BOTHIES
A love letter to our favourite wild bothies
A New Year’s Eve to Remember
BY ANNA BLACKWELL
Undeterred by the horrendous late December weather, Molly and I spent several hours traipsing through the Northern Highlands, our destination the inimitable Shenavall Bothy. As the path dropped round to the bottom of An Teallach, we caught our first glimpses of the cottage.
At first, the bothy seemed lonely – the only building in an otherwise wild, remote area – yet somehow the small stone building seemed entirely at home in that environment. For the following few days, it offered us shelter from the torrential downpour and a fireplace in front of which we could warm our cold extremities and dry our sodden gear. We met friends, new and old, and enjoyed that instant bond forged through a shared love of the mountains and an uncommon desire to bring in the New Year somewhere with no electricity or plumbing...
Awaking on our final day, we stepped outside the bothy to discover a scattering of fresh snow now coated the tops of the mountains surrounding the idyllic spot, a streak of vivid red light from the rising sun blazing just below it. Despite the whisky hangover, I couldn’t imagine a better way to start the New Year.
the people who make it happen
The Mountain Bothy Association are of course the organisation who repair and maintain many of the UK's bothies nationwide.
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Bothy code
Map of bothies
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