Maol-bhuidhe: a lonely hearth

As you descend north on the rough path from Glen Elchaig over the pass between Faochaig and Aonach Buidhe, the distant whitewashed walls of Maol-buidhe bothy are a welcome sight even on a clear summer day. This small but solid redoubt is one of the remotest habitable buildings in Scotland. In the 19th Century Maol-buidhe housed estate workers and their families. The last resident was a gamekeeper and shepherd. It was abandoned in

1916 and gradually fell into disrepair. Enter the Mountain Bothies Association, which took the building into its care in the late 1960s. With a mix of love, dedication and many hours of hard physical work (not least the manhandling of a staircase over the bealach in a car trailer), the building was made weatherproof and comfortable once more. With the Cape Wrath Trail now passing the front door, it can expect a steady stream of visitors for years to come.