Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i The Great Outdoors

TESSA LYONS seeks “total immersion in the landscape” whether she’s camping, hiking or climbing – her first love. She started climbing indoors when she was about eight years old but “can vividly remember” venturing out into the open on the Peak District gritstone and the coastal cliffs at Swanage. “These experiences gave me a taste for experiencing the movement of climbing out in beautiful landscapes, a combination that later became a really important part of my life,” Tessa, now 35 and living in North Wales, told The Great Outdoors. Indeed, as a practising artist, Tessa creates her smaller works – textural pieces often drawn and painted onto maps in ink and acrylic – in the landscape itself, working from photographs for larger pieces. A former resident of Sheffield, she “made…

Some people get very hot and bothered by the use of the term 'wild swimming' ("In my day we just called it swimming!"), but by whatever name, cooling down in some clear, icy water is a long-standing joy of being outdoors in high places. Here’s how our readers have been embracing their wild side lately.…

DISTANCE: 209km/130 miles ASCENT: approx 6400m/21,000ft START/FINISH: Glengarriff, Co Cork DURATION: 6-10 days South-west Ireland is a special place. Jutting out into the Atlantic is a series of mountainous peninsulas, each with a distinct character. Although the Iveragh Peninsula is the largest and perhaps the best known to walkers, the others have a lot to offer too. The Beara Peninsula sits between the Iveragh and Sheep’s Head Peninsulas, accessible from the towns of Bantry and Kenmare. Although the highest peak, Hungry Hill, reaches only 685m/2247ft, don’t be fooled; many of these mountains are extraordinarily rough and rocky. Some parts of the peninsula have a Devon countryside feel, whilst others resemble Skye if you squint – particularly the many miles of fabulous cliff-ringed coastline. But this is quintessentially Ireland. Villages are…

WE’RE THRILLED to announce the winners of The Great Outdoors Gear of the Year Awards 2023. Across 16 categories, these awards recognise the best outdoor equipment available: ground-breaking products that simply work brilliantly in the mountains. The initial shortlist, consisting of 76 products, was drawn up by our expert judging panel and finalised by head judge Chris Townsend. The jury then conducted further testing, before jointly agreeing on an overall winner and runner up in each category. We've also awarded the brands pushing boundaries of innovation and sustainability. Our judges tested these products on their own adventures from the Cairngorms to the Brecon Beacons, but throughout these pages we've featured one of the trips that made up the testing process: a backpacking round of the remote Fisherfield Six by Carey…

Fabric A light mid layer can work well across a wide range of conditions, so a thinner non-windproof fabric is the starting point. When layering under a shell in cold and wet weather, or when wearing over a base layer in warmer weather the lighter insulation properties should help prevent you overheating and if you do get sweaty the lighter fabric will dry quicker. The amount of stretch in the fabric will affect comfort and fit. Fit Body length is important to get right for comfort and coverage of your lower back, and good free movement around the shoulders is vital to stop the hem lifting too much when you’re reaching for a scrambling hold. Always raise your arms when trying a top on to see if the hem moves…

10 varied routes in Scotland, England and Wales The call of the wild is strong within most hillwalkers and ever-more people are searching for the solace wild places provide. So this month, we set our expert contributors the task of mapping walks in spaces that still feel close to ‘wild’ in the British Isles, from Shetland all the way down to Dartmoor. This is the ‘Wild Walks’ section of The Great Outdoors, after all! Our walks this month 1 Esha Ness Shetland Isles 2 Beinn Damh Torridon 3 Ben Vane Arrochar Alps 4 Ettrick Horseshoe Southern Uplands 5 Glaramara, Rosthwaite Fell & Bessyboot Lake District 6 Hindscarth & Dale Head Lake District 7 Cnicht Eryri/Snowdonia 8 Strumble Head to Trefin Pembrokeshire 9 Cheriton Ridge & The Chains Somerset & Devon 10…

