Latest TGO: Long Distance Walks In Scotland, Boots, Down Gear and Cairngorms in Winter

Cairngorms In Winter: Sunset at the camp on Mullach Clach a'Bhlair

The April issue of TGO is out now. My backpacking column is about long distance walks in Scotland - really long distance walks that is, one that take a month or more. I