Helmsdale to Berriedale in 2020

[bigsuse]

wow, what a walk this was.
started with a pleasant walk along the foreshore out of helmsdale, with lots of blackberries growing by the sides of the path.
upon reaching a ruined house you ascend uphill and begin a cliff walk, through a gate past fields of sheep and then through rough bracken and gorse. this part of the walk became very difficult as the path is not marked clearly through the bracken, which was very high at this time of year. you have to be aware of covering up your body when stumbling through bracken, as there are a lot of tics, my mum got several.
you have to scramble down about 3 steep gorges, using the bracken and fence for support.
a tip for this part of the walk in terms of staying on the route would be to follow the fence, and aim for the small shelters (lookouts) dotted along the cliff tops. eventually you pass the boundary into Caithness, it was about this point that the route began to be marked more clearly with wooden fence posts and arrows indicating the right direction.
The walk is high up on cliffs at this point, be aware not to wander to close to the edge.
We heard seals singing from the bottom of the cliffs.
there is alternating bracken and heather, slowly turning into peat bog. here we found lots of blaeberries/bilberries growing among the heather, which are very tasty to eat, and felt like a reward after the difficult scramble up and down gorges.
there is also wild sorrel growing here.
you pass a headland and then descend into Ousdale. we became confused by the absence of the waymarkers at this point and ended up in a bog, but fortunately was not too hard to relocate as the route takes you past the remains of a Broch, so we headed for that. The Broch itself was worth the walk alone. from here you have to head for a bridge across Ousdale burn, and then on to Badbea village.

It was sunset by this point so we decided to head back to the motorway to get home, being inexperienced walkers that we are. we did not make it all the way to Berriedale. I'd say that this walk is moderately to very challenging depending on your fitness and experience. It could do with more waymarkers. It was however enjoyable and diverse walking terrain and very beautiful sea views.