Very interesting story and terrific pics. Thank you, Stephen!
22
Stephen, a top tip -- never "brush off' a tick. Snap every one with your fingernail so it cannot crawl onto someone else.
35
What a wonderful piece. In 1982 I rode a bike 3,000 miles around Britain, from London to Land's End, back to London, north along the east coast, crossing west through Yorkshire, and up the west coast of Scotland to John O'Groats, south to Edinburg, then too, the train (cheating, I know) to London to fly back home.
I had brought a tent and sleeping bag, but quickly realized I wouldn't use them, on account of the wonderful youth hostels, spaced so one is rarely more than 30 miles from one of them (actually they don't discriminate on age, so 'youth' is a misnomer).
What a wonderful tradition, much of it supported by folks who give freely of their time to just keep these places available. Many of them aren't much bigger than the bothys, though the bike-accessible ones are a bit more on the beaten path.
21
I’m saddened to see an article like this on Page One. Such “advertisements” are ruining a cultural treasure by making them popular and thus inundated by mannerless tourists.
22
Good article of a wonderful places but hopefully the tourists don't find out. They will be swamped like every other out of the way place.
14
I think muck boots would be in order for these treks.
6
Magnificent landscape and a view of life in the wilderness, it brought to this reader's mind, Colonel Hope in 'The Maid of Buttermere' by Melvyn Bragg which I noted earlier today and planned to revisit, while now having been offered a better scope and appreciation of the author's narrative and description; one which Gore Vidal described as 'An ingenious telling of a romantic tragedy'.
Thanking Stephen Hiltner for this beautiful and somewhat haunting panorama of British hill culture.
6
I am going to England in March and will be visiting the countryside while there. I will not be as daring as those staying in these bothies but if I was a bit younger I might have given it a try. I must admit that at my age I do like the creature comforts of bed, bath and beyond. But it certainly sounds very interesting and the landscapes are breathtaking. This part of the world is my favorite and the people are superb. This is why I keep going back year after year.
17
@WPLMMT,
You might enjoy "Testimonies", the first novel by Patrick O'Brien, an author better known for his Jack Aubrey seafaring adventures.
It takes place in Wales, and on her return from humanitarian mission to Afghanistan in 2005, it was the first book this friend and I discussed when we met again, and she asked with a nostalgic smile 'guess what book I found on opening a box'.
A story about love, not for the faint of heart because it has a tinge of sinister bleakness, and where the word 'love' is never mentioned.
On a wry note, remember to return home with your passport or you may be denied entrance at the border.
1
Miss Ley,
I could not think of a better place in which to have to return to then England if detained. I love the scenery, the people and the food. I should be so lucky to be detained. It would be a joy.
8
Great piece. I thought it did a great job of balancing romance and reality. The photographs are spectacular.
23
The formations often resemble those of southern New Mexico, albeit carpeted with vegetation. I've often wondered if there's any "wilderness" left in Great Britain. Now, I know. And it's opened to the public. What a fine story and photographs. Thank you.
16
Echoing another commentator here - great article and why I love the NYT! Thanx for this. As an expat Brit privileged to call the west coast home, I have family in the UK. I’m most definitely going to share this, especially for my cousin Ed, a native Highlander living in London. Tempted to throw a challenge to him, to do some trekking and find these hideaways together! Loved the 360 video as well. Cheers!
22
Thanks for making space for so many photos. They provide a real feel for place. I wish I had the wherewithal to make the trek(s).
17
"But bothy culture, some longtime proponents fear, is imperiled by a generation unaccustomed to shrewdly guarded secrets."
And, now, by this story. But thank you anyway, Times.
6
I first learned about bothies from the amazingly brilliant movie "Under the Skin," with Scarlett Johansson. Her character takes shelter in one in a remote Scottish forest, with dreadfully creepy results.
5
Bottom line: Is this really any different than popular shows like "Building Off the Grid," "Building Alaska," and "Maine Cabin Masters" (many of the "camps" the contractor crew in Cabin Masters "fix up" are off the grid and remote). I think not. Personally, I want a flush toilet and electricity, and water I can drink without fear, thank you!
3
Um...it’s different in that it’s not a show??
27
Solitudinarian that I am, I'd still pack a small tent - and definitely a Thermarest. I'm sure ol' Wordsworth would understand.
