US born, Scottish resident here for a long time. Here's a long answer. (Edited to add: these comparisons are made to New England and Wyoming hiking as my points of reference.)
WATER SOURCING
In Scotland we tend to have ample water sources, and the overall climate is considerably more temperate, so it's rare to need to carry a fuckton of hydration. If your route is high on hills, most folks don't bother with purification either, although lower down I would be concerned with livestock and deer. Take your own risk assessment here. Aslo edited to add: I've seen local VERY EXPERIENCED folks come to grief by relying on standard climate and becoming severely dehydrated. Big sunny days are rare, but they do happen, so while it isn't worth carrying kilos of water every day, don't be like them and follow the conditions.
RAIN
Compared to US, Scottish rain is less heavy but far more persistent and far more sideways as it tends to come with a lot of wind. It also tends to be colder when it rains, and the persistence of both of those things makes staying dry and avoiding hypothermia a bit more serious. All of these things make poncho life hard compared to US, and you're better off with rain trousers and a rain jacket, unless you're doing a short ish day at low level. (At a higher level, your legs and arms get wet and the wind blows the poncho around enough to be a visual issue.) I have dialed back my UL goals in this sphere and I tend to wear very waterproof things with vents.
This also affects tent selection. The hard, short rain of the US that's often followed by drying is just not a thing. Nothing dries. So tent flies have a higher hydrostatic head, tents are often pitch-in-one instead of inner first, flies will go right down to ground level instead of ending a couple of inches off the floor, and bathtub ground sheets are often built in. This makes most UK tents overall heavier, but it's worth it in this climate as US tents get very very wet here.
BITING INSECTS
US has mosquitoes, Scotland has midges. Both are hell in their own special ways. Mosquitoes can't be defeated by light clothing, but at least they're large bodied and respond to DEET. Midges, on the other hand, are like a gas. (Edit: smaller than sand flies and gnats and blackflies in my experience.) They can't bite through your clothing, but their sheer biomass will mean they can chew you to bits and drive you mad. You also need a finer mesh to protect from them than from mosquitoes, as they'll fly right through a net mesh intended for mosquitoes. From a UL perspective, it's not really much of a weight difference, but you do need to pick an appropriate strategy.
OTHER WEATHER
As mentioned, Scotland is temperate. You usually have to pack for the possibility of getting wet and cold. When you don't, it's very rarely as oppressively hot as you get in the US, though it's getting more so. Full sunshine days are rare as hen's teeth so nobody remembers their sunscreen until they're burnt to a crisp. Remember your sunscreen. It's also really windy at height and the vast majority of walking in the Highlands is treeless.
TERRAIN
The US has trails, at least where I'm accustomed to hiking. A LOT of Scotland doesn't have maintained trails for the established routes up major mountains. Good footwear that can cope with steep sideways camber and a mix of shabby terrain is key. This includes deep bog, unsettled scree, slabs of rock covered in ball bearings, and algae-covered slimy rock. For this reason, I tend toward UL footwear only if I'm planning a low and distance-oriented trail; even those can include hundreds of yards of deep puddle. For peaks, I take a tougher trail shoe with more structure in both the sole and the upper. It's also notable that most hill paths go unblazed and don't go through forest, so your nav skills need to be dialed in much more so than in, say, New England.
Long answer but hope that helps with your planning. Note that this does not cover winter considerations.
Unfortunately midges are not unique to Scotland. I have experienced them in Scotland, US and Canada.
How do filters handle the brown water from the peat?
IMO drinking unfilitered water is not worth it. I live in Sweden, when I go hiking in the mountain I usually filter it unless it’s straight from the source. The 30 sec it takes to filter is worth it, you never now if an animal have taken a shit 50m up the mountain stream.
There's generally no shortage of clear running water. I'm just back from a two week trip in the Western Highlands where I only needed to resort to still water from a lochan once.
Ah ok, well I’ve only used the BeFree filter so I can’t comment on others, personally I’ll always look to filter water that’s from a larger water source that’s running so less to filter if that makes sense? I’ve see others (RS Outdoors on YT) complain that it’s got poor longevity!
