Swello Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 24 minutes ago, jamamafegan said: I’ve never stayed in a bothy but have always wanted to - until I read the last page of this thread! Sounds hellish! Nah - it's something you should do at least once and there are some brilliant places. Like @invergowrie arab, I'm a member of the MBA as I much prefer our hills with Bothies in them but it's good to have a realistic view of what they're like (The bothy bible makes them look and sound like high quality holiday accommodation ) There are some classic bothies (eg, Shenevall , Corrour or Sourlies) that are always busy based on them being in a very useful location and so you'll never get peace (or any space) in those ones - but the bothies off the munro/through walk trade routes are more often than not lightly used - especially early in the year (before Easter). Many are locked/in use from August onwards due to stalking, so it tends to make a few months in summer pretty busy in certain places. My advice as an introduction would be to take a backpacking tent and plan to sleep in that. That way, if the company isn't up to much, you can get peace and quiet (and no-one will bat an eyelid if you do it that way). Oh - and sleeping in an empty bothy on your own is an interesting experience 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Futureboy Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 The Hutchy Hut is my favourite and I've always been lucky enough to have it to myself. Corrour is good too. Yeah, a lonely bothy night is character building if nothing else Mountain Days and bothy nights is probably a more "authentic" read about bothies than The Bothy Bible"! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH33 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 7 hours ago, AL-FFC said: I have a Bothy on my list of things to do this year no for getting pissed up but just to get away and do something different, the one up by Sandwood Bay is one just cause it seems to be remote as f**k and as you say i dont fancy bumping into the arsehole element of the hillwalking community. I generally find there are no arseholes in hill walking as everyone is friendly enough but the same time there is your element as mentioned their hillwalking consists of Conic Hill, Tinto Hill and Ben A'an I wouldn’t bank on Sandwood Bay based on it being remote. It’s well known and busy with the NC500 these days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 One bothy that definitely appeals to me is Kinbreac. It's an utter c**t to get to (assuming you'd be carrying coal and don't like bogs) and is in one of the loneliest spots in the highlands. It's also a useful base for the Glen Dessary munros plus Sgurr Mor and Gairich. Sourlies always seems to be busy and I've heard a few stories of folk partying there and turning away anyone looking for a place to kip for the night. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AL-FFC Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 1 hour ago, RH33 said: I wouldn’t bank on Sandwood Bay based on it being remote. It’s well known and busy with the NC500 these days. Thanks for the heads up any recommendations for bothys got the bothy walks book and was looking at some one them, as mentioned was going to take a backpacking tent just in case. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH33 Posted July 12, 2020 Share Posted July 12, 2020 No idea. Im a hill walk vouyer......look at the photos in here and that’s if! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 (edited) Climbed Na Gruagaichean on Saturday. Going by the reports everywhere else, the car park was not as heaving as everywhere else. Was my first outing in 14 months and I felt every minute. Gave up on adding Binnein Mor, which is a pity as I doubt I'll be back to the Mamores in a hurry. Sgurr Eilde Mor from the Sgor Eilde Beag path. Looking along the ridge to Na Gruagaichean. Loch Leven, seen on the way down. Edited July 13, 2020 by AyrshireTon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Climbed Na Gruagaichean on Saturday. Going by the reports everywhere else, the car park was not as heaving as everywhere else.The car park at Lawers was absolute mayhem. Cars abandoned everywhere, very little space for cars to pass on the road and the police were stopping new cars arriving and sending them on their way. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invergowrie arab Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 18 minutes ago, AyrshireTon said: Climbed Na Gruagaichean on Saturday. Going by the reports everywhere else, the car park was not as heaving as everywhere else. Was my first outing in 14 months and I felt every minute. Gave up on adding Binnein Mor, which is a pity as I doubt I'll be back to the Mamores in a hurry. Sgurr Eilde Mor from the Sgor Eilde Beag path. Looking along the ridge to Na Gruagaichean. Loch Leven, seen on the way down. I binned Binnein Mòr too about 5 years ago and I'm still annoyed at myself as ill have to climb all the height and distance again from Kinlochleven or trudge up pathless slopes from Glen Nevis. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 15 minutes ago, MONKMAN said: The car park at Lawers was absolute mayhem. Cars abandoned everywhere, very little space for cars to pass on the road and the police were stopping new cars arriving and sending them on their way. I've decided I'm going to pick the most obscure, difficult to reach hills I can think of for the rest of the year 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 1 minute ago, invergowrie arab said: I binned Binnein Mòr too about 5 years ago and I'm still annoyed at myself as ill have to climb all the height and distance again from Kinlochleven or trudge up pathless slopes from Glen Nevis. Glad I'm not alone. Those I met when coming down off NG assured me that BM was an easier ascent, but after I got to the dip leading back to the south top, I realised my uphill legs had gone and opted to cut across to find the path leading into Coire an Lochan. I probably will be back to it one day, I suppose. Mentally more ready for that looooong trudge in from the Grey Mare's car park. