isle of skye bothies please

[Mike]

Evening all. Can someone send me some bothy locations on skye please ill be on there in two nights time I know there are three there but not sure where. Any help gratefully received.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Put the bothy app on your phone

[Scattamah]

Or pitch yer tent :) Say g'day to my ancestors for me, Mike!

Greetz

S.

[Yorlin]

Put the bothy app on your phone

++ this, just remember it's just called 'Bothy' I wasted a fair amount of time lookinf for iBothy!

https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... y&hl=en_GB
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/bothy/id819402678?mt=8

Then just use google earth to zoom in :)

[Mike]

Iv camped all week but last night I had a battle with tics im the grass and this evening the wind disappeared and I was greeted with millions of midges I kid u not iv never experienced anything like it so I found a bnb to get out of them! ! I pray for more wind tomorrow :0(

[voodoo_simon]

Put the bothy app on your phone

I thought you were taking the 'Michael' when you said that!

[Mart]

Put the bothy app on your phone

There's a bothy app ?!?! im quite sad at that news. While I cant stop the wheels of progress Im left wondering why you would need an app to do this.
Nothing is sacred anymore! It used to be a word of mouth and weekend plans with your mates, Scouring maps for likely locations, and if it were a secret bothy then you were only shown through friends in the know. Sworn to silence

One particular place i know took me over 20 years from knowing about to discovering for myself. Sketchy details, first gleaned through hushed voices in the pub.
Its been a well kept highland secret, for over 60 years, and still does not appear on any lists (which Im glad about) Although you can now find pictures on t'interweb if you google the right words. No dont even ask, 'cos I wont say

Technology for me has spoils the surprise, with exploration and discovery fast disappearing

Sorry ... Breath... Rant over ... As you were

[whitestone]

I think I know the one you mean though I've never been close to its location. The first rule about XYZ is that you don't talk about XYZ"!

There's a video by Alastair Humphries http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/mounta ... hy-nights/ where he asks not to name the locations (there was just one that I didn't know BTW) but still people were asking.

When the Big Walks book was published, one of the reviewers moaned that the front cover exposed one of Scotland's best kept secrets (the Fisherfield Forest) and that it would now be ruined. That hasn't happened of course but it's similar with bothies except that rather than several thousand hectares of wilderness it's a relatively few individual locations being exposed.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I agree completely Mart which I why I wrote this: http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co ... r-all.html

The bothy app only lists MBA and seeing as they let the cat out of the bag themselves ....

[Mart]

There's a video by Alastair Humphries http://www.alastairhumphreys.com/mounta ... hy-nights/ where he asks not to name the locations (there was just one that I didn't know BTW) but still people were asking.

The one by in AH's video on the cliff by sea was a new one to me, I didnt know that one, but was surprised how easy it was for me to find through electronic means.It just means that they become more widely known and people realise how accessable some of these places really are

You then get the scrotes that just in for a bevvy, and party, creating havoc and noise
Dont get me wrong I'm all for sharing and good craic round the fire. but a recent experience at Nant Rhys with a small group (3?) of lads from Aberiystwyth had 'discovered' bothies, being right dicks. Could be arsed to even walk or bike in. They drove up the forest track FFS

[Zippy]

They drove up the forest track FFS

We did this once...

In our defence, we were meeting up for New Years, and it was getting pretty late, we got stuck in traffice some considerably distance from our original meeting point and so missed walking in, so we decided to adventure down the forest tracks....

I agree - I don't think this stuff should be made too easy. Keep the riffraff out

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Fair one about protecting bothies from nobbers, but they would have to be very well motivated nobbers to drive to many of the remote Highland bothies. I'm not a fan of secret cliques, and was dissapointed that some people discussing the HTR route last year wanted to keep some bothy locations secret, meaning they had a distinct advantage! Not an easy balance to maintain, but hopefully this forum hasn't been compromised by the troublesome types that ruin bothies.

[Bearbonesnorm]

but hopefully this forum hasn't been compromised by the troublesome types that ruin bothies.

