Deaders’ (Peter Deadman) latest Challenge grinds to a halt in white-out conditions...

After leaving Glen Finnan at 7.30am on Fri 7th May and travelling half the Cape Wrath Trail in 4 LONG days, my challenge finally ground to a halt after heading through blizzard conditions across the pass east of An Teallach. Following a wild night in my tent near Dundonnel and facing thick snow and whiteout conditions, yours truly filled his pants and called a halt to the adventure. Some would say it’s the first time I’ve shown any sense but I think it’s the first sign that I must be going soft! Looking back, I feel as though I have been away for weeks, but I’ve had the most fantastic journey though a remote, dramatic and sometimes frightening wilderness. I lost count of the number of river crossings, the times I tripped up on rocks or fell into peat bogs... Descending the Falls of Glomach on Day 3, although dramatic, was also VERY sobering to realise that beside me was a sheer drop of hundreds of feet, as I teetered down its narrow trail. Sometimes as I climbed ravines, clutching tree roots for support, I’d wonder if it was the most sensible thing to do... then the sight of something spectacular would remind me of my reason for persevering. I stayed overnight my first night in a bothy (Sourlies), on the shore of Loch Nevis, at the heart of the Wild Bounds of Knoydart – and on my 3rd night in another bothy (The Teahouse) in Torridon’s Coulin Forest. Both are stunning, remote locations yet I met some interesting characters. The Teahouse is really just a wooden shed, 8’ x 10’ (think of the teahouse at High Beach), and I shared that with a Geordie Father and son team. Two memorable nights of epic tales and memories of adventures past. Whilst washing in a stream (a burn! Ed.) at a lunch stop near Barrisdale a deer joined me for a drink, close by. Earlier that day I’d watched a Dipper work its way upriver and I also saw a Cuckoo – close up – having heard them continually over the days. One morning I watched an Otter as he scrambled along the riverbank oblivious to my presence. I experienced fantastic sunshine and violent showers in short succession which, at times, helped make navigation across such wild terrain very difficult. Yet I always seemed to get lucky and find the right route... maybe after a detour or two. But with those May snows, my luck finally ran out and I reluctantly had to call it a day... but I wouldn’t swap the experience for anything. Now... I had to prepare for the proper Cape Wrath Challenge...

       A whiteout...                    And THIS... is what Deaders did LAST year