Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2015 i Trail

By ‘wilderness’ camping we mean ‘Scottish wilderness’ camping – and anyone who has tried doing this prior to mid-September near water and in still air will know precisely why it’s worth a ‘hurrah’ round about now. The Highland midge – a pest that keeps campers either out of the hills or firmly inside their tent and in both instances away from stupendous views like this one – should be happily dead by now, and with the air still warm and the mountains still snow-free, there is no better time to seize your tent and get north of the border into the jaws of something spectacular for the night. And, thank heavens, you can sit and watch the sky darken in utter, unhurried, unitching bliss.…

In 1689 a man nicknamed ‘Banana’ mended the holes in his trousers, fixed a new strap to his straw hat, sold his house, wrote his will and set off from Tokyo with a battered old satchel. Matsuo Basho (basho means banana tree) left in cherry blossom time, and followed the spring northwards. The snows were melting as he passed through the barrier gate of Shirakawa. He climbed mountains, visited historic sites and wrote poetry, to emerge at the coast facing China. Over 156 days he covered 2400km on foot, pony or boat. So when it comes to learning about long distance – and make no mistake, its wisdom is hard-won – what better place to start than an actual Zen poet with a fondness for the trail? Lesson 1 Find…

There’s a lot to be said for following a well-established long distance path. You can feel confident you won’t get lost. You can faithfully assume that since so many others have walked the path before you that it must, surely, be a good one worth following. You can simply switch off and let your feet drift along the lichen-spattered, boot-smoothed slabs, enjoying the views until you reach your destination. But hang on just a nanosecond… switch off? Who in their right mind would want to travel to the most beautiful mountains in the country, surround themselves in grandeur, playground rocks and everywhere-all-at-once views – and then flick the lucidity button to ‘off’? Popular paths can be a wonderful introduction, a navigationally easeful amble; and when you bring up the topic…

This is Debs, a retired head teacher and passionate hillwalker who suffers from spinal degeneration. In 2013 she spent three months in hospital, on complete bed rest, after undergoing an operation to cage the bottom half of her spine. The operation was a success and feeling is beginning to return to her legs, but she remains confined to a wheelchair. However, in April this year Debs completed a two-week journey from St Bees to Robin Hood’s Bay, blazing a four-wheeled trail along Alfred Wainwright’s 192 mile Coast-to-Coast route. This is her story. “The vehicle I’m sitting on is an all-terrain wheelchair called a TerrainHopper, and it’s changed my life,” the 53-year-old told Trail . “It’s an amazing piece of technology that can handle almost every type of terrain. The only…

A ACTION CAMERA (I) Small, lightweight and weatherproof, an action camera is built for toughing it out. Capture great video, time-lapse and stills. PICTURED: GoPro Hero 4 Silver £330 B DRY-BAG Keeping your precious kit dry is essential, so get hold of a good-quality dry-bag or case. PICTURED: Exped 8L £10 C SMARTPHONE Many phones have great cameras and GPS apps. Share your pics with us on Twitter and Instagram: @trailmagazine #trailmagazine PICTURED: AppleiPhone 4S D GORILLAPOD Small and lightweight, this nifty tripod can be bent to sit securely on rocks, attach to trees and, well, whatever you want. PICTURED: Joby GorillaPod Action £33 E CSC Don't want to carry a full-on DSLR? Pick up a smaller ‘compact system camera’ with pretty much the same features but…

Pillar Rock has an unnamed doppelganger in the same lonely valley. Richard Down explains how to get your hands on both on the same day. Pillar Rock may be the greatest English rock edifice; perhaps only Napes Needle challenges it for history and physical drama. However, on entering Ennerdale valley, an unnamed cluster of pinnacles that jut out high above the lake itself form a convincing facsimile. These rocky towers ape the massive features of High Man and Pisgah, and many a visitor has been duped into thinking Pillar Rock is closer than the guidebooks suggest. A swift hike through grassy woodland, a quick skirt around a roaring waterfall and an airy sheep track or two, and you can get your hands on the pinnacles of Crag Fell within 20…

