free to be able to rate and comment on reports (as well as access 1:25000 mapping).
For our second hiking (er, I mean hillwalking) trip in Scotland, having walked 3 stages of the West Highland Way (too crowded!) and all of the Cowal Way last year, we walked the first 3 of the 5 stages of the Cateran Trail.
The Cateran Trail was beautiful, easy to navigate and delightfully devoid of crowds. We live in the Santa Cruz Mountains, south of San Francisco, on the Monterey Bay, which is stunning as well, but far more populated. We’ve got at least two more walking trips planned for Scotland in part because it is easy to find yourself utterly alone.
We had initially intended to walk all 5 stages, but when the Glenisla Hotel suddenly closed (a few days after insisting we call them to put down a 50% deposit), we retooled the trip to spend more time in Orkney—which ended up being absolutely stunning for walking.
While waiting for our taxi driver/bag transfer vehicle in Glenisla at the end of the third day, we found out someone has purchased and is renovating the Glenisla Hotel, which is great because that will restore the ability to do the entire 104km of the Cateran Trail without workarounds.
As for the Cateran Trail, the 3 days we walked were excellent, with the best segment being Kirkmichael to Glenshee, followed closely by the next day’s walk, from Glenshee to Glenisla. Lovely scenery, well marked, but longer than posted. My GPS indicated that we walked 19.5 miles from Glenshee to Glenisla, but that is probably due to the fact that we lodged at the Dalmunie Castle (highly recommend!), which adds a few miles each way.
We hired James Donald to for 3 bag transfers and then a taxi to Aberdeen. I cannot recommend him highly enough. As with everywhere else we have been in Scotland, the locals were fantastic, friendly and helpful. Excellent food as well.