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MONKMAN Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 23 minutes ago, Swello said: I've decided I'm going to pick the most obscure, difficult to reach hills I can think of for the rest of the year It was a case of ticking Meall nan Tarmachan off, as I’ve done all the other munros around there, otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chinatoon Bairn Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Was hoping to get a lot of Munros battered out this year, managed 3 so far and given how busy a lot of the places apparently are it'll be staying that way for another wee while. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty dingus Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 1 hour ago, AyrshireTon said: Glad I'm not alone. Those I met when coming down off NG assured me that BM was an easier ascent, but after I got to the dip leading back to the south top, I realised my uphill legs had gone and opted to cut across to find the path leading into Coire an Lochan. I probably will be back to it one day, I suppose. Mentally more ready for that looooong trudge in from the Grey Mare's car park. We turned back on Binnien Mor too, got up the long slog then got hit with a load of dodgy snow. As it was late spring we didn't bring crampons so decided to be cautious and trudged back down. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjamin_Nevis Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 Climbed Na Gruagaichean on Saturday. Going by the reports everywhere else, the car park was not as heaving as everywhere else. Was my first outing in 14 months and I felt every minute. Gave up on adding Binnein Mor, which is a pity as I doubt I'll be back to the Mamores in a hurry. Sgurr Eilde Mor from the Sgor Eilde Beag path. Looking along the ridge to Na Gruagaichean. Loch Leven, seen on the way down. The East Mamores are all pretty rough. I did the 4 of them 3 years ago, something like 2000m ascent and 14 miles distance. The two worst aspects are the height loss between Sgurr Eilde Mor and Binnein Beag, then an absolutely brutal 400m ascent to Binnein Mor. Descending of NG was no fun either. Lovely views and good hills, but unlikely to be repeated [emoji23] 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.A.F.C Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 I've decided I'm going to pick the most obscure, difficult to reach hills I can think of for the rest of the year [emoji4]Me too, the bams have ruined the popular ones. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
microdave Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Made it up Ben Donich today for my first climb of the year. Very wet, very windy and very enjoyable. I think I'll be feeling it in my legs tomorrow but so glad I've got the first done and looking forward to the next one already. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swello Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 On 13/07/2020 at 11:24, Swello said: I've decided I'm going to pick the most obscure, difficult to reach hills I can think of for the rest of the year So - as I'm a man of my word - I went for a walk where I had *zero* chance of meeting anyone - I went for 2 of the more remote hills in the eastern mountains, Beinn Bhreac and Leathad an Taobhain. Beinn Bhreac is about 25km from the nearest road, so i decided on a bit of bikepacking from Calvine to make it possible to link these two together. It was a decent evening for the long cycle up Glen Bruar and there was still plenty of light left to find a decent (if a bit slopey camp spot) - some food and a couple of drams and I conked out. I was up early this morning as given the amount of pathless bog hopping in store, I wasn't entirely sure how long it was going to take. The first part of the climb was on a stalkers path that lasted for a couple of KMs and that was it. I had been dreading the next part but it was as dry underfoot as it will ever be and i made decent progress - although it still took a long time to even get the first look at Beinn Bhreac. The summit was just a wee cairn but the view was brilliant - no signs of paths, buildings, wind farms - which is incredibly rare, so it was worth the big effort to get out there. The next part was more of an unknown as I don't think these hills are linked very often - it was hard going but the weather was decent and for a peat bog, it was actually looking quite nice as the bog cotton was everywhere and by staying on the highest ground, I missed the worst of the peat hags. After a quick lunch on the 2nd Corbett, the walk out was along the Minigaig for 12km or so, an old drove road, which was an interesting walk for a path geek as I've never been along any part of it before. The bike out was a bit of a slog after 27km of hard walking but it was quick at least - really enjoyed the whole thing.... 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le Tout P'ti FC Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Not in the major leagues here. But had 90 minutes spare tonight in Hillend area so managed a quick trip up to the ridge above the ski slope. Lovely night. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyrshireTon Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 (edited) After last week's outing I chose to visit the East Drumochters - A' Bhuiheanach Bheag and Carn na Caim. As hills go I have to say that they were fairly straightforward but quite uninspiring. This is A' Mharconaich and Geal Charn. Pretty much as good as the views got. Normally I enjoy naming the peaks I see on my travels but I was snapping away today having no idea what I was looking at. This was a view north-east-ish from Can na Caim. I tried using the Peakvisor app, but it has difficulty working out what its looking at too. Schiehallion appearing in the distance threw me completely. Seemingly it's directly south of the hills I was on - I was convinced that Drumochter was much further east (I'm not a regular user of the A9). Edited July 18, 2020 by AyrshireTon 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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