10
Thank you for this beautiful article!
One more reason I so love the NYT......
15
I love Scotland and I loved this story. I can fantasize about trekking to a bothy, but my replaced right knee and loose ligaments in my left knee tell me otherwise. But, this is a lovely article and I really enjoyed it!!
15
Fascinating story - loved it!
10
To find a place of solitude, and perhaps complete silence, is to find the truest luxury this planet currently offers. I have found such riches in the Haliburton Highlands, where I currently live. It is cherished for both its rarity and restorative capacity. Long live the music of the utterly silent. I doubt that I will ever enjoy a bothie and its surrounding virtual wilderness, but can relish the experience in my imagination, and through this article and fine pictures. Thank You!
27
Wonderful timing! In 2017 I ventured across 9 countries in Europe solo with my bicycle and camping gear. I celebrated my 50th in Austria camping beside the Danube. That night I ate a tin of fish and lentil soup I cooked with my little pocket stove. I had lost my phone in Poland a few weeks before. rather quickly I learned to rely on maps, a compass, and villagers to guide my journey. I just began planning my next adventure and chose to explore the UK, all of it. It is the solitude I enjoyed as well as the inspiring encounters along the way. Way to go NYT!
25
I was so pleased to see this article. The families of Frederic Hadden (my uncle) and his schoolmate Elliott Woodburn have recently reconnected to help support the renovation of a bothy named in their memories and maintained by the Edinburgh University Moutaineering Club; both Fred & Elliott were killed in May 1955, while caught in a storm on Ben Nevis. They had just finished a year abroad, studying at EU. Their parents provided initial funding for the project in hopes that the refuge would protect other climbers or walkers from the unpredictable meteorologic changes of the Highlands.
While the bothy looks much the same as it did in 1955, the members of the EUMC are busy adding some amenities -- a new roof, composting toilet, and a solar panel or two for recharging devices could only have been in Fred & Elliott's wildest dreams!
33
Bothie lovers would be right at home in the rough lodging above Laguna de Los Condores 40 Km by horse out of Leymebamba, Peru. Miracle of miracles, there's a flush toilet. Never was clear where the flush flowed.
See BBC http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20160216-the-royal-mummies-of-peru.
8
The article was a mini ode to nature. Never a hiker, but thank you for the trip, wonderful writing, w short videos and photography...felt like I was traveling w you. Seeing the interiors w and w/o people gave a great sense of place and of being there.
25
I lived in Scotland for a year when I was 10. I’m now 50. It was the most magical experience, one that’s stayed with me everyday of my life. I want to take my husband and kids there to share how incredible the Scots are, how beautiful the country is, how welcoming. It’s an amazing place, one that everyone will love.
22
Just reading the article is awe inspiring and calming. Scotland is at the top of my bucket list. However, because it is still fresh in the minds of those of us in the US, this article also makes me very sad. What has happened to the country I love. During our government shutdown thousands of people did not care one iota about the trash they left behind in our beautiful National Parks. Vandalism for the sake of vandalism. Words cannot convey the pain of being unable to stop this flood of disrespect.
27
The great Ewan MacColl long ago recorded an album of unaccompanied suggestive (and often downright lewd) ditties titled "Bothy Songs and Backroom Ballads." I always wondered what a bothy was; now I know, and understand how these small huts can be places for (sometimes) illicit idylls or simply raucous partying, far from the madding crowd--and the law. What a fine article, and what lovely little stopovers, perfectly blending in with their spectacular surroundings. My wish to visit Scotland just doubled in intensity. Thank you, Mr. Hiltner!
8
Wonderful Sunday morning read. Another adventure to add to my list.
10
Thank you for this. One more place on my long list of things to do and places to see.
4
Loved the article. Thanks.
12
Thanks so much for a delightful article and beautiful photography. The images were exquisite.
8
Magical article to read on a calm Sunday morning with a cup of tea.
16
Perfect Sunday reading. Thanks a lot for the excellent journalism. I must change my spring and summer plans!
9
FYI, the state-run Parks and wildlife fund of Finland manages a similar network of free-to-use huts, most of them in Northern and Eastern Finland. The principles of rights and limitations are similar.
Great pictures and text and it especially elates me to see again that a good reporter can also be a good photographer – congrats, Stephen!
