For our Mum, who never got to see us do this together, RIP 14/10/2024

Saturday May 10th 2025
CWT Day 16: Oldshoremore to Firing Range – Approx: 10 miles

It was a slow morning due to the closure of the Cape Wrath Firing Range. There was nowhere to go. Oldshoremore Retreats & Crafts is a wellbeing healing retreat with accommodation and camping pods, but they do have space for walk-in hikers.

By the time I had got myself organised, everyone was assembled around what resembled a modern-day King Arthur’s table. I guess the meeting had started without me… The morning was filled with relaxed chats, bonding over shared experiences, and planning for the big push tomorrow.

We considered food, and explored the advertised cafe with soup and coffee. Our hunger conjured homemade soup with a crusty role. But alas the small craft shop only had a self service coffee machine and packet soup … crushing. But … I managed to bag the last of the snacks, orkney oat ackes and some packets of shortbread

Slowly, one by one we dispersed and ambled off to Sandwood Bay. It’s a couple of kilometres to Blairmore before turning right. A track then leads you all the way to this famous beach (approximately 5km). Sandwood Bay is renowned as one of Scotland’s most beautiful and remote beaches, featuring a mile of golden sand backed by dunes and a freshwater loch, with the distinctive sea stack of Am Buachaille standing offshore. It’s customary, apparently, to run into the sea naked, but the wild, cold waters meant a paddle would suffice.

As ever, everyone else was there before us – a camp of 17, at the far end of the beach, maybe more. It appears to be a well-established tradition for Cape Wrath Trail hikers to camp at Sandwood Bay. It serves as a symbolic gathering point the night before, where anticipation for reaching the lighthouse meets the wild coastal landscape.

The day was still early, we are not good at waiting, and looking at the terrain for the final stage, we made the tactical decision to continue. I didn’t fancy a potentially tough yomp with so many people the next day. So we continued north, traversing the challenging rough terrain, to the Range perimeter and camped there. They were supposed to be ‘bombing’, but not a sound was heard all day.

An initial climb with wonderful views back over Sandwood Bay. It was a good decision; it was 5 km of very undulating terrain, with some tough climbs. But the ground was dry, which was good news for the final stretch tomorrow. There is quite a worn trail heading across the moor, and a stile and a river to cross, that might be tricky in bad weather. After this, navigate to the shelter marked on OS Maps, and you will come to a second stile over the Range perimeter. In case of confusion, the ‘shelter’ on OS maps is a ruin just as you cross into the Range, but it’s a good catching feature.

We arrived at the Range perimeter at 6 pm, pitched up on some flat ground, and ate our last camp meal.

As the sun went down, we were lulled to sleep by crashing waves and a solitary Meadow Pipit.