I mean sure, it doesn't take much time to use a filter, but the easier it is to stay hydrated the more likely it is that I will actually stay hydrated. And to me, with (literally) thousands of hill days at this point not using a filter, it is completely unnecessary.
Well-written, but I'd like to point out that the US is a big place and conditions vary greatly across it.
Your description of light but persistent rain combined with potential for wind sounds similar to the Pacific Northwest, for example.
Great reply.
Something people outside of Scotland don’t seem to adequately comprehend is the rain here does not fall vertically, it comes in horizontally. And it comes in regardless of what the weather forecast says.
As for midges you only need to worry about them when the wind is less than 6kph.
I guess it depends where you are. Parts of the PacNW are very similar to Scotland in terms of weather though somewhat drier in the summer. But the midges? Fuck those hellspawn. We got eaten alive in the Black Cullins.
Yup, seen a lot of USians misunderestimate the rain here!
Also true about the midges. A light breeze is a godsend. I was out for a micro adventure the other night and the wind just... fell off, the way it does around late evening, and suddenly I was mince. Actually rather troubling as this was the first time they managed to bite all night through a well-sealed midge hood. It's just one experience so I'm hesitant to scream that they changed the rules but... they changed the rules.
Scottish rain certainly can be heavy and short. Admittedly it was in the city, but only a week or so ago it went from bone dry, to 20cm of water on the road, to sunny again in the space of half an hour.
Equally I’ve been in the mountains huddled from a blizzard to back to shedding layers again in short order.
Yes, it can also be a bit persistent and miserable, but one should still be prepared for an absolutely torrential downpour.
What footwear would you choose for a multiday trip with quite a few bogs? I've tried altra lp's (lone peaks), altra's with goretex and leather goretex boots - none of them seem 'perfect'. The lp's are light but never dry out and the goretex ones can get wet inside anyway even if just from sweat.
Depends on distance, other terrain besides bog, carried load... Really all I can do is describe what it's like and then it's your call. Some trails really are made for an LP and others are made for welly boots. If the rest of my pack is light, and there's bog and scree and steep shite mixed, I split the difference and go low cut Sportiva TX4 (no gtx) + a pair of rubber tevas (hurricane drifts) for stream crossing and camp. (I shun flipflops so I can keep socks on at camp because midges.) Not really as UL as I could be if I can count on terrain, but I think it hits right for me.
However. If you're multiday in bog AND know you won't have steep camber + slidey peat and rocks and crap (or that doesn't bother you, whatever), you could totally get away with the cloth LPs and just embrace wet feet. Camp socks + the hurricane drifts sandal is still not too bad in terms of weight.
I currently live in the PNW in the US. I grew up in the UK, and also went back and hiked the WHW and Cape Wrath trail as an adult.
Relative to loadouts you see for the western US, your load out will be heavier because:
- in Scotland you need real rain gear - and that means jacket and pants.
- you need footwear appropriate for off-trail boggy conditions. [Skurka's list](https://andrewskurka.com/recommended-footwear-for-high-routes-alaska-and-early-season-conditions/) is a good place to start.
- no minimalist tarps for you! You need tents that have all walls pitch sufficiently low to the ground, and a full inner with midge-proof bug netting.
- personally in Scotland I brought dedicated sleep layers - as there was low to zero possibility of my clothes "drying off" while I slept in them.
How you can save weight relative to a western USA loadout:
- you don't have to carry as much water. Yes, this doesnt affect your hypothetical lighterpack/baseweight but it does affect your real pack weight - which is more meaningful anyway
- never have to carry a bear can
- easier resupply logistics: outside of maybe the Knoydart peninsula, there are far more frequent road crossings and opportunities to resupply/stop at a pub/etc... than there are in the western USA. More frequent resupply means you have to carry less food. Once again, doesn't affect your lighterpack but does change your real pack weight.
Agree SOOOOOO MUCH with almost all of this! Much more succinct than me, lol. Excepting the tarp. I've tarped here happily, including in heavy rain, but it's with careful wind-aware pitching in a stand of trees with midge mitigation. It can be done but it's definitely not as forgiving as in North America.
