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PENDING a nightin a stone hut in themiddle of the Cairn-gorms with nopower, running water or even a toi-let may not be

eryone’s idea of a relaxingeak, but this was an amazingperience and another massivek on my bucket list.The stone hut in question isled a bothy, one of a series of sic shelters in remote parts of e UK which can be used fore by anyone as long as they de by some simple rules.

Bothies are mainly found inotland and usually frequentedwalkers keen to reach remoterts but eager to split the efforter a couple of days.The premise is simple –carry 

everything you need including

food and fuel and take away yourrubbish.

Our mission was to spend thenight in what is deemed to be atwo-star bothy in the Cairngormmountains in winter, bagging acouple of mountain summitsalong the way. Mad? My friendsthought my climbing pal Pauland I had finally lost the plot.

 We set off from the beautifulHighland hamlet of Blair Atholl, just north of Pitlochry. Paul drewthe short straw and packed the10kg bag of coal into his ruck-sack while I was forced to carry the other essential items of kit –two bottles of wine.

After two-and-a-half hoursand seven miles of steady uphill walking, we reached our newhome, which was nestled againsta hillside by a fast-flowing

stream, or burn as they’re known

in Scotland. A herd of red deer watched inquisitively as we un-packed the coal, wine and cook-ing equipment in the tiny bothy.

At this point we could see why it was deemed to be two-star. Ithad a roof, a fireplace, twobenches and a picnic table plus ashovel which apparently was thetoilet. I’ll leave the rest to yourimagination.

After reducing the weight inour packs, we headed off past thebothy towards a Munro (Scottishmountain taller than 3000ft)called Beinn Dearg.

It was a spectacular, albeit des-olate, walk with some seriousgradients. After three hours wereached the summit but we weren’t alone. We were joined by about six mountain hares, look-ing resplendent in their white

 winter coats – probably desper-

ately hoping for a covering of snow so they could blend in andoutwit the local predators.

After taking in the sweeping views it was back to the bothy tosettle in for the evening.

As the sun dropped the tem-perature plummeted too and wesoon realised we needed to getthe fire going. That’s when wediscovered neither of us had everlit a coal fire before. We tried nu-merous methods involving fire-lighters and it was looking baduntil we decided to try the nu-clear option which involvedblasting the coal with our butanecamping stove – kids don’t try this at home.

After that it was an evening of fine dining – crisps for startersfollowed by a Pot Noodle then anenergy bar for dessert and a cou-

ple of glasses of wine to follow.The following morning Iopened the front door of thebothy to be confronted by a cou-ple of startled deer and the mostimpressive view I’ve ever seen at6am – a sheer open expanse withno sign whatsoever of human in-terference.

 We packed our gear with aheavy heart and retraced oursteps to the car, downhill thistime and with no coal or wine to weigh us down. It was a fine walk, enlivened by the sight of hundreds of deer silhouettedagainst the sky as they munchedtheir way along the mountaincrests.

 We still had two days of moun-tain walking to go but for the re-

mainder of the trip we decided alittle luxury wouldn’t go amissand we weren’t disappointed.

 We headed a few miles southof Pitlochry to the historic townof Dunkeld which is divided by the sweeping power of the RiverTay. We booked into the beauti-fully situated Atholl Arms Hotelright on the banks of the Tay andin the heart of the small town.

Ask for a room with a river view and you won’t be disapoint-ed.

 We soon discovered this littlegem has a secret. It may be ratedthree star but it has five star foodand service. You can dine in thehotel bar or the restaurant, we

chose the latter.The haggis, neeps and tattiesfor starters was superb and thesirloin steak was cooked to per-fection. The sticky toffee pud-ding for dessert was an indul-gence justified by the mountain we’d climbed the previous day.

The hotel bar is a cosy affair where settling down for a coupleof hours is made all the more eas-ier by the local real ales servedby the friendly staff.

Dunkeld itself boasts a won-derful cathedral, some quaintshops and a fantastic pub rightnext to the Atholl Arms Hotelcalled the Taybank which bills it-self as ‘Scotland’s Musical Meet-ing Place’.

Bands travel from far and

 wide to play at the Taybank which has a small main bar rem-iniscent of the multi-room pubs

of bygone days. We spentnights at the Atholl Arms, cliing more mountains duringday and listening to bands inevening. We wouldn’t hesitareturn.

 Whether you’re having laxing break, climbing motains or recovering from a nin the wilderness you wonfar wrong in Dunkeld.

TRAVEL

The Atholl Arms is offerindinner, bed and breakfasfor two people for £89 peroom per night untilMarch. The offer is validfor a stay of two consecutive nights from Sunday tThursday and is based on

two people sharing astandard or twin room.Dinner includes a twocourse meal in theRiverview restaurant. Anon-refundable deposit isrequired at time of booking. Call 01350-727219 and quote ‘Autumn2012’. There is a £20supplement per night for river view room and asupplement of £40 for asuite. Visit www.athollarmshotel.com forfurther details.For information aboutstaying in a bothy contacthe Mountain BothiesAssociation at www.moutainbothies.org.uk . Full

membership is £20 for thyear (£10 juniors).

FACTFILE

Coal, wine, and a hut in theCairngorms – marvelloushe prospect of spending a night in a stone hut in a remote part of Scotland with no electricity or toiletolds no fear for Dave Lafferty, but he is glad to have stayed at a gem of a hotel later on during his trip

STONE SHELTER Davesets off for his walk, right.

Above: The bothy or stone hutwhere he stayed. Below, left:The Atholl Arms, in Dunkeld.

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8» WEEKEND M.E.SATURDAY,

 JANUARY 5, 2013

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TRAVEL

 WEEKEND«1M.E.N.SATURDAY, JANUARY 5, 2013

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» Terms and conditions: Go tomanchestereveningnews.co.uk

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