Undiscovered Scotland

 

Pocket Mountains produce excellent guides that are just a little bit different from anything we've seen before. They have production values that would do credit to any coffee-table book, with beautiful colour photography, clear colour maps, impeccable design and a silky smooth finish. Yet they are also, as the name implies, pocket sized and durable: just as able to give you guidance actually on the hill as when planning in advance.

The Cairngorms includes 40 circular hill walks, complete with contoured maps, colour photography and local information, all packed into a superb pocket-sized format. Covering Glen Shee and the Braes o’Angus; Pitlochry to Dalwhinnie; Aviemore and Speyside; Hills of Braemar; and the Whisky Country. All the Munros in the area are included and each walk sets out walking time, height gain, distance, relevant OS map clear directions and occasional potted background, history or points of interest.

What is particularly nice about the Pocket Mountains approach is the thought that has obviously been given, wherever possible, to providing routes that are a little out of the ordinary: not simply repeats of the routes that have been contained in every other guide book. In this, you get the sense that as much thought and care has gone into writing the book as has obviously gone into producing it once it was written. The Pocket Mountains series is written by Nick Williams, an experienced climber and walker who has taken part in mountain expeditions around the world.