2008-08-07 In need of an update

Review from my blog at http://northtothecape.tumblr.com

This book has been invaluable in helping me sketch out the route I'll take. Like Wainwright's Coast to Coast path, there is no official route for the Cape Wrath Trail, indeed that's one of the attractions. The authors simply share a journey they took that avoids long strecthes of road and offer some possible variations.

They break the trip down into 21 stages, none longer than 15 miles. Most stages finish at places where overnight accomodation is in theory available. In summer, many of the stages will be too short for the more ambitious walker, but the authors seem to have struck a reasonable balance.

The prose is well written, if a little old fashioned in places and the route descriptions detailed. The journey narrative is interspersed with bits of history, trivia, warnings against midges and occasional poetry. Not to everyones taste, but adding colour and charm.

This book is an excellent starting point for anyone considering the Cape Wrath Trail. There are a few frustrations. It is now over ten years old and so references to collapsed bridges which may well have been resurrected and even fallen down again in the interim are no longer reliable.

Also, the book is black and white (with the odd bit of red) throughout. The enclosed maps are therefore of limited use. Instead of photographs, you get rather odd pictures reproduced from wood carvings which add to the slightly dated feel. The choice of a 3D image for the cover over a photo of the cape is just weird.

Consider in contrast the newish book on the Coast to Coast path by Martin Wainwright (no relation apparently) which has colour photography and OS 1:25000 maps throughout and is £2 cheaper. Perhaps these are issues that can be looked at for a future edition.

The most serious criticism I can find is the omission of bothies which should be included in any future edition without doubt.

All this notwithstanding, if you are doing the Cape Wrath Trail, this is the book for you. Don't be fooled by alternatives such as A Walk Through the Highlands of Scotland: Discovering the Cape Wrath Trail which has little detail about the walk itself or The Cape Wrath Trail: A New 200-mile Walking Route Through the North-west Scottish Highlands which has stunning photography, but little in the way of practical help for planning a route.

Which leaves North to the Cape, an invalubale (if quirky) tome that could do with being brought into the 21st Century.