THE DEVIL'S TRAIL
Route Map.
Day 30
Rest Day
Having completed the Iona to Cape Wrath Trail yesterday no walking for me today, I want to rest my feet. After breakfast I have this wonderful bay all to myself. The weather is sunny and it is time for a swim. The rest of the day passes in the usual pleasant relaxed manner. I move into a small side room and, put everything where I can see it, a sort of stock take. Time for a bit of washing, some mending, a snooze, some staring at the sea, an afternoon stroll, more snoozing, more cups of coffee and some treats. In the evening the frenchman I met in Inchnadamph arrives with his friend and his son. The sun sets and the midges appear but the evening is relaxed inside my room.
Well I’m now no longer on the ICWT but doing an additional, 420 kilometres or 266 miles, 12600 meters of elevation and 19-20 additional days in my wee tent down to Oban. That would complete the ‘Devil’s Trail’ of 666 miles, 1070 km, 32,800m of ascent. The whole walk should take about 50 days in total. On the way I will be doing the Cape Wrath Trail in reverse until Spean Bridge where I will divert around Fort William to Kinlochleven and down Glen Etive to finish by crossing the Island of Lismore and lastly Oban.
Of course all measurements are estimates, I think I have underestimated the distances and heights as map measurements don’t bend or go up and down, but if this is the Devils trail it would qualify in other terms. Firstly the auspicious naming by John from the ‘Ozone Cafe’ at Cape Wrath. Then because it is the longest in Scotland. The Scottish National Trail is 550 miles, 890 km, 16550m, 2 Everests and 40 Days, but this trail has twice the elevation. So I believe it is the hardest and most sustained trail in the country with its majority going through rough, wild country. Lastly because it is the North West of Scotland which although it is both sublime and beautiful, is a hard, harsh environment with weather to match.
It has sufficient exposure and technical difficulty to be of interest to experienced trail heads but not so extreme that requires risk to life or requires gymnastic ability. So it can be completed by anyone from a teenager to an older walker. When working out the route I wanted it to be a significant length and I was happy that once the route came together it was just over 1000 kilometres. The beginning and end in Oban was to allow the walk proper to start on Iona, an Island and to finish on Lismore, an Island. That felt elegant. Fort William is not a pretty town the way Oban is and departing and arriving to and from your destination by boat is again romantic. The whole route involves walking through five of Scotlands major Islands and uses seven ferry journeys on a variety of boats, from a smallest motorboat to a large ferry. Oban like Fort William is easily accessible from Glasgow by train and so backpackers from all over Britain and abroad travel to there easily, without vehicle hire and at the minimum of expense.
Logistics are straightforward. There are two parts of the route that require about seven or eight days food, the rest of the time less food supplies need to be carried. Small shops can be accessed and there is the occasional Post office to send specialist supplies to so again if you come from abroad you can find a way of managing your needs. There are occasional cafes, restaurants, coffee shops and pubs but not enough to be anything but the occasional treat and supplementary meal. In all I think it has tremendous potential to entertain the keen long distance walker.
Day 31, 28km
Kersaig Bothy across the Cape Wrath Ferry, down the A838 to the River Dionard.
Not an early start this morning so I make it to the end of the road near lunch time and have my lunch while wait the half an hour or so for the ferry to Keoldale. It is a small military style metal boat with an outboard motor, big enough for about 12 passengers . There is an alternate route which turns off the road before the slope down to the jetty and contours along the side of the Kyle of Durness before following around to a building marked as Grudie on the map where you can get a path from to the main road. But I love a ferry, large or small although this will extends the road walking a few kilometres. Most roads have had barely any traffic and/or flat verges to walk on. This section of road has too much traffic and the verges are overgrown so every 50 meters I have to step onto the verge, then back onto the road.
A car stops and offers me a lift. It is one of the canoeists who had hitched back up to Durness to collect their car. I stupidly refuse as I should like to walk all the route and not take shortcuts, but I think I just appeared rude. Oh well, you never know when you need your open mind, better to keep it up your sleeve at all times. I climb the road till near the top of the pass then I can walk down the hill to intersect with a rough road leading up the side of the River Dionnard. This is a fishing river and loch with huts along the banks and beats marked out along the river, I presume for renting. About three kilometres up this track I find a place to park my tent. Not an exciting day but I have started my way down the country.