13.7km/8.5 miles/5 hours Ascent 925m/3045ft James Forrest walks a pathless descent of Ben Vane SCOTLAND is blessed with wild places, but as they’re mostly located in the far north of the Highlands for most people this means one thing: a mind-numbingly boring, exceptionally long drive. Assynt, for example, is a 12-hour drive from London and 9 hours from Birmingham. From Glasgow it’s still a whopping 5 hours. Perhaps there’s a better way? For a taste of Scotland’s wildness, without such a long time in the car, the Arrochar Alps in the Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park are a good option – particularly if you take on this route. Complex, steep and dramatic with loads of rocky character, Ben Vane (915m) might only just be high enough for Munro…

16.6km/10 miles/6 hours Ascent 1082m/3550ft Norman Hadley argues Hindscarth really deserves a dedicated ascent THE NEWLANDS triptych of Dalehead, Hindscarth and Robinson forms a familiar backdrop looking south from the Vale of Keswick. In particular, the conical of Scope End stands as a spectacular bookend to Hindscarth’s northern ridge. This is the key to our ascent and every step is a pleasure, with delight to be found both under the feet and over the shoulder. In clear weather, your route plan should allow significant stoppage time for photography. Once you’ve reached Hindscarth’s summit, there is mercifully little reascent required to reach Dale Head. Here, the view north towards Skiddaw and Blencathra is foregrounded by the bird’s-eye view of the upper Newlands trench. To the south, the Gable and Scafell groupings…

Sarah Jane Douglas, a freelance writer and artist based in the Highlands, is the author of award-winning memoir Just Another Mountain. Having ‘compleated’ the Munros, she is summit camping her way round all 222 Corbetts. Despite the challenges that linger after cancer, she continues to put one foot in front of the other – sometimes squelching, occasionally crawling, often cursing. In this issue, she recalls a packrafting adventure into the Rough Bounds of Knoydart. Katy Ellis embarked on a project to explore our human connection with various European rivers last year, culminating in a hike along the Vjosa with locals, activists and scientists who made the eponymous wild river national park possible. Having studied Conservation Biology and Ecology at university, she’s pursuing her passions of writing and making the outdoors more…

Postal address The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL. Please include a phone number and postal address. Inspired by Dad Nick Morrice shared photos of some old issues of The Great Outdoors, unearthed after his father’s passing. Here, he and his siblings Jack and Natalie share a beautiful tribute to their dad… In July 2022, we lost my dad Alan to cancer shortly before his 78th birthday. When clearing out his house in Aberdeenshire this year, my siblings and I uncovered a stash of his treasured walking memorabilia including a few issues of The Great Outdoors from 1987 and 1988 [below right]. Dad was a nature lover, avid walker and professional artist all of his life. His works in…

RED SQUIRRELS AREAS OF BROADLEAF and coniferous woodland across Britain are home to the elusive but much-celebrated native red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Identifiable by its reddish-brown coat and pale underside, the red squirrel has a bushy tail and distinctive, large ear tufts. Indeed, they can be seen all year round – they do not hibernate, and instead store food for harder months – but they are rare. Red squirrel populations famously declined when their cousin, the grey squirrel, was introduced to the UK and transmitted ‘squirrelpox’ – the squirrel Parapoxvirus – which is fatal to the red squirrel. But the species is now thriving in places up and down the UK – including areas of Scotland, Northumberland, Anglesey and the Isle of Wight – thanks to conservation and habitat management.…

In Her Nature: How Women Break Boundaries in the Great Outdoors by Rachel Hewitt Published by Chatto & Windus, £20, hardback THIS IS A BOOK about loss. The erasure of women’s voices throughout the history of the great outdoors examined within its pages is given a contemporaneous framing through the author’s catastrophic loss of five family members within a year. For Rachel, a professor and ultrarunner, recounting this trauma and her ensuing vulnerability causes her to lose her sense of belonging outdoors: a safe place she’d previously relied upon during hardship from adolescence into adulthood. After the death of her stepfather and estrangement from her mother, Rachel is bereft. The aggressions she experiences outdoors – many of which will be familiar to female readers – cut deeply in her bereaved…

