Day 323: Lybster to Whaligoe

My last trip included father-youngest-son bonding with Max. This time, it’s father-daughter, as Hayley is keen to try camping, dreaming of the John Muir Trail. The plan is a few days of coastal walking round John O’Groats, returning south via the Cairngorms to meet up with Hayley for the Yorkshire Dales section of the Coast to Coast Trail.

After a 14-hour train journey up to Wick yesterday, it’s time to complete the John o’ Groats Trail on a leisurely 8-mile walk from Lybster to Whaligoe. The path is interesting from the start, with steep steps descending from the village to a cove, picturesque despite the gloomy skies. The heat wave did not travel with me.

An abandoned rally car clings to the top of towering cliffs. What is it doing there?

I’ve plenty of time to explore, easing myself down the sleep slope for a closer look, tentatively edging round a gully, the sea waiting far below. How did the car manoeuvre down the steep slope and across the narrow arch and why? Strange days.

A detour round a valley at Occumster brings me close to waterfalls. I can’t resist stepping down into the flow of water. The stream vanishes over the edge of flat stones, cascading down to the sea hundreds of feet below. The rocks are too slippery to risk peering over the rim.

I’d like to see the large waterfall. Before the path turns north, it’s possible to work down a grassy slope and look back up the inlet.

To my surprise, two seals play in the water at the base of the falls. I sit and watch, grateful for my binoculars.

Back on the trail, an impressive stack lies off Roy Geo. 

Clyth Harbour, part of the herring fishing industry which flourished in the 19th century, is tempting, but it’s a long way down to the ruined fishing station.

Black heads pop up, one by one, from the waves breaking over submerged rocks. Five seals watch me on the clifftop — come play with us!

The red and white striped Clyth Lighthouse comes into view, now privately owned. It looks as though my camera lens is dirty, but I’m wading through fly soup.

The path is challenging, and I end up on the wrong side of a barbed wire fence, not for the first time. I remove my backpack and roll underneath the wire, putting a little more distance between my feet and the sheer cliff edge.

Movement in the ferns. A brown streak. A young fox appears, rather thin and suffering from mange, scattering rabbits across the hillside.

After making my way carefully through two fields of cows with calves, I watch fulmars nesting in the cliffs below. This stirs up a few parents, swooping close by, so I move on quickly, not wishing to be vomited on.

Cresting the final headland, the magnificent Whaligoe Steps appear. This is the second time I’ve approached them, and the views are much more dramatic from the south.

A memorable spot to complete the East Coast of Britain.

My bus stop sits at the end of a row of cottages above the steps. A garrulous chap leans out of an open doorway and launches into a history of the steps. I accept his offer to step inside and look at an old photo of his grandad’s boat at the bottom of the steps. His name is Davy Nicolson, an unofficial tour guide who maintains the steps. He’s very interesting, but I’m forced to cut in as my bus is due shortly.

That’s the last of my gaps completed. Onwards to North West Scotland!

Date of walk: Thursday 21 August 2025.

Walk distance: 8 miles.

Total distance: 5,278 miles.