
Rustic Shelters Called Bothies - mykowebhn
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/21/travel/in-search-of-britains-bothies.html
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eigenvector
A few years ago I walked across the Isle of Skye off the northwest coast of
Scotland. Near the north cape of the island is a former Coast Guard lookout
converted to a bothy. It's tiny, with just enough room for 2 bunks, a couple
of chairs and a sweeping view over the North Atlantic. Inside a plaque
commemorates the man who did much of the work to restore it for public use.
Here's a photo:

[https://photos.app.goo.gl/FamtWwDk5BjfFb5TA](https://photos.app.goo.gl/FamtWwDk5BjfFb5TA)

It's delightful that such a wonderful place can be kept free for public use
and is treated with respect by the few who visit it. It has few amenities,
pretty much just shelter from the elements, but that counts for a lot when
you're self-propelled in the Scottish weather.

~~~
arethuza
The Mangersta bothy (AKA The Eagles Nest) is also in a superb location:

[http://www.lindanorgrovefoundation.org/site/bothy](http://www.lindanorgrovefoundation.org/site/bothy)

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bogle
Bothies? Sheer luxury. Now have a look at a howff:

[http://scottishmountaineer.com/the-dossers-guide-slugain-
how...](http://scottishmountaineer.com/the-dossers-guide-slugain-howff/)

[https://kasmansbonniescotland.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-
secre...](https://kasmansbonniescotland.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-secret-howff-
in-cairngorms-seek-and.html)

~~~
JulianMorrison
Hunting those, or making them, looks fun!

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jweir
If you are looking for something like this in the western United States, check
out fire lookouts.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_lookout](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fire_lookout)

You can rent a number of them from the Forest Service. The ones I have stayed
in offer an amazing view and some of the best night skies I have ever seen.

[https://www.firelookout.org/lookout-
rentals.html](https://www.firelookout.org/lookout-rentals.html)

~~~
mirimir
Various state and national forests in the US have public-use cabins. There
used to be many, many more of them. But many have been sold off, or eliminated
because they were too frequently trashed.

Way back in the day, friends and I used to live in them, on an itinerant
basis. Everything that I owned was saturated with woodsmoke. Some city friends
would joke that they didn't need to look in the mailbox to know if they'd
received a letter from me. They could smell it at some distance ;)

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mothsonasloth
A bit of etiquette for most bothies is to leave kindling and some matches in a
ready state for igniting. Its a nice feeling entering a bothy after a cold and
wet day walking in the Trossachs and getting a fire going in no time!

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growlist
As a slightly morbid aside, some bothies have been demolished over the years
as they were seen to encourage risky behaviour:

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorm_Plateau_Disaster](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorm_Plateau_Disaster)

~~~
arethuza
Unfortunately, no lack of people who still underestimate how dangerous the
mountains in Scotland can be:

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-
islands-457...](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-
islands-45705249)

Fortunately those people were rescued, but walking on the Cairngorm plateau in
wintry weather _without jackets_ and other essential gear is a pretty risky
thing to do.

~~~
madaxe_again
And Wales. I live on the edge of Snowdonia, and we’ve had a little snow over
the past week - and mountain rescue have been flying back and forth several
times a day every day to go rescue folks who are more often than not woefully
underprepared - the weather here can turn on a dime, and a nice sunny jeans
and light jacket day can turn into a blizzard almost spontaneously.

I always carry water, a rat pack and an emergency shelter, even if I’m only
going for an afternoon hike in the summer - but you’ll often see people
herding their kids about like they’re at Disneyland.

I suppose part of it is having had the experience of being stranded without -
as a kid I got badly lost in the alps after skiing down the wrong side of a
mountain at dusk (I thought it was the same valley the resort was in - it was
not), and spent a night in a snow hole by a tree before I found my way to a
track. I was fine, a little frostnipped, very exhausted, but it scared the
bejesus out of me.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
That moment when you realize "that isn't the lake/valley/landmark I thought it
was"... yeah, that's not fun. I had my own version of that a couple summers
ago.

What do you carry for an emergency shelter?

~~~
arethuza
I always (at the very least) carry a survival bag in the hills - just the big
orange plastic bag things. As recommended in this list:

[https://www.mountaineering.scot/activities/hillwalking/getti...](https://www.mountaineering.scot/activities/hillwalking/getting-
started/essential-kit)

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NeedMoreTea
I stayed in a few of these over the years. Loved it, especially for the sense
of "middle of nowhere". Really surprised to see another piece in a major
paper, or to turn up on HN for that matter.

There was a piece in the Guardian, also this month, that the MBA is struggling
and they may die out unless they start getting some younger volunteers soon.
Bothies are volunteer maintained and restored, and the volunteers are
apparently aging rapidly.

With lots more photos:
[https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jan/25/mountain-
resc...](https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2019/jan/25/mountain-rescue-why-
bothies-need-a-helping-hand-a-photo-essay)

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ribs
In the game (sometimes derided as a “walking simulator”) Dear Esther, you
start out in a bothy, which the narrator refers to in one of his first
narrations.

~~~
falsedan
The bothy is actually at the top of the hill in the second stage, up from the
wrecked ship in the bay and past the hole. You start at a ruined lighthouse.

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SmellyGeekBoy
Great article. I remember staying in these as a young Scout - a very cool
experience, I can highly recommend it.

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ggm
Oh for Pete's sake: what Scotsman doesn't know about bothies? If you read oor
Willie or the broons what is "the but and Ben" if not a bothie?

(I've stayed in some lowland ones, cycling clubs keep them but the best are
all mountain high. New Zealand Bach and a French gite are different)

~~~
GreeniFi
O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us! It wad
frae mony a blunder free us, An' foolish notion: What airs in dress an' gait
wad lea'e us, An' ev'n devotion!

~~~
arethuza
_My heart 's in the Highlands, my heart is not here,

My heart's in the Highlands, a-chasing the deer;

Chasing the wild-deer, and following the roe,

My heart's in the Highlands, wherever I go._

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart%27s_in_the_Highlands](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Heart%27s_in_the_Highlands)

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kwhitefoot
The picture of the three friends is brilliant.

Thanks, it was worth reading just for that.

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gaius
A handy bit of kit is the portable bothy e.g
[https://rab.equipment/uk/superlite-
shelter-2-silbothy](https://rab.equipment/uk/superlite-shelter-2-silbothy)

