My Gear for the Cape Wrath Trail

MLD SoloMid XL by the Allt Cam-ban in the Fionngleann

In late May/early June I spent 19 days walking from Fort William to Inchnadamph on the Cape Wrath Trail in the Scottish Highlands, as described in this post. During the walk I had 14 wild camps, 2 nights on a campsite and 2 nights in a hotel. The weather was hot and sunny at the start, cold, wet and windy at the finish. Overnight temperatures ranged from 1°C to 14°C (both in the first five days) with most nights in the 7 - 10° range.

I took gear I felt would be suitable for the time of year – not quite summer but no longer winter. Most was well-proven, some new. Here’s how it performed and a fewt lessons I learned and a few I had confirmed. There’s nothing I would change though in the unseasonally cold and stormy weather of the last few days an extra warm layer would have been nice.

Pack: Atom Packs The Prospector EP60

This has become a favourite pack in the last few years, under its original name of The Mo 60. It’s tough, lightweight (930g), and carries loads up to 19kg comfortably. On this trip the weight didn’t go above 15kg (when I had 5 days food and most of my clothing inside). Sixty litres was more than enough capacity. I could have got everything into a smaller pack, but I like having plenty of room, especially when packing in the cold and wet.

I like the roll top, which gives easy access, and the big stretch front pocket. I varied the contents of the latter depending on the weather.  If it wasn’t raining it held my waterproofs, whether wet or dry. If it was raining it sometimes held the tent, if that was wet, but more often compressible water containers. When rain looked unlikely my windshirt went in with the waterproofs. When wet the tent was usually strapped on one side. The closed cell foam pad went on the side too sometimes but more often on top where there’s a long strap for easier access – I often used it as a seat during the day. Lower side pockets held solid water bottles, snacks, and maps.

Bum Bag: Atom Packs The Roo – return to a useful accessory

This little 1.5 litre bum bag held various items I wanted quick access to such as smartphone, mini binoculars, reading glasses, sunglasses, insect repellent and more. These are items I often carry in the top pocket of a pack, something The Prospector doesn’t have. It’s more convenient to have them accessible in a bum bag though.  I wore it as a sling rather than a waist pack as I found this more comfortable.

The Roo is made from offcuts from pack manufacture and has a waterproof zip and a mesh pocket on the front. I used the latter for my phone. There’s a key clip and a small compartment inside the bag. The long strap is adjustable but not removable.

For both backpacking and travelling (I used it for phone, keys and wallet in towns and on trains) this is an excellent little bag. I used similar bum bags on all my long walks in the 1980s and 1990s but didn’t take one on my Munros and Tops walk in 1996, I guess to save weight, and then didn’t go back to using one until recently. I don’t know why I stopped. I wouldn’t be without it now.

Tent: Mountain Laurel Designs SoloMid XL

I chose this over the Trailstar as it has a zipped door and I wanted this in case of midges (a mosquito coil in a closed porch is quite effective) and for privacy on campsites, which I only used on two nights in the end. I’d thought it would be more.

I also need a new mesh inner for the Trailstar as my old one is showing signs of wear and I didn’t trust it to last the whole trip. I wasn’t going in midge season without one! Especially as this was mostly a low level trip – I wouldn’t be camping in a breeze on a hilltop to escape them. For the SoloMid I had MLD’s mesh Innernet. As it was midges were only a slight problem a few times but I was glad of having the inner just in case.

The SoloMid plus Innernet is roomy with a large porch. This latest version is made of silpoly rather than silnylon and as claimed this doesn’t stretch when wet, which was good on the many rainy nights. The SoloMid stands up well to strong winds and rain.I had guylines with mini carabiners attached so I could clip them on pullout points when required.

With the Innernet plus pegs the total weight was 1020 grams, which is light for a tent so roomy and storm resistant. That doesn’t include a pole as it pitches with a trekking pole.

