Greetings from the Far Eastern Appalachians

[Old Hillwalker]

Hello from Ft William Scotland. Just sitting here in Fort William Backpackers' Hostel resting up after hiking eputedly the UK's wildest and remote backpacking route. The Ft William to Cape Wrath Trail is 215 miles of mountains, moors, lochs, and pathless passes. It is not eally a trail, but a collection of ancient prehistoric pathways, dirt Landrover tracks, and just plain trackless remote mountain passes. My hiking partner for three weeks, Enlightened Rogue (AT98) went back to the US today, while I wait to walk the next hundred miles into Glasgow via the West Highland Way. Pictures upon my return to New Hampshire.

Lots of interest in the AT here from many backpackers we met on the trail. Seems like everyone here has read "Walk in the Woods" for what that books impact really means. They seem to realize that it was not a truly accurate protrait of the AT.

[TJ aka Teej]

Sounds like a wonderful experience, Hillwalker!

[Cookerhiker]

Sounds beautiful and fascinating. What's the weather been like? Are you camping, staying in hostels, or both? How do you re-supply - does the "trail" go through villages?

[Old Hillwalker]

Sounds beautiful and fascinating. What's the weather been like? Are you camping, staying in hostels, or both? How do you re-supply - does the "trail" go through villages?

We have been camping and quickly discovered that tarptents (single wall) are not at al suited to Scotland's weather. We have had very high winds, sleet and heavy rain. On those days we B&Bed when we could. At one point we slept in a woodshed. We also learned to value of high end Goretex rainsuits. I had one, my buddy did not and he suffered a bit. One of the unique aspects of Scotlands laws is that of "Access Legislation". You may camp essentially anywhere out of doors in Scotland. No Trespassing and keep out signs are pretty much prohibited. Another pretty neat item "are" the Scottish Bothys. Old restored mostly stone cottages from the past which are maintained either by the Scottish Mountain Bothy Association, or the estate within which they are located. Some are really plush with peat burners and bags of wood and coal, and one even had electric lights. The main hitch is thay although there are over a hundred of these, none of their locations is published due to past vandalism by partiers. All are several miles from a road, located along the ancient footpaths I mentioned earlier. Resupply is available quite frequently, although at one point we were advised to carry 11 days of food. We followed the Book "North to the Cape". We survived on lots of Lipton like side dishes and Tennants Lager with a dram or two of Malt Whisky. "The Water of Life"

[Old Hillwalker]

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Scottish+Bothy+Pictures&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=hNcaSoreK8zOjAeokdToDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

[Old Hillwalker]

http://images.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=Scottish+Bothy+Pictures&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=hNcaSoreK8zOjAeokdToDA&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&resnum=1&ct=title

Forgot to mention that the Bothys are free. HW

[Cookerhiker]

We have been camping and quickly discovered that tarptents (single wall) are not at al suited to Scotland's weather. We have had very high winds, sleet and heavy rain. On those days we B&Bed when we could. At one point we slept in a woodshed. We also learned to value of high end Goretex rainsuits. I had one, my buddy did not and he suffered a bit. One of the unique aspects of Scotlands laws is that of "Access Legislation". You may camp essentially anywhere out of doors in Scotland. No Trespassing and keep out signs are pretty much prohibited. Another pretty neat item "are" the Scottish Bothys. Old restored mostly stone cottages from the past which are maintained either by the Scottish Mountain Bothy Association, or the estate within which they are located. Some are really plush with peat burners and bags of wood and coal, and one even had electric lights. The main hitch is thay although there are over a hundred of these, none of their locations is published due to past vandalism by partiers. All are several miles from a road, located along the ancient footpaths I mentioned earlier. Resupply is available quite frequently, although at one point we were advised to carry 11 days of food. We followed the Book "North to the Cape". We survived on lots of Lipton like side dishes and Tennants Lager with a dram or two of Malt Whisky. "The Water of Life"

Thanks. I recently returned from hiking in County Donegal, Ireland on the Bluestack Way. Unlike Great Britain, Ireland does not have the "access legislation" nor the centuries-old tradition of the rights of public pathways so it's more like the US. My weather wasn't too great either but at least I had a B&B every night; our hike was inn-to-inn - much softer than your's!

Re rain gear, you're absolutely right - you can't skimp when hiking in Scotland. 3 years ago in Ireland, I bought a Target Dry windbreaker. Made in Ireland, sold in Ireland, you'd better believe it was waterproof. It served me vey well. Looking to replace it on this trip, I couldn't find it and what's worse, all the raingear I found was made in China. Anyway, my theory is to buy raingear from a company based in a rainy country and selling to a market in that country, i.e. I don't trust any raingear made by a company from California. Before buying the Irish jacket, I had a Sierra Designs which got me soaked inside on a 5 hour hike in the rain on the very first time I wore it.