CONTENT SPONSORED BY IT’S UNCANNY. This remarkable rocky outcrop, high on the flanks of Great Gable, forms the Sphinx-like outline of a human head. Not just faintly or tenuously, but distinctively. It’s easy to see: strong chin, prominent nose, closed mouth, gentle eyes, sloping forehead and traditional headwear befitting of a chieftain. I can almost sense character in the face too. I see wisdom, poise and resolve, the eyes angled over the landscape with pride, like a benevolent yet fearsome guardian of Gable. Far below, Wast Water stretches sumptuously towards the coast, framed left and right by the heathery slopes of Illgill Head and Yewbarrow. To my left is the faint outline of the trod – a rocky tightrope through the labyrinth – that led me here. Is it the…

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Design Tents come in different shapes and sizes. ‘Tunnel’ tents tend to be long and thin and have a single door. ‘Single-hoop’ tents generally have a larger hoop in the middle and lower ends, and may have 1 or 2 doors. ‘Freestanding’ tents are good for loose ground or sandy pitches, as the fabric is held in place by the poles. ‘Pitched as 1’ means the inner and outer are pitched together as one unit. ‘Inner first’ means the inner will need to be pitched first – less useful in the rain. ‘Outer first’, unsurprisingly, means the opposite. Flysheet Flysheets vary widely in their weight and durability. Most are made from ripstop polyester or nylon. The higher the ripstop denier (D) rating, the more resistant the material is to tearing.…

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13.6km/8.5 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 255m/835ft Ian Battersby wonders at a ferocious Shetland past and present ESHA NESS is a stocky peninsula that sits at the northern limit of the immensity of Shetland’s St Magnus Bay. Studying the map it’s easy to imagine closing the circle of this C-shaped bay, and let imagination contrive notions relating to its geological birth. Academics have done just that, along with practical studies to uncover evidence left by a violent past. One theory postulates a mighty meteor strike that sired a titanic crater, which was later flooded by rising sea levels, leaving Atlantic attacks to realise the demise of its western wall. Whilst this theory clings on, the second – which suggests savage volcanic action here –holds more sway. Whether a huge crater or colossal…

14.2km/8.8 miles/4.5-5 hours Ascent 696m/2283ft Vivienne Crow strides out along quiet roller-coaster ridges THE HILL COUNTRY north-east of Moffat in Dumfriesshire consists largely of long, lonely ridges that undulate for miles and miles above valleys cloaked in conifers. This is the ideal place for escaping the holiday crowds that flock to the UK’s more popular and accessible hiking regions at this time of year, taking in the tops of Fauldside Hil, Capel Fell, Windy Hill, Ettrick Pen as well as Over Phawhope Bothy. The Ettrick Horseshoe is typical of this Southern Uplands bolt-hole; a series of rounded tops linked by grassy spines with far-reaching views. Just reaching the start of this fine circuit requires commitment – the parking area lies at the end of a seemingly endless road that winds…

10.9km/6.8 miles/5 hours Ascent 683m/2093ft Francesca Donovan wanders up the ‘Welsh Matterhorn’ DARE I SAY IT? Cnicht is the finest peak in Eryri/Snowdonia. Despite its relatively modest 689m (2260ft), it offers spectacular panoramic views down to the Irish Sea and north-west to Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon itself on a short and sweet excursion. And this perky pyramid, befitting its nickname of ‘the Welsh Matterhorn’, does allow you to get high in relative solitude. This is especially true if you take a circular route from Croesor – avoiding the major trails in favour of quieter footpaths where possible. Indeed, this route takes in some of the Snowdonia Slate Trail and the Cambrian Way – parts of which you may have to share with others before you re-route on your own adventure. In doing…

20.5km/13 miles/9 hours Ascent 520m/1700ft Roger Butler finds moorland heaven on the Somerset/Devon border THE LONELY and wild moors at the heart of Exmoor are known as The Chains, and their soggy reputation has been gained from a combination of heavy rainfall and poor drainage. A 19th-Century landowner once poured his fortune into ambitious plans to reclaim these hillsides but, thankfully, not much changed and, today you can wander – and sometimes wallow – in every direction along this county borderland. The Chains extend over a series of high tussock-ridden plateaux, and their pale brown horizons often resemble giant sheets of cardboard. But in August 1952 these moors were quite simply unable to hold any more water, and the consequent torrent crashed northwards through steep wooded ravines to bring death…

