Hits
The best
Buying What to
places for art on take into dinin the never the
after ours never Wilderness PAG£101 PAGEIOO PAGE”
GO THERE THIS FORTNIGHT
hen we arrived at liairndouran Lodge. there was no
one there to greet us except the midges. There were
no mattresses on the platform beds. no towels or linen provided. no toilet and certainly no electricity. But the previous residents had left some candles. there was a table and quite a few chairs and. best of all. it had a proper fireplace. ln bothy terms. it was pure luxury.
As one of a network of basic shelters cared for by the Mountain Bothy Association (MBA). liairndouran Lodge provides a robust and remote sleeping place for walkers. mountain bikers and even cross-country skiers right in the heart of the (‘airngorms These shelters are a great resource in a place where the weather can he extremely unpredictable. but not all are as homely as l‘airndouran. Trekking across the hills to reach our destination. we had come across a but that was nothing more than a windowless metal box (pictured left). with stones built up around it to protect the walls. Being inside even for a minute or so
crccm‘ WWW 5“ ‘“ WE ST ARED
the middle of a storm. I would
have looked upon it as a home from home.
And after walking ten miles with a heavy pack. that was exactly how I felt about Fairndouran. It had been a long and exhausting day. An early hill had drained much of our energy and highlighted the fact that our planned route to return home over Ben MacDui (a munro. which stands at l3()‘)ml was ridiculously over-ambitious. Walking into the unknown is bewildering at the best of times. but when your legs are labouring under the weight of sleeping bag. roll mat. stove. two days‘ food and a tent (just in case). it takes on a whole new perspective. By the time we arrived my feet were sore. my shoulders ached and l was starving. We got the stoves burning and soon. (well. reasonably so. considering our tiny
B I k I I burners) we were consuming pasta with chori/o, sauce and cheese at an alarming rate.
Location-wise. we couldn’t have been anywhere more
In the first Of a two-part look at either side of the wide spectrum beautiful. At the foot of our ‘garden. the River Avon of accommodation available in Scot'and, Rachael Street (pronounced A an) proyided fresh ice-cold drinking water. . . , . , , and the \ rew from the lront door stretched along the length of experiences lodgings at their most basuc in a Highland bothy. the glen towards the heather-covered peaks of the (‘airngorms The night before. when we had set up camp at
FACTFILE: BOTHIES Ryvoan bothy. a popular spot not far from SportScotland‘s
. base at (ilenmore Lodge. we had sat drinking our whisky and 599$ watching an isolated pool of golden sunlight moving across Bothies probably originated as summer lodgings for farmworkers in the Highlands, the hills before us. It was an incredibly beautiful sight. but at ‘ "' " ' ’ Fairndouran we had the added frisson of being the only ones -— A ~ ~ - -» r — . ~ . . . ._ - _.- . there to experience the sunset. Apart from the midges. of places. They are often used by walkers and are generally available free of charge. course. But thankfully the walls of our castle provided us with ample shelter from those least timorous of beasties.
91,091. .a N(“. (i? '* THE LIST 97
but now exist as simple communal shelters to provide accommodation in remote