Trekking Poles: Pacerpole Dual Lock, Pacerpole Top with other pole lower section – not a success at first

As I have done for many years I used Pacerpoles, which were superb as always. However I did have one problem. The SoloMid XL pitches best with poles of around 140cms or even a bit longer. Pacerpoles are significantly shorter than this, just 133cm for my Carbon Dual Lock ones. Not wanting to use any other pole handles (the handle is the key part of Pacerpoles, the shafts are just ordinary ones) I decided to use a Pacerpole Top, which is just the handle and top section, with the lower sections of a very old aluminium pole. 

Using the Pacerpole Top with the old pole shaft

This setup did have a little wobble and wasn’t as stiff as s Dual Lock pole but I reckoned it would do. In use I wasn’t so sure so if there was more than a light breeze I used the DuoLock pole even though it restricted space in the tent. I also didn't extend the Pacerpole Top/old pole as far as I'd have liked when I did use it as I didn't trust it. 

Using the Pacerpole Duo Lock on a windy site with all guylines attached

Then one day I slipped on wet ground and the old pole bent under me with alarming ease. The aluminium shaft was quite soft. Luckily, I was only a day and a half away from a town stop where I could buy a replacement, a Black Diamond Explorer pole (a pair actually – single ones not available). The Pacerpole Top fitted well and the setup felt solid and secure. I should have tested the Pacerpole Top/old pole setup more thoroughly before the trip.

Sleeping Bag: Rab Mythic Ultra 120 Modular

This is a new ultralight sleeping bag. It weighs just 330g and is rated down to 0°C with air mats with a rating of R4 or above. The latter is necessary because there is no insulation under the torso, just straps for attaching it to the mat. As with other bags like this I didn’t actually use the straps as I like to sit up with the bag wrapped round me when it’s chilly. As the Mythic is quite wide this worked fine. The bag is filled with 120g of 900 fill power down, which easily kept me warm on the coldest nights. I used it with two different R4.5 air mats and the basic Multimat Camper 8 closed cell foam mat and it worked well with all three. I think it’s a superb bag for above freezing temperatures.

Sleeping Mats: Rab Ultrasphere 4.5, Multimat Camper 8, Therm-A-Rest NeoAir XLite – a problem (and solutions) I’ve encountered before

The Ultrasphere 4.5 is a new lightweight (370g) air bed designed to go with the Mythic Ultra sleeping bag. I’d used it earlier in the year with other sleeping bags – it was a bit cold then for the Mythic – and it was warm and comfortable so I brought it on this trip. There is just one aspect I dislike. It’s very hard to inflate by mouth as the valve is flush against the mat rather than sticking out. A big pump sack is provided. This works but it does take time. Despite that I was quite happy with the mat for the first nine nights. Then it sprang a leak. Slow at first – I woke and pumped it up again twice the first night – but instantly after a few more nights. Having had this happen before (with seven different mats from three different companies in the last fifteen years) I have taken to carrying a closed cell foam mat as well. The Multimat Camper 8 weighs 180g and was warm enough, though not very comfortable.

I didn’t have to manage without an inflatable mat for long as three days after it sprang a leak I was meeting Tony Hobbs who lent me a Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Xlite mat for the rest of the trip. This is the fourth long-distance walk where a mat has failed shortly before I could arrange a replacement!  The XLite, which also weighs 370g, was fine and has a protruding nozzle so it was much easier to blow up by mouth.

Given my experience with other air mats I don’t think the Ultrasphere mat is particularly at fault. I think it’s a problem with air mats in general.

Stove & Pot:  Soto Windmaster 4Flex & Jetboil Stash – a great success

Having been using the 800ml Jetboil Stash heat exchanger pot with the Stash stove and several other stoves over the last few years I expected the fuel in the 230g canister I used to last well. It did. 15 days. Which exceeded expectations. This was helped, though probably only a little, by the Soto Windmaster stove which sits close to the base of the pot, helping keep off breezes, and has a fuel regulator so the performance doesn’t decline as the canister empties. At 140g for the pot and 88g for the stove this is a light setup.