30
Very nice article.
3
This reminded me of the aphorism that goes "When the road to the temple is paved, Buddha is gone.", meaning that making something too easy to visit or obtain insures that it will be spoilt by folks of a lesser spirit.
A bog is impossible to pave, thank goodness.
31
Thank you for this article! The pictures were wonderful and the story very interesting.
11
This is one of the best travel articles I've read @ NYT. Thank you.
56
While I would hesitate to define what is, or is not, a true Bothy, I think of them more as simple emergency shelters for hikers in hill country. Just four walls, a roof and door, so you can stand up inside beats an uncomfortable night in a hiker's sized tent after a long day hiking in bad weather. Unlikely to be any firewood, water, food. Don't think of them as accommodation.
I have used them twice in North of England, but not in Scotland. To say that they were a life-saver is an exaggeration, but we were very grateful to find them.
15
There are places I read that interest me, and there's places like this that I feel I have to visit someday. This is the latter.
The paragraph discussing discussing internet fueled popularity gave me pause, thankfully allayed later in the article.
Of course, I had to do an image search to see what these may be graced with in the form of snowpack. Seems to me they'd be a delightful ski destination, but not so much it seems.
7
"Many Americans who visit can't believe it's free" could be a whole series about the rest of the developed world.
38
A wonderful article. By the end, I felt I had been walking the Highlands with the author. Kudos, Stephen. Very special. Saved in my NYT archive!
36
This is such an intriguing article, along with the interactive snippets of film, it feels as if I was there. Thank you for the trip!
12
Thanks very much for this article. I did a one week mountain bike tour in the Scottish highlands a few years ago, and, although we didn’t stay in them overnight, bothies were our respite from the wind and rain on several occasions. I remember our joy in getting to Shenavall during a grueling 10 hour day in the saddle.
10
A very passionately and well-done article.
Love the window pictures as I'd like to see the entire series of views; in fact, all of the illustrations are first-class, especially the night pictures of Magoo's fireplace and the exterior of Warnscale Head at night:
" . . . bothies are often built with local stones, they’re easily camouflaged in their surrounding landscapes."
33
Call me selfish, but I kind of wish that these gems of overnight accommodation were allowed to remain obscure, cared for by those are curious and intrepid enough to have discovered them on their own.
45
@Father of One....yes, keep everyone else out but you
5
@MB - As many of us are discovering in our increasingly overcrowded world, there simply isn't room for everybody everywhere. You misrepresent the point. These places are available to everyone - but if they're easily and unthinkingly available to everyone then they will very quickly cease to be what they were. In my seven decades I can cite instance after instance of my favorite places ruined as a result of facilitated access and wide public disclosure.
10
Thank you for taking me with you.
21
Thanks for a wonderful artcile. I now know a little bit more about the world than I did before.
19
Thank you for capturing the beautiful natural light that is common in Scotland and the very accurate and thoughtful descriptions of the Scottish wilderness.
To those that fear a mad rush by holiday-only hikers to the bothies:
this is highly unlikely (as described in the article) due to the distances, terrain, and weather in the northern regions of Scotland. Expect soggy bogs, midges (swarms of small biting insects), gales, rain, sun, snow (all in one day at times). And every year (especially in the winter months), the mountain rescue teams are called to some of the highest peaks to find critically injured or dead climbers who made mistakes. Two fatalities have already occurred this winter.
That said, Northern Scotland and the Hebridean Isles are rarely crowded, even in Summer, except for the few main towns where one can get food, supplies, or a ferry.
And please be careful if you drive there. Most roads in the remote areas have only a single lane with barely enough room for a medium size vehicle. You must watch for hundreds of sheep, large furry cows, big deer, and pull-out spots. Pull-out spots are essential. If you see a vehicle approaching and the next pull-out spot is on your side, you must stop and wait to let them pass. Oh, and make sure you have a full-tank of fuel before leaving a town as it may be a while until you can get fuel again.
47
@USexpat I had the pleasure of 4 weeks in the Outer Hebrides in May, and can attest to all you say (happily, the weather treated me well, and I beat the midges!). I daresay the Isles aren't done with me yet, I'm flirting with walking the Hebridean Way next year. I love Scotland in ways I don't quite understand. In a big world of so much to see, I want to see it more and again.The people have a great deal to do with that. Invariably warm and helpful.
