Backpacker's Britain: Northern Scotland. Graham Uney

www.visitscotland.com (see Appendix 1, Useful Addresses).

      Accommodation needs to be planned, and often booked, ahead. You will find anything from a simple campsite, to hostels, bed and breakfasts, guest houses, hotels, self-catering cottages and even castles, by contacting the Scottish Tourist Board. Accommodation is plentiful for most of the year, but be aware that many providers close for the winter season – from October to March – and checking ahead is essential during this time.

      For most of the routes in this book it is definitely easier if you have your own car, but public transport is possible for many of them – details are given in the Route Information box at the start of each walk, and the Scottish Tourist Board can also give details of individual bus, ferry and flight companies.

Safety in the Hills

      Great tomes have been written on this subject, and readers are referred to the specialist books suggested in the bibliography in Appendix 2, but for the most part, common sense is the main requirement. By this I simply mean going into the hills well equipped for the task in hand, both in terms of taking the right gear with you, and having the necessary navigation skills to accurately find your way in all weathers.

      Many people stress the importance of leaving written word with a responsible party before heading off into the hills, and this is very good advice for those new to hillwalking, but for me, one of the real joys of hillwalking, and backpacking in particular, is the freedom it gives, including the liberty to change plans if, for instance, you have found the going easier than expected, or the weather has improved and you find yourself wanting to extend your stay in the mountains. This is not possible, and should certainly never be considered, if written word of your intentions has been left. The choice is up to the individual, and generally the best advice is to leave a route card, but if you do this you must stick to it rigidly. Obviously, if you choose not to leave a route card, you will be very much on your own should an accident occur.

      A backpacker crosses a river on the way to Suilven (Walk 10)

      Some of the hazards that you need to be aware of in the Scottish mountains are:

       river crossings

       cliffs

       snow fields at certain times of year.

      Rivers can rise and fall quickly in the Highlands, and people do die trying to cross them when in spate. Not all river crossings are by bridge – shallow water can be crossed quite easily by keeping your boots on (to avoid your feet being crushed by moving boulders or cut on sharp rocks) and facing upstream. However, if in any doubt at all, either find a way around, or camp and wait for the water level to go down.

      Many of the routes in this book take you along narrow ridges and the tops of cliffs. The dangers here are obvious, but be aware that carrying a large backpack means that you will not be as agile as normal.

      Any scrambles on rock included in the routes can be avoided by using the alternative route that is always given.

      In spring there are often large areas of snow to cross, and carrying an ice axe and crampons is the sensible way to travel safely at this time (and it is of course essential that you know how to use them properly).

      In an emergency, mark the position of the injured person on your map, then get to the nearest landline phone and call 999. Ask for the police and tell them you need a mountain rescue. The rescue team will come to the phone you are at and use your map to locate the injured person.

      Hillwalkers on Mealaisbhal (Walk 5)

      There’s some superb ridge walking above Glen Affric (Walk 20)

      Mobile phone coverage is poor in Northern Scotland. If you do have a signal, emergency services can be contacted on 999, or you can use the international emergency code 112. It is also possible to call the nearest police station direct, if you key in the phone number beforehand.

Navigation

      This is a subject that gets many people very flummoxed, and even some hillgoers who claim to have mastered it would struggle, should push come to shove. It is beyond the scope of this book to go into detail on this fascinating art, and it is hoped that anyone without navigation skills who is planning to head off into the hills would first book themselves onto a navigation course organised by professionals, or at least read a good book on the subject (see Appendix 2). Having said that, a few very general pointers are as follows.

      The main skill to master is that of setting the map. To oversimplify things, it is perhaps best to point out that the top of all OS maps is grid north, and the red directional needle (the one that turns in the compass housing) points to magnetic north. It is an easy matter to place the compass on the map and turn the map around until this needle is pointing to the top of the map. This will then set the map in line with all the features on the ground – walls, fences, streams, hills – so that everything on the map is then in line with its corresponding ground feature. This is actually slightly flawed, as grid north and magnetic north are not exactly the same. Basically, the compass currently points slightly west of grid north. To correct you should add the difference as shown on the key on the edge of the map, but be aware that this magnetic variation changes slightly each year, and also varies according to whereabouts you are.

      To measure distances on the map you need to know the scale – usually either 1:50,000 (OS Landranger maps) or 1:25,000 (OS Explorer, Outdoor Leisure and Pathfinder maps, and Harvey’s Superwalker maps). You can use the scale on the bottom of the map to find out how many millimetres on your compass represent 100 metres on the ground, and using this information you should be able to measure any distance on the map with some degree of accuracy.

      So far so good, but then you need to know how many double steps you take to walk 100 metres. This obviously varies according to the size of your legs, so it is something you will have to work out for yourself. Most people take between 55 and 80 double steps to walk 100 metres, but bear in mind that this is on the flat, on a good surface. Your pacing will differ if you head uphill or downhill, and will also be different over rough terrain such as deep heather or soft snow. You can practise all of this by either going out with someone who already knows how many paces they take to walk 100 metres, or by going on a navigation course.

      Another way of measuring distances, and the preferred method over longer distances (you don’t want to spend all day counting paces!), is timing. The average walking speed is 5 kilometres an hour (km/h), so at this speed it will take 12 minutes to walk 1000 metres (1km) on flat ground. Most people add 1 minute to the overall time of a set leg of the journey for every 10 metre contour climbed during that leg. However, for timing to be really useful you do need to know your own walking speed. I personally prefer to walk at 6km/h, but others may walk at 4km/h or even slower. The other problem with timing is that it will differ according to how heavy your rucksack is, or how tired you are, or the type of terrain you are walking over. It is best to experiment with timing over known distances to get the hang of it.

      Wild camping at the head of Strathconon (Walk 19)

      The only really effective way to learn navigation is out on the hills, initially by going on a course or reading a book, then by regularly practising the techniques on your own. Several useful books are included in the bibliography (Appendix 2) for those who want to learn, or brush up on, navigation skills.

Equipment

      This is a very subjective matter. A browse through any outdoor retailer’s shop will reveal a bewildering array of boots, jackets, tents, sleeping bags, stoves, maps, compasses, and those little pouches for keeping your mobile phone safe and sound. In short, there is no shortage of gear and