alison young | alison young • blissful hiker

CWT: Day 7, Strathcarron to Maol Bhuide, 22 miles

Testing the ‘Cape Wrath Sampler’ we walk in sunshine to Scotland’s remotest bothy.

Torrential rain pauses the hike, but a side trip up the UK’s highest mountain makes up for it.

It’s only seven miles, but muddy and slow with many fords, the rain spitting down.

Knoydart is wild with steep climbs, rushing waterfalls, rock and bog. I slip and hit my head.

It’s tough and wet walking to one of the most spectacular bothies on Loch Nevis.

The first climb is easy if wet to the bealach as the rain comes and goes to the first bothy.

After a ferry across the loch, it’s easy on track past crashing falls to a locked bothy in wind and rain.

Travel clicked in place perfectly for the drive north through brooding mountains to Fort William.

Tomorrow, I’ll begin a walk in Scotland’s West Highlands on the hardest route in the British Isles.

A creature walking past my tent wakes me up before I head to Ski Lake and back to civilization.