Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i The Great Outdoors

Hello The Great Outdoors is Britain’s original outdoors magazine, inspiring exploration from sea to summit, valley to mountain top for more than four decades. We’re here to help you make the most of your time outside. Be it with skills advice, ideas for new walks or activities, fresh points of view on nature or breathtaking adventure stories near and far, our focus is on you – the outdoors community. It is a family affair. Our small team works with emerging writers and photographers alongside those with many decades of experience, allowing all to speak in their own voice and share the ups and downs of real, life-enhancing tales from the trail. Making room for everyone remains the heart and soul of The Great Outdoors. We are also proud to host…

WHAT IS THE GREAT OUTDOORS CHALLENGE? The Great Outdoors Challenge is a self-supported, non-competitive backpacking coast-to-coast walk across the Scottish Highlands, held annually over 15 days in May. There are 14 dedicated start places on the west coast from which each participant – walking solo, as a pair, threesome or group of no more than four – creates their own route, be it high-level or lower-level or a mixture of both. The route is then passed on to the experienced route vetting team for checking and advice as required. Walkers may finish anywhere on the east coast between Fraserburgh in the north and Arbroath in the south before finding their way – transport now allowed – to check out in Montrose where the Challenge Central Control is based. Challenge Control…

7 varied routes in England, Scotland and Wales We’re a nation of landscape lovers, so it tracks that Britain would be home to some of the finest designated trails. These beloved routes are often well-waymarked yet lead us past sweeping vistas, millennia-old geographical icons, and through our own human history. They are, by nature, a great way into our natural playgrounds. But few hillwalkers have the time to tackle an entire trail in one go. So why not try one of these short section hikes, which offer a glimpse into each trail’s highlights to whet your appetite? Our walks this month…

19.1km/11.9 miles/7 hours Ascent 759m/2490ft Ian Battersby walks part of the Cleveland Way in Autumn MUCH OF THE North York Moors can be seen as a modestly high plateau of heather moorland with streams carving long valleys that divvy up the terrain. A ceiling of breathtaking skies shines dazzling light into the vales, where plenteous bushes, saplings and magnificent trees gather in rays all Summer long. But it’s not just in the sheltered dales where woodlands lie. The edges of the plateau to the north and west plummet into miles of plains, and these edges, left by the plough, are home for conifer and broadleaf too. The Cleveland Way relishes life on this brink, and arguably the finest thresholds lie where the valleys burst through these lofty fringes – along the…

14.5km/8.7 miles/6 hours Ascent 515m/1680ft Roger Butler peers over steep slopes on a roller coaster along Offa’s Dyke “ARE YOU HEADING UP?” The mechanic who peered out from underneath a car bonnet gave me a jealous smile as he asked which hill I had in mind. I’d just parked below Kington church and here was one local who echoed the ‘Walkers Welcome’ signs that greet visitors to this small town with almost one foot in Wales. This circuit wiggles with the movement of a frightened octopus but takes in some of the best scenery along Offa’s Dyke Path as well as a section of its original earthworks. Steep slopes – some so steep they would make handbrakes volunteer for early retirement – characterise the route, along with breezy open commons and…

IN THIS ISSUE Sunny Huang is one of only two women to have ‘compleated’ two SMC Full Houses (that’s all the Munros, Munro Tops, Corbetts, Grahams, Donalds and Furths: 1124 hills in total). She recently embarked on her third Full House round in support of the British Heart Foundation. Sunny is a qualified Mountain Leader, and in between weekends of multi-mountain bagging she works full time as a nurse. Read more about her incredible back story and unique approach on page 16. Phoebe Smith is an adventurer, award-winning travel writer, photographer and broadcaster. She has presented segments on TV, including on BBC Countryfile, BBC Breakfast and C5 Saturday Live. In 2025 she received the Ness Award from the Royal Geographical Society for her promotion of accessible adventure. Phoebe has authored 11 books…

ON A CLEAR and windless night, when the outdoor temperature is just right, a hoar frost can form. No matter how hard I tried to conjure up the right animal or plant to illustrate this time of year, I just couldn’t get the feeling of winterness out of my mind. The nostalgic echo of hibernation, the urge to hunker down, skeleton trees and the smell of thaw. It might be jumping the gun for November, but I can’t be the only one yearning for the cold, crisp days when we’ve said goodbye to Summer. Our seasons tend to be worryingly unpredictable anyway, so I think it’s OK to be reminded over the coming months to look out for and appreciate one of nature’s best meteorological gifts. Hoar frost is a…

Sunny Huang recently ‘compleated’ a second Full House, making her one of Britain’s most committed hill baggers – but it’s how this drive extends to the rest of her life that makes her story extraordinary IT’S THE TAIL END OFAUGUST, and Sunny Huang has just returned from an extended week of humid Munro-bagging. Her legs are covered in itchy tick bites (“I got almost 200 bites – walking through the grass I could see them crawling up my thigh like an army!”), but she still managed to summit a grand total of 77 Munros. And yes, you did read that right: 77 remote mountains measuring over 3000ft clocked up in under 10 days. “I walk for about 12 hours per day, back to back, day after day,” she says. “Nobody…

38km/24 miles/10-12 hours Ascent202m/663ft Stefan Durkacz traces an old rail route on a superb full-day walk THE PRETTY TOWN of Grantow-non-Spey used to be served by two railway stations before Dr Beeching wielded his axe. From Grantown East, the line followed the River Spey downstream for many miles before cutting across to Elgin. Long sections are now incorporated into the Speyside Way. To the west of town, trains ran north over the moors and down to the coast at Forres. This has been similarly repurposed as a walking and mountain biking route. The Dava Way is a superb full-day walk (or half-day ride), perfect for summer. The going is easy and ascents are gentle, as you’d expect on a railway walk, and the scenery varied, from the spacious moors around…