27
@Deb C.
So glad you found the magic of Scotland's rural areas as I have since I moved to the UK over 6 years ago. It is my favourite place in the world for nature. I have been to Skye, Mull, Harris and Lewis (several times), and Tiree. I went to the Shetlands last year and hope to visit the Orkneys this year. I highly recommend all of them and each is very unique. Plan on visiting in the summer months if you want to have access to more ferry crossings and 20+ hours of daylight.
14
@USexpat Yes, definitely Orkney next. We were there 2 years ago and not a day goes by that I don't think about it and wish I were there. (Of course, the contrasting chaos here helps one appreciate the calm there.)
6
I lived in London in my college years and never heard of bothys until now. What a magical piece. Thank you for sharing this ruggedly beautiful part of the world with us.
8
This article appeared at the same time as one in the Guardian - https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jan/25/mountain-rescue-why-bothies-need-a-helping-hand-a-photo-essay. The Guardian article Concerns about overuse and the strain it puts on the bothies and the volunteers that maintain them.
That aside, if I were younger and fitter, the two articles and accompanying photographs would put bothies at the top of my to do' list.
4
@NK How old and "unfit" are you? We'll decide!
4
Compared to France, Italy, Spain, Portugal or Greece, I doubt that the amenities and the number of hikers and their collective spirit of sharing nature amount to a great reality in England.
1
Really? And you base that conclusion on what, exactly?
13
@ JPH- the article was about Scotland,not England. And it’s fine that you prefer the rest of Europe. Leave Scotland to the rest of us.
7
@Suzanne I know Scotland. I stayed in Golspie and hiked the Highlands. Up to John O Groats.
It is beautiful. But desolated. The food is bad. I don't understand that with the same ocean as on the other side of the Atlantic they cannot produce decent cuisine.
And for mountain cabins, I meant that the system of "refuges " that exists in Europe has no comparison in England or Scotland or Ireland or Wales. Now, I am glad that there is a difference with England and Scotland or Ireland ( which one ? ) for the question of Brexit.
Rural life has been destroyed in great Britain. there are no Fetes de villages like in France or Spain. no local cultural life. Mc Donald everywhere.
lovely photography ...
6
Hiking in Scotland is an amazing experience, if you are well prepared for the damp and the cold... we hiked St. Cuthbert's Way, a not well known 100km trail named after a little known 7th century saint, from Melrose in the Borders to Holy Island, and although it was August we hardly saw anyone. In Scotland landowners can't stop the public from hiking on their lands, and you can camp anywhere without a fence (except in Loch Lomond), but sadly that's not the case in England. Landowners can just put up signs to forbid right of way and at least on that trail, disappointingly, we had to go through roads instead.
7
@Mariana
Landowners that forbid access to public footpaths are breaking the law in the UK. Here is the law in the UK government website:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/public-rights-of-way-landowner-responsibilities
8
@Mariana I'm doing research on long walks in Scotland for next year ---- St. Cuthbert's Way is on my radar. I'm guessing you wild camped the whole way. I'm trying to decide if I'm up to that!
There's no need to wild camp. I've hiked St Cuthbert's Way staying in pubs and B&Bs. The website will point you at possible accommodation.
7
Beautiful rugged difficult landscape, lovely generous concept, but no one seems to be looking at these hills and wondering "where are the trees?" This is the most shocking thing to me, that this total deforestation is regarded as remote wilderness, when it's actually ravaged forest land, cut down for human purposes and kept down by sheep. Those huts are made of rock because they ran themselves out of wood! The writer had to carry coal and firewood with him because the trees are gone.
25
@amidlife
According to the Cairngorms Learning Zone website, generally, across Scotland and the Cairngorms National Park the present tree line is around 600–700 m above sea level.
I’m not positive what altitude these bothy’s are located but looking at the terrain I would take an educated guess that they are above tree line.
I’m not too sure about the sheep comment either.
15
It is safe to assume from your words that you have never been to this area or anything like it. You also have no idea of what you are talking about in regards to horticulture and that trees don’t grow in bogs.
27
Some it, a good part of the North has not had trees growing on it for millennia
13
Oh to be young again with more knowledge of what is "out there" than I had growing up! Hoping for reincarnation into a not ruined world!
