A Look At The June Issue Of The Great Outdoors

 In the June issue of The Great Outdoors I have a piece on my walk through the Alps on the GR5. It's in a feature on walks that can change your life. In my case this walk changed my view on long-distance walking in the Alps. The walk that really changed my life was the Pacific Crest Trail, described in this feature by Heather 'Anish' Anderson who has hiked the PCT three times. In one of them she took just 60 days, setting a record for a self-supported hike. Also in this feature Richard Hartfield describes the Haute Route Pyrenees, Kat Young experiences New Zealand's Te Araroa, and Mark Waring walks the spine of Sweden's mountains.

In the gear pages I review eight solo backpacking tents, four backpacking packs (Francesca Donovan reviews another four), and the Pacerpole Tops trekking pole sections and Craghoppers Dynamic Pro II waterproof jacket. I also suggest six pairs of boots that don't cost too much (under £150).

In other big features Francesca Donovan undertakes a backpacking circuit of Yr Wyddfa without once visting the summit, Andrew Terrill completes a quest to camp once a week for a year, Stephanie Killingbeck searches for hope in the face of the climate crisis by walking from Land's End to John O'Groats and visiting environmental projects along the way, and William Vandoorne goes on a month-long solo journey by foot and packraft in the wilderness of southwest Greenland.

The issue opens with a wonderful shot of Ullswater in pre-dawn light by Daniel Toal. Mountaineering and trekking coach Kate Sielmann is Creator of the Month. In Opinion columns Mary Ann-Ochota says we need a new way of seeing to fix the ecological crisis and Will Renwick says Welsh place-names need renaming in Welsh. Francesca Donovan reviews Tim Gent's very apposite new book Dartmoor Walking and Camping. Jim Perrin's Mountain Portrait describes wonderful Ben More Assynt in the NW Highlands. In her Notes from the Edge about her walk round the coast of Britain Emma Schroeder laments the amount of plastic waste she finds on beaches and says we should do something about it.

In the Wild Walks section in Scotland Stefan Durcaz walks over Carn Liath and Culardoch in the Eastern Cairngorms, and Andrew Galloway reaches the highest point in the Southern Uplands on the Merrick. In the Lake District Fiona Barltrop visits Martindalet, Vivienne Crow spends a night in a remote bothy beyond Skiddaw, and Ian Battersby walks over Bowscale Fell and Bannerdale Crags. In Eryri Andrew Galloway camps in Cwm Caseg and James Forrest stays in a bothy on Arenig Fawr. In the Peak District Francesca Donovan traverses Kinder Scout while down in Devon Emily Woodhouse walks the Two Moors Way and Tim Gent has a camp on a walk to Wild Tor and Cranmere Pool on Dartmoor. 

Carn Bad na Caorach & Carn a' Ghille Chear - a May wander over local hills

Carn a' Ghille Chearr

Carn Bad na Caorach. Carn a’ Ghille Chearr. Not names familiar to most hillwalkers. They are walking distance from my home though and so receive the occasional visit. The boundary of the Cairngorms National Park separates the two hills though this area is the southern edge of the Dava Moor rather than actually in the Cairngorms.

Carn a’ Ghille Chearr shares its name with one of the summits in the Cromdale Hills just across Strathspey. It means Hill of the Unlucky Boy. Maybe the same boy? The Cromdale one is 710 metres high, my local one just 420 metres. As far as I know it doesn’t appear in any hill lists. Carn Bad na Caorach does though.

Carn Bad na Caorach

According to The Mountain Guide in the somewhat arcane world of minor hill lists 477 metre Carn Bad na Caorach is both a Tump and subHump. Further research with the Relative Hills Society reveals that a Tump is a British hill with more than 30 metres of prominence while Hill Bagging tells me that a subHump is a hill that fails by ten metres or less to meet the definition of a Hump, a hill with 100 metres prominence. I never knew this lowly gentle moorland hill appeared in any lists at all. I also learnt, from The Mountain Guide again, that Carn Bad na Caorach is the 6649th highest peak in the British Isles and the 4618th tallest in Scotland.

Gorse & rowan

I set off to climb these two little hills through a mix of ageing plantations slowly reverting to more natural forest and boggy moorland dotted with sheep and grouse butts. There was a cool breeze and shifting clouds. Occasionally the sun shone. At times spots of rain fell. In early May spring is just beginning here. The gorse was coming into bloom, birch and rowan leaves were just beginning to unfurl. The first wheatears, back from Africa, darted amongst the heather. A cuckoo called from the woods. Overhead a buzzard was harried by a much smaller bird, maybe a crow, too far away to be sure.

The slopes of Carn a' Ghille Chear

A scattering of pine and larch that had managed to escape browsing dotted the rough, rocky slopes of Carn a’ Ghille Chearr. The slopes aren’t steep but the walking is rough, the only paths being the occasional sheep track. The summit is a curve of rock protruding from the moorland, just about enough for the ‘carn’ in the name – it means pile of stones or stony hill.

Carn Bad na Caorach has no such justification. There are few rocks here, just a gentle moorland swelling. No trees either, though the name means hill of the thicket of rowan berries.  Just rough boggy tussocks that make for tough walking. Far to the south the high Cairngorms rose.

Forest fence

Bits of old tracks in the bogs led me to the top of Tombain Plantation, which again is reverting to more natural woodland. A high fence ran along the top edge of the forest. Inside the first bright green of bilberry leaves glowed amongst the pines. Outside was dark heather. No trees here. The sheep and muirburn see to that.