You've never met 'Dan the incredible snoring man' have you

[whitestone]

some people discussing the HTR route last year wanted to keep some bothy locations secret, meaning they had a distinct advantage!

As Stu notes in his linked blog post, getting the map out (or using an online tool) and finding isolated buildings while time consuming isn't exactly hard work and since you are following a known route then it reduces the search area as it were. I think that the first time I heard about the HT550 and checked out the route I was mentally mapping the bothies I knew about on to it.

[benp1]

I dunno, I think for something like the HT550 sharing the possible bothies is fair enough

I agree you don't want scrotes turning up, but the cliquey side of things isn't very welcoming is it?

[Bearbonesnorm]

I agree you don't want scrotes turning up, but the cliquey side of things isn't very welcoming is it?

I really don't think there is a clique. Most bothies can be found with a bit of thought and effort ... there's no secret society to join or dodgy handshakes required.

[Yorlin]

The Bothy app is a bit daft on the face of it, and the location listings on the MBA website too (you used to have to be a member to view 'em) - my understanding is that they only put all the information up when it was freely available online already. A lot of (particularly european language) websites had full details, access routes etc with no mention of the MBA or bothy rules, maintenance etc, so the thinking was at least this way there was a chance of people reading how to treat a bothy correctly, and possible donations/recruiting to the MBA. And they have been pretty good about keeping the XYZ-type bothies quiet too!

[Mart]

.....but the cliquey side of things isn't very welcoming is it?

It's the way it was pre Internet. it was all about word of mouth, who you knew, which pubs you drank in etc
There was a little information in books but that was before the likes of MBA lists were out in the open. The list might have been available to Members, but certainly not published and freely available

[benp1]

Isn't that the point though? Those pre internet days are long gone

We're connected to each other through mutual interest and the medium of the Internet

I've not stayed in a bothy in years, I'm aiming to in November. I've found out about the options I have via the Internet. Without it I'd never know where they were

I can look at maps but it's all a guess. It would take ages to pore over them, I wouldn't know where to start.

I can't speak to locals because I'm a city dweller miles away

The app is maybe a step too far, but online references, maps and grid locations are ace!

[voodoo_simon]

Of it wasn't for the Internet, I wouldn't know about any bothy except for one small hut.

For me, the internet has opened them up to use. I'm not in the right circles to ask friends etc of a hut is nearby

As a side, can someone PM the one in Alistair Humphreys film please, the small circulate one build out of rock? (I understand the irony in asking, but I'll probably only ever see it via Google earth in the near future!)

[whitestone]

Simon, you've got a PM

[voodoo_simon]

Simon, you've got a PM

Cheers

[jay91]

Dont get me wrong I'm all for sharing and good craic round the fire. but a recent experience at Nant Rhys with a small group (3?) of lads from Aberiystwyth had 'discovered' bothies, being right dicks. Could be arsed to even walk or bike in. They drove up the forest track FFS

Is that the one at the ff I had about 2 hours sleep

[fatbikephil]

I mind yonks ago (were talking 30 plus years) the guy who ran my school mountaineering club had 'the bothy book' - a spiral bound banda (remember them??) copied book listing every bothy in the UK - just a brief one line description and a 6 fig GR. Apparently some guy researched and compiled the list and published it himself and the MBA tried to ban it etc. etc. and only a handful of copies made it into circulation. Must check to see if he still has it....

Geograph is the best reource for this - ID suspiciously isolated buildings on the OS map then check the location on geograph. Takes fecking ages but will show up a few gems

[Yorlin]

Oh I remember that story :D

The problem with identifying buildings on maps is that sometimes they are locked up tight! And while in the old days it was a point of honour to get in anyway (Corrour rear window, with the stick, anyone?) it's not quite the same now.

I do know for a while (okay 5-10 years back), there were various stories of people arriving at (MBA and other) bothies and finding 10+ groups of Scouts/hiking groups of various nationalities in residence, who had just found them on the internet easily, while the person involved had had to work through the "smoky pubs and beards network" just to get hints about where they were...