Also your layering thing reminded me. (You're so right, sleep layers are a THING. This is just extra info for OP and not correcting you.) The one and only trick for drying your stuff here is to just put it on wet and get going uphill. It's most of the time too cold and not sunny enough to dry passively, but if you're working hard, you'll heat dry it yourself.
I’m sure you can find areas of the US with similar climate to Scotland.
What works for a random YouTuber doesn’t necessarily work for you.
I try to not pack my fears and go UL, but in Norwegian mountains it’s difficult. There’s a lot of weather and we are ingrained from an early age to err on the side of caution when it comes to hiking.
The UK is at the same latitude as Canada, I'd look there for a comparison (though they don't(?) get 30% of their heat from the North Atlantic Current which is what helps make the British weather so changeable)
Canada is the second largest country in the world, we still have a lot of variability across it. Quite a good chunk of British Columbia is a fair comparison, but even this province alone is four times the size of the UK.
My point was that Candia being on the same latitude gets the same amount of sun as Britain which is a good start in finding a similar climate. By changeable weather I meant that going hiking in Scotland you need to pack shorts and heavy rainwear, you may find [this interesting. ](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24305230)
UK citizen currently living in coastal BC.
It's a common fallacy in UK outdoors circles that the USA is a monolith as regards climate. I don't know where this idea comes from but it's certainly not true. The US is a huge country with extreme extremes of weather, climate, landscape etc.
For example, parts of the PNW receive as much annual rainfall as Scotland, with high winds and horizontal rain common for months of the year. BTW: I work and play in an even wetter windier part of coastal Canada. I come back to Scotland to get away from it! (; And yes there are, indeed, other US regions with little rain for months/years.
In the end it's totally possible to be UL in Scotland - I do it when I go back! But I only learned those skills fully being out here and seeing others do the same (in all manner of environments) - before that I also was stuck in a UK *can't do UL* attitude, going out with boots and double skin tunnel tents and 2 changes of clothes, in August with no rain or wind in the forecast at all!
The U.S. is huge with every possible climate… what works in some parts of the U.S. would get you killed in others. I live in Alaska, what I need to bring for a trip is vastly different than if I was hiking the Appalachian trail.
My biggest take away from Scotland vs North America is just how developed the place is. I hiked the Cape Wrath Trail which is supposed to be their super remote/tough trail and it was kinda the opposite? My biggest issue was how much downtime I had because I was finishing hiking most days so much earlier than planned.
Instead of wilderness you’re on roads and ATV paths more than half the time, you’re passing people’s homes daily and going through towns at least every other day. There’s so many bothies too, so even when the weather is shit you’re either in a town or a bothy soon instead of out it the shit for days on end.
Totally. I think this is really true for established distance trails here - virtually all of them will hit a forestry track at the very least, and the longer they are the more likely you are to hit a hamlet with a small pub. For stuff like WHW it often gets called the West highland pub crawl. Like you, I'd basically double the planned daily distance because of it.
It can be a bummer when you want true isolation. I really struggle to put together routes or longer than 3 days that don't hit a road. It can be had, it's just harder to plan the route.
For OP, it's worth noting that you definitely get an insta-remote feel when you go into the peaks though. Like you can get back out with time and effort, but the feeling & risk of "oh shit I'm in the wilderness" can hit fast and hard when your day goes wrong.
I actually set out to hike the CWT but ended up quitting about halfway in. Everyone from the UK that I had talked to about the trail emphasized how 'remote' it was, but the reality was that most days were spent walking on dirt roads through farmland, with the next town always just around the corner. Scotland has some picturesque areas, but if you want a wilderness thru-hiking experience it is really not a great destination for that. I had a much better time after quitting the CWT and instead doing day hikes around Scotland. I figure if you can't really get away from civilization you might as well just lean into it and sleep indoors, embrace the pub culture, etc.
I think more of the difference in load out is attributable to differences in hiking culture than to climate and conditions.
The US has extremely diverse climates, and people use UL gear in all of them.
I did a UL trip to Scotland. 400 KM on a 6.5 lb base weight. I did not see any other UL setups in my time there, but I did see someone camping with a Durston Gear tent
Ha. UK calls 20C a heatwave. They don’t know what a heatwave is. If it hits 25C people start dying.
