Undiscovered Scotland

 

Walking the Corbetts Volume 2, North of the Great Glen by Brian Johnson, completes the author's coverage of Scotland's Corbetts, separate mountains of between 2,500ft and 2,999ft in height. Its companion volume was "Walking the Corbetts Volume 1, South of the Great Glen", published in July 2012. Like its companion it is an excellent book, small enough to be readily portable (like most of Cicerone's guidebooks), yet extremely well laid out and illustrated, and sufficiently detailed to provide everything you need, apart from larger scale maps, to undertake the walks described between the covers.

Why bother with Corbetts when Scotland has no shortage of higher mountains, in the form of the Munros, mountains of 3,000ft or more? After all, if the aim of climbing a mountain is to get to the top, then bigger must necessarily mean better, mustn't it? The truth is that anyone who is so consumed by "Munro-bagging" that they overlook the Corbetts also overlooks some of the very best mountains that Scotland has to offer.

There are a range of reasons why the Corbetts should always be kept in mind. There are Corbetts in many areas which have no Munros, meaning that you get to see a more varied selection of Scotland's landscapes; walks and climbs tend to be shorter, which can be useful when staying in hotels or if walking during short winter days; the lower altitude makes them less prone to (but far from immune from) Scotland's infinitely changeable weather; and because they are less well known and less popular you stand a much better chance of having a mountain to yourself, and much less chance of having to follow a deeply defined path on the ground. There is a sense in which Corbetts can often offer a more "genuine" mountain experience than you will find on many popular Munros.

The 109 Corbetts covered by 90 routes in this second volume are divided into ten areas from Mull and Ardgour to the far north-west; plus Skye and Harris. Each area has an introductory section giving an overview of the area, bases for the routes, and local facilities. Within each area, individual routes are given helpful, full colour maps, an overview section, and a detailed route description. Most route sections also include colour photographs taken by the author.