The shapely mountain of Ben Rinnes rises to 840 metres above the flatter plains of the Moray countryside and the languid flow of the River Spey. It also stands deep in the heart of whisky country and is a walking boot’s throw from several distilleries; is there a better way to end a day’s hillwalking than by sampling one of Scotland’s finest drams? Good paths line this straightforward but wonderful out-and-back walk, and as the route begins from an altitude of around 300 metres Ben Rinnes is the perfect mountain for a morning/afternoon stroll and a simple way for younger children to bag their first Corbett. That said, because of a couple of stiff climbs, Ben Rinnes does not give itself up easily – and neither do the views. It…

WE SAY... There could be almost no better setting for the Carn Mor Dearg Arête. Its graceful arch sweeps from the pyramidal summit of its namesake, Carn Mor Dearg, to grasp the shoulder of Ben Nevis’s eastern flank. These two mountains contrast greatly because of the way their bedrocks weather and erode. Ben Nevis’s andesite lava forms the brutish, blocky profile so evident in its massive north face, while the fine-grained granite of Carn Mor Dearg creates uncluttered slopes and an elegant, streamlined profile. It is this stark contrast between the two mountains that make the interconnecting arête so appealing. As a mountain adventure it’s very difficult not to be moved by the idea of traversing this breathtaking tightrope to gain the summit of Britain’s highest mountain, but as with…

After six months and hundreds of amazing entries (plus a few dodgy ones) the deadline for Trail’s UK Mountain Photo of the Year competition has finally passed. Our judges, including Britain’s greatest high-altitude mountaineer Alan Hinkes and renowned outdoor photographer Colin Prior, have scrutinised every entry and whittled the images down to a final short-list of 22. We’d originally intended to choose 20, but when it came to it we couldn’t bring ourselves to eliminate any of the wonderful photographs you’ll see spread across the following seven pages. But now it’s over to you, dear reader. We have created an online gallery at www.lfto.com/photocomp where you can view every entry in large format, then vote for the image you think deserves to be crowned the 2015 ‘UK Mountain Photo of…

GREEN GABLE LAKE DISTRICT Here are Peter and Susanna Robinson from Scarborough (second and fourth left), with their son Andy (left), niece Ali and her husband Peter, about to ascend Great Gable, prior to an evening celebrating Peter and Susanna’s 40th wedding anniversary! Susanna told Trail, “We rent a house in Ambleside each year and look forward to some great walks with family.” SNOWDON SNOWDONIA Andy Stephens from Wrexham, pointing the way to a stunning cloud inversion from Snowdon’s south ridge… “a great scene on a stunning day in north Wales”. The photo was taken by the trig! CROAGHAUN ACHILL ISLAND Lucas Magill (7) from Carrickfergus, practising his ‘man leg’ (boy leg?) pose after a day’s scrambling in Co Mayo with his dad Marty, who took the photo. CANNONSTONE TRYFAN…

Announce to a roomful of people that you’re planning to walk from Holy Mountain to Bethlehem and you’ll hear the collective thud of jaws hitting the floor. Then, once you’ve got their attention, reverse the bombshell with the slightly less show-stopping revelation that your 95 mile route passes through the hillsides of southern Powys rather than the plains of Palestine. It may sound like a pilgrimage straight from the pages of the Old Testament, but the route in question is more commonly known as The Beacons Way – and it’s absolutely wonderful. “The atmosphere is one of beauty rather than severity, with walking to match.” THE PLACE South Wales’ landscape is one of emphatic contrast. Creep a few miles inland from a coastline that houses all three of the country’s…

Go Snowdonia Do a quiet skyline Before we get into the full sales pitch for this scrambly, backwater gem of a route, let’s look at the facts. The Nantlle Ridge sits in the Snowdonian north-west. It boasts seven tops. End to end it’s about 7.5km in length. Its traverse involves acres of varied (but avoidable) scrambling. It rises just above the village of Rhyd-Ddu. It neighbours Snowdon. On its east slopes sits the Beddgelert Forest. To its west lie the sands and shingle of Caernarfon Bay. You should definitely walk it on your next trip to Wales. Okay, that last one was an opinion. But consider this: you won’t have read about it in Trail too recently, and that’s no accident; because the fact that we’ve neglected it for far…

