Customer Reviews:
 Bleak, Desolate, Sublime August 16, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Inspired by the personal demons of boredom and existential disenchantment, Mike Cawthorne sets out to climb all of Scotland's Munros in a single, grueling, four month solo journey, made in the middle of winter. Battling the wild gyrations of the weather, the journey is highly organized, with food and supply caches buried strategically along his course. Cawthorne slogs through treacherous, snowy wastes, often taking refuge from violent rainstorms. The detailed descriptions of landscape, hand-drawn maps and bleak photographs give a crystal-clear sense of the sheer vastness and monumental scope of the Scottish Highlands. Some of the days described are sublime, distilled magic, bottled and delivered straight to the page; they feel almost mystical or spiritual, as his body and spirit contour to the landscape, and every action becomes instinctive, effortless, thinning the membrane which separates him from the surrounding landforms. Cawthorne stoically endures many setbacks in his quest for adventure, solitude and inner harmony. There are days of wrenching loneliness, desperation, near-failure. For Cawthorne, each day is unique, and somehow remarkable. When the journey is over, there is a potent sense of anticlimax, rather than exultation. Cawthorne is left with a lingering sense of sadness, and a craving to return to the grim, austere wilderness which he left behind. I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
Brrrr: rather him than me! March 22, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is a great book to read tucked up in your bed on a winter's night - just so that you can be so glad that you're not sharing in the author's tortuous experience. He writes well. You can hear the howling winds and sense the abject misery of camping alone in the Highlands in miserable wet, cold weather. I do feel that doing such a challenging walk in mid-winter was a tad silly. I mean: it would be so much more enjoyable doing it in the summer. The heightened challenge seems unnecessary and pointless - like trying to hop around the coast of Britain rather than walk but it makes for a great read.
My only criticism is that the book has possibly too much description of the landscapes. The names of hills and settlements mean nothing either. Some more background information about local history and the people he met would further enliven the narrative - but I guess that walking in such a remote region there wasn't much of an opportunity for this.
 Serious Munro Bagging January 23, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Oddly, the snow on the front cover of my edition appears black and rather surreal. The book is well written by someone with a broad knowledge of Scottish mountaineering. However, it is essentially an account of bagging 300 or so 1000m Munros in one gruelling trip and in parts it becomes a little monotonous. It is a fine effort but doesn't add greatly to the existing repertoire of mountaineering non-fiction.
A right riveting read August 1, 2004
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
As a reader of many hillwalking guide books I was interested to see how Mike would approach this. Would it turn out to be a book for would be walkers setting out on their own big adventure?
I was very impressed. From the first pages I was in turn enthralled and delighted by the author's account of his journey: he has a way of relating his story that completely draws the reader into the adventure, such that I could hardly put it down. A book to appeal to walkers and readers everywhere.
 Awesome January 26, 2002
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
An epic journey across Scotlands highest peaks in winter, alone. Very readable. Awesome and inspirational stuff.
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