Gapo one

Slow Way not verified yet. Verify Gapo here.

Walked parts of this route on a visit to the area last summer. Didn't review it at the time because we gave up on it, but as it has appeared on a Slow Ways target list now I thought the information we did glean would be useful.

The fundamental problem with the route is that at w3w dock.holds.guesswork at the Poolewe end the route goes straight up/down a cliff! I know scrambling is included in the Slow Ways survey form as a route feature but this was definitely more like climbing/abseiling.

Otherwise the route is walkable out of Gairloch as far as the A832 with a bit of pushing through dense bracken at the beginning and wandering about in the forestry. The road verge along the main road (very busy in the summer at least, including heavy vehicles) would be unpleasant and, in places, unsafe. We declined to walk these bits. The footpaths on the OS map to the north of the road in the central part of the walk look as if they do mostly exist but the first part going from the main road (where it says ‘Ford’ on the OS map) is super wet bog and no sign of a path any more. On the latter part of the route going north from the main road there is a big stony track up to the communication towers on the hill. Beyond, the upland is called ‘Cliff Hill’ in the English translation (clue in that name maybe) but what it is actually like between there and the cliff going down I don’t know because we didn't think there was a lot of point in trying it.

That all said, it would be brilliant to have a safe Slow Way between these two places. The landscape is stunning, it is not a huge distance and they are both great places to explore from. And there is the Gairloch museum to tell you all about the area - best local museum I have ever visited.

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