Injured and immobilised on the hill? In need of attention? Even if you have a signal, a mobile phone is only so much use. Here’s why a whistle and a torch should be part of your essential kit list on every trip: Using a whistle The recognised signal for ‘I need rescuing’ is six long blasts on a whistle, followed by a 1 minute pause, then repeated. In fact, you should continue this pattern of blasts until your rescuers reach you, as they can use the sound to home in on your location. Many rucksacks come with a basic whistle as part of the chest strap, but for a more reliable and louder means of communication, it’s worth having a more substantial tooter in your pack. Using a torch The…

Staying dry and comfy in the rain is one challenge all UK hillgoers have to face. Modern waterproof and breathable fabrics are better at managing those comfort levels than ever before, and the latest innovation from WL Gore is no exception. Gore’s Gore-Tex is a well-proven provider of extremely high levels of waterproofness and breathability. The material has a 3-layer laminate construction, with a Gore-Tex membrane sandwiched between an outer material and an inner material. The Gore C-Knit is the new inner material, and it is this that promises the improved comfort. Compared to other 3-layer Gore-Tex, C-Knit reduces the fabric’s weight by 10 per cent and improves its breathability by 15 per cent, so there is less chance of condensation forming inside the jacket. The material is just as…

A cartoon of World War One shows two soldiers lurking in a shell hole, below a sky filled with exploding shells. Old Bill says to the younger one: “Well if you knows of a better ‘ole, go to it.” If there’s a UK hill with a little of the atmosphere of those battlefields, it’s The Cheviot. Cold mist blows across black peat and pools of floating moss. On a bad day you can sink up to your knees in the slime. The trig point, when you do find it, stands on a pile of breeze blocks to stop it sagging over and vanishing into the ground. Fortunately, The Cheviot has not one but two “better ‘oles”. Westwards, the Hen Hole is craggy up the sides, and decorated with sweet little…

If there was such a thing as an ‘ugly sister’ mountain it would have to be Elidir Fawr. Despite its Welsh 3000er status, and its commanding position at the far northern tip of the Glyderau ridge, this shapely outlier sees few footprints – and even less if you take the ‘Welsh 3000s’ attempts out of the equation. And just to add insult to injury, it’s also festooned with the insensitive scars of industry: its western flanks have been eaten away by the impressive Llanberis slate quarries, and the very heart of the mountain has been literally tunnelled into by the Electric Mountain pumped storage hydro scheme. Yet once you’re on top of the rocky summit ridge, or maybe approaching from nearby Carnedd y Filiast with its spectacular views east to…

Route 7 Broughton Heights & Trahenna Hill Route 8 The John Buchan Way Route 9 Pykestone Hill & Drumelzier Law John Buchan, author of The Thirty-Nine Steps, enjoyed many holidays in the village of Broughton where his grandparents lived, and he relished the area’s varied walking opportunities. The route over Broughton Heights, Hammer Head and Trahenna Hill is one of the finest in southern Scotland, while the fabulous 13 mile John Buchan Way offers a scenic and tranquil meander through remote glens. Finally, Pykestone Hill and Drumelzier Law provide another stimulating hillwalk with wide-open views. TRANSPORT Bus: First in Scotland bus service 62 between Edinburgh and Peebles; Scottish Borders Council bus service 91 between Peebles and Broughton; Scottish Borders Council bus service 91 between Broughton and Drumelzier www.travelinescotland.com 0871 200…

Route 10 Glyder Fach Route 11 Pen Llithrig y Wrach Route 12 Moel Siabod The tiny village of Capel Curig sits between three very different Snowdonia mountain ranges. The summits of Y Glyderau and Y Carneddau are stretched out to the west and north respectively, divided by the Ogwen Valley; and the Moelwynion ridge runs south – dropping all the time from the shapely peak of Moel Siabod. Its central position makes it a perfect base for exploring all three. These walks mix a few classic, well-trod summits with a selection of lesser-known ones, for an incredibly varied and enjoyable weekend. Best advice is to walk the Glyderau, which sees the most traffic, on the quietest day; and enjoy the solitude found on the others when things get busier. TRANSPORT…