33
This is one of those generous, humans-only, gestures, like putting a poem in a balloon and releasing it at sea!
You have just provided the last bit of push that I needed to get back to the gym, and then to the woods, camera in hand. I am recovering from a set back, an injury, and have promised myself a hiking visit to remote areas of northern Britain when I am back in shape.
Thank you!
34
@Allen
yes, twas pure pleasure, wasn't it?
6
I had to laugh when you thought the bothies might become overcrowded. I just finished the Pennine Way which is a hike from England into Scotland. The winds were so bad that there were days I was lucky if I could remain upright. I went days without meeting anyone with the peat bogs my only constant companion. That said, I loved the bothies, the countryside and this article!
Thanks!
80
Excellent and evocative article. I should point out that the bothy is a quintessentially Gaelic phenomenon, to be found in the Scottish Islands, the Scottish mainland, the North of England and Northern Wales and the Brecon Beacons. One won't find a true bothy on the South Downs, for example, or in Cornwall or anywhere else in the West Country.
The nearest to a bothy, although a step up because they usually had running water and electricity (and they were very cheap but not free), where I would stay overnight in the South West of England after an all-day coastal walk in my youth, were the superb but simple-grade youth hostels administered by the YHA at the time, now, alas, all sold off by an organisation that values blandness, profit and corporate perks for the administrators over the values on which it was established.
On a glorious summer evening in England, with the sea breeze billowing the lightweight curtains like sails, one of the most basic but glorious youth hostels to be found anywhere on this earth was the simple YHA hostel at Strete in Start Bay in Devon, closed and sold in 1990.
Unlike the wonderful simple-grade YHA youth hostels, often in prime holiday locations that are now worth a fortune in land prices, the bothies of England, Wales, and Scotland are still going strong, living reminders of a time when one didn't need to be pampered in a five-star resort to feel blissfully, truly alive.
55
@Colenso The YHA has lost sight of its original purpose and now caters to people in autos looking for cheap lodging.
10
Beautiful article and photos, a true classic, thank you for taking us there. My wife and I have hiked in England, Scotland and Wales but never knew of the bothies. Good to know this semi-secret tradition continues.
20
Beautiful pictures. These huts make the ones that the Appalachian Mountain Club maintains in Vermont and New Hampshire seem like elite resorts, and I never thought I’d say that! I’ve stayed in many of those, and felt they were very remote at the time. Some were on exposed ground above the tree line, but you would have a warm bed and meal and great camaraderie when you got there. We even acquired a kitten one year at the end of the season when the hut was closing, and carried him down in a fannypack. These bothies are much more remote and I like that they are a bit hard to get to. In my opinion, most things that are achieved through some striving and hardship are often well worth it in the end.
26
The huts of Vermont are maintained by the very wonderful Green Mountain Club. They are considerably more rustic than the fee based huts that the Appalachian Mountain Club maintain in New Hampshire.
4
@Frau Greta
The majority of shelters on the Appalachian trail outside of the whites are even more rustic than the bothies. Typically 3 walls with one open side, room for sleeping bags and no indoor fire
3
The camaraderie one can experience in remote mountain shelters is probably universal. As others have noted, the many leantos in the White Mts., Adirondacks, Catskills, and along the AT are similar havens for hikers, many with their own logbooks and varying states of repair and roughness. I recall pulling into a stone shelter on Mt. Hood in Oregon in a pelting rain, alone; at dusk another hiker entered and before long a bottle of Jack came out of his pack and we talked and sipped until bedtime.
Thank you for a beautifully written and photographed story...
5
I wish that I was younger...
29
Really lovely photies here though I do wish the author had taken the opportunity to inform readers who may not know: The access to the countryside that exists in England and Wales -- and aye, especially Scotland -- is something special, far different from what is possible in the U.S. And that access is made possible by public transportation (bus and train).
Here's a link to info on public rights of way: https://www.scotways.com/faq/rights-of-way-law
29
What a fabulous article. I echo others here - we need more of this.
I spent every summer of my childhood in a stone cottage in a farm at the foot of the Cairngorms. We hiked around lochs and up mountains and I still remember playing in the bothys we found. This inspired me to add some hiking to our next trip back. Thank you for it
38
Please, NYT Travel editor, more articles like this one with its beautiful photographs and interesting lore. Enough with reviews of expensive restaurants in luxury reports. This article is what travel is all about.
