A Look At The June Issue Of The Great Outdoors

I have an unusual gear feature in the latest TGO magazine. Rather than a review of any particular product it's an opinion piece on packs and, in particular, what features I really don't like. More conventionally I also review the Patagonia R1 Air Fleece Vest.

Also in the gear pages Lara Dunn and Peter Macfarlane each review three daypacks and Gemma Palmer and Peter Macfarlane each review three pairs of trail running shoes.

In the main features there's a look at a dozen of the best ridge walks in the British Hills ranging from Southern England to North-West Scotland. 

Ursula  Martin  describes probably the longest ever book tour on foot - a 1600 mile circuitous bookshop linking Land's End - John O' Groats walk to promote her latest book One Woman Walks Europe. 

The great mountain and climbing photographer John Cleare sadly died last year. John's editor Deziree Wilson, who was working with him on his memoir Cleare Perspectives, describes the process of putting the book together in a piece illustrated with some of Cleare's superb photos. This is a book I'm really looking forward to.

Flowers and the Alpine spring are the theme of a piece by former TGO editor Carey Davies as he describes a hut-to-hut walk through the Alps in July.

The issue opens with a stunning photo by Alan Novelli of the rising sun catching early-morning cloud on the Y Gribin ridge in Eryri/Snowdonia. 

In the Almanac pages Nadia Shaikh praises the nightingale, I review the Scottish Mountaineering Club's splendid new  guidebook, The Corbetts by Rab Anderson, and in a moving essay Kate Armstrong argues that the mountains aren't always a cure-all for mental health problems.

Jim Perrin's Mountain Portrait is Moel Hebog in Eryri/Snowdonia, which he describes as a wonderful peak in sumptuous hill country.

In the Skills section Mountain Weather Information Service forecaster and mountaineering instructor Mehmet Karatay talks about the fascinating science of thunderstorms and how to stay safe from lightning.

In Uphill Struggles Juls Stobel advises a reader addicted to outdoor clothing. 

Wild Walks has seven very different routes. James Roddie describes one of my favourites, a circular walk over Meall a' Bhuachaille in the Cairngorms. In a different part of the national park Alex Roddie visits The Snub, Loch Brandy & Glen Clova. The Lake District sees Vivienne Crow on Lingmoor Fell & Side Pike and James Forrest on Gowbarrow Fell. In the Yorkshire Dales Norman Hadley as a stroll through wildflowers on Kisdon and in the Muker meadows. Also in Yorkshire (but not the Dales) Ian Battersby explores Ilkley Moor. Finally in the Peak District shares a classic ridge walk over Chrome Hill.

A video comparing two lightweight stove systems: the Jetboil Stash and the Primus Lite Ultra

Jetboil Stash (left) and Primus Lite Ultra 0.8L

The Jetboil Stash, launched several years ago, and the new Primus Lite Ultra 0.8L are, as far as I know, the two lightest gas canister stove systems by a long way. By stove system I mean a pot and stove designed to work together and only available as a unit. Usually the pot and stove lock together when in use though this isn't the case with the Stash, which is really only a system because you can't buy the components separately. 

I made a little video comparing the two systems, including a boil and gas usage test. Conclusion: the Jetboil Stash is noisy, has little wind-resistance, boils water faster and is more fuel efficient, the Primus Lite Ultra is very quiet, has much better wind resistance, is slower boiling water and uses more fuel. This is just one boil test though. I may get different results next time!

Comparing the pots, both 800ml, I prefer the Stash simply because it's wider and easier to actually cook in and use as a bowl than the taller, narrower Lite Ultra. 

A Visit To The Abandoned El Alamein Shelter In The Cairngorms

On a sunny day in late April I decided to wander up to Cairn Gorm’s long north ridge and have a look at the abandoned El Alamein shelter, which lies on the steep bouldery slopes falling into Strath Nethy. I’d visited the shelter before and I remembered that it wasn’t that easy to find. It can’t be seen from the ridge, you have to descend a fair way down before it comes into view and even then from many angles it looks just like a pile of the boulders that surround it. Only the rusted metal of one gable end is at all noticeable.

The ascent along the edge of Coire Laogh Mor took me over many slippery patches of soft snow. They weren’t steep though and there was no need to get out my ice axe. The sun was hot and there was barely a breeze. Sun hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen were the most important piece of gear.

El Alamein comes into view. Just visible bottom left.

Starting down the far side to look for the shelter I was soon in the shade though it wasn’t any cooler. I dodged round several large snowfields then thought I could see the shelter far below. A little further and I was sure.

El Alamein

El Alamein was built by the military in 1963, one of three shelters high in the Cairngorms. After the Cairngorm Disaster of 1971* when six people died after failing to reach one of the shelters it was decided they should be removed. Two went, El Alamein remained. Why? Perhaps it couldn’t be found! More likely it was felt that no-one would ever try to go there anyway. It’s not on a route to anywhere. There are no paths nearby.

El Alamein with Bynack More in the background

So why is it here? The general view is that it was meant to be constructed on the ridge above but the builders either misread the map reference or were given the wrong one. If that’s so they just obeyed orders and built it here though they must have wondered why. Or perhaps the weather was stormy on the exposed ridge and they thought they’d drop down to somewhere more sheltered and ended up here.

Beinn Mheadhoin from El Alamein

Whatever the reason this is where it is, in a splendid wild situation half way down a rugged mountainside with a tremendous view. If you wanted to build a shelter as a peaceful haven in the mountains this would be a perfect spot. I sat outside watching the hills glowing in the late sun.

El Alamein and Bynack More

Like the other shelters El Alamein has a metal framework with hessian-like material over it for insulation and then rocks piled on top. It’s quite high inside but there’s not much floor space. Three people could sleep inside, maybe four at a squeeze. The hessian has now rotted away in places and some of the rocks have fallen down from the sides, hence the exposed metal at one end. There are holes in the roof and the walls. I guess it would still provide a little protection in an emergency. But then I can’t imagine anyone descending the mountainside and finding it in bad weather.

Cnap Coire na Spreidhe

Leaving the shelter I headed back up to the ridge to watch the sunset from Cnap Coire na Spreidhe, a subsidiary top of Cairn Gorm. A bright moon, three days off full, hung in the darkening sky.  I descended on the Ciste Ridge path with the deep red sky spread out before me. Loch Morlich was a shining jewel in the dark forest. In the distance I could see the lights of Aviemore. Soon I needed my headlamp.

Sunset

View down Coire na Ciste to Loch Morlich

I made a little video of the trip, with a look inside the shelter.

*The Cairngorm Disaster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairngorm_Plateau_disaster