Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2020 i Trail

Lisa Wells: “I’m summiting mountains in Snowdonia remotely every day using my stepper. I’ve completed Snowdon ( right ) and Moel Eilio so far. Tryfan tomorrow!” Peter Valli: “Highly recommend the ‘Countrystride’ podcast! Transport yourselves to the Lake District from the comfort of your sofas. Very descriptive, informative and presented by people who love the area...” Leanne Woodall: “We’re painting a mountain scene on the girls’ bedroom wall. Then we need to go up the stairs approx 2800 times to reach our 2nd Everest Anywhere, so we’re putting photos out of Trail magazine up the stairs for encouragement.” Tony Dale: “Just finished watching Abbie Barnes’ 2-hour film of the circular walk around Mont Blanc on her YouTube channel – she’s such a good presenter and an inspiration.” Simon Pendlebury: “Watched…

Just as Mother Nature sends out the tendrils of spring and the birds herald the start of everything, Homo sapiens go into lockdown. I’d always advocate that when bad things happen, to head outside to landscapes that offer space and freedom is the most effective balm. But for now, we mustn’t even do that. The longer this goes on, the more we’ll be tempted, I’m sure. But if it’s non-essential travel (as all hillwalking is), then it’s not ok. As I write this (24 March), the Mountain Rescue teams have advised that they’ll be withdrawing their work. Why? Because so many MRT volunteers are also key workers. Because if they aren’t sick themselves, they’ll be supporting local emergency services and voluntary organisations to keep people alive. However much you hear…

New for spring this year, Rab’s Zenith waterproof jacket (£250, men’s and women’s) has been created for the unpredictability of the mountains. Made using Gore-Tex Paclite to ensure it’s light and packable when not needed, the Zenith also has 20D reinforced panels on the shoulders, arms and helmet-compatible hood; pit zips for quick venting; and two external chest pockets that sit clear of a rucksack waistbelt to ensure it’s completely capable when the weather turns wet. rab.equipment/uk…

COCKLY PIKE RIDGE If you prefer to tackle England’s tallest and busiest peak in relative solitude, via a quiet green valley and a tasty Grade 1 scramble, then we have just the thing. Cockly Pike ridge is found in Eskdale’s upper reaches, on the south-eastern flanks of Ill Crag and provides, according to Wainwright, “the longest continuous scrambling gradient in England”. Given this, it is amazing that it’s not thronged with people every day of the summer. But it isn’t. That also means there’s little to be found in the way of a path, but the route is clear enough. Up you go...…

6 GOLDEN RULES 1 LEAVE NO TRACE Take whatever you bring to the mountains home with you, whether organic or not. If you need to wee do it away from water sources, and if you need to do a number two pack some nappy bags and toilet paper. Do not leave it on the mountain! 2 MINIMISE YOUR IMPACT Try to keep the size of your group under 10 to reduce pressure on the local communities, and when walking keep strictly to the paths to minimise erosion from the 30,000 pairs of boots that take this challenge every year. 3 AVOID PEAK TIMES By scheduling sensibly, you won’t add to the huge bottleneck of people who descend on rural communities during high season. Avoid bank holidays, school breaks…

The fastest National Three Peaks challenge by far was belted out by multi-record-setting fell runner Joss Naylor on Thursday 8 July 1971. Never mind completing it within 24 hours, he did it in 11:56 . Officially, the fastest by public transport was 27:49 , by Steven Holmes in 2016 via bus, train and folding bike. You can make it a Six Peaks Challenge by including the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, Ireland and the Isle of Man. 3064m The total ascent of the usual Three Peaks Challenge is 3064m; the total ascent of this one is 4167m. That’s 1103m more! 4167m…

I don’t want to see you in the mountains. Excuse the brevity, but when I’m on a mountain, quite plainly, I hope to have it all to myself. And not just because of the coronavirus outbreak. Call me selfish, antisocial, whatever, but the truth is – aside from the people I climb with – I’d prefer to see not another living soul up there. Deep down, I know you feel the same. Go on, admit it. When you dream of those heartbreakingly beautiful summit moments, you imagine a scene of peaceful solitude, not of rubbing shoulders with hordes of strangers. And you’re in luck, because what follows over these next six pages is a mountain adventure designed exclusively for those desperate to escape the crowds. It may come as some…