289
@Jim Linnane
Agreed! Not all of us can visit those expensive restaurants and hotel, nor may not even want to. Some of us like to travel and actually see the country we are visiting.
19
@Jim Linnane @NYT
Balance is key. Articles about every travel budget
12
Beautiful piece. Felt like a took a little mind vacation from work and the world. I echo others who call for more stories like this.
43
A lovely article Stephen,I love hiking into the remote Scottish bothies with friends and it normally results in some musical sessions(with a little dram at night to help the proceedings),I would recommend The Scottish Bothy Bible,a complete guide to Scotlands bothies and how to reach them,by Geoff Allan.I am fast approaching my 69th year but still love going to the hills,my favourite is Peanmeanach bothie above a raised beach on the Ardnish headland with views over toArdnamurchan and Eigg, any way good hiking and haste ye back!
36
A wonderful article, thanks so much!
“Stranger, if thou hast learned a truth which needs no school of long experience, that the world is full of guilt and misery, and hast seen
enough of all its sorrows, crimes, and cares,
to tire thee of it, enter this wild wood
and view the haunts of Nature......”
- William Cullen Bryant
58
I dream of hiking (or, rather, trekking/rambling!) to such magical places as these mountain huts. My wife and I are not so thoroughly 'modern' that we couldn't rough a night or two in one of them. A wonderful piece of reading, thank you.
18
@Mark Montimurro "hiking (or, rather, trekking/rambling!)" In the UK the verb is "walking".
1
Was the insidious notion behind such incredibly good images that readers would at the end go "Oh, it's like I've been there already so no need to make any travel plans." thus entertaining NYT readers and at the same time saving the bothies from a trans-Atlantic horde?
11
Wow. This was a very enjoyable and inspiring read. Thank you for sharing
19
Enjoyed, appreciated this so much. Wonderful text and photos. Thanks!
18
Wonderful. More like this please.
22
I was so happy to see your picture of Shenavall, where I spent a magical couple of days while my husband and I walked some 500 miles across the UK back in the 1980s. We, too, found great respite in the bothies and met terrific people.
But Shenavall was the most memorable, in part because of its spectacular setting amid numerous peaks. I still have the brass stove that we sat on the very window ledge in your picture as we were boiling water for tea.
24
I so enjoyed reading this and hope to read many more stories by you, Stephen Hiltner. I had a John McPhee moment this morning and I thank you for it.
37
@sues
High praise indeed....
5
One of my favorite NYT pieces ever. Thank you!
23
Beautifully written and photographed article. Thank you.
24
Loved this. Thank you. It is uplifting just knowing these treasures exist...
24
Excellent article, photos tell the tale.
12
Thank you for this beautifully illustrated and illuminating article! At 75, living in California, I can only dream, but you've enhanced my dreams and made them dance in my mind!
71
Will the bothies will be able to continue as they are in the era of over-tourism? In the US there's been a repeated pattern with national parks. Once enough tourists want to visit a remote place, there will be roads, parking lots, crowds, and litter. The atmosphere of the entire area is changed, with wilderness eroded in the name of mass accessibility.
(Our parks also have plenty of little shelters where people can stay for free, but those are becoming over-crowded on trails like the AT.)
The best thing anyone can do for a remote, beloved place is to never, never write about it on the internet.
10
@marge
Having spent a good deal of my time in the Scottish Highlands ( amongst my favorite places in the world ) hiking,shooting and fishing, believe me when I say there's absolutely no chance of the areas in which one finds bothies, to be ever over run by tourists, not least due to the changeable weather and the effort required to get to them.
10
I'm a big fan of lonely hikes through beautiful landscapes, communing with nature and all that. But why are those silent hills and glens of Scotland so empty of humanity? Did no one ever live there? Were they always uninhabited? And what could Sorley MacLean have meant by these lines?
I will go down to Hallaig, to the Sabbath of the dead, where the people are frequenting, every single generation gone.
Something important is missing from this story and its pretty pictures. Context. Teeming with humanity in the 18th century the Highlands were empty by the middle of the 19th. A Scottish Trail of Tears. Europe's first genocide. The Highland Clearances. Yes, it happened a long time ago, but the hills are still empty.
