bothy, you are guaranteed to hear at least one at some point in your bothying experiences – make sure you pack your food away before you go to sleep.
People Although a few like-minded souls can be good, too many can be frustrating – staying up too late, being loud, not understanding the boundaries of personal space, snoring.
Poop Where there’s lots of people there can sometimes be a toilet issue; put a foot wrong and the consequences could be dire.
Conclusion: Do use bothies, but take a tent or bivvy bag as a back-up – that way the choice is yours...
Finding a bothy
If you’re serious, the first thing you should do is join the MBA. At the time of writing, membership is a tiny £20 per year, with a reduced rate of £10 to under 16s, over 60s and the unemployed (see www.mountainbothies.org.uk for current prices). The money you give goes straight into the pot to pay for maintenance work – so you can stay at your next bothy and know that your contribution made a difference. You’ll get a members’ handbook, a regular newsletter and the annual report.
Skirting the reservoir en route to Arenig Fawr bothy, Snowdonia
This book is a good first step to finding a bothy, but before you head out get a good map – Ordnance Survey or Harvey Maps (if available). Using the grid reference find your bothy and then plot the best route there for you, based on your experience.
Then, pack the proper kit (see ’What to take’, below) and get out there and find it. I’ll warn you – some are easy to find, whereas others are more difficult. Many bothy-lovers will (or at least soon will) know the pain of wandering around tired after a long walk-in, mere metres from the spot where the bothy should be, in horrendous weather, mistaking boulder after boulder as the promised bothy (I’m looking at you, Hutchison Memorial Hut – if you come from the Linn of Dee approach). But the more you visit, the more confident you’ll get, and you might even find bothies not under the care of the MBA...
MBA or not?
Not all bothies that exist do so under the umbrella of the MBA. Look at an OS map, in any of the wilder areas of Scotland, Wales and England, away from towns and cities, and you will see a number of tiny shelters marked on it. Of course that doesn’t mean that a) it’s actually a bothy or, perhaps more importantly, that b) it’s even there at all. Time is harsh to buildings in wild places. Wind, rain, ice and snow will eventually take their toll, and many a would-be bothy has been destroyed over the years completely unintentionally, because a landowner cannot afford to maintain a building that has no real purpose for them.
On the other hand, I’ve often stumbled upon a bothy belonging to a landowner, and equally as often it has been kept beautifully by the walkers who find and use it. The non-MBA bothies, of course, tend to be hard to find. But, and I guarantee this, the more that you use bothies the more you will find that are out there. Bothy-dwellers are a generous bunch, and having sussed out that you’re a responsible sort will often share with you other locations. So while all but one of the bothies in this book are maintained by the MBA (as denoted by the circular white MBA sign on the front door), it’s hoped that this book will serve as a starting point, a kicking-off into the wonderful world of bothies, from where you will discover more than you ever imagined.
Always take a tent or bivvy in case the bothy is full – particularly when visiting smaller bothies such as the Hutchison Memorial Hut
What to take
Rucksack (suggest around 40–50 litres)
Sleeping mat (if yours is inflatable and prone to puncture consider bringing a ground sheet)
Sleeping bag (in winter consider taking a liner for extra warmth)
Tent/bivvy (as a back-up)
Camping stove
Gas
Spork (fork, knife, spoon combination)
Mug
First aid kit (don’t forget the blister plasters and tick remover/tweezers)
Map (OS Landranger (1:50,000), Explorer (1:25,000) or Harvey – relevant maps are indicated in each chapter)
Headtorch (with new batteries inside)
Warm gloves, hat and buff
Fleece/midlayer
Waterproof jacket
Waterproof overtrousers
Insulated jacket (down or synthetic)
Dry bag containing: toothbrush and paste, dry socks, change of underwear, tissues
Toilet paper
Sanitary products (if applicable)
Disposal bag for toilet paper/sanitary products/general waste
Hand sanitiser
Water bottle (for purified water only)
Water container (collapsible, wide-mouthed is best) for collecting stream water
Food
Candles (tea lights) and lighter/matches
Fuel (see ’A note on fuel’ below) and small amount of kindling for the fire
Midge repellent (trust me, you’d rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it)
Pen for filling in the bothy book
Craig bothy, Torridon
Luxury item
In winter consider taking down booties – those nights can get cold!
A note on fuel
Most (although not all) bothies have either an open fire or a multi-fuel stove. This book indicates whether or not the featured bothies have one. If they do, it’s strongly advised that – unless indicated otherwise in the relevant chapter – you take in your own fuel. So what to take? Coal is the obvious choice – it burns longer and hotter than wood and stores heat well – although it is heavy, of course. If you decide on coal, consider getting the smokeless variety. Wood is the other option, although a bag of wood is a lot bulkier than coal. If you decide on wood, a better option is wood briquettes (also known as ’heat logs’), which are compact and often have a guaranteed burn time of 1–2hrs.
If you forget to take fuel, think very carefully about what to use. Never cut live trees – only ever use dead wood. Don’t chop up furniture/shelves inside the bothy to burn. It may be annoying to forget fuel – we’ve all done it – but please still be a
