Information about the Backpackers Club and the Scottish Week.

This is a personal site developed by Bill Randall from trips from the mid '90's and evolved by Darren Tipper since 2002. It is not an official Backpackers Club web site. The opinions and views expressed are those of the people contributing and may not be the same a those expressed by The Backpackers Club

The Backpackers Club

To learn more about the club and/or make contact with them , please use the link to the official club site which is included lower down the page. As you will see from their web site, the Scottish Week is just one of many activities organised by the club throughout the UK.

The Scottish Week

The Scottish Week is open to all members of the club. It is organised on a very informal basis and is usually arranged for a week towards the end of May or in early June. A convenient point in northern Scotland, accessible by public transport, is selected and a minibus arranged on a Saturday morning to take us and our packs from there to a good backpacking area in the Scottish Highlands.

Although 20 or 30 members may come on the trip, we break up into small groups of 2, 3 or 4 friends, leaving the minibus wherever we want and following our own routes throughout the week. The routes vary considerably depending on the capabilities and inclinations of each group, some head for the mountain tops whilst others tend to stay in the valleys, some make detours into the villages (if there are any nearby!), others avoid civilisation for the entire week, etc.

Leaving the minibus at the start of the week.    

We all meet on the following Saturday at a pre-arranged campsite, carefully selected to be near a pub or hotel where we can have a get-together and meal on the Saturday evening prior to returning home the next day.

The end-of-week dinner - a good time to discuss and compare our different routes and experiences!

A few words of caution . . .

If you are attracted by the idea of coming on one of these trips, it is important to understand that:

• There is no official route
• The club does not provide any guides
• There is no organised tour as such
• You can encounter all types of weather
• You are often quite a long way from any help

Therefore you do need to have some mountain walking and backpacking experience, suitable equipment and a colleague who you can "get on with" for a full week's backpacking! If any of these aspects present a problem, it is worth contacting the "Scottish Week Co-ordinator" who can help with advice and may well be able to put you in touch with another member faced with similar problems. Solo backpacking is never advisable and certainly, for those with little experience, not an option!

The club also has a network of county liaison members who can advise on the equipment you need to take and the preparations you should make. Attending local meets arranged by these liaison members is another good way of learning about backpacking and meeting other possible companions for the Scottish Week.

Please don't be put off by the these points but, as I am sure you will appreciate, you must address them in order to have a safe and enjoyable backpack in such a remote and mountainous area.

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