(Hitch?) Hiking in Scotland

Hi everyone!

Two friends and I would like to hike in Scotland in June 2013.
We're looking for a hiking trail which best corresponds to the following characteristics:
- highest mountains (we're looking for the nicest "mountainy" environment)
- ideal for a 5 day hike, with an average of walking 8 hours day. A relatively tough trail would be great - but we will have no equipment for any type of rock-climbing.
- if possible, not a too "touristy" trail.
And the whole trail can be in the "wild"- we don't need stops for food or shelter because we will be bringing our food and tent with us.

Also, does hitch-hiking work in Scotland (we're three girls) ?

Any help would be highly appreciated!
Thank you very much!

Antoinette.

Scotland has the right of wild camping. Help keep it that way by carrying a trowel and making sure that you take away everything except bodily wastes, which you bury. That means the toilet paper as well as the sanitary items.

http://www.visitscotland.com/see-do/activities/walking/wild-camping

as for hitch-hiking - same dangers or not as anywhere.

Based on what you are looking for I would suggest hiking part of the Cape Wrath trail, some of the most rugged scenery in Scotland and definitely not touristy. You would need very good navigation skills and camping equipment (and preferably join the mountain bothies association, they have several very good ones along this trail, can be a lifesaver in bad weather). Only do this if you have good hiking/navigating experience and know how to safely ford a river.

The main problem you will face is that you only have 5 days, and most sections require longer. It would take some research to see if you can easily pick up the trail somewhere (Ullapool being a good option) and hike part of it while having a transport option out.

An easier option is doing part of the West Highland way, you can pick up the trail at Inversnaid (ferry from Tarbet). This gives you the nicest sections of the trail (lots of mountain scenery) + the bonus of a nice boat trip over Loch Lomond . It's very doable in 5 days if you are strong hikers and more importantly it is all public transport accessible. It will be much busier though, as in more people on the trail but still fairly remote hiking with great scenery

As for hitchhiking, I'm a girl and mostly travel on my own (I love the outdoors, most of my friends are not so keen). I hitchhike on Scottish islands without hesitation, on the main land only in remote areas. Basically, if there is little public transport in the area, people tend to be used to picking up hikers and dropping them of at the nearest transport hub (also known as bus stops). It's not something to cover long distances, but I use it mostly to get to/from trails and I've never had any trouble. Do exercise the normal caution of course, and try not to be completely wet and muddy by the time you need a ride!

Hitchhiking - safe but difficult for 3 girls with rucksacks. Probably better to choose a start and finish point with good transport connections and then book early. You may then have time to squeeze an extra day in (or walk only 7 hours per day).
June - the earlier you go in the month - the less midges with which to share your campsite.
I agree with Kathfire about the Cape Wrath trail
I disagree with Kathfire about West Highland Way - too"touristy".
Not sure what to recommend - you give no idea of previous wild walking/camping experience or navigational ability. Also what do you mean by 'trail". In the UK it refers mainly to long distance recognised routes. On other places it just means footpaths.

Hello !

Thanks so much to all of you for your precious advice!
@ Neverwinter: thanks for the link! Of course we will make sure we take away everything! The right of wild camping is great - we will help keep it that way!

@ Kathfire: thank you so much for your very helpful advice! Although we are looking for a physical holiday, I don't think we would have the necessary navigational abilities to do the Cape Wrath trail... Last hiking trip I did was the GR20 in Corsica, and I thought it was perfect because relatively physical, and well marked along the way so you could not get lost. Is the West Highland Way marked? Plus taking a boat is just that much more exciting ;)

@ Pedro: I think you're right, we'll book early public transport and have more time once we're there. We'll only hitch-hike in areas with little public transport. Thanks to you and kathfire for letting us know it works though - hitch-hiking in Spain for example was IMpossible!
Thanks Pedro for the heads-up concerning midges... We'll be prepared!
Unfortunately, we have relatively poor navigational experience, so we'd like to stay on a marked trail... I assume the West Highland Way will be very touristy, but if it's marked, I think we'll probably go for that one!

Thanks again to all of you !

Definitely sounds like the West Highland way might be the way to go for you. It's reasonably well marked and you are at least following paths most of time, rather than just tramping through the wilderness. It does get touristy (by Scottish standards) but the scenery will make up for it if you can get a couple of nice days, plus, meeting other hikers makes it much harder to get lost! As with any hiking holiday if it rains, it can get a bit miserable of course.

Have fun!

Most of my Scotland is 'off-trail' so not sure as to how many are well marked. Certainly the WHW is. At 96 miles long and relatively flat the whole route could be done in 5 days at 8 hours walking per day. Having done the GR20 this should be no problem to you.

Wild camping isn't as easy on the West Highland Way; because of the volume of hikers, the powers-that-be tend to disapprove of it. There are a few "official" wild camping spots (one on Loch Lomond and one just before Rannoch Moor that I can recall off the top of my head) - and there are several private campgrounds along the way.
And it's very well marked - you'd be really unlucky to get lost.

I was in Scotland for 2 weeks driving around and trying to wild camp. It was a lot more difficult than i'd ever imagined. Of course this is weather permitting, but you never know in Scotland's highlands and along the coast. I've written about our experiences and hard times over on my blog if you'd like my thoughts - http://decentcupoftea.wordpress.com/2012/08/21/scotland/