The Cairngorms Scene Unseen

Cairngorms: A Secret History is a series of journeys exploring barely known human and natural stories of the Cairngorm Mountains. It looks at a unique British landscape, its last great wilderness, with new eyes. History combines with travelogue in a vivid account of this elemental scenery. There have been rare human incursions into the Cairngorm plateau, and Patrick Baker tracks them down. He traces elusive wildlife and relives ghostly sightings on the summit of Ben Macdui. From the search for a long-forgotten climbing shelter and the locating of ancient gem mines, to the discovery of skeletal aircraft remains and the hunt for a mysterious nineteenth-century aristocratic settlement, he seeks out the unlikeliest and most interesting of features in places far off the beaten track. The cultural and human impact of this stunning landscape and reflections on the history of mountaineering are the threads which bind this compelling narrative together.

This guidebook contains over 100 routes for walking in the Cairngorms and Lochnagar, including 18 Munro summits, smaller hills, and trekking options. Walks range in length from 1 to 26 miles and are graded for difficulty. Classic summits include Macdui, Cairn Gorm, Braeriach, Cairn Toul and Lochnagar and this comprehensive guidebook also describes easier sandy trails through pine woodland and riverside walks along the Spey, Nethy and Dee. The routes are split into seven parts, and along with the main Cairngorm range between Speyside and Deeside, cover Lochnagar. Mountain walks are illustrated with sketch maps, while the low-level and mid-level routes have 1:50,000 mapping. Icons at the start of each route indicate type of walk (low level, mid-level or mountain) and ratings of its length and difficulty. Information on snack stops, public transport and accommodation is provided for each area, as well as a route summary table, scrambles summary and grading. A detailed 'Summit Summary' is included for five hills - Macdui, Cairn Gorm, Braeriach, Cairn Toul and Lochnagar - these are the hills you will want to ascend lots of times by many different routes.

The journeys in this book are tales of adventure on foot and by canoe through some of the last wild places in Scotland. Each journey is haunted by the ghost of another writer - Neil Gunn, Iain Thomson, Rowena Farre - who has left behind the trace of his or her own experience of these isolated hills, glens, streams or lochs. Travelling in time as well as space, Mike Cawthorne gains a new perspective on burning contemporary issues such as land ownership, renewable energy, conservation and depopulation. On one level these are exciting and lyrical evocations of wild walks and nature in the raw, like the description of winter treks in one of Mike's earlier books, Hell of a Journey. On another level they explore the meaning of Scotland's surviving wilderness to wanderers in the past and its vital importance to us in the present day.

Shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Award for Mountain Literature Elemental, fierce and full of wonder, the Cairngorm mountains are the high and rocky heart of Scotland. To know them would take forever, to love them demands a kind of courageous surrender. In The Hidden Fires, Merryn Glover undertakes that challenge with Nan Shepherd as companion and guiding light. Following in the footsteps and contours of The Living Mountain, she explores the same landscapes and themes as Shepherd's seminal work. This is a journey separated by time but unified by space and purpose, a conversation between two women across nearly a century that explores how entering the life of a mountain can illuminate our own. An Australian who grew up in the Himalayas, her early experiences of the Scottish hills and weather left her cold. But gradually acclimatising and with an approach like Shepherd's, that is more mountain wandering than mountaineering, she discovers the spark that sets the hills and herself on fire. Through Glover's deepening encounter, the wild majesty and iridescence of the Cairngorms is revealed in this beautiful evocation of landscape, place and identity. 'Merryn Glover's The Hidden Fires is not just brave, it is remarkable' – Sir John Lister-Kaye

William Hutchison Murray (1913 - 1996) was one of Scotland's most distinguished climbers in the years before and after the Second World War. As a prisoner of war in Italy he wrote his first classic book, Mountaineering in Scotland, on rough toilet paper which was confiscated and destroyed by the Gestapo. The rewritten version was published in 1947 and followed by the, now, equally famous, Undiscovered Scotland. In 1951 he was depute leader to Eric Shipton on the Everest Reconnaissance Expedition, which discovered the eventual successful route which would be climbed by Hilary and Tensing. From the 1960s onwards he was heavily involved in conservation campaigns and his book, Highland Landscape, commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland, identified areas of outstanding beauty that should be protected. It proved to be extremely influential. In 1966 he was awarded an OBE as he pursued a life of service, as is well illustrated by the various posts he held: Commissioner for the Countryside Commission for Scotland (1968-1980); President of the Scottish Mountaineering Club (1962-1964) and of the Ramblers Association Scotland (1966-82); Chairman of Scottish Countryside Activities Council (1967-82); Vice-President of the Alpine Club (1971-72); President of Mountaineering Council of Scotland (1972-75). He was a prolific author but a proper understanding of his life and work requires that we appreciate that his driving force was a quest to achieve inner purification that would lead him to oneness with Truth and Beauty. For many years the climber, author and teacher, Robin Lloyd-Jones (above) has been researching the life and work of Bill Murray and working steadily on this biography. It is not only a triumph of fine writing and interest, but a worthy accolade for this great man.

• Biography of a seminal, but often unheralded, figure in high-altitude climbing • Written by his son, Tony, Frank Smythe was himself a prolific author • Important addition to Mountaineer Books’ Legends and Lore series Frank Smythe, like Eric Shipton, is associated with early Everest explorations and was a member of three expeditions to the mountain. At a time when it was ungentlemanly to make a living by climbing, Smythe wrote more than a dozen popular books based upon his travels to high places -- one of them being the first ascent of Kamet (25,447 feet) in 1931, which was the first time any climber had gone beyond 25,000 feet. Two years later, he reached the highest point climbed on Everest (28,200 feet). He also climbed in Britain, the Alps, Canada, and Alaska. He and Graham Brown established two new routes on the Brevna face of Mont Blanc. In short, he has serious climbing credentials. As the title hints, this is a biography by Frank’s son Tony, but it isn’t based solely on personal memories; Frank was away from home for long periods and died when Tony was only fourteen. Instead, this book is based on thirteen years of research: Frank’s parents’ meeting and marriage, Frank’s early school years, his first climbs, his training for various jobs, his gradual rise to fame and fortune, his friendships, his war years, and his sudden death are all covered. Like his father, Tony has a strong understanding of how to tell a story that appeals to both climbers and general lovers of nonfiction adventures.