Sandwood Bay is pretty much the same as the northernmost stage of the "normal" Cape Wrath Trail as already published. (
https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/sutherland/sandwood-bay-cape-wrath.shtml) So that's Stage 1 and Stage 2 sorted!
The rule I followed was, using the 25,000 scale map, make a route that looks plausible for terrain and other features. It need not precisely follow the coast, but instead can make the kind of compromises that trails often make, going along short sections of road for example, taking small shortcuts in some places, or following the high ground or cliffs instead of the shore.
Mileage:
Stage 1: Cape Wrath to Sandwood Bay: 7.7
Stage 2: Sandwood Bay to Rhiconich: 16.1
Total so far: 23.8
Paul and Helen, if this is too inappropriate to the Long Distance Routes forum, please feel free to delete. I was just having some nerdy fun.
Jay