I think this stove or the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe, which also has a regulator, and the Stash pot are ideal for long-distance walks and I’ll be using the combination again. However the Stash pot only comes with the Stash stove, which doesn’t have regulator and isn’t as powerful as the Soto and MSR stoves. It’s expensive too. Almost as good are two Fire Maple heat exchanger pots – the 1 litre FMC-XK6, which weighs 195g, and the 600ml Petrel, which weighs 166g – and these each cost about a sixth the price of the Stash.

I wrote much more about HX pots and stoves earlier in the year. I’ve also written about the food I ate on the Cape Wrath Trail.

Trail Shoes: Altra Lone Peak 8 – latest version of an old favourite.

I first used Lone Peak shoes, the 2.0, on the TGO Challenge in 2016. In my review I said “I’m impressed enough with the Lone Peaks that they are now my first choice for long distance walks”. After using four more versions I haven’t changed my mind and I think the Lone Peak 8 is the best yet. It’s more durable than earlier versions and the tread lasts a bit longer. I love the wide toebox, which is ideal for my feet, and I’m now very used to the zero-drop sole. They were comfortable throughout the walk despite being soaked much of the time. I can’t really fault them.

Waterproof Jacket & Overtrousers: Outdoor Research Helium Ascentshell & Montane Minimus

At 330g this jacket is a good compromise between an ultralight one suitable for summer showers and warm weather and a heavy one suitable for winter blizzards. It performed excellently, as expected, in wet and windy weather. It has had a fair amount of use and the outer was wetting out quickly by the end of the walk so I do need to restore the DWR. I should have done it before the walk.

The ultralight 157g Minimus overtrousers worked well as usual but the DWR also needs restoring.

Insulated Jacket:  Berghaus MTN Arete LB Synthetic Hoody – an old favourite returns with a new name

For many years my favourite warmwear on long walks has been the Berghaus VapourLight HyperTherm jacket, which is astonishingly warm for its weight of just 224g. I was disappointed when Berghaus discontinued this several years ago but now they’ve brought out a virtually identical jacket with a different but equally long name. On my scales this weighs just 3g more than the HyperTherm. It’s just as warm and just as compressible and has the same 40g Hydroloft fill. I love it!

Other Clothing:

The first five days were hot and sunny. All I wore during the day were Slazenger woven shorts (165g) and a BAM T-shirt (175g). When the weather changed these disappeared into the pack and never came out again. For the rest of the trip I wore Montane Terra trousers (345g), and the Craghoppers NosiLife Adventure Shirt (295g). In the evening and under the shirt on the coldest days I wore the Rab MeCo merino wool/polyester long sleeve base layer (150g, long discontinued). When it was windy but dry I wore the Patagonia Houdini (105g). If it started to rain I wore the Ascentshell jacket over the Houdini. I also had a Tentrees Altitude Juniper Hat (85g and basically a mostly mesh baseball cap) and a Smartwool beanie (56g). I also had 2 pairs of SAXX boxer briefs and 1 pair each of Bridgedale and Darn Tough ankle socks (models unknown, they weren’t new).

Accessories:

This always seems a long list but didn’t add that much weight and didn’t take up much space.

Terra Nova Moonlite bivi bag, Petzl Iko Core headlamp, Silva Ranger compass, Harvey Cape Wrath Trail maps, First Aid Kit, Garmin InReach Mini, Fox 40 Classic whistle, Oppo X5 smartphone, 2 Nitecore NB 10000 Gen 2 energy bricks, repair kit, sunscreen, Julbo sunglasses, midge repellent, mosquito coils, wash kit, toilet paper, reading glasses x 2, notebook & pens, Kindle, Kestrel Weather Station, wall plug & charging cable.

Camera Gear

Sony a6700 camera with Sony 11mm, 10-20mm & 18-135mm lenses. Velbon V-Pod tripod. Billingham Hadley Digital Camera Bag. ShutterGrip 2 (for phone).

All photos taken on the Cape Wrath Trail.