Day 32, 29km
From the River Dionard around Foinaven to Achfey then across the moor to Loch Glendhu.
Today is another of those exciting days where I have no idea how hard the walking will be. Also it is overcast and raining, the cloud level is about my ankle height. The trudge up the rough road should be spectacular but I can see none of this glorious glen. Now at Loch Dionard there is no marked path for three kilometers until Allt an Easain Ghil. I take the shortest way on the south side of the loch under the impressive Creag Urbhard. This place must be spectacular in the dry and when you can see it. But there is a rough path to follow around the loch side, presumably for the fishermen, then nothing. But I use my handy kids monocular and what looks like a rough track start just where it is indicated to do on the map. The last kilometre is undulating and full of spiders webs, most of which I can avoid because they stand out covered in fine droplets of water. Spiders, frogs and dragonflies are most abundant during this walk. The spiders are large bodied, greyish and make webs that sometimes stretch to more than a meter across. you only notice the frogs when they leap out of your way, they are small 5 to 10 cm and variously camouflaged in greens yellows and browns. The dragonflies all in metallic greens, blues, blacks, reds and yellows, and like to fly in front of you for a few seconds keeping up with your walk then retire and the next does the same, like they are scoping you out, each one drawing the same conclusion: a moving tree, unusual but no threat in the dragonfly world.
The closer I get the more certain I am that it is a path, which is always nice to see in the back of beyond. What is more, it is a good path made for those 6 wheeled all terrain vehicles and continues past An Dubh loch and over Bealach Horn. All around here should be remarkably beautiful but today there are no views until I reach the bealach and can see the mound that is Arkle silver like it has aged. I sit down for lunch but by the time I am eating the clouds have blown in and there is no view. The path is easy to follow and heads down through a pretty forest. At its beginning on the lower side of this the path cuts through two enormous boulders the size of houses.
I walk around the side of Loch Stack on increasingly better road till it joins onto the main road near Achfary. I was looking forward to that section as it runs through some unique mountain landscape; Fionaven, Arkle, the hanging Lochan Ulbha, but I did not see anything other than mist and drizzle. However I have proved today that the Sutherland Trail Loop works. This piece joins to the Cape Wrath Trail above the forest of Archfay and the rest of the walk will be on the Cape Wrath Trail until it returns to Ullapool, with no repeat trail, a complete loop.
The Sutherland Trail Loop Stats are : 186 miles or 300 km form Ullapool to Cape Wrath and back to Ullapool, 9,500m of ascent or just over one Everest and takes 14 Days. If you want a quick hard challenge this is one of the best.
No shop or cafe at Achfary so I continue down the road till the main gate of the forest plantation. This rough road takes you straight up the hill and joins to the path running under the cliffs to Bealach nam Fiann. A very rough road continues over the moor and divides. Take the left hand branch down past Loch an Leathiad Bhuain to Loch Glendhu. You can see Quinag again and you come to within a couple of kilometres of the route up at Kylesku. This was enough for me today and just across the stream is a mound and a few flat spots around its summit with amazing views across the loch. Three kilometres more walking on a good path and I would have got to Glendhu bothy which I think would have been nice for the evening, but my legs said no and I put up with one of the best views in Scotland as compensation.
Day 33, 26 km
Loch Glendhu, up Glen Coul behind Ben More Assynt to a kilometre from Loch Càrn nan Conbhairean
There are many descriptions of the Cape Wrath Trail, so I will not go into much detail save for a few observations. The walk around the fingers of Loch Glendhu and Loch Glencoul are fantastic. I had worried about the section behind Ben More Assynt but after Loch an Eircill, there is a rough pathless section which no worse than many other pathless sections on the trail. There is no easier way, either continuing south east at the end of the loch or just heading on a bearing. The stream crossing at the end of this is not bad but the path along the side of the Gorm Loch Beag is a bit narrow. Rough walking ahead but navigation is easy as you just follow the burn up the hill side and near the edge of Loch Bealach a’ Mhadaidh.
