Back to work and back on the grid after several weeks off the beaten track. A couple of nights were spent wild camping, whilst another two were shacked up in Youth Hostels just to get the occasional much needed shower. The rest of the time was spent crashing in bothies in some amazing and beautiful locations that I have come to refer to as "my back garden".
Culra, Stag Bothy, Dalnain and Dalnashallag spring instantly to mind. Bivying outside the bothy on warm clear nights has also been a pleasure and is fast becoming my preferred means of getting some shuteye whilst out in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands. Thanks go out to good friends who joined me for part of the trip, bringing some much needed camaraderie on this wonderful little adventure.
The definitive guide to bothying has always been Mountain Days & Bothy Nights by Dave Brown and Ian R. Mitchell. Written over twenty years ago, the book is in many ways timeless despite it being a nostalgic recollection of 1960s mountain tales. One feels, however, that it is time for a new bothy book to be written - a project which I have decided to undertake myself and will be commencing soon entitled Bothy Culture (after the late Martyn Bennett's innovative album of the same title).
Before I can write a book worthy of the subject I still need to get a few more legendary bothies under my belt, notably Bob Scott's, The Tarf Hotel and The Secret Howff of Beinn A' Bhuird. Over the next few months I'll be out exploring my back garden again in an effort to bag these places - commencing with the mysterious Secret Howff (the location of which has only ever been disclosed by word of mouth for over 50 years).
Stay tuned for updates on how the book is progressing, and keep an eye out for excerpts as I take the work through its various stages towards publication.
Mortimer.
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