Wilderness Dreams: The Call of Scotland's Last Wild Places - Softcover

Mike Cawthorne

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1903238900 ISBN 13: 9781903238905

Publisher: In Pinn, 2007

Synopsis

This book has been a long time in the writing. While Mike Cawthorne's life over the last two decades has been mostly involved in climbing and journalism, he has managed to stow away a large memory bank of experiences of his times spent deep within the wilderness areas of Scotland. These 8 extended essays begin with a canoe trip down the River Dee in 2002 ("Tale of Two Rivers") and his epic round of the Munros in the company of his friend Dave Hughes in 1986 ("Paupers and Kings"). "Terra Ingognita" deals with the Monadliath mountains, 'one of the last places left on these crowded islands where you can experience genuine solitude'. "Crofting on the Edge" deals with people Mike has encountered who have chosen to live in the most remote and inaccessible areas of Scotland as does "The Hermit's Story", which describes the life that James McRory-Smith chose to lead in Strathailleach, a shepherd's cottage near Cape Wrath. "A Last Wild Place" describes the ruination of many of these wilderness areas and the efforts made by large energy companies to exploit these special places. '...only wilderness if you can be killed and eaten' is a quote by American writer Edward Abbey referring to grizzly bears stalking humans in the Rockies. Mike recalls this in "Dying for Trees" as he spends a day on Creag Meagaidh with a deer-stalking party where a minor bio-diversity miracle has taken place by carefully controlling deer numbers to allow the spread of broadleaf woodland. "Scotland's Alaska" is the final essay on Sutherland's flow country...'the best and worst of wild Britain.'

About this title

Review:

Mike Cawthorne's Wilderness Dreams takes us romping through some of Scotland's wildest places: a canoe trip down the River Dee, a blizzard in the Monadhliath, the dangers facing the Flow Country in Sutherland. The heart of the book, though, is the story of an expedition across the Munros in 1986, accomplished on no money and with falling-apart boots, and despite an occasional over-excitement in the landscape description, this is exciting stuff, and it's written with humanity, passion and a touch of anger. For anyone who loves the Scottish hills, this is a book to read. From the speech announcing the winner by Lord (Chris) Smith Boardman Tasker Award Kendal, 16th November 2007 'This is descriptive writing of a very high order. It could have been written by Stevenson, Buchan or Neil Gunn'. Alan Taylor, Sunday Herald 'Mike Cawthorne shows both his talent for writing and his deep affinity with the wilderness areas of Scotland in this book. I read his collection of essays in a very short time, finding each one hard to put down. As well as being a fascinating account of Mike's own experiences of hillwalking in Scotland, his essays are an enlightening education on the commercial greed that has damaged, and continues to damage, Scotland's natural landscapes. Read this book and you'll be absorbed, entertained, outraged, educated, humbled and, ultimately, inspired to experience the beauty of Scotland's wild places for yourself.' Review by K Jackson on Amazon --Amazon

About the Author:

Mike Cawthorne is one of Scotland's most respected mountain writers. He wrote Hell of a Journey to great critical acclaim and contributes to The Sunday Times, The Scots Magazine, The Sunday Post, High Mountain Sports, TGO and Trail Magazine.

About this edition

• Publisher: In Pinn
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1903238900
• ISBN 13: 9781903238905
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176