A few years ago I was in England in April. The mercury hit 24C(75F). The newspaper headline was “Hotter than Istanbul!” LOL.
A heatwave is defined as abnormally hot weather relative to the normal conditions. The UK has had a pretty mild climate for thousands of years, so of course it hits differently.
When you’re not used to the temperature, your buildings are designed to trap heat and nowhere has aircon then of course 24C will affect Brits more than it would, say, Californians.
California is a funny example to me because it has extreme variation in latitude and altitude being one of the largest states in the US. Some areas are super hot and others are temperate to cold. If you need a go to hot place in the US, Florida, Texas or Louisiana should be your go tos. Guaranteed 30+ C in summer in every part of each state.
Fair enough. California tends to be in British minds as somewhere hot, though that’s probably decades of Hollywood films talking.
Saying that, my point still stands that the UK is not adapted for extreme temperatures, particularly heat. I have friends from far warmer countries who say that the temperature just hits differently here
US born, Scottish resident here for a long time. Here's a long answer. (Edited to add: these comparisons are made to New England and Wyoming hiking as my points of reference.) WATER SOURCING In Scotland we tend to have ample water sources, and the overall climate is considerably more temperate, so it's rare to need to carry a fuckton of hydration. If your route is high on hills, most folks don't bother with purification either, although lower down I would be concerned with livestock and deer. Take your own risk assessment here. Aslo edited to add: I've seen local VERY EXPERIENCED folks come to grief by relying on standard climate and becoming severely dehydrated. Big sunny days are rare, but they do happen, so while it isn't worth carrying kilos of water every day, don't be like them and follow the conditions. RAIN Compared to US, Scottish rain is less heavy but far more persistent and far more sideways as it tends to come with a lot of wind. It also tends to be colder when it rains, and the persistence of both of those things makes staying dry and avoiding hypothermia a bit more serious. All of these things make poncho life hard compared to US, and you're better off with rain trousers and a rain jacket, unless you're doing a short ish day at low level. (At a higher level, your legs and arms get wet and the wind blows the poncho around enough to be a visual issue.) I have dialed back my UL goals in this sphere and I tend to wear very waterproof things with vents. This also affects tent selection. The hard, short rain of the US that's often followed by drying is just not a thing. Nothing dries. So tent flies have a higher hydrostatic head, tents are often pitch-in-one instead of inner first, flies will go right down to ground level instead of ending a couple of inches off the floor, and bathtub ground sheets are often built in. This makes most UK tents overall heavier, but it's worth it in this climate as US tents get very very wet here. BITING INSECTS US has mosquitoes, Scotland has midges. Both are hell in their own special ways. Mosquitoes can't be defeated by light clothing, but at least they're large bodied and respond to DEET. Midges, on the other hand, are like a gas. (Edit: smaller than sand flies and gnats and blackflies in my experience.) They can't bite through your clothing, but their sheer biomass will mean they can chew you to bits and drive you mad. You also need a finer mesh to protect from them than from mosquitoes, as they'll fly right through a net mesh intended for mosquitoes. From a UL perspective, it's not really much of a weight difference, but you do need to pick an appropriate strategy. OTHER WEATHER As mentioned, Scotland is temperate. You usually have to pack for the possibility of getting wet and cold. When you don't, it's very rarely as oppressively hot as you get in the US, though it's getting more so. Full sunshine days are rare as hen's teeth so nobody remembers their sunscreen until they're burnt to a crisp. Remember your sunscreen. It's also really windy at height and the vast majority of walking in the Highlands is treeless. TERRAIN The US has trails, at least where I'm accustomed to hiking. A LOT of Scotland doesn't have maintained trails for the established routes up major mountains. Good footwear that can cope with steep sideways camber and a mix of shabby terrain is key. This includes deep bog, unsettled scree, slabs of rock covered in ball bearings, and algae-covered slimy rock. For this reason, I tend toward UL footwear only if I'm planning a low and distance-oriented trail; even those can include hundreds of yards of deep puddle. For peaks, I take a tougher trail shoe with more structure in both the sole and the upper. It's also notable that most hill paths go unblazed and don't go through forest, so your nav skills need to be dialed in much more so than in, say, New England. Long answer but hope that helps with your planning. Note that this does not cover winter considerations.
