We leave the Strathcarron Hotel replete with breakfast and with huge packed lunches supplied. It's a momentous day today as we have been going for two months and the sun seems to have come out to celebrate with us.
The route goes along the road for a short way then we turn right just after the bridge across the river Carron. We walk across fields then reach the A896 and a group of buildings called Coulags. We then take a track, which soon turns into a path, up the hillside into the mountain landscape. These mountains are comprised of Torridonian sandstone and are known as the Coullin range. The path is stony but very defined and we make good progress. As we cross a plank bridge with no sides, Rich tells me to be careful of the missing plank. I assume he is joking but he isn't, so I'm grateful for the warning. We stop for a break and meet various people going up the hills, as it's Saturday and the weather is glorious.
We reach a beautiful little lochan, Loch Coire Fionnaraich, that I have seen in some of our climbing books. Rich and I have long wanted to visit these mountains and are almost overwhelmed by being here. 'It's like visiting the pyramids' Rich says. We climb up towards the Bealach Na Lice then traverse the face of the hill to reach the Bealach Ban, where we pass into the next valley.
On the way up, we have been able to see row upon row of mountains behind us in the distance. As we cross the bealach, we see the mighty Liathach, followed by Beinn Eighe and eventually Beinn Alligin, the Torridons. We once climbed Beinn Alligin and Rich remembers it with some trepidation concerning the 'horns of Alligin'. I honestly can't recall having any difficulty there. Short, stumpy legs are better than long, spindly ones for some rock formations, it seems.
We follow the paths north east across another face but then we leave the path and head across a trackless hillside near the edge to cross a stream. We climb up the other side and walk on for a while to pick up a new, much less distinct path. Unusually for Scotland, this has a few small cairns which help considerably with route finding. Once we've found the new path, we stop on some rocks for lunch. It's such a clear day that from here, we can see across the sea to Skye's Trotternish peninsula and beyond to the Outer Hebrides.
We follow the path as it makes a beeline north down the mountainside until it reaches another arm of the A896. The Cape Wrath trail now recommends walking up to the Corrie of Beinn Eighe. We have done this before (although not completed the circuit) and it is a long way, so we elect to walk the almost seven miles along the road. The sun is still shining and we are walking in some of the most stunning scenery in the world, so the time passes quickly and we soon arrive at the Kinlochewe Hotel for a quick shower and then dinner. Tomorrow is a bothy stay, so we need a bit of comfort tonight.
Total distance so far: 787 miles
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