[at-l] Scotland???

[nealb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (William Neal)]

I once did some research for a person going to spend the summer in Scotland.
They had time before and after "school" to do some backpacking.  They had
done a fair amount in the US and wanted to do some in Scotland.  I remember
reading that Backpacking was not the same in Scotland as in the US.  Even
the "wide open" spaces are not truly wilderness.  Remember when we (the US)
was in "diapers", Scotland had been "civilized" for hundreds of years.  So
most backpacking was "slack-packing": You find your trail and walk from one
inn, B'n'B, etc. to the next.  Tent camping like in the US is not that
common.

I got curious and went web surfing to see if things had changed much.  I
kept coming up on solo-camping links, but at the end, they more or less
appeared to be as I described.  I have yet to find any sites like the AT
related sites that tell you how to hike on your own.

Apparently Scotland (and the rest of the UK) has been civilized too long for
American style of backwoods hiking to be common or popular -- if there is
any at all.

William The Turtle