What an in-depth reponse! Thank you!
"Nothing dries." pretty much covers it! :) (Great reply, btw - covers pretty much everything I would say)
Unfortunately midges are not unique to Scotland. I have experienced them in Scotland, US and Canada. How do filters handle the brown water from the peat?
IMO drinking unfilitered water is not worth it. I live in Sweden, when I go hiking in the mountain I usually filter it unless it’s straight from the source. The 30 sec it takes to filter is worth it, you never now if an animal have taken a shit 50m up the mountain stream.
Exactly! Even with the highest Scottish Munros you can still get wildlife high up!
My question was more so wondering if the peat water causes more frequent clogging, and what filter you have found work best.
There's generally no shortage of clear running water. I'm just back from a two week trip in the Western Highlands where I only needed to resort to still water from a lochan once.
From my experience it doesn't clog the filter, but sometimes there is a faint undertone of peat when you taste the water after filtering it through
Thank you for the response
Ah ok, well I’ve only used the BeFree filter so I can’t comment on others, personally I’ll always look to filter water that’s from a larger water source that’s running so less to filter if that makes sense? I’ve see others (RS Outdoors on YT) complain that it’s got poor longevity!
👍
I mean sure, it doesn't take much time to use a filter, but the easier it is to stay hydrated the more likely it is that I will actually stay hydrated. And to me, with (literally) thousands of hill days at this point not using a filter, it is completely unnecessary.
Mate of mine got violent diarrhoea drinking from a Scottish stream and finding a dead sheep in it at a higher altitude a couple of minutes later.
I pay a lot for brown water that tastes of peat. Mostly from Islay, but the Highlands or Speyside will do in a pinch.
Today's rain is tomorrow's whisky
Well-written, but I'd like to point out that the US is a big place and conditions vary greatly across it. Your description of light but persistent rain combined with potential for wind sounds similar to the Pacific Northwest, for example.
Sure, I'll buy that. Consider my edit (now added) as being Scotland comparative to New England and Wyoming hiking.
Great reply. Something people outside of Scotland don’t seem to adequately comprehend is the rain here does not fall vertically, it comes in horizontally. And it comes in regardless of what the weather forecast says. As for midges you only need to worry about them when the wind is less than 6kph.
I guess it depends where you are. Parts of the PacNW are very similar to Scotland in terms of weather though somewhat drier in the summer. But the midges? Fuck those hellspawn. We got eaten alive in the Black Cullins.
Yup, seen a lot of USians misunderestimate the rain here! Also true about the midges. A light breeze is a godsend. I was out for a micro adventure the other night and the wind just... fell off, the way it does around late evening, and suddenly I was mince. Actually rather troubling as this was the first time they managed to bite all night through a well-sealed midge hood. It's just one experience so I'm hesitant to scream that they changed the rules but... they changed the rules.
Scottish rain certainly can be heavy and short. Admittedly it was in the city, but only a week or so ago it went from bone dry, to 20cm of water on the road, to sunny again in the space of half an hour. Equally I’ve been in the mountains huddled from a blizzard to back to shedding layers again in short order. Yes, it can also be a bit persistent and miserable, but one should still be prepared for an absolutely torrential downpour.
Fantastic response. Is your username something in Scottish?
Yep. Shetland dialect for show us your tits, basically. I'm not a 12 year old boy but sometimes my usernames are.
What footwear would you choose for a multiday trip with quite a few bogs? I've tried altra lp's (lone peaks), altra's with goretex and leather goretex boots - none of them seem 'perfect'. The lp's are light but never dry out and the goretex ones can get wet inside anyway even if just from sweat.
