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14 June 2022 Cape Wrath to Hastings, Walk

Day 14: Bealach Bhearnais – Loch an Loagh – Loch Calvie – Maol Bhuidi Bothy – Strath Duilleach

15.6 miles – cloudy with welcome sunny patches

the way ahead through the empty glens.

Throughout the day I crossed not a single road and only passed two habitable dwellings. This part of the walk was through broad, treeless, deer-denuded glens. This part of the world should be covered in pine and birch forest, but the deer eat almost everything other than heather and the wiry Scottish grass, and the young tree shoots don’t stand a chance other than in the steepest valleys.

But there’s still beauty in the bleakness…

Not just a peat bog: moss comes in red, pink, yellow, and green.
Heather is coming into bloom (pink and white); can anyone identify the blue flower?

I met a plucky, young American girl called Veronica, undertaking the Cape Wrath Trail on her own. I have such admiration for her optimistic spirit.

The track leading on into the next glen.

I had found on the map a stretch by a river with what appeared to be firm, flat ground. Veronica confirmed this. So I fixed on this as my finishing point that day – it was a good choice. And I had a welcoming committee…

My welcoming committee at Strath Duilleach: they were surprised to see a human, and wanted to make sure I was the right type.

Comments (1):

  1. Peter Grevatt

    18 June 2022 at 12:33

    Looks like some kind of milkwort. Maybe an Alpine Milkwort?

    Reply

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