25
@johnyjoe Same in Ireland. As one hikes across the moors one comes upon stone walls and ruined foundations abandoned during the Famine. In Ireland, England's Corn Laws accomplished what the Highland Clearances did for Scotland.
11
@Jim Linnane
We hiked up Black Head in the Burren, south of Galway Bay. It was summer. Sunny and warm-we lucked out. It was like walking up a stone staircase, but natural. At the top was an ancient ring fort. I'm starting to get the itch again. Oh, and take the boat to Great Blasket Island off of Dingle. Good hiking on the old paths that ring the island at various elevations. Amazing place. Gotta go back!
Thanks for this inspiring article.
8
@johnyjoe Very true, the clearances were responsible for emptying the Highlands of people in favour of sheep but Europe’s first genocide? There have been “clearances”, “cleansings”, pogroms and crusades in Europe as long as Europe has existed. Some for economic reasons, some as a result of religious bigotry, some a combination of both but nothing new. A quick glance at the history of North America would show that even in the “new world” nothing changes.
7
Wow.
11
The mere fact of having to hike in will screen in the respectful and out the uncivil, for the most part.
People get nicer and nicer the further you go from parking spaces...
108
@ExitAisle
Hahaha! Here here!
8
@ExitAisle
As any canoer knows, the trip is always better after the first good portage. They filter out the jerks.
9
Makes me think of the Alpine huts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, but I think you have to pay something to use most of them for an overnight stay.
2
A very fine article. Read the Dick Francis novel 'To The Hilt '
Guaranteed to pique your interest in bothies and Scotland.
28
Thank you for the recommendation. I listened to a touch of the book and have now purchased it for reading.
2
What a lovely story. And what beautiful photos! The depth of field in some is amazing.
22
Articles like this are problematic because they alter the present and cause change. I doubt that the locals near these bothies will be happy if hordes of trekkers start showing up. Remote places should remain remote and unpopulated, or what's the point of them?
17
@CJ That's one way to look at it. Another is that by showing millions of people how beautiful these remote landscapes are, the masses will understand the importance of preserving them. (See the comment above by "Fact or Friction" who joined the bothy association and gave a donation despite admitting he or she would never likely be able to experience one.)
27
@CJi I doubt that there are any “locals near” these remote and wild locations. The article makes that clear.
5
I was so very lucky to be able to take a slow and deliberate ride on the back of a motorcycle up the west coast of Scotland through many miles of stunning land to the northwest corner and the remote stone cottage of an acquaintance while also experiencing the awesome beauty and power of Highland hills and squally rains. What a difference from Edinburgh or London and what grandeur! That was my first go to the remote reaches of Northern Britain and now I’m fantasizing about a second go on foot, thanks to this article.
Thank you and, please, bring back the Travel section along with the Science section to the front page. I really miss seeing them but I refuse to go digging in the website for content that’s been on the front page for my twenty years as a reader. I go elsewhere now for travel and science, unless your unfathomable editors deign to occasionally drop a random story on the front page like this one. It’s really hit and miss now and sad.
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@left coast finch
I agree that these kinds of stories deserve front page placement. All news does not have to be bad or controversial. We need these to take our mind away from the human world for awhile.
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@left coast finch
I agree it is great when such things are on the front page, but I don't understand why it's so hard to click a couple more times to find either the science or travel content?
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Finally visiting my ancestral lands in Scotland was an emotional, uplifting experience. Just driving through Cairngorms National Park gave a taste of the remote beauty of the Highlands. A wonderful place to visit and a place that calls for more intimate exploration.
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@SamanthaI Of course, more intimate exploration happens by walking a place : )
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These are similar to the various shelters and huts along the Appalachian trail, though those are maintained and I think you have to reserve some of them. I think it is great that people in the UK are preserving the bothies for hikers, and I hope the young stupid adventurers from the internet don't ruin it for everyone.
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Ralph Mitchell has been broad( or pod) casting his whisky reviews for 10 years from his manx bothy on the Isle of Man.
He is generally knowledgeable and entertaining. The website is ralfy.com.
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Wonderful article and photos. Thank you.
I'd never heard of bothies or the association before reading this article. And, it's unlikely I'll ever set foot in a bothie, as much as I'd like to. However, I just joined the association and gave an extra donation as well. A good thing like this helps to counter-balance the increasing ways the world is going wrong.