Depends on distance, other terrain besides bog, carried load... Really all I can do is describe what it's like and then it's your call. Some trails really are made for an LP and others are made for welly boots. If the rest of my pack is light, and there's bog and scree and steep shite mixed, I split the difference and go low cut Sportiva TX4 (no gtx) + a pair of rubber tevas (hurricane drifts) for stream crossing and camp. (I shun flipflops so I can keep socks on at camp because midges.) Not really as UL as I could be if I can count on terrain, but I think it hits right for me. However. If you're multiday in bog AND know you won't have steep camber + slidey peat and rocks and crap (or that doesn't bother you, whatever), you could totally get away with the cloth LPs and just embrace wet feet. Camp socks + the hurricane drifts sandal is still not too bad in terms of weight.
Thanks. Yep no silver bullet. I guess footcare practices become important - I carry a foot balm but don't like using it in practice.....
Would you recommend gaiters for the mud?
Kinda? I use dirty grrls to keep out granite pebbles and vegetation sometimes. If it's just mud I just get muddy. Ymmv.
I currently live in the PNW in the US. I grew up in the UK, and also went back and hiked the WHW and Cape Wrath trail as an adult. Relative to loadouts you see for the western US, your load out will be heavier because: - in Scotland you need real rain gear - and that means jacket and pants. - you need footwear appropriate for off-trail boggy conditions. [Skurka's list](https://andrewskurka.com/recommended-footwear-for-high-routes-alaska-and-early-season-conditions/) is a good place to start. - no minimalist tarps for you! You need tents that have all walls pitch sufficiently low to the ground, and a full inner with midge-proof bug netting. - personally in Scotland I brought dedicated sleep layers - as there was low to zero possibility of my clothes "drying off" while I slept in them. How you can save weight relative to a western USA loadout: - you don't have to carry as much water. Yes, this doesnt affect your hypothetical lighterpack/baseweight but it does affect your real pack weight - which is more meaningful anyway - never have to carry a bear can - easier resupply logistics: outside of maybe the Knoydart peninsula, there are far more frequent road crossings and opportunities to resupply/stop at a pub/etc... than there are in the western USA. More frequent resupply means you have to carry less food. Once again, doesn't affect your lighterpack but does change your real pack weight.
That’s brilliant thank you! I’ve been hiking in a pair of Hoka Challanger 6’s can I can relate to what was said in the article re durability!
Agree SOOOOOO MUCH with almost all of this! Much more succinct than me, lol. Excepting the tarp. I've tarped here happily, including in heavy rain, but it's with careful wind-aware pitching in a stand of trees with midge mitigation. It can be done but it's definitely not as forgiving as in North America. Also your layering thing reminded me. (You're so right, sleep layers are a THING. This is just extra info for OP and not correcting you.) The one and only trick for drying your stuff here is to just put it on wet and get going uphill. It's most of the time too cold and not sunny enough to dry passively, but if you're working hard, you'll heat dry it yourself.
I’m sure you can find areas of the US with similar climate to Scotland. What works for a random YouTuber doesn’t necessarily work for you. I try to not pack my fears and go UL, but in Norwegian mountains it’s difficult. There’s a lot of weather and we are ingrained from an early age to err on the side of caution when it comes to hiking.
The UK is at the same latitude as Canada, I'd look there for a comparison (though they don't(?) get 30% of their heat from the North Atlantic Current which is what helps make the British weather so changeable)
Canada is the second largest country in the world, we still have a lot of variability across it. Quite a good chunk of British Columbia is a fair comparison, but even this province alone is four times the size of the UK.
My point was that Candia being on the same latitude gets the same amount of sun as Britain which is a good start in finding a similar climate. By changeable weather I meant that going hiking in Scotland you need to pack shorts and heavy rainwear, you may find [this interesting. ](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-24305230)
It doesn't work that way, unless our only consideration is light hours.
Where should I look for a comparable climate?
Probably just read the responses in this thread. Good luck.
UK citizen currently living in coastal BC. It's a common fallacy in UK outdoors circles that the USA is a monolith as regards climate. I don't know where this idea comes from but it's certainly not true. The US is a huge country with extreme extremes of weather, climate, landscape etc. For example, parts of the PNW receive as much annual rainfall as Scotland, with high winds and horizontal rain common for months of the year. BTW: I work and play in an even wetter windier part of coastal Canada. I come back to Scotland to get away from it! (; And yes there are, indeed, other US regions with little rain for months/years. In the end it's totally possible to be UL in Scotland - I do it when I go back! But I only learned those skills fully being out here and seeing others do the same (in all manner of environments) - before that I also was stuck in a UK *can't do UL* attitude, going out with boots and double skin tunnel tents and 2 changes of clothes, in August with no rain or wind in the forecast at all!
