Scotland Trek: I Hiked Scotland Coastal Lands

Hiking the Moray Coast Trail in March 2025

Me in my hiking boots on the Moray Coast Trail east of Cullen. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Hiking the Moray Coast Trail past Cullen on March 25, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Roseisle Forest outside of Findhorn. Friday, March 21, 2025.
Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.
I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

I Hiked Scotland Coastal Lands

By Mary Dezember

I hiked beaches of sand, beaches of rock, and beaches edged by cliffs and dunes.

I hiked some of the cliffs and dunes.

I hiked forests that stretched seemingly forever, from the edge of the coast to acres inland.

I hiked yellow gorse-lined cliffs upward
and upward with the bluest ocean to the left and freshly plowed rich brown farmland to the right.

I hiked away from enchanting villages, one with the church steeple barely visible as the fog rolling in the from ocean, perpendicular, covered the town facades in a romantic and mysterious mist.

I hiked past desolate WWII pillbox bunkers and piles of rocks, the ocean surf pounding to the left, thinking of my dad and the many other selfless, brave soldiers. Here, as with most of the hike, I saw no one. On this timeless stretch — and except for some birds — I was the only living soul.

I had visions of the young WWII soldiers talking to each other as they kept their eyes sharp to the ocean horizon.

Lossiemouth East Beach, view of the village. Sunday, March 23, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

A WWII pillbox bunker in a long row of pillbox bunkers on the Moray Coast, Scotland. Sunday, March 23, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.

I hiked through farming villages, saying “hello” to cows and horses and sheep.

I hiked up hills so high I could see the ocean surrounding the farmland and stretching across my entire view.

Hiking trail past WWII pillbox bunkers between Lossiemouth and Kingston, Scotland. Sunday, March 23, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.

On one narrow rural hill, I passed two women walking and talking, probably ladies of the farms below. I imagined that would be me and a dear friend, if we lived in Scotland.

I hiked through heaths, grassy lands, boggy lands, wooded lands, over bridges, and over a river with two swans afloat.

I hiked through a river-lined nature preserve and the WDC Scottish Dolphin Centre. Here, I saw a few people. I told a young woman I was hiking the Moray Coast Trail. She said, “Intense.”

I hiked on hidden tiny paths winding through the woods, hearing but not seeing the crashing ocean waves.

I hiked on a swerving wide grassy path. Here, a few people appeared, often with dogs. A family with a young child and a dog passed me, saying, “Hiya!”

Post Office Cottage, Garmouth, Scotland. Sunday, March 23, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.

I hiked through at least twelve charming coastal villages and settlements. (Findhorn, Burghead, Hopeman, Lossiemouth, Kingston on Spey, Garmouth, Spey Bay, Portgordon, Buckie, Findochty, Portknockie, Cullen)

At Portgordon, I saw three herds or pods of seals in the ocean, their heads popping up from the water, shining silver in the sun.

I hiked past epic rock formations sculpted by the greatest artist of all time: Mother Nature.

I hiked past boat-filled harbors and empty harbors.

Bowfiddle Rock, what I call Whale Tail rock, Portknockie, Scotland. Monday, March 24, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

I hiked past no coffee shops. (Well, actually, I do remember seeing one in Garmouth, but it was closed. Probably because it was a Sunday. Or off season.) I had no time for coffee anyway. I hiked past only one open public restroom in any of the villages. Maybe there are more, just not on my Moray Coast route. (Again, I was hiking off season; I saw one public restroom in the Roseilse Forest that opened April 1.)

I hiked around and over cliffs and onto stretches of beautiful beaches.

I hiked past palm trees in yards and lighthouses in coves.

I hiked to a place where a castle once stood.

I hiked in wind gusts to 29 mph or more. One day, in a 29 mph blast in Cullen, I passed a Scottish man who simply said to me, “Breeeezy.”

I hiked about 47 miles the first three days, getting from Findhorn to Cullen. Then, more miles hiking around the villages where I stayed.

I had envisioned a bit more of a walk on mostly level terrain and time for coffee, or lunch, or a breather. That was not true for the first two days.

