Читать книгу Backpacker's Britain: Northern Scotland. 30 short backpacking routes north of the Great Glen онлайн

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Vast, open tracts of wild moorlands, high mountains, rocky coasts and long, winding glens make many Highland areas inhospitable to all except those willing to carry their own shelter and supplies, but in this wilderness there are many hidden corners where only the backpacker can explore. There are places that take days to reach on foot, where only the dedicated backpacker will venture – this is the preserve of the seasoned hillwalker, and wilderness exploration at its best.

Although many of our mountain and moorland regions are within easy reach of town and city, the northwest Highlands are more demanding of time and effort to get to for most of us, yet the rewards are all the greater for it. Some go to the northwest Highlands just or the superb walking, others go in search of rock to climb, wildlife to watch, rivers to canoe, or even whisky to drink, and many are happy to pursue all of these activities, and more, to an equal degree.

Many areas are best explored over a period of time, so for the weekend walker it makes sense to take a tent and sleeping bag on forays into the wilderness, and this is surely the best way of getting to know a particular part of the country. Crossing a range from end to end, or climbing a set of peaks around a desolate Highland glen, will introduce the walker to hitherto unknown regions, and if the trip involves the commitment of an overnight stopover or two, so much the better. To spend a night in a simple but comfortable shelter among lovely mountains, waking to a sunlit dawn of cackling grouse on vast, open expanses of purple moorland, or the guttural roar of rutting stags crashing around rocky slopes, is one of life’s great pleasures, and one that is only available to those with a will to discover these quiet places, and to make a temporary home among the mountains and wild shores.