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You don’t need to travel to the far reaches of the UK to find communal hiking shelters. Harriman Park, just an hour north of NYC contains a number of stone and wood shelters built by the WPA. The same ethos prevails.
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A charming article, but from my Canadian perspective describing anything in Britain as “remote” is merely amusing. If you wish to experience “remote”, visit Canada by car or on foot.
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@Norman McDougall
You should visit Scotland some time.
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A beautiful article. I visited some of the places in the article growing up in the UK, but never visited a bothy. Didnt know about them, although I spent a lot of short vacations in the Lake District. Context also matters, and the comment that these are not remote, unless you visit Canada is irrelevant. I live in Canada now, and travelled is wilderness and “uninhabitable” places. But remotness exists no matter where ylu are in the World, and how small the country you live in. Go to Finland, Norway and the Netherlands and “remoteness” is everywhere. An educative piece and will go visit one or maybe two when I move back to the UK.
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@Norman McDougal You would likely change your opinion if you visited the area. I suppose their are degrees of remoteness and Canada wins that competition. But how remote does one need to be to be considered remote? Scotland is outstanding.
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Thank you for this piece. I love wild and lonely places, and my favorite trips are walking trips in th UK.
Walking culture in the UK is so much more varied than here, where an AT hike can be as planned as a military campaign and expensive gear is a mark of seriousness. If you just wander as I do, on the AT and side trails, “real hikers” sometimes scorn what you do, lumping you with rest-area tourists who tramp a quarter mile without food or water and get lost.
In the UK, however, there are so many types of walkers! I once got passed, on a steep incline in the Breton Beacons, by a granny with an ankle bandage and wearing sling backs. Then three SAS troops jogged past. Another time at Snowden, a bloke in a leather jacket and motorcycle boots charged past me.
Now I want to visit a Bothy, without GPS of course!
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@Peak Oiler
Several years ago my wife and I were climbing Mt. Snowdon (highest peak in Wales). I had on my Boston Red Sox cap. Coming down the trail from the top was a couple and the guy was wearing a Yankess cap! We exchanged laughs and pleasantries.
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Compare to the "refuge" and "refugio" networks in France and Italy.
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Hiked in the highlands of Scotland years ago. A wonderful place.
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Those of you who wish to see a slice of TV history involving Hoy should watch this.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=wNzUtvy0lsI&t=28s
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Great article. It made me want to lace up my boots grab my 27 year-old son by the arm and say "Let's go."
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@cellodad
Do it ...
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Open defecation in a first world country? Does bothy culture strictly not allow retrofitting simple latrines?
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@S I take it you jest. Not open. That's what the spade is for. And yes, this is quite common in the open nature of Europe.
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A very small number of bothies do have latrines, usually heavily used ones. There is a problem with supplying latrines as the cool, damp Scottish climate means that decomposition is very slow. So either a septic tank system or removable bags for waste are needed. Both present difficulties of volunteer maintenance, cost and access. Bear in mind that many bothies are in remote and inaccessible locations, many miles from the nearest road. An excellent article, perfectly capturing the appeal of bothies.
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@S ahhh - but it's the UK! ... Not Germany. Sorry.
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The beauty of solitude combined with the generosity of fellow humans . . . is there anything more beautiful?
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What an interesting article with beautiful photos ! It is amazing that such places still exist in the world and that you actually made the trek ! Very impressive and beautifully written as well.
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Terrific writing about a fascinating subject. Another facet of the diamond that is the New York Times. Though it interests me greatly, looking at the pictures and reading about it are as close as I'll ever get to any of those places. And that's OK with me.
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@Paul Shindler If a drone would drop me in.....!
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Beautiful. Thank you!
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Beautiful photos; a fine piece of travel journalism, Times. Thanks.
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Lovely photography, Stephen.
Bothies are one of the increasingly rare examples of how well voluntary communal work can provide a wonderful resource for all. It does need dedication from a small number of generous enthusiasts and their kindness to the community benefits a much larger number. It is rarely abused and much enjoyed by many and free.
Who says Socialism doesn’t work? Oh dear, politics crept in at the end.
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Thank you, Stephen! You have reminded me of the regenerative nature of hiking the Appalachian Trail.
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