This hike was neither leisurely nor a walk.
There were heights to climb, though most, thankfully, had a somewhat gradual incline. Often there were high winds and wind blasts. The weather on the days I hiked was mostly sunny, just some misty rain, and overall gorgeous.

This was my Scotland Trek, a hiking expedition on unsure terrain. Though there were markers, more signs and markers would assist hikers.

If I had relied only on signage and markers, I would have been lost several times. There were twists and turns with sometimes more than one path ahead. With the app I downloaded that, thankfully, did not require internet, I could always find my way. I would get lost for a bit, sometimes on precarious, even treacherous, ground, then find my arrow on the app that designated “me,” then right myself to the tiny, obscure path.

That app arrow made me feel not so alone. I named it Wilson. (Re: The movie Cast Away.) It was from Going the Whole Hogg website, using Organic Maps (offline maps).

Also helpful for staying on track was the book Moray Coast Trail (Rucksack Readers) by Sandra Bardwell. I would read it each evening to see what the next day’s hike would bring. Having it to refer to during my hike was reassuring.

In a meditation area of the lovely Ecovillage in beautiful Findhorn, Scotland. Thursday, March 20, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

The first hiking day, I hiked eight hours at a nearly race speed, only one short stop, to beat the high tide so I could make it into Lossiemouth.

If you don’t beat the high tide, you are cut off from the village. Worse, one never should be on a beach during high tide. The water rises, and if there are cliffs or dunes, one can get trapped, and drown. It was a major concern as I trekked onward that day. I had to keep moving.

The second hiking day, I trekked another eight hours at a nearly race speed, again only one short stop, to get to my next destination in Buckie before dark and by my check-in time.

The third hiking day, I trekked at a bit more leisurely pace, taking five hours to get to my end destination: Cullen.

The fourth, fifth and sixth hiking days, I trekked the stunning and momentous landscape of and around Cullen.

And while I am sharing with you a few of my photos, I did not take many that are iconic and famously dramatic, as I was in too much of a hurry to stop to take photos and/or I was too high on narrow paths in gusty wind, so I did not want to take photos. (One such area was the stretch of sandstone formations near Hopeman, such as the Seastack formation. I wish I had taken a photo, but the wind and elevation was too much for my comfort in doing so.)

I am terrified of heights. I sometimes trip over my feet. I was wearing a backpack. My left leg was not feeling strong. A water bladder in a vest was between me and the backpack, tilting my balance. I had a fluffy vest tied to the sleeves of my sweatshirt tied around my waist. I had a bottle with electrolyte water hanging on me. I had a cane (because airlines won’t allow hiking sticks in carry-on luggage).

In short, I was overburdened. Trying to take photos was time-consuming and, in cliff areas, could be lethal. So, often in fabulously beautiful areas (which were everywhere), I didn’t take photos.

On the heights, I watched my feet. For much of this amazing journey, what I saw was only my feet — focusing on my feet so I wouldn’t trip.

(This was the same tactic my son and I used when we hiked the Grand Canyon in April 2017. Very few photos and ONLY on a super safe place. Walking was not about looking around at the view — it was about concentrating on each step, watching where we placed our feet — so we wouldn’t fall and die.)

Further, taking photos consumes my phone battery. I needed my phone for my trail app and emergencies.

Even still, with so many hours hiking, I recharged my phone as I hiked with a portable recharger. I would not have had enough battery without the charger.

It was not my plan to write a blog post about this experience. (But, I did.) Nor did I set out on this adventure thinking it would prove something about myself to myself. (But, it did.)

My intention had always been simple — to do three things I always wanted to do:

Visit Scotland
Walk village to village
Walk near the coast

But even with much research, planning, and preparatory walking, I was not fully prepared for what I encountered.

Sometimes, when looking back, it frightens me that I did this and did it solo. But when I was hiking, I was seldom frightened — I just kept moving, moving, moving.

I was captivated by all that I saw that I would not have seen if I had not been on foot. And I was concentrating on beating the clock — and on beating the high tide.

Writing about it now to share this experience is helping it all to settle into me.

This experience bypassed my mind and went straight to my heart.

Yes, when I left the States, I thought I was prepared for this adventure.

