A Look At The September Issue Of The Great Outdoors

 

A belated look at the September issue of TGO magazine. The last few weeks have been somewhat hectic and have flashed by so it's a little late I'm afraid.

In the gear pages Lara Dunn and James Roddie each review four waterproof jackets and Gemma Palmer and Peter Macfarlane each review three midlayers. In individual reviews Kirsty Pallas looks at the HeartHero Elliot AED and Fiona Russell tests the La Sportiva Ultra Raptor 3 trail shoes.

In the main features Tristan Gooley looks at reawakening our ability to interpret and attune to nature, Steph Wetherall is bewitched by Orkney, photographer Lizzie Shepherd has a photo essay about finding as much beauty and meaning in the mundane as the extraordinary, and Kulbhushansingh Suryawanshi describes an epic journey to establish a study site for snow leopards deep in the Indian Himalayas. 

In shorter pieces Nadia Shaikh tells the fascinating story of the robin's pincushion plant gall, Ronald Turnbull reviews The Art of Julian Cooper, Doctor of Peatland Science John King visits Kinlochbervie in the NW Highlands to at the effects of the new green energy goldrush, Jim Perrin recalls jaunts up Beinn Tarsuinn on Aran, and Juls Stodel advises a reader on how to avoid being spooked when solo camping.

The Wild Walks pages cover sea-to-summit routes, starting off with probably the finest of all, Sgurr na Stri on the Isle of Skye, ascended by James Roddie from Elgol. On other Scottish islands Simon traverses Askival and Hallival on Rum, and Roger Butler climbs An Sgurr on Eigg. In Dumfries & Galloway Vivienne Crow gazes across the sea to the Lake District and the Isle of Man from Criffel. In the Lake District itself Norman Hadley tackles the Wast Water Screes from the coast. Down in Eryri/Snowdonia Kate Dakin explores the summits around Conwy, and Andrew Galloway climbs from the sea to Moel Ysgyfarnogod.