Every trip, no matter the weather, brings something. The winter ridge glimpsed through clearing mist, the sky lit by marching bars of light, the snow bunting on the summit of Ben Nevis, the story in the pub or song by the bothy fire. Experiences such as these are always possible and explain why we do not give in.
To some, hillwalking is a physical activity. To others, climbing is all, and everything else is nothing. Because it's not just hills: it's people, characters, fun and tragedy. Every mountaineer will know that it's not just about the anticipation of what hill to climb next, it's a sub-culture of adventure and friendship - all-night card games, monumental hangovers, storytelling, singing - and above all, free spirits.
In this fitting sequel and essential companion to the classic Mountain Days and Bothy Nights, Dave Brown and Ian R. Mitchell capture perfectly the inexplicable desire which brings Scottish hillwalkers back to the mist, mud and midgies every weekend. Their lively, humorous and enthusiastic narrative will revitalise the drive in you to get out on the hills - or you may prefer just to curl up on the couch with this book and a wee dram for company.
Winner of the Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature
The reader is provoked to reflect on his own experience of the hills and to agree or disagree with their thesis, that Hell is not a city and there is no rural Utopia... most of us will be muttering our own thoughts under our breath, provoked once again into taking sides, by this splendid book.
SCOTTISH MOUNTAINEERING CLUB JOURNAL
