2000-08-09 A glossy but flawed guide to what could be a great walk.

While walking the Cape Wrath Trail last year, I met a man in Kylescue who described David Paterson's work as the worst book on walking that he'd ever read. A harsh assessment but I could see his point. The trouble is that the Scottish Highlands aren't really suited to walking a straight line from A to B. On the CWT you're walking against the grain of the land and while Paterson's route takes you through some of Scotland's most beautiful landscapes, it doesn't necessarily take you into the very best places. There's a great deal of ground to cover between Fort William and Cape Wrath and the route tends to rely on a few too many miles of roads and uninspiring tracks for my liking. The man in Kylescue (a real Scot) suggested an alternative route for that day's walking . It looked tempting on the map but I didn't take it out of a strange sense of loyality to the official route - now I wish I had.

The Cape Wrath Trail is written in a friendly and accessible style and the photography is to die for. I know that the author made repeated trips to the area to get the photographs just right. It's a shame he didn't take the same care with his chosen route.

Don't be fooled into thinking that this is some all-inclusive guide to walking the CWT - to be fair it's not trying to be. There's little detail about the (minimal) facilities that you'll find along the 200 mile route. Also, in many places, there's scant reference to the nature of the terrain you'll be crossing and the book's simplistic maps are no substitute for sitting down with the OS sheets and working out your route in advance.

In short, The Cape Wrath Trail is little more than a glossy coffee table book. But the idea is a good one. You won't find a tougher or more rewarding long distance trail in Britain. Most of the route is fine and if getting into the heart of Scotland's largest wilderness area is what you're after, then this is the walk for you. My advice: get fit, be well-equipped and do a bit of advance route planning to avoid the boring bits.