The former Warden’s Room in Craig bothy, Torridon, offers a luxury overnight experience
Etiquette
Much like wild camping, to be a good bothy guest you need to follow good etiquette. Members of the MBA follow a Bothy Code of Conduct, but you don’t need to be a member to be a responsible bothy user. Simply follow this fairly common-sense set of guidelines.
Look after your bothy From tiding up food after you make it to taking out rubbish someone else has left behind – it’s all about doing as much as you can to make bothying a great experience for everyone else. So if you’ve got room left in your backpack, take out that rubbish that was there when you arrived – even if it’s not yours.
...and look after its surroundings This book indicates when a stove or fireplace is present, and also when you should bring your own fuel – so you can go prepared. Please don’t cut live trees or nearby fences for your fire, and don’t light a fire outside the bothy.
Everybody’s got to go, but... When you need the toilet, be courteous. If there is a toilet (which is rare, but some have them) follow the instructions to the letter. If it says not to drop down anything but tissue and human waste, then don’t throw down a wet wipe. If it asks you to refill the bowl from the stream once you’ve flushed, then fill the bowl from the stream when you’ve finished – no matter what the weather. In the much more likely case that there is no toilet, note the spade in the corner. It’s there for entirely this reason – make sure you use it. When you do, remember these simple steps:
1 Go at least 200m away from the bothy, at least 50m from a path and definitely at least 50m from a watercourse (it is, after all, likely to be the place where you’ll want to source your drinking water), and downstream of the bothy.
2 Try to carry your own waste out with you (places like the Cairngorms operate a Poo Pot scheme – pick up a Poo Pot from the ranger base and return it there for disposal – and dry-bag manufacturers make bags for the same purpose).
3 If you can’t carry out your own waste, bury it, even in winter. Using the spade, dig a hole at least 15cm deep (if there’s snow on the ground, it needs to be a hole in the ground below the snow to stop an unwelcome surprise for other walkers in spring) and go in that.
4 Carry out all your toilet paper and any sanitary products (remember to take a special bag for this in your rucksack) and cover the hole.
5 Remember to wash your hands – antiseptic hand sanitiser is the best method as no water is required.
This friendly sign hangs on the door of every bothy in the MBA network
Make sure everyone is welcome It’s not first come, first served; bothies are there for everyone to use, so try to accommodate everyone who turns up – no one should be left out in the cold. Don’t like crowds? Take your own tent or bivvy to give yourself a Plan B.
Be generous... to a point While it’s good to leave things for the next guest – be sensible. A few pieces of coal, some firelighters or tinder is great; rubbish that you think would work as kindling and can’t be bothered to carry out, not so good. Want to share your food? Think about it – what food would you be prepared to eat when you don’t know the source? Unopened tinned food – yes; a half-eaten bag of nuts – no. And remember mice are frequent visitors too; don’t encourage them by leaving opened food.
Don’t outstay your welcome If an estate asks users not to visit the bothy at certain times of the year, it’s for a good reason. So respect their wishes, and if they ask you to call ahead to check it’s safe – then do it.
Keep it brief The whole point of a bothy is that it’s a temporary refuge for walkers – so keep walking. Don’t turn up and set up home there for a week. One or two nights is fine, but any longer and you’ll need to ask permission first. There are plenty more bothies anyway, so get exploring rather than settling in the same one.
Keep it to the minimum Bothies are not the place for large groups. With other users turning up all the time, you cannot arrive en masse and expect to fit. A maximum group size should be six or fewer. Any more and you will need to ask for permission from the owner first.
When you leave, go gracefully Check the fire is out, and if it’s not, put it out – never leave it unattended. Close the door – cattle, deer and birds can all get inside if you leave it open, but then can’t get back out. And take rubbish with you.
Safety issues
Fires
The main risk in a bothy is from the fire. Stoves and open fires are a welcome facility, but if you leave a fire unattended, burn the wrong thing or – worse – have a faulty stove or chimney the consequences can be dire.
Check before you start your fire that there is nothing in the fire/stove that shouldn’t be – plastics, tins, and painted or varnished wood are a definite no-no. Remove these if you find them. Make sure there’s no masonry from the chimney in the grate – this could be a sign the chimney is faulty.
When you do start the fire keep a lookout for smoke seeping out where it shouldn’t – from panels or from part-way up the chimney or flue. If this happens, or if the room fills with smoke, put the fire out, open the windows or doors, leave the bothy and do not enter until it’s clear – carbon monoxide poisoning is a killer.
If using a stove make sure the ash pan is empty before you start and empty it the next day before you leave.
Do not leave a fire unattended, and make sure the fire is out when you leave.
Water
Most bothies are near a water source (river or stream), and this is indicated within each bothy chapter. While there are many people who swear they drink from these without treating the water first, and have always been fine, it’s best to err on the side of caution.
The simplest way to purify water is by boiling it on your camping stove. Once you’ve brought it to the boil be sure to let the water roll for a couple of minutes before using it. If you want to save fuel take chlorine tablets with you or consider carrying in a water filter/purifier device, though these can be a bulkier option.
Whatever method you choose, take fast-flowing water (as opposed to standing water) from as close to the source as possible.
The bothy book
As good a read as any book you’ll ever find, these wonderful pages contain days’, months’ and years’ worth of other people’s adventures. They will sometimes shock, sometimes make you laugh, often be a cryptic puzzle about the person who was here before you, but they are always sure to inspire you to go somewhere new and read another one.
Some bothy locations – such as that of The Lookout on the Isle of Skye – can bring out the artist in us
I’ve seen everything from poetry to illustrations, book extracts and even a 16-page polemic about why the outdoors shouldn’t be regulated. Each one is a gem that, if I had my way, would find its way into the National Archives. Better yet – they are all unique. They give a sense of the characters who’ve slept in the same four walls as you and tell