Here you are in a Scottish wonderland of lochs, boulder fields and crags leading up to the peaks of Conival and Ben More Assynt. You can cross the burn near the loch and gain the path which gradually descends under the long buttress with open moorland to your left. After the burn of Allt a’ Chnaip Ghiubh I found a dry part of the path to put my tent on. Because it becomes it is so prevalent it is easy to forget to mention that most of the Scottish Highlands are covered in water. Some days even the summits and near vertical slopes are boggy. Only with extended sunny weather does any of it dry out. So finding a flat dryish pitch is always a challenge.
Day 34, 30 km
Loch Càrn nan Conbhairean, passed Benmore Lodge down to Oykel Bridge, then the Schoolhouse Bothy
This day is rather mundane compared with the rest of the route, The only note here is I think the Harvey map is incorrect to suggest at the burn Allt Rugaidh Mhòr where you descend from the forrest road to a road along the Oykel river you should continue straight to the burn and gain a path down it. When I tried this there was no path. I ended again in tall thick ferns. Much easier is the obvious road leading gradually down to the bridge, then from there stay on the near side of the stream and follow a path down to the second bridge next to the main river. Coming South to North this map error would not affect you.
I almost missed the bar in the Oykel hotel, it is around the corner and not signposted. It is good for a lunch and a pint. The Old Schoolhouse bothy is lovely. I met a soft spoken man from Edinburgh who was going north and we swapped advice on the way ahead.
Day 35, 18 km
Old Schoolhouse Bothy past Loch an Daimh, up Glen Douchary to the moor above Inverlael Forest
Up early and into rain. I had to take shelter in Knockdamph bothy which seems to have some leeks and a bit of mould on the walls. But any port in a storm and I warm up with a hot cup of coffee. The way ahead is going to be either just too short or just too long. I can stop before I descend to Inverlael or continue down and up the other side. The valley is too busy for me to camp in as it is mostly agricultural land. That would mean 400m of hard ascent at the end of the day before I could find a campsite. Now it has been raining and I am taking a break I think it will be the shorter day today. That decided there is no need to hurry and I am glad because I discover Glen Douchary, which in my eyes is a little piece of backpacking heaven, your milage may vary. Everything there is picturesque and there are many places to pitch a tent. I wish I wasn’t on a long trail and had a couple days to stay here.
(If you are on the Sutherland Circuit or going to restock in Ullapool you can continue down Glen Achall to Ullapool for a comfortable night in B&B and some home comforts, then get some transport down to Inverlael the following morning. I don’t fancy the walk down this road, the A835. Traffic is fast and there is no provision for pedestrians.)
The weather has cleared and navigating up and over the moor to the next path which runs down into the forest at Inverlael is no problem. On that moor there is a stone cairn that looks too much like a person, a bit creepy, and then the top of the path is easy to locate. I start down it to realise that there won't be a better place to camp than the one I had just past, so I double back. The wind picks up and I have been daft and pitched my tent in an exposed place where just 5 meters away there is a nice cosy sheltered pitch. So I move the tent and am thankful as the wind and rain start to shake the tent.
Day 36, 25km
Glen Douchary to the moor above Inverlael Forest to Cnoc nan Righreon, and Strath na Sealga
I had grand plans of doing some variations on the Cape Wrath Trail, taking in An Teallach and the Fisherfield mountains. But 37 days in to the journey my main goal became clear, get to Oban as soon as possible. So it is strictly down the Cape Wrath turning onto the variation, before Sheil Bridge, to pass by the Cluanie Inn, then Glen Garry to the top of the Caledonian Canal, where I want to bypass Fort William by heading past Spean Bridge and east of the Grey Corries. That would take me down Lairg Leacach, describing an elegant arch past Loch Eilde Mòr to Kinlochleven. From there, the Devils Staricase takes me to Glen Coe and into the glen north of Buachaille Etive Mòr. This brings me directly onto Glen Etive and down on the West side of the loch. A Coire Buidhe allows access to Druimavuic, Creagan, then Port Appin. From there the ferry to Lismore and a short walk down the island to the ferry from Achnacroish to Oban and the end. That should take a little less than two weeks, but it feels like I am still very far north. So its straight past An Teallach and on to a nice flat campsite.