I Spent 2 Days Alone in a Remote Scottish Bothy | Cosy, Quiet & Completely Off-Grid

Sometimes the best trips are the ones with the fewest expectations. This one was exactly that. A few days in the Scottish Highlands, a remote bossy to aim for and nowhere else I needed to be. If you're new here, hi, I'm Ellie and together with my rescue dog Otto, I spent most of my time hiking long distance trails around the UK. But this time, I wasn't after another big adventure. I just wanted a few quiet days outside, immersed in nature. Otto and I are still in the Highlands, which is a tent room station. We're just waiting for our train to set off on a little micro adventure. I'm going to tell you a bit more about it later. But for now, we're just starting with my favorite scenic train ride in Scotland, in the Highlands. So, let's go. We just got off the train at Coors Station, which is not only the most remote, but also the highest railway station in the UK. It sits at around 400 meters and there's no road access to the train station. It's a pretty special place because the train basically drops you off in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of Rannoch Moor, with only bogs and hills and moorland around you. And for the next one or two days, depending on the weather, I've planned a little micro adventure. We're going to stay in a bothy tonight and then maybe another bothy tomorrow. We'll see. I'm really excited to explore the area around Lough Treek, but also explore an area where I've not been to before. So, let's go. If you're wondering about this massive pack that I'm carrying, I'm actually planning to do something that I've never done. I want to do a bit of a posh bothy overnight trip, which means that I brought quite a bit of cooking equipment and food, fresh food for tonight and tomorrow morning to do a little bit of cooking. Otto is in a really good mood. We basically didn't walk for six days since we finished the Cape Wrath trail. So, we had a really good rest. I did some editing and Otto was mainly chilling out in the sun or in the van. So, it feels so nice to be out again for a little walk. The interesting thing about the area around Lough Treek is that it's not really far away in the sense you might expect. It's surrounded by some of the most famous highland landscapes, but somehow still feels overlooked. You have to spend a bit of time walking to really experience it. And I think that's what keeps places like this feeling special. Oh, wow. This is where I camped on my TGO challenge two years ago. This, if you head up there and over the Bielach, you're going to Spin Bridge. But for us, we're going to turn left into the next glen. Almost nine kilometers in, we've made it to the head of Lough Treek. And now we're going to turn left. As you can see, there's a path towards Fort William. It's starting to get quite boggy. This is not our botany, but that's also an MBA botany. This is Stonag botany, but it's on the other side of this river. And probably not possible for us to reach from this side. Apparently, there are stepping stones, but it doesn't look very shallow. Otto is in a really, really good mood. Look at him. Cute, cute. It's actually not too easy, especially in wet conditions. It's quite rough, quite boggy in places. A lot of really deep bogs and little like burns that you have to cross. So it's been pretty slow going. It's already half six now. I can see the bothy over there. There's some ruins on the other side, but this is where we're heading. Ah, just over this meadow, which will probably be very, very boggy. Can't wait to make a coffee now. Wow, the light. Look at that. This is just perfect. So beautiful. I don't think we can get across here. Maybe further up. We've made it. This is Minach Bothy. Let's have a look if there's anyone inside. I don't think there is. No one here. Nice. This is the first room. And this is room number two. Looks like, at least for now, we're having the bothy to ourselves. And the view is just epic. I think this over there might be not entirely sure, but might be part of the Nevis range. For tonight, I'm having a tofu veggie noodle stir fry. Doesn't this look so nice? Oh, wow. Really excited to have that. This is definitely the fanciest meal I've ever had in a bothy. So nice to be completely alone, completely off grid. There's no signal. Just looking out the window, overlooking the hills, the moors. This is so therapeutic. So remote. Incredible. It's in the middle of the highlands. Ben Nevis is not far away. But we didn't see anyone at all. And yeah, it's so quiet. It's so nice to really be off grid. And yeah, now having the bothy to ourselves. Good morning. We had a really, really good night. No mice running around. And it wasn't too cold. It's half eight already. But yeah, I'm not in a rush. Just going to take my time. For my breakfast, I brought some vegan bacon, some tofu. And I'm going to do some bacon and scrambled tofu breakfast wraps. Next up is my scrambled tofu. Time to assemble everything. There's a bit too much liquid. Because of the spinach. But yeah, I hope it will still work. There's a bit too much liquid. It's a bit of a mess eating this. I guess I'm just having it separately. One thing I've really started to appreciate is having time where I don't have to be anywhere. No next thing to get done. No pressure to make the most of every minute. Sitting here in the bothy and watching the weather change outside the window. Time just feels different. The hours seem to stretch out a little longer. I think we're so used to feeling every quiet moment now. Checking our phones, scrolling, listening to something. Always having some kind of distraction. But out here, there's none of that. I have decided to actually stay here for today. Because just being here with no signal, no distractions. I don't know. Just made me feel really good. How often do I really have the chance of just spending the entire day in the bothy? Just doing nothing in a good way. So I'm just going to stay here. Have copious amounts of coffee and tea. Read my book. Next to the bothy book is a crosswords thing. And I have some time to kill. So let's see. I think it's been years and years and years since I last did a crossword. Let alone one in English. Oh wow, that's really humbling. Apparently, I don't know any English words. I don't know what's happening in the outside world. I'm completely disconnected. Just living in this little bubble for a while. And honestly, that can feel a bit strange at first. Having nothing to do means there's nowhere to hide from your own thoughts. The silence can feel almost too much because we're just not used to it anymore. But slowly, you settle into it. I often get asked if I find places like this spooky on my own. But the truth is, I really don't. Being alone has never felt lonely to me. If anything, these are the moments where I feel most like myself. No expectations, no distractions, no need to feel the silence. Just time to think, notice the little things, and enjoy being exactly where I am. And this is my dinner for tonight. Some Mexican chili with rice, avocado, and some cheese. I think it's going to work better than what I did this morning. 10 out of 10. This is really nice. Good morning, everyone. It's another wet and windy day. It's still quite early. Otto and I just left Minachpothi. It's time to slowly get back to civilization. We have another four hours walk, I think. With the conditions today to get to Kuru Station. And there's the famous station house cafe. And I really, really, really want to have my breakfast there and a coffee. It's so moody. A lot of water here now. Almost six kilometers down, and we're back at the head of Locht Creek. From what I know, this house down there is not inhabited. But wouldn't that be incredible to have and to fix up with this incredible view? So quiet, so remote. Didn't again see anyone out today. It's just so perfect. I don't know if you can see it on camera yet. But this over there, this one house in the middle of nowhere, that's the station. So really, it's like train spotting. We've made it. Unfortunately, it's pretty busy. Should have booked a table because obviously with the hostel, a lot of people are waiting for the same train. But I had a coffee and an excellent, really excellent piece of cake. And now just enjoying the scenery a bit more. We have made it back to the van, back to Tyndrum, which is apparently how you pronounce it. I don't know. I feel like I've always heard people saying Tyndrum. But I got to talk with an older gentleman on the train. And I asked him how it's pronounced. And he said Tyndrum. I learned something new, it seems. And now Otto and I are going to make our way south. This is it for this video. I really hope you've enjoyed it. If you did, leave a like, leave a comment. Let me know what you think. Thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for following along, for your kind messages, for everything. And I hope to see you soon. Bye.