At the end of May, editor Carey Davies headed into the Fisherfield Forest with regular contributors James and Alex Roddie. On their multi-day backpack, they were joined by what looked like millions of midges. Carey shared footage from their first-night camp on social media, and here’s what you had to say about the swarm… Juls Stodel (over_stepping/Instagram) “Just spent my first night of midge season trapped for two hours in the morning up Glen Kingie surrounded by an actual blanket of midges! Why do I forget each year how bad they were the year before?!” Rory Berryman (roryphoto_/Instagram) “…and I thought our bugs in Canada were bad!” Bee Leask (bumblebambi/Instagram) “This always makes me feel better about not being home!” Guards Veterans Mountaineering (guards_mountainnering/Instagram) “That’s just horrific. And this is…

THE ROUTE The trail begins in the seaside town of Glengarriff (its Gaelic name, An Gleann Garbh, means ‘the rough glen’ – you’ll see why when you get there). If you’re hiking clockwise, the first day heads straight into the hills for superb views south to Bantry Bay from near the summit of Sugarloaf Mountain (565m/1854ft). A descent to the village of Adrigole is followed by another steep climb, and for the rest of day one there are several ascents and descents as the trail meanders around the southern flank of Hungry Hill and outlying peaks. This is the Beara Way’s most mountainous section, though it doesn’t actually visit any summits. A descent to Castletownbere, a major working fishing port, is a good opportunity to get a feel for the…

‘…when I was a child we would often walk to Gladestry across Hergest Ridge in the summer. We would have midday lunch in the bracken up on the hill and come down to have a memorable tea in the Royal Oak at Gladestry. I particularly remember the taste of home-baked bread and whimberry tarts made by the landlady. In the evening we would walk back to Kington over the Cefn as the sun set beyond Cefn Hir and the hills all about us went dark and alien.’Ffransis Payne, Crwydro Sir Faesyfed (translated by Dafydd y Garth for Transactions of the Radnorshire Society, 2008/2009) IF YOU’VE EVER heard of Hergest Ridge, it’s probably through a musical connection; and if you take it in your mind to climb it, another musical connection…

CONTENT SPONSORED BY 1 GORDALE SCAR, NORTH YORKSHIRE, ENGLAND 12.1km/360m ascent/3.5 hours A huge, echoing, overhanging face of silver limestone, the remnant of an ancient waterfall that was taller than Niagara Falls, Malham Cove is one of the most stark and impressive landscape features anywhere in Britain. But the neighbouring Gordale Scar, where water still booms through a sublime gorge, is no less awe-inspiring. A circular loop from Malham, with a nerve-jangling scramble of the tufa waterfall of Gordale Scar (it’s easier than it looks, as is often the case), over to Malham Tarn and down to Malham Cove through the dry gorge of Ing Scar, is a delight. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more geologically dramatic hike anywhere in the UK – or a more spectacular public right…

Vålådalen nature reserve covers an area of over 450 square miles, and is one of the more popular mountain areas in Sweden due to the relative ease of access by train and bus from Stockholm. The area has a good network of trails and cabins, but there is plenty of scope for more adventurous walking off-trail where you may not meet anyone, especially in the higher valleys and mountains in the south and north-west of the reserve. Allemansrätten, or everyone’s right, means that you can camp practically anywhere, usually with access to clean mountain water. Some restrictions are in place, however, for areas vulnerable to erosion. START AND END Vålådalen is a tiny settlement whose main feature is a large traditional mountain station complete with shop and restaurant, which is…