I was not.

I doubt that an outlander like me can ever be fully prepared for the awesomeness called Scotland.

More of my photos — the awesomeness called Scotland:

Winding path of the Moray Coast Trail east of Cullen. Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Seatown in Cullen with viaduct in the background. I walked on the top of the viaduct on my last day in Cullen, which was Thursday, March 27, 2025. Photo taken Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

The viaduct and Seatown in Cullen, Scotland. My hotel is in the large white building back, the lovely Cullen Bay Hotel. I was in the top turret room with windows overlooking the ocean. Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Moray Coast Trail section in Cullen, Scotland. Tuesday, March 25, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

View from Seatown in Lossiemouth, Scotland. Saturday, March 22, 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Cullen, Scotland. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember. I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

The Cullen colors were the most beautiful I have ever seen. I wrote to my children on Tuesday, March 25, 2025:

“The weather is stunning here. Sunny and cool. Just fabulous. The town is charming, on a hill overlooking the ocean.
The view from my window of the ocean includes a cliff (that I had to walk down and around yesterday to get to the beach, walk across the entire beach, and then wind around to a highway sidewalk to get to my place) — and the cliff is covered in gorse bushes with yellow flowers that are everywhere here.
The sea is a gorgeous marine blue, and the sky is a light sky blue with thin clouds painted throughout.”

Farmland, village, coast. Scotland. March 2025. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.
I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Gorse bushes everywhere in this beautiful coastal land. Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.
I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

A special thanks to the following. I could not have done this trip without your help:

Finn with Speyside Couriers, who transported my larger pack from the village I left to the village I would arrive to that day.

Ron with Inverness Airport Taxi, who got me from and to the airport. After all of my other navigating and walking so far, I did not want to walk to bus stops with both packs.

Photo Copyright © 2025 Mary Dezember.
I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.

Jackie with Kintrae Bed & Breakfast in Buckie. Not only were Jackie and Mike the perfect hosts in their beautiful, cozy and welcoming Bed & Breakfast (with delicious meals), but Jackie knew I was “out there” and would arrive to my destination at a certain time. This was reassuring.

Phone charger just a little bigger than my phone. I could charge while hiking.

Going the Whole Hogg. Your app of this hike kept me on track and not feeling so alone and scared. Combined with Organic Maps (offline maps), I always could find where I was with the arrow, even without internet. The arrow became my friend I named Wilson. When Wilson was on the trail as shown on the map, I knew I was okay.

My children. Who followed me and my progress on Find My Friends and with texts. You, my darlings, were my lifeline on this solo hiking trip. Knowing you were following me made me feel not so alone.
You are my lifeline every day of my life.

Please note: There were many places without internet, so my children did not know where I was for up to 5 hours.

Some facts about my hike:

Hiking Day One: Findhorn to Lossiemouth, East Beach. Friday, March 21, 2025.

Research said this would be 15 miles; about a six-hour hike.
My health app said I walked 19.7 miles; 46,863 steps; and climbed 26 floors.
It took me eight hours nearly non-stop hiking.

Hiking Day Two: Lossiemouth, East Beach to city centre, Buckie. Sunday, March 23, 2025. (I took one day break, Saturday, to enjoy Lossiemouth.)

Research said this would be 16 miles; about a six-hour hike.
My heath app said I walked almost 19 miles; 42,186 steps.
(I have to find number of floors and exact miles.)
It took me eight hours nearly non-stop hiking.

Hiking Day Three: Buckie to Cullen. Monday, March 24, 2025.

Research said this would be 7 miles; about a 3 hour hike.
My health app said I walked 29,931 steps. I have to find how many miles. I didn’t push myself this day, and I hiked about 5 hours.

Hiking around Cullen: Tuesday, March 25, 2025.

My health app says I walked 16,936 steps.

Hiking around Cullen: Wednesday, March 26, 2025.

My health app says I walked 23,089 steps.

Hiking around Cullen: Thursday, March 27, 2025.

My health app says I walked 15,127 steps.

NOTE: I took these photos with my phone. I used NO enhancements, filters, adjustments. These are the true colors of Scotland.