In the woods

Inside the forest, accessed through a partly collapsed section of the old fence, the world changed. I could hear bird song. Pines, birch and rowan grew all around. A pool shone like a jewel. The stark monotony of the moors was gone and so was the sense of vast space. I’d been able to see the Moray Firth and the Cairngorms. Now the world felt intimate, closed-in.

Wester Kichanroy

A few more fences crossed and I left the trees at the ruined house of Wester Kichanroy, one end over shadowed by huge larch and holly trees. Not far to home now.

A Very Short Video Clip Of The Recent Snow In The Cairngorms

Managing Clothing To Stay Comfortable On A Cold Day In The Cairngorms

Top of the Fiacaill a' Choire Chais

On the cold day out in the Cairngorms described in my last post I needed, as so often, to adjust my clothing frequently to stay comfortable – that is, to regulate my body heat so I never felt too hot or too cold. Now when the weather conditions vary – sometimes windy, sometimes not, warmer temperatures lower down, colder ones higher up – and exertion does too – climbing steeply, resting, descending – this can be impossible to do perfectly but by paying attention to how your body feels and altering your clothing to suit it is possible to never feel uncomfortable for long.The key to this is to have several layers that fit over each and have options for ventilation.

On this trip I set out in a cool breeze in intermittent sunshine with temperatures just above freezing (the snow was wet in the car park) on a roughly 600 metre ascent to the Cairngorm Plateau. I was wearing a thin merino/polypropylene long-sleeved base layer, thin but tightly woven wool shirt (EDZ Merino Wool Flannel Shirt), and a cotton windproof jacket (Klattermusen Loride - my review here) that is much more breathable than a waterproof. On my legs I had tough, heavy-duty softshell trousers (Keela Scuffers). As the occasional sunshine was in my eyes I also wore a mesh baseball cap with a big peak (it also kept my hair, which needs trimming, out of my eyes).

On the Plateau

On the ascent I soon started to feel hot and unzipped my jacket, undid the top buttons on the shirt, and unzipped the thigh vents on the trousers. I was then just warm enough until I reached the big cairn at the top of the Fiacaill a’ Choire Chais where the temperature was well below freezing and the breeze stronger. The trouser vents, shirt buttons, and jacket zip were all quickly closed, and the baseball cap swapped for a warm double-layer beanie, a very old Craghoppers one with a 50/50 wool/acrylic outer and a polyester microfleece lining. My hands were cold by the time I’d done all this and unwrapped and eaten some chocolate so I also dug out my old Pertex/pile Buffalo Mitts. These provide almost instant warmth and whilst you can’t do much with your hands with them on they can be taken off and put back on very quickly. Mitts are warmer than gloves too as they keep your fingers together.

Stob Coire an t-Sneachda & Cairn Lochan

Dressed like this I headed over Stob Coire an t-Sneachda and up Cairn Lochan. The wind came and went. My temperature went up and down. The mitts and hat came on and off – stuffed into my jacket pockets when not worn.  My jacket hood went up and down too as the wind occasionally cut through the beanie.

On Cairn Lochan

On Cairn Lochan the east wind was much stronger and colder. I had a longer break here, just west of the summit for a bit of shelter. Here I donned a light synthetic insulated jacket over my other layers (Outdoor Research SuperStrand Hoodie – my review) and pulled up the hood. With four layers on my body and three on my head I was warm enough while I ate a sandwich, drank some hot ginger cordial, and wandered as near as I dared to the edge of the cliffs to look into the depths of Coire an Lochain.

When I set off I kept the insulated jacket on as the wind was strengthening and light snow was falling. I expected I’d need to remove it after ten minutes or so but in fact kept it on almost all the way back to the car as the wind grew colder and colder. I did lower both hoods but that was it until I was on a level with the car park and starting to feel a little too warm.

On the descent

At no point during the walk did I get sweaty so my base layer stayed dry. I did feel chilly occasionally, but clothing adjustment soon solved this. If I’d had longer stops I’d probably have put on the down jacket I had in the pack. I also had waterproofs in case of wet snow or, lower down, rain. They would have added extra warmth too if needed. In particular the overtrousers would have added a windproof layer for my legs and I did think about putting them on during the descent as I could feel the occasional gust of cold wind through my trousers.

I also had liner gloves, Primaloft insulated gloves, and waterproof overmitts in my pack along with a Paramo Cap and spare socks. In case of a very long stop or even a benightment I also had a bivi bag, a bothy bag, and a short closed-cell foam mat. 

I've given brand names of the ckothing I wore for those interested. There are of course plenty of alternatives that also work well.

Winter's Back In The Cairngorms

 

Late April and snow has returned to the Cairngorms. The day after I returned from sunny Glen Affric last week (see this post) it rained heavily for hours. The mountains were hidden in dense clouds. Over the next two stormy days there were glimpses of shining white summits. Winter was back.

With more stormy weather forecast Wednesday the 26th looked like the best day of the week to visit the snow without being blasted by the wind and lashed with spindrift. I went up onto the Cairngorm Plateau and walked over Stob Coire an-t Sneachda and Cairn Lochan admiring the wind sculpted snow and the rime ice streaking the rocks.

White snowfields stretched out to Ben Macdui. Under an undulating blanket of cloud the land was frozen, the air crisp and sharp. At times a bitter wind, not strong but piercingly cold, cut through my layers of clothing. Spring felt far, far away.

Flurries of snow drifted down. South and east the clouds were lower, darker, shrouding the hills. 

Descending from Cairn Lochan I wandered over to the edge of the Lairig Ghru. The black clouds were closer now. Snow was streaking down not far away. Soon Cairn Gorm was hidden, then Cairn Lochan. The wind grew stronger. The gap between storms was ending. More snow is coming.