Cast across the steel grey seas of the Inner Hebrides, the outline of the Knoydart mountains are an unforgettable sight. Their classic pyramidal forms soar from sea to sky in one uncluttered leap. Incised by deep glens and sea lochs, they seem impossibly large – and more like Alpine giants than modest Munros. There are two ways to approach the peaks of Knoydart: either along the roller coaster singletrack path beside the wild shores of Loch Hourn, or over the sea from Mallaig. Either way you can forget your done-in-a-day quick fix, for to walk these far-flung summits even at a lightning pace will take a day for the approach, and a day for the mountain. The Knoydart peninsula is stuffed full of fine mountains and you could spend a…

WHEN March 2005 WHERE Coniston Old Man, Lake District PHOTOGRAPHER Tom Bailey TRAIL ISSUE April 2005, Hill Visions While, for some, the hills are churches in an impressionistic sense, for others it's quite literal. The Aetherius Society – with whom Trail shared an ascent of Coniston Old Man in 2005 – believe certain mountains to be repositories of extra-terrestrial energy. The society began when its founder, Dr George King, was ’visited’ on Devon’s Holdstone Down in 1954 by a ’great being of love’. Coniston Old Man is said to be the fifth holiest mountain in the world to Aetherians, who gather there to tap the mountain's spiritual energy and transmit it to the world. Other British 'holy mountains' include Ben Hope, Kinder Scout and Pen y Fan. • TRAIL'S NOVEMBER…

Hills that sound like characters in a rural play don’t really sound that great. Hear ‘Helvellyn’ and you are suddenly transported to a world of evocative Norse sagas with ridgelines as sharp as axes; hear ‘Dodd’ and, well – it could be the name of a butcher’s, your next-door neighbour or a feather-duster-wielding Scouser with dodgy teeth. Hardly alluring – but then, names can be awfully deceiving. This picture shows the extent of the view from Stybarrow Dodd, the middle sibling of three sharing the name in this immediate area (the others being Watson’s Dodd and Great Dodd, from which this shot was taken) and the benefit of being situated at the end of one of the most illustrious stretches of rock in the Lake District. A little-seen angle on…

Highest mountain climbed? Mt Binaiya (3027m) on the Indonesian island of Seram, while on an incredible birding trip. How did you get into hillwalking? I’ve been doing it since I was a child. My mother’s family are Welsh, so we spent a lot of time walking in the Welsh hills and mountains, especially Snowdonia. Scafell Pike, Snowdon or Ben Nevis? Ben Nevis, because I haven’t climbed it. It’s on my list, and I’m hoping to do it this year. Four miles up and four miles down? No problem. What do you love about mountains? Their implacable nature, their indifference and the ancient nature of the landscape. They’re a reminder of our insignificance and our brief time on Earth, and they inspire us to appreciate the natural world. Funniest thing you’ve…

It’s always good to see Brits doing well on the global stage, and Terra Nova is a prime example. Its tents are used all over the planet in the most inhospitable conditions, smashing Guinness World Records in the process. And now they’ve done it again, because the new Solar Ultra 2 (right) is currently the lightest two-person free-standing tent in the world. Using high-tech fabric and modern seam-welding processes in its Derbyshire factory, Terra Nova has created a fully functional and reliably robust shelter that when packed weighs a phenomenal 772g! That’s less than a loaf of bread. Unsurprisingly, such gravity-defying advancements come at a cost. With an SRP of £1,200 (!) this isn’t a tent for your average camper; but for mountain marathon aficionados competing at the highest levels,…

Cat Bells “Not steep and too low” Tryfan “Dull & grey. Too much rock” Everest “Death Zone? WTF? Trail’s Facebook and Twitter accounts almost exploded last month when we shared a review by Tripadvisor member GrimTraveller about an experience of climbing Ben Nevis. If you didn’t spot it online, GrimTraveller awarded Britain’s highest mountain a score of just one out of five, and had the following to say about a day on The Ben: “BE WARNED – there are NO facilities at the top…” “…the climb basically went on for far too long…” “…it was cloudy at the top so the view was non-existant [sic]…” “…this attraction is free but I honestly couldn’t imagine anyone – and I mean anyone – paying to climb this.” Whether the review is genuine…

