We Walked 400km Across Scotland
“What if I told you… that the surest way to find yourself, is to lose yourself. To let go of who you thought you needed to be, and become part of the land, the clouds, the mountains. To hold yourself there,and reconnect with the raw truth of the rugged wildness – a truth mirrored in our own souls. Perfectly imperfect. And always changing.
There is a way that nature speaks… and when we slow down enough to listen, it can feel like coming home.”
Wow. What can I say about this past month… My partner Kris and I are currently sitting here, feeling a little emotional after just watching through our finished short film documenting the last month of our lives - a journey that honestly meant a lot to us both.
While my knees have been in recovery mode for the last two weeks after completing this journey, I’ve been taking my time piecing together this video with love and intention - and it’s not perfect, but isn’t that the theme of my year? Not chasing perfection whatsoever, but embracing life wholly as it is, and finding beauty in the cracks of everything.
So without further ado, here it is. I’ve also included the written transcript below for your reading, since I don’t think I have further words to describe the beauty of this walk, other than what’s already in the video.
I hope you enjoy this glimpse into our lives as much as I enjoyed living it, capturing it and re-living it through this little film.
I’ve always been fond of losing myself in nature, and it’s become important to me to take time each year to let my mind slow down, and to let the pace of my own two feet set the rhythm of my life for a while.
This year, we decided to embark on the Cape Wrath Trail across the highlands of Scotland, navigating our way northward for 400 km, ending at what seems like the edge of the world - the lighthouse on Cape Wrath. Starting from Fort William, we caught the ferry across the water and began the first of what would be 19 days of walking. This walk felt extra special for a couple of reasons… first, because I had attempted the same trek solo last year, but I had to stop on day 6 because of the absolutely wild and dangerous weather, which left me a sopping wet mess with a broken tent and completely humbled with awe at nature’s power. This year, the forecast looked more promising, and what was even more special was that my love, Kris, was there to share the journey with me – the first time I’ve ever had anyone join me on such a long-distance trek!
It quickly became apparent that we had, as usual, over-packed our bags with grand ambitions and at least 20 kg of weight each – half of which consisted of camera gear, endless batteries, a drone, and photo props including a medieval dress and a sword, because… you know… it’s Scotland, and we like to be ready when any creative photography ideas come along (which, they did!).
So with sore legs and aching backs, we walked north: navigating our way through the wild highlands, over rivers, climbing up mountains and descending back down, every day, over and over again, always new rivers and new mountains and new views. And despite the aching muscles and fatigue as our bodies adjusted, it was pure bliss. I never once took the endless sun for granted – it was the complete opposite of the first 6 days I spent on the same portion of the trail last year… an entirely new and welcome experience.
On day 7 (about 116 km into the trail), we woke up feeling refreshed after spending the night in a small town campground, where we had our first showers and then devoured our weight in food at the local pub before picking up more re-supply food and stove fuel, and readying ourselves for the next portion of the trail. From here, we were continuing north, and into fully unknown territory to me… and as the air cooled and the moody atmosphere returned to the skies, our legs felt adjusted and stronger than ever, and our hearts ready to embrace what lay ahead in the never ending and ever changing horizon.
By two weeks and over 250 km in, we found ourselves settling deeper into our rhythm... a routine that became way of being. A way of ease, and peace. Even despite the challenges, which we learned were easiest to deal with as they came, to not overthink anything. There was a certain beauty in this simplicity, in simply trusting each moment.
Life was simple. Life was waking up. Life was feeling the cold air greet our skin. Life was walking. It was breathing. It was eating. It was finding a new place to rest each night, and then life was resting and waking and walking again.
We were the walk. We were the mountains. We were the wind, the rain and the snow. The walk and the wilderness were one with us, us with the world. And in the shadows of the mountains I could feel my inner worries being swept away… weightless in the grand scheme of things.
In the end, it took us 19 days to reach the end of the land at Cape Wrath lighthouse – and just over 400km of trekking, including the times we got slightly lost. It was a surreal feeling to drop our bags at the Lighthouse cafe – bittersweet, a feeling of triumph, relief, and also loss, knowing we wouldn’t be walking again tomorrow. We were going home.
But maybe that’s the beauty of these walks... To learn how to not take nature for granted, to allow enough time to let the stillness make its home in us, and then to bring that feeling with us back into the world.
At least, for as long as we can… before we choose our next walk, our next nature immersion experience… Letting it become a regular practice of reconnecting with the earth, and ourselves.
As for the Cape Wrath Trail… would I do this walk again? Absolutely, I would.
A huge thank you to the following music artists who let us use their tracks in the above video:
"Fall" by Vanbur
"Vikersund" by RØRE
"Human" by Vanbur
"Earthing" by Vanbur
Also, thank you to GOOD TO-GO meals for supplying us with the BEST all natural dehydrated backpacking meals for the entirety of our journey - your food is the bomb for trekking life. Truly.
One of the best parts of our trek was midway through, receiving our re-supply parcel full of Good To-Go meals (at which point we were devouring every extra morsel we could). Happiness overload! For anyone looking for real, natural, good tasting dehydrated vegan/vegetarian meals - look no further than Good To-Go. Seriously.
And thank you, reader and viewer, for following along on our epic journey! It means a lot to share this beautiful experience with you.
Wishing you all a beautiful summer ahead full of happy adventuring!