13.7km/9.9 miles/5 hours Ascent 761m/2497ft James Forrest samples a superb section of the Coast to Coast ALFRED WAINWRIGHT’S famed coast to coast walk is a long-distance trail traversing the width of England from St Bees Head in the west to Robin Hood’s Bay in the east. Hikers start on the shores of the Irish Sea and two weeks and 190 miles later arrive at the North Sea, having travelled across the Lake District, Pennines, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors. The highlights are plentiful, but – perhaps – this short leg between Rosthwaite and Grasmere might be the finest of them all. Wainwright himself waxes lyrical about this section of the coast to coast walk, stating “the way is lovely” as you explore “delectable surroundings”. He describes the start in Stonethwaite…

17.2km/10.7 miles/5 hours Ascent 617m/2024ft Alex Roddie enjoys the best bit of the undulating South Downs Way THE BEST backpacking routes have a sense of narrative, tumbling naturally from one chapter to the next. The South Downs Way certainly fits that description, in part because it keeps some of its finest walking until the end. Not everyone can take a week or more out of their lives to hike a long-distance trail. So if you want to enjoy the best of the South Downs Way without the time commitment, you could do a lot worse than the final stage from Alfriston to Eastbourne. Passing the Litlington White Horse cut into a chalk hillside, as well as the scenic Cuckmere Haven and finally the chalk cliffs of the Seven Sisters – not…

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Earth Photo 2025 17 October 2025 - 20 February 2026 Dalby Forest, North York Moors An exhibition of spectacular images from Earth Photo shortlisted works is set to open at Forestry England Dalby in North Yorkshire, as well as other Forestry England sites up and down the country. Now in its seventh year, Earth Photo is a photography and film competition celebrating innovative visual storytelling that shines a light on environmental challenges and encourages conversations about our changing world. This year, the photos and videos capture melting sea ice in Greenland, Morocco’s vanishing oases, shepherds in the Balkans, communities uniting in La Palma following a volcanic eruption, and the preservation of mangroves in the Gambia among other subjects. Cost: free ■ forestryengland.uk/earth-photo Angus Winter Outdoor Festival 7-16 November Scotland After the…

“…raids on the inarticulate, with shabby equipment always deteriorating.” I’VE JUST BEEN IN my garden shed, sorting through all the antiquated winter climbing equipment that’s still left from my youngest son’s raids on the same – Salewa adjustable crampons, Dachstein mittens, balaclava, Curver and Pterodactyl ice axes (I remember those: “Look, no knuckles!”), Galibier leather mountain boots – in excited anticipation of a winter trip to Scotland with an old friend some time before Christmas. I should have donated most of it to that mountaineering museum near Penrith. There’s the ancient golo (a small bolt or piton) that came out of The Boldest, for example. Back then, I hooked a finger in out of curiosity, waggled it around, and there it was nestling in the palm of my hand… not…

AFTER YEARS ADVOCATING for safe digital navigation in the mountains, I recently came to an uneasy realisation: the part of my brain that could once get me out of trouble using map and compass alone didn’t work quite so well any more. When the chips were down, I opted for the easy digital default. Smartphone-based navigation is safe when used correctly. However, a growing body of evidence demonstrates that learned skills are degraded by automation – and that includes nav apps, no matter how intentionally we use them. We like to think we can remain on top of the tech, but that isn’t backed up by the science. How could I fight the skill fade, putting myself back in the driving seat? FINDING A FRAMEWORK Through the Austrian Alpine Club…

For our first instalment, who else but TGO’s very own gear guru ChrisTownsend, and the classic Brasher Hillmaster walking boot. THE HILLMASTERS ARE TRADITIONAL ‘little brown boots’ made with uncomplicated materials. They’re not exciting or flashy. You might even call them dull. But they are functional and durable. They have been a favourite for a long time. Mine are over 12 years old and still in good condition despite being worn regularly every year between October and May. They’re midweight leather boots with a Gore-Tex inner, and quite warm – too warm for Summer in fact, at least for me. However, I find the Hillmasters ideal for non-technical cold-weather walking. They take flexible crampons when conditions are icy, and the toes are stiff enough for kicking steps – but they’re not climbing…

16.9km/10.5 miles/5.5-6 hours Ascent 689m/2259ft Vivienne Crow gets to walk two National Trails for the price of one ON THE SOUTH-EAST edge of Northumberland National Park, the Pennine Way and Hadrian’s Wall Path unite to tackle several miles of the madly undulating Great Whin Sill. This igneous intrusion forms one of the finest low-level ridges in the country, providing a roller coaster ride above the sparsely populated commons and forests straddling the England-Scotland border. Repeatedly climbing up the side of crags then plummeting into meltwater channels, this walk clocks up 689m of ascent despite reaching only 354m elevation. Starting from Greenhead near Northumberland’s border with Cumbria, and ending at Housesteads Fort, the route takes in some of the ridge’s most photogenic and fascinating sections where natural and human forces combine…

16.2km/10 miles/5 hours Ascent 580m/1900ft Andrew Galloway walks a linear route that’s a microcosm of Wales’ best bits CONSIDERED TO BE one of the finest Bronze Age hill settlements in North Wales, Braich-y-Dinas once crowned the summit of Penmaen Mawr mountain. An account for the Archaeologia Cambrensis of 1845 described stone walls from 12 to 15 feet in height and up to 12 feet in thickness, containing vast numbers of circular cells, some with evidence of roofing material. Despite a Royal Commission of 1908, quarrying activity during the first half of the 20th century eventually destroyed all traces of a remarkable piece of Welsh history. On the ridge above the town of Penmaenmawr a 25-metre stone circle has, miraculously, been spared the same fate. Although the area is replete with evidence…