Gear News Altra recreates much-loved Torin road shoe with updates Building upon the success and popularity of the Torin series, the Torin 7 has been re-engineered by Altra with cutting-edge enhancements to deliver peak comfort and unparalleled performance for runners of all levels. So, what’s new? The Torin 7 boasts an array of impressive upgrades over its predecessors, including a redeveloped tongue for a plush feel, an increased stack height of 30mm for extra bounce and improved underfoot cushion with added Altra EGO MAX Midsole Foam, as well as an evolved moulded heel collar for added comfort, fit and a ‘locked-in’ feel. ■ From £130 altrarunning.eu/uk Klättermusen announces historical first collaboration Klättermusen has announced the brand’s first ever collaboration collection, with Swedish textile artist Britta Marakatt-Labba. Britta’s embroidery art revolves…

SAVE £23* PLUS FREE DELIVERY Britain’s original outdoor magazine is packed full of stunning photography, top class writing and brilliant walking and backpacking routes, along with authoritative gear reviews from the country’s most experienced team of testers and essential skills advice from highly qualified outdoor instructors. Subscribe today for only £10 every 3 months! Hello THE GREAT OUTDOORS is the UK’s original mountain magazine. We have been inspiring people to explore high places and equipping them with the knowledge they need for almost 45 years. Through compelling writing and beautifully illustrated stories, we convey the joy of adventure, the thrill of mountainous and wild environments, and the wonder of the natural world. We’re here to help you make the most of your time in the outdoors. As well as stunning photography…

11.6km/7.2 miles/5-6 hours Ascent 915m/3120ft Beinn Damh offers drama without the terror, says Alex Roddie TORRIDON’S most famous peaks include Liathach, Beinn Alligin and Beinn Eighe – big, seriou, and (let’s say it) slightly scary mountains. If you lack scrambling skills, they can be intimidating, and they’re all big days out. But not every Torridonian peak is like this. Beinn Damh is a high Corbett just a whisker below the magic Munro height, and the ascent is steep but straightforward: rocky ground and ridges with an airy feel to them, yes; outright scrambling and exposure, no. It’s a compact, out-and-back climb with plenty of interest and some truly stupendous (and very wild) views from up on the ridge. Don’t let the fact that it’s ‘only’ a Corbett put you off,…

11.5km/7.1 miles/6 hours Ascent 778m/2551ft Andrew Galloway finds effort equals reward on this Lakeland circuit SOME MILES are longer than others. The rugged mountains of upper Borrowdale offer a challenge to even the most experienced of walkers. What on paper may give the impression of being a simple circuit of fells with mileage in single figures can in reality translate into an arduous day requiring much physical, navigational and even emotional determination. But hard work is seldom without its rewards. In good weather the rocky summit of Glaramara offers a dramatic prospect of the valley below and a 360-degree view of the Central Fells. A bit further north, beyond a cluster of small tarns, Combe Head provides a breathtaking vista over the steep-sided hanging valley of Combe Gill. Progress along…

20.5km/12.7 miles/6.5 hours Ascent 776m/2546ft Fiona Barltrop recommends this coast’s dramatic cliff scenery NOWHERE along Pembrokeshire’s spectacular coastline is the scenery wilder and more dramatic than at Pwll Deri, a bay surrounded by high, precipitous cliffs on the west side of the Pencaer peninsula. It lies a couple of miles south of Strumble Head, situated on the islet Ynys Meicel (St Michael’s Island) and itself a popular spot for sharing a moment with the local marine life. It’s the location of what is one of the most superbly situated hostels in the country, perched on the cliff top overlooking the sea far below. It’s a great spot for sunsets and seal watching. Yet it has a curious name (meaning ‘pool of the oak trees’) for what is such a treeless…

13km/8 miles/4-5 hours Ascent 320m/1050ft Tim Gent visits the moorland outcrops that overlook the coast near Morvah AT 13 KILOMETRES in length this is a relatively short walk, but it packs in a huge helping of gnarly Cornish outdoors. There are a few good paths up on the exposed moorland, as travel across this thorn-, brambleand bracken-covered upland, peppered with natural rock upstands, would otherwise be very slow and painful. As well as providing routes across this wild high ground, these paths also lead to some fine archaeological features, first being the Mên-an-tol, a unique late Neolithic or early Bronze Age setting of stones. Next is Ding Dong Mine, abandoned in 1877, and a fine spot to gaze down on Cornwall’s south coast with its famous tidal island. It is…