A GROUP of tourists have apologised after burning furniture in a 200-year-old Highland bothy amid fears they would freeze to death.
The four men from England travelled to Strathan, in Sutherland, for a hike last month.
Known only as George, Tom, Niall and James, they came ill-prepared for the trek – including some wearing trainers and no backpack, and just one bag of logs.
They eventually sought refuge in a 200-year-old bothy according to the Sunday Mail, and were reportedly "not in good shape" and had "almost fully fallen into cold water".
Amid fears they would get hypothermia, the men started burning furniture in the bothy in an effort to keep warm – causing extensive damage.
They have since apologised, sent a donation, and wrote a report to the Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) explaining what happened.
“To be candid, we lacked the proper experience and equipment for what we planned would have been a nice evening outdoors, however, we ended up too cold,” the men wrote.
“We had a bag of logs which didn’t go far enough in keeping us warm and we were freezing after a long journey.”
They added: “We were not in the best shape…as some of us had colds", and explained, “we were concerned about one or more of us being hypothermic while in a rather remote environment with no signal.
“We also had not left it the cleanest and I believe we could have been better about that.”
The group also made a donation to MBS in a bid to cover some of the costs.
Bob Tateson, an 80-year-old bothy volunteer, fixed the damage. He stressed to the newspaper that the men might have had feelings of "hysteria" which perhaps caused them to act "unpredictably" – especially given the lack of phone signal.
“When people get desperate, their sense of proportion tends to leave them,” he said.
"What was completely startling was they actually submitted a report which said, ‘We went there and we left a mess’. I’ve never seen anything like that.”
A spokesperson for the MBA said that preparation is key when it comes to this sort of Highland hike, adding: "It appears this group made a number of errors in planning and executing their expedition.”