Your Trail Skills article on blisters [Sep15 issue] reminded me of Great Gable [above]. A farmer friend of mine who’d had two knee replacements decided to celebrate his 80th birthday by climbing Gable. His son went with him and had quite a job keeping up. Not to be outdone, I chose to do the climb in my 80th year not long after a hip replacement. I drove to the top of Honister Pass and took just 4 hours and 5 minutes getting to the summit and back. (I had a National Trust parking ticket for 4 hours, but there was no-one there to object.) Two days later a big blister appeared on my big toe, which I had treated at the Keswick Cottage Hospital. It may have been due to…

MT ELBRUS RUSSIA This is reader Ciaran Harkin from Bollington, snapping himself on the highest point in Europe at 5642m. Ciaran told Trail, “The summit was beautiful, with views not only of the dramatic mountainous Russian landscape, but also into neighbouring Georgia. It was a tough summit to get to with fixed lines along the way, but worth the effort to reach the top of Europe.” Each issue we’ll be giving away the new Summit 25/38 mattress from Multimat’s Expedition range. New materials make this self-inflating sleeping mat tougher and lighter for durability on unsupported expeditions. Tested to -35 deg C, its wedge profile maximises comfort and minimises weight, while a warm zone improves tog value under the torso. THIS COULD BE YOU! Send your shots, marked ‘Summit selfie’ to…

With 70 miles still to walk, my left Achilles went. Just like that. Then, with 68 miles still to go, my right followed suit. Only 26 miles in to our route, I couldn’t walk. Surely, nothing worse could happen. But stop: let’s go back to the start. We had a carefully laid plan; it was a good plan – challenging enough but nothing too difficult. We were walking Scotland’s West Highland Way. We planned to take five days instead of the usual six. We were carrying all of our gear for the week. It shouldn’t have been a problem; but even good plans go wrong sometimes. DAY 1 - ANKLES There wasn’t so much as a flick of an eyeball from the locals as myself, James and his lovely little…

AFFRIC KINTAIL WAY NW Highlands 44 miles/ 71 km/ linear Start Morvich NG960210 Finish Drumnadrochit NH508299 Just 15 miles short of being a stunning coast-to-coaster, the Affric Kintail Way is a treat. If you want remote but don’t have time for committing northern routes such as the Cape Wrath Trail, this new LDP could be your ticket. Travelling beside one of its most impressive massifs then along the length of sequestered Glen Affric, where Britain’s most remote hostel, Allt Bheithe, provides a truly heaven-sent overnight spot, the potential for tacking on strings of conveniently aligned thousand-metre summits is immense – the Five Sisters of Kintail and Carn Eighe, for starters. Another hostel at Cannich, plus good rail links between Kyle of Lochalsh and Inverness, mean logistics aren’t that much of…

Go the Lake District Do an unchaperoned bivvy I spread out my map on the kitchen table of our rented cottage and go over the plan one last time. At 10.30pm I’ll walk out of the door, turn right down a tarmacked road for 100 metres, then climb over a stile into the dark countryside. With the way ahead hopefully illuminated by a bright moon, I’ll navigate across three fields before doubling back at the hamlet of Skelgill and climbing onto open fell. My target is the 451m summit of Cat Bells, where I’m planning to spend the night. I’ve never been much of a camper. I’m terrible at putting up tents, get grouchy in the cold and don’t enjoy sleeping on uneven floors – and as a result my…

”We have an old saying in Mountain Rescue: someone is not dead until they are warm and dead. There are some remarkable stories of casualties appearing dead, then making a recovery once they’ve been medically re-warmed. In winter, we wouldn’t start CPR unless we were sure it could be continued without a break until in primary medical care. This is very difficult to do, for example, when carrying a person on a stretcher. Also, with a profoundly cold casualty, if you start CPR you could turn a very slow, undetectable heart rhythm into an abnormal rhythm that can be life-threatening. A good reference book is Outdoor First Aid by Katherine Wills.” Rob Johnson MIC, Chairman, Llanberis Mountain Rescue Hypothermia is a serious condition that occurs when a person’s body temperature…

