Cape Wrath Trail – Kinlochbrieve to Cape Wrath

After our last leg of the CWT (Ullapool to Inchnadamph) we had decided to take a bit of a break. We spent a few weeks hanging out with family.

While at Mellon Udrigle on the west coast with a large crew of cousins we spotted a weather window of two dry-ish days so we decided to go for it.

We knew there was a bus from Durness back to Kinlochbrieve on Tuesday so we parked at the harbour, and walked out through Oldshoremore to join the track out to Sandwood Beach.

The walk out to Sandwood Bay is on a well formed track maintained by the John Muir Trust and even though we’d had a few days of rain the track was in good condition.

Arriving at the bay we set up camp and explored the beach. The heavy rain had raised the level of the Loch and we were a bit worried about how the way would be the next day.

On the beach we found sea foam, bit waves, amazing wind effects and a whale skull! That evening we were treated to a spectacular sunset which we watched from the top of one of the tall dunes.

Sandwood Bay to Cape Wrath

We got up early to make sure we got a spot on the bus back to the ferry. Overnight the water level had dropped a little so we could cross the river running across the end of the beach, then wandered up the hill and saw what was a head of us. A full day of trackless hills and bogs. It wasn’t that it was hard walking, but the constant spongy ground and the steady up and down was tiring.

Along the way there was a spectacular river crossing with a natural infinity pool. After some very cold swims over the past few days I decided not to swim, but normally it would have been perfect if not a little chilly.

Near the end of the walk we climbed Sithean na h-lolaleich and got a brief view of the lighthouse and an amazing sense of just how remote we were.

On making it to Cape Wrath we promptly forgot to take a photo together and then got a coffee and chips while sitting out of the wind to stay warm.