In Search of Simple Shelter with Kat Hill
Kat Hill
For this episode, I’m bringing our global audience to the place I call home - the Scottish Highlands. In this historical landscape, where midgies reign and deer stand majestically atop purple-washed hillsides, simple shelters stand that welcome weary travellers to rest, dry off and, most importantly, connect with each other.
Known as ‘bothies’ here in Scotland, these shelters may lack modern conveniences, but they offer a chance to escape, breathe and be at one with nature. Today’s guest Kat Hill is a researcher and author who explores landscape, people, and heritage. After reading her book, Bothy: in Search of Simple Shelter, I wanted to explore what these shelters mean to the subculture of people who are dedicated to their preservation and exploration, their history, benefits and current surge in popularity.
Illustration by Kate Chesterton.
One of the key elements of Kat’s book is the exploration of the bothy books, which function in the same way as a hotel guest book - but much more entertaining, and even historically poignant in some cases.
Bothies take many different forms in different parts of the world, and my first experiences of hiking to huts to stay the night were in New Zealand. These huts were a different world compared with the ones in Scotland - many of them were pretty much brand new, always had toilets and sleeping platforms, and could be booked. After listening to the episode, my co-Producer Matt told me that he spent lots of time in shelters on his Appalachian Trail thru-hike, many of which had entertaining guest books too. I’ve stayed in ‘refuges’ in the Swiss Alps and have been told stories of the extremely hospitable ‘refugios’ in the northern Spanish mountains, which often have the most delicious food waiting for their guests.
The name and location may change, facilities and phone signal may be present or absent, but these remote mountain huts always offer a opportunity for escapism that their fans often seek. It’s certainly something I find extremely important…
More information
Learn more about UK bothies on the Mountain Bothies Association website
Interested in learning more about Matt Appalachian Trail trip? He recorded a podcast series about it! Listen to it here.
Learn more about Kat Hill’s work on her website.