Although it occurs throughout the country, deer stalking (hunting) is most closely associated with the control of red deer populations in the wild uplands of Scotland – areas that bring it into direct contact with hillwalkers. It should go without saying that wandering around a landscape in which high-powered firearms are being used requires care. That’s not to say that Scottish gamekeepers are cavalier with their culling – far from it. Walking and stalking have occupied the same territory for many, many years, and land managers do their utmost to ensure that walkers are not put in any danger. But some responsibility lies with us too, and there are things we should know and steps we can take to help ensure that we don’t disrupt the stalking or find our…

THULE CAPSTONE 50L £145 Yes, the roof rack people. And very good roof racks they are, too. But do Thule’s new rucksacks measure up? It would seem that they do. The Capstone is a fairly representative example of the range, offering useful and clever touches like a suspended back panel, an adjustable harness system, and multiple zip pockets and storage options. A solid multiday/backpacking sack, it manages to feel both tough and lightweight at the same time. In addition to their own creative minds, Thule employed designers who had previously worked with the likes of The North Face, Patagonia and Arc’teryx, so such an accomplished final product is really no surprise. We say Don’t let the lack of backpack pedigree put you off – Thule has made a great ’sack.…

SPEC START HERE WHAT’S YOUR PRIORITY IN A BIG RUCKSACK? BUDGET WOMEN’S VERSION? NO VANGO SHERPA 60+10£85 This purposeful pack from Vango may lack some of the finesse of higher-priced models but it knocks them out on value. A fully adjustable back system, side pockets, a low entry zip and a front pocket mean there are plenty of access points. You also get a small waistbelt pocket, raincover, whistle, side haul handle and tons of rigging loops. It’s comfy, and while the fit doesn’t feel as refined as pricier sacks, it’s hard to imagine a better big rucksack for beginners, DofE students, occasional or one-off long distance users. You don’t get a floating lid or removable hydration pack, but many won’t care. Capacity60-70 litres Weight2.4kg Women’s version?No, though a shorter…

Hill-bagging stats Walking the Wainwrights, the Munros, the Corbetts or the Welsh 3000ers? These routes have got you covered. Gradient profile We map every route for its unique gradient profile, giving you a pinpoint impression of its progressive steepness and the heights you’ll hit. What are the Trail 100? They’re your tick-list of the 100 UK mountains you MUST climb! Download the full list from: bit.ly/trail100 Always take a map on the hill We aim to provide the most accurate information, but you must ALWAYS use an Ordnance Survey or Harvey map on the hill and double-check any directions against it. BEFORE YOU GO... If you’re likely to encounter snow or ice on your walk you need to take precautions. You MUST have ice axe, crampons and the skills to…

The Dodds are almost the forgotten heroes of the Helvellyn range, being overshadowed by their grander and better known brethren. They may not be as high or as steep or as rugged as them, but there is a great day’s walking to be had here with views that are just as rewarding, and which will certainly be quieter than the higher fells. The walking in general is easy for the experienced Lakeland fellwalker or a good (if long) introduction to the slopes for those who are less experienced. The views to the north from Great Dodd and Watson’s Dodd are almost equal to those south to Helvellyn, and to get to them not a single rock has to be trodden. The walking in this area is over grass grazed by…

The moorland massif of Great Rhos and Black Mixen has the uncanny knack of creeping into almost every view in and along the Welsh Borders. Look north from the Black Mountains and you might try to pin it down on a map; look west from Offa’s Dyke and you’ll probably want to leave the trail to explore those steep slopes and dark valleys. It even pokes its way into long-distance panoramas from the Malverns and the Long Mynd. But views from within Wales are a little different, with sweeping grassy slopes and pockets of forestry that rise in a muscular wave above Builth Wells. The route across Radnor Forest combines everything that makes these quiet borderlands so special, with deep dingles (that’s the local word for a long, shady valley),…