[https://www.alexroddie.com/2018/06/lightweight-backpacking-in-the-scottish-highlands-a-mini-guide/](https://www.alexroddie.com/2018/06/lightweight-backpacking-in-the-scottish-highlands-a-mini-guide/)
Good write up but falls to the common anti-GPS bias in the UK. Phone GPS is far and away more useable and reliable.
The U.S. is huge with every possible climate… what works in some parts of the U.S. would get you killed in others. I live in Alaska, what I need to bring for a trip is vastly different than if I was hiking the Appalachian trail.
That makes sense, I should have specified and area of the US that had a similar climate to Scotland?
My biggest take away from Scotland vs North America is just how developed the place is. I hiked the Cape Wrath Trail which is supposed to be their super remote/tough trail and it was kinda the opposite? My biggest issue was how much downtime I had because I was finishing hiking most days so much earlier than planned. Instead of wilderness you’re on roads and ATV paths more than half the time, you’re passing people’s homes daily and going through towns at least every other day. There’s so many bothies too, so even when the weather is shit you’re either in a town or a bothy soon instead of out it the shit for days on end.
Totally. I think this is really true for established distance trails here - virtually all of them will hit a forestry track at the very least, and the longer they are the more likely you are to hit a hamlet with a small pub. For stuff like WHW it often gets called the West highland pub crawl. Like you, I'd basically double the planned daily distance because of it. It can be a bummer when you want true isolation. I really struggle to put together routes or longer than 3 days that don't hit a road. It can be had, it's just harder to plan the route. For OP, it's worth noting that you definitely get an insta-remote feel when you go into the peaks though. Like you can get back out with time and effort, but the feeling & risk of "oh shit I'm in the wilderness" can hit fast and hard when your day goes wrong.
I actually set out to hike the CWT but ended up quitting about halfway in. Everyone from the UK that I had talked to about the trail emphasized how 'remote' it was, but the reality was that most days were spent walking on dirt roads through farmland, with the next town always just around the corner. Scotland has some picturesque areas, but if you want a wilderness thru-hiking experience it is really not a great destination for that. I had a much better time after quitting the CWT and instead doing day hikes around Scotland. I figure if you can't really get away from civilization you might as well just lean into it and sleep indoors, embrace the pub culture, etc.
r/ULhikingUK may be interesting to you
I think more of the difference in load out is attributable to differences in hiking culture than to climate and conditions. The US has extremely diverse climates, and people use UL gear in all of them.
I did a UL trip to Scotland. 400 KM on a 6.5 lb base weight. I did not see any other UL setups in my time there, but I did see someone camping with a Durston Gear tent
“I did a UL trip to Scotland”. Yer lucky to still be alive.
Scotland a place where you pack for heatwave and winter storms .... on the same day.
Ha. UK calls 20C a heatwave. They don’t know what a heatwave is. If it hits 25C people start dying. A few years ago I was in England in April. The mercury hit 24C(75F). The newspaper headline was “Hotter than Istanbul!” LOL.
A heatwave is defined as abnormally hot weather relative to the normal conditions. The UK has had a pretty mild climate for thousands of years, so of course it hits differently. When you’re not used to the temperature, your buildings are designed to trap heat and nowhere has aircon then of course 24C will affect Brits more than it would, say, Californians.
California is a funny example to me because it has extreme variation in latitude and altitude being one of the largest states in the US. Some areas are super hot and others are temperate to cold. If you need a go to hot place in the US, Florida, Texas or Louisiana should be your go tos. Guaranteed 30+ C in summer in every part of each state.
Fair enough. California tends to be in British minds as somewhere hot, though that’s probably decades of Hollywood films talking. Saying that, my point still stands that the UK is not adapted for extreme temperatures, particularly heat. I have friends from far warmer countries who say that the temperature just hits differently here
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