Introduction

In case this is soon forgotten, Scotland held an Independence Referendum on the 18th September 2014. This provided the excuse for me to walk the Scottish National Trail. Partly for its own sake but partly to observe and get the feel of the country making this important decision. My original plan was to finish on the 17th so that I could watch whatever happened while enjoying the post-trek buzz. Events dictated otherwise as we shall see. However as is often the case there turned out to be a silver lining to what was initially not an optimal development. And now I really think I wouldn’t have it any other way.

The purpose of this blog is not to report on my findings as regards the vote, though some comments on this topic may find their way into the photo albums. Nor it is intended to describe my experiences except insofar as that provides useful lessons from which other can (just possibly) benefit. The primary purpose of this blog is to help people who already have a certain amount of trekking experience gather together the essential information needed to walk the trail themselves and learnt their own lessons. 

In particular this aims to compliment and supplement the valuable resource of the Walk Highlands website. I found it extremely useful and would strongly recommend a visit.

But it clearly has a strong Section Walkers perspective and Through Hikers will likely miss some useful information and also will perhaps feel a little neglected. Of course it’s fair to say most of the people on the trail are Section Walkers and most of the businesses along the trail are there to serve Section Walkers.

Through Hikers are a different species with their own requirements and priorities. So I hope that they find something of value here. I won’t attempt to repeat what can be gathered from the Walk Highlands website except insofar as this requires significant reformatting to make it useful. 

Lastly the Walk Highlands website will be doubtless updated from time to time, and people may add their own stories and tips, whereas when I’m done with this, I’m done. Best of luck and Happy Hiking!