Wild Ennerdale is one of the UK’s largest and perhaps best known wildland partnerships. They have witnessed many changes as nature is given more freedom within the landscape, including a 65% increase in breeding territories for birds. For us it’s simply about a more sensitive approach to land management, working more in tune with nature and restoring ecosystems. We have 4700 hectares (43 sq km) and that scale is important, as it enables natural processes to take place and be observed. We consider ourselves to be at quite an early stage, even though we’re one of the longest running wilding projects (since 2003). It’s a long-term vision and things take time to evolve, but we’ve started to move from a fragmented land management system to a more holistic one. The…

FITNESS A steady route suitable for all walkers, with one or two sections of steep walking TECHNICALITY Nontechnical walking TERRAIN Rolling, grassy mountain tracks with steady climbing NAVIGATION Pretty straightforward unless walking in limited visibility GET THERE Best to take a car and figure it out with Google Maps before leaving, as the back roads via Rowen can confuse. Drop your PIN at the start. EAT & DRINK There’s a lovely pub in the village of Rowen called the Ty Gwyn. Visit for great food. STAY OVER To make it really special, get a group of friends together and hire YHA Rowen for the weekend. Otherwise, many options in Conwy or Rowen itself. BEST MAPS • OS Explorer OL17 (1:25k) • OS Landranger 115 (1:50k)…

FITNESS A very long day with bags of ascent TECHNICALITY Rough walking but very little scrambling TERRAIN The day starts with a river crossing that needs care in spate. Ascent of Beinn Fhionnlaidh is steep, rough and pathless, as is descent from Mullach Sithidh; the rest of the circuit is on clear paths. Winter conditions make the round much more challenging, and under snow Sgurr nan Ceathramhnan in particular takes on a mountaineering character NAVIGATION Reasonably straightforward…

1 SH648603 Take the main path to Llyn Idwal just beyond the visitor centre, cross a bridge over the River Idwal, then continue on the main path, bearing left around the lake and under the slabs. 2 SH645590 Fork left on a diagonally rising path, immediately below the slabs (ignoring the ongoing lake circuit path to the right). This narrows through larger boulders and up towards a deep cleft in the ridge above with a lone tree on its right crag. Higher up, head further left of this cleft on steep rocky steps to cross a stile in a wall. 3 SH638585 The slight fork right for Y Garn comes sooner than you expect, as the ground levels out. Pass Lyn y Cwn on your left then bear right towards…

WALK IT Right. You’re going to need to put some effort in for this one. To get to the base of Druim a’ Choire Odhair – the drawn out spur that links the 960m Munro Top of Stob a’ Choire Odhair to Loch Hourn – requires either a 14km walk-in from Kinloch Hourn, or a ferry from Mallaig to Inverie followed by a 16km walk-in. Chances are, then, you’ll want to combine an ascent with an overnight stay. That’s what we did. Following a bivvy by the shores of Loch Hourn, we skirted Barrisdale Bay and made for the jaws of Coire Dhorrcail where the scenery became so spectacular as to border on the ridiculous. Equally ridiculous at the time was the sweaty trudge from the cool water of Allt…

MUST-SEE MOUNTAIN MOVIES Free Solo A Walk in the Woods Touching the Void Leave No Trace The Way (Camino de Santiago) Into the Wild Happy People Wild The Dawn Wall WIN Mountains for the Mind partner Berghaus is giving away two Paclite 2.0 jackets for you and a friend (worth £150 each). Head to mountainsforthemind.co.uk/ berghauscomp1 to enter . Just tell us which mountain you’ll be tackling next, and who you’ll climb it with. Closing date: 13 May 2020 LEARN SOMETHING NEW GIVEAWAY If the only knot you tie is for your shoelaces, you’re missing out! Outdoor survival expert Tim Macwelch has a new handbook out called How to Tie Knots with a dedicated section on knots for hiking. We’re giving away two copies for anyone who wants to learn…

PART 1 HIGHLY RECYCLABLE JACKET FOR KIDS The Voyager is Reima’s first high-performance product made of a single material. Apart from the metal zipper, everything in this lightweight waterproof jacket is polyester, meaning it can be easily regenerated into polymers for new products. Each Voyager has an ID which can be registered online to follow its onward recycling journey. reima.com PART 2 HELPING THE HOMELESS Sheffield-based Dark Peak makes just two insulated jackets: the NESSH FL700 Synthetic Jacket, and the NESSH Lightweight Down Jacket, both in men’s and women’s fits and a range of colours. What’s more, for every jacket Dark Peak sell it donates another specially created insulated jacket to the homeless. Truly remarkable. darkpeakgear.com…

THE LEDGE ROUTE The Ledge Route doesn’t just allow you to admire Ben Nevis’s North Face – it gets you into it. This is the only route that allows scramblers – in summer – to get among those imposing buttresses and deep gullies. Though ranked a Grade 1 scramble (it feels like a 2), route-finding skills, especially near the start, are a must as it threads a way up Carn Dearg between climbing routes and impassable ground. The ridge, accessed by No.5 gully, when you find it, provides delightful scrambling in a spectacular setting with big drops on either side. None, though, is too complicated or excessively exposed and Tower Ridge, a Grade 3S scramble with pitches of Diff grade climbing, can be seen in dramatic profile. For a truly…

■ COMPASS We recommend the Silva Expedition, which features 1:25,000, 1:50,000 and 1:40,000 scale measurements, has luminous markings for night walking, and sticky feet so it doesn’t move around on the map. A compass isn’t just for knowing where you’re going and where you are, but also so you can adapt your plan if circumstances (like weather) change. It has no batteries to go flat and if you drop it, well, you just pick it up again. ■ WATER & FOOD It’s easy to get dehydrated on warm days with a lot of walking. Take a sensible amount of water, lunch and plenty of snacks. ■ TREKKING POLES These will save strain on your knees while descending and spread the effort of climbing throughout your body. They’re also an essential…

The catamaran skipped across the dark blue, white-flecked water. The weather was, as promised, outstanding. Indeed, the forecast from the Met Office app prompted my brother to declare that it would be “Wall-to-wall sun-balls” over the forthcoming days. Mallaig shrank behind the boat’s wake. This bustling port is a departure point for many an adventure; ferries to Skye, Rum, Eigg and the other Small Isles can be boarded from its dock. We weren’t bound for an island, and we weren’t even leaving the mainland. But when a boat is still the most convenient means of transport to reach it, the destination must be something a bit special. We were headed for Knoydart. One of numerous peninsulas that jut out from the frayed western coast of Scotland, Knoydart is heralded as…

Failure or success. In no place are these two outcomes personified more for hillwalkers than on the great rocky fin of Tryfan. It’s Snowdonia’s rite of passage from walker to scrambler; separating the wheat from the chaff. Success = standing on its spectacular summit at 918m above sea-level. And failure? At best you don’t make it to the top and, well, at worst you can read all about it in the many stories of hairy near-misses and local Mountain Rescue reports. “TODAY WASN’T ABOUT GETTING TO THE TOP. IT WAS JUST ABOUT BEING OUT THERE IN AN INCREDIBLE LANDSCAPE” Soaring up at hair-raisingly steep angles from every direction, it’s impossible not to be in awe of Tryfan. Because of its popularity and position just off the A5, many are lured…

Gowbarrow Hall Farm, on the shores of Ullswater, aims to improve ecosystems, farm productivity and profitability. Last year they switched over to a system of rewilding and regenerative grazing. Gowbarrow Hall is my wife Claire’s family farm, and we moved up here about three years ago. We started out farming the way her grandad did, with some Swaledale sheep and a few shorthorn cattle, and made about £600 profit from the sheep in a year. So we decided to sell all the sheep, let the grass grow longer and see if we could keep the cattle outside throughout the winter. We divided the farm into two parts. In the upper part we let the rough grazing grow long, the trees regenerate and scrub develop for most of the year. We…

Some rucksacks feature adjustable straps running from the top of the shoulder to an anchor point on the pack near the lid. These are tension or stabilising straps, and they are designed to bring the pack closer to your back. This is important when you’re carrying a heavy load, because you’ll expend energy adjusting for instability, and it will make your rucksack feel much more secure when scrambling or clambering through boulder fields and other rough ground. Ideally, the tension straps should be at about a 45° angle. Keep them tighter when slogging uphill and slacken them off when going back down.…

• FUTURELIGHT The claim is that the revolutionary three-layer fabric provides ultimate breathability and protection. It’s appearing in a wealth of TNF shells – both jackets and trousers – and is, it seems, The North Face’s challenge to the industry’s reliance on Gore-Tex. • BELLOW CHEST POCKET The lone chest pocket may be the jacket’s only storage provision (although there is a mesh drop-pocket on the inside), but it’s cavernously large, easily swallowing an OS map, and has a PU-coated zip for improved weatherproofing. • THOUGHTFUL HEM ADJUSTMENT The single hem adjustment cord means the fit of the jacket can be adjusted with one hand. And there’s a handy loop that allows the excess cord to be clipped out of the way, reducing tangles. • CLIMBER’S HOOD The helmet-compatible hood…

Jamie Rooke This Snowdonia expert works at Pen y Pass and teaches mountain skills. Steve Goodier Author of 7 walking guidebooks, Steve loves the UK hills. Martin Sweeney Professional mountain leader and outdoor writer. Roger Butler Roger likes to tick off remote Hebridean islands as well as mountains. James Forrest Record-breaking UK mountain peak bagger and author. Dan Bailey Author of Scotland’s Mountain Ridges and a huge fan of big routes. Chiz Dakin Award-winning writer, photographer and film-maker. Avid traveller. ALWAYS CARRY A MAP! Trail routes are written as guides, but for detailed mountain navigation you must carry a printed to-scale map. All of our routes come with recommended maps at a variety of scales. GET TRAIL ROUTES ONLINE Trail has partnered with the Ordnance Survey’s digital service OS Maps,…

FITNESS Hard. Lots of scrambling and steep walking TECHNICALITY Grade 1 scrambling and ridge walking TERRAIN Difficult with mixed and broken paths, scree, steep ground NAVIGATION Good navigation skills will be needed in poor visibility, the ability to take a bearing may be essential GET THERE No public transport after Bangor or Betws y Coed. Accessible by car but difficult to park. Best midweek or very early. EAT & DRINK Best café is definitely Moel Siabod Café. STAY OVER Camping at Gwern Gof Isaf or Gwern Gof Uchaf. Hostel at YHA Ogwen Valley. If staying over, you’ll have better chances of parking. BEST MAPS • OS Explorer OL17 (1:25k) • Harvey Superwalker XT25 Snowdonia North (1:25k)…

FITNESS Other than the initial steep climb up the Cat’s Back, none of the route is especially challenging, with not too much up and down TECHNICALITY Nothing technical on mostly well-defined paths TERRAIN Mostly well-defined tracks over open moorland NAVIGATION Straightforward navigation in good visibility, but may need some care in misty conditions GET THERE Start and finish at the Black Hill car park ( SO288328), a few miles north of Longtown. No public transport options. EAT & DRINK Good-quality restaurant food can be found at the White Haywood in Craswall; or head to the Bridge Inn at Michaelchurch Escley. STAY OVER Both of the restaurants above also have rooms. Other options include camping and rooms at The Tan House and Crown Inn in Longtown. BEST MAPS • OS Explorer…

For an area so rich in the history and heritage of climbing, the Peak District is surprisingly short on quality scrambling. Short, single pitch climbs are to be found across the length and breadth of the Dark Peak’s gritstone outcrops, and there are more paths and trails to be walked than you could wish for. But chunky longer- Head to the rear of the Torside Reservoir 1 car park to join the Longdendale Trail north-east. Walk for around 200m until you enter some trees, leave the main trail by some wooden steps on the right up the embankment and follow a path through woodland towards the lower part of Wildboar Clough. A fence running across the clough is a good place to join the streambed. The first major scrambling challenge…

A TRAPDOOR SPRINGS OPEN AND THE INSECT GETS PULLED IN, LEAVING THE LITTLE SWIMMER ENTOMBED There’s always a moment on a walk when I start to tell the person I’m with about the ‘carnivorous’ plant they’re standing near. The speed with which they move away is worth the slight exaggeration in description, for these plants are more accurately insectivorous, or insect eating. Alarmingly, we have three families of these plants among our uplands: sundews, butterworts and bladderworts. Carnivory in plants exists to supplement a lack of nitrogenous compounds and salts in the nutrient-deprived soil in which they live. Worldwide there are around 600 known species – most are small and unspectacular. There are five traps that these plants use to ensnare their prey: pitfall, snap, lobster, bladder and fly paper.…

Snowdon Snowdonia “Back in January three of us from the Wrekin Mountaineering Club in Shropshire visited Snowdon together. This pic was taken at about 2pm, as we started our descent from the summit along the South Ridge.” Sally Williams, Ironbridge Moel Siabod Snowdonia “Inspired by the Trail 100 bucket list, we tackled a wintry ascent of Siabod. Half the team (kids) had to turn back when the weather worsened. This half, powered by Garmin and Gore-Tex, made it to the top.” Nick Davies, Flintshire, pictured with James, Sally, Matthew and Huey. Skiddaw Lake District “Last year myself and my three-year-old lab Poppy started our Wainwright challenge (currently 19/214). I fell in love with the Lakes as soon as we tackled Haystacks. My best pal Andy Hushon-Brown was the photographer for…

CRIB GOCH Perhaps one of the most notorious ridge routes in Britain, Crib Goch is a narrow, breathtaking arête ending with twin pinnacles of proper hands-on scrambling. It’s not difficult exactly – lie this route out across the ground only a few metres up and you’d stride over it with ease – but the exposure is the thing. The situation, roughly 900m up, is head-spinningly exposed. It’s also stunning. Snowdon stays permanently in view, the ridge sweeping towards it, and the high hills of northern Snowdonia roll out to the far gleam of the sea. Of course, the traditional and best way to do this is as part of the Snowdon Horseshoe, which ends with an easier but just as delightful return over Y Lliwedd.…

Many unusual objects have reached the summit of Ben Nevis, including a Ford car, a piano and a temporary Travelodge bedroom. Scafell Pike should actually be pronounced as ‘Scawfell Pike’, as this is how it first appeared on maps. You’ll burn off 3.5 sausage rolls from Snowdon’s summit café climbing the Pyg Track. The average annual summit temperature of Ben Nevis is -1°C. Broad Crag Tarn on Scafell Pike is the highest piece of standing water in Britain at 830m. Legend has it that Glaslyn, the lake below Snowdon’s summit, is bottomless, and the resting place of King Arthur’s sword, Excalibur.…

Torr a Bhalbhain is home to a monument called the Brocket Memorial. A plaque on it reads: THIS MEMORIAL WAS PLACED HERE BY RONALD, 2ND LORD BROCKET OF KNOYDART IN GRATITUDE FOR HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND HIS WIFE AND CHILDREN, AD 1938. “I WILL LIFT MINE EYES UNTO THE HILLS FROM WHENCE COMETH MY HELP MY HELP COMETH EVEN FROM THE LORD WHO HAST MADE HEAVEN AND EARTH” Lord Brocket was a Nazi sympathiser who used his estates to entertain supporters of Nazi Germany. In November 1948 seven WWII veterans made a raid on Knoydart, invoking the Land Settlement Act. Passed following WWI, the act permitted returning servicemen to take over land which was under-used and farm it as their own. Despite public opinion and initial legal advice being…

As an ecological consultant working throughout the Lake District and Cumbria, Rob helps landowners identify and improve habitats that are good for wildlife and biodiversity. In the Lake District a lot of valuable habitats are man-made. Upland hay meadows, species-rich pasture and coppiced woodlands are some of our most biodiverse. Grassland birds like skylarks, lapwings and curlew all evolved with human land management. Up on the fells the harder grazing by Herdwick sheep maintains a rough grassland, one species of which is mat grass, Nardus stricta, which is the sole food plant for the mountain ringlet butterfly. This has adapted to living on the Lakeland fells as part of a grazed landscape. A lot of the species we have today evolved alongside humans. Rewilding is a very useful strategy for…

What is it? The most common variety of the mica family of minerals, found in igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks. It is usually seen as glittery specks in schist and granite but can also form in thin sheets. In 18th century Russia plates of it were used as cheap window panes, and its name is thought to derive from muscovy-glass. Where is it? All over the place, even on your boots after a walk. During WWII, it was mined from the flanks of Sgurr Coire nan Gobhar in Knoydart. And it was used in cave paintings dating from 40,000 to 10,000BC. How slippy? As you’re most likely to now see it in tiny composite grains, not very.…

The sixth in our series of essential tips from navigation expert Lyle Brotherton. Transit Lines are a means of measuring your navigational progress. They are created when two navigation marks (the monument and the summit in the example above) line up – like the front and rear sights of a rifle – to provide an accurate position. They have multiple applications, and can act as Catching Features (identifying that you’ve travelled too far), Attack Points (the point from which the next navigational leg begins) and Collecting Features (checking that you are on the correct course). The diagrams above demonstrate these uses: CATCHING FEATURE If the figure in the diagram is heading for Point A but walks past it, the transit line at Point B becomes their catching feature, stopping them…

Coffee in the sun The Solen activewear collection from Helly Hansen – new for summer 2020 – promises all-day comfort and UPF 50+ sun protection from a rather novel source. Helly Hansen takes its high-performance LIFA Active fabric and combines it with S.Café. What’s S.Café? S.Café is the infusion of recycled coffee grounds during the fibre creation process to boost sun protection (when wet or dry), help control odour and remove the need for any environmentally detrimental chemical treatments. hellyhansen.com (from £25) Tent for two The Robens Goshawk 2EX tent acknowledges that sometimes you might have to spend more time in it than you’d like. A practical, well-featured two-person tent, the Goshawk has an extended front porch that provides space for storage or performing daily tasks when sitting out the weather.…

Montane Basecamp Cap £20 This trucker-style cap has a good peak for sun protection and highly breathable mesh panels, making it a great choice for hot, sunny weather. It’s also a more casual-looking hat that can be worn on or off the hill. montane.co.uk Mountain Equipment Flash Beanie £25 A classic beanie crocheted from wool and acrylic, additional warmth is provided by an internal microfleece headband which covers the ears and forehead. It’s close fitting enough to go under a helmet if needed. mountain-equipment.co.uk Craghoppers NosiLife Outback Hat £30 A big, wide brim with UPF40+ sun protection to create shade over the face and neck, plus permanent insect-repelling properties make this a great choice for hot and sunny conditions and travel in buggy climates. craghoppers.com Extremities Ice Cap £40 In…

Walking in the UK mountains can be dangerous, with rough terrain, exposure and changeable weather. Always check weather forecasts and make sure you have suitable clothing and navigation tools. Ice axes and crampons are essential for walking in snow and ice – as are the knowledge and skills to use them. USEFUL RESOURCES Met Office Mountain Weather Forecast: metoffice.gov.uk Mountain Weather Information Service: mwis.org.uk Avalanche forecasts: sais.gov.uk Mountain rescue: Call 999, ask for police, then mountain rescue Skills courses: mountain-training.org We take all reasonable steps to ensure Trail routes are safe and correctly described. However, all outdoor activities involve a degree of risk. The publishers accept no responsibility for any errors or omissions, or for any injuries or accidents that occur while following these routes.…

FITNESS Straightforward Lakes hillwalk; moderate ups and downs TECHNICALITY Remote mountain day with little exposure TERRAIN Mostly good grass and stone paths and tracks over open hillside; some rough going in a few places NAVIGATION Mostly straightforward route-finding on clear paths and tracks. In mist Sour Howes summit would be a bit confusing GET THERE Space for a few cars at the end of the Dubbs Road track on Moorhowe Road between Ings and Troutbeck, grid ref NY423005. EAT & DRINK Café Ambio at Ings. Mortal Man and Queens Head Inns at Troutbeck. Plus many options in Ambleside, Windermere, Bowness-on-Windermere. STAY OVER Youth Hostel at Ambleside and campsites at Brothers Water and Rydal Hall. The Mortal Man and Queens Head Inns (left) offer accommodation. BEST MAPS • OS Explorer OL7…

Approaching the start of the walk by boat adds a unique excitement to the weekend, and it’s far preferable to the long slog by foot along the rough loch shore path. But if you lack the skills and kit to take to the waves unsupervised, all is not lost. For non-paddlers a waterborne approach is still possible via the ‘Loch Mullardoch Ferry’. In season, this private boat for hire is a popular option for walkers tackling the many Munros that line the loch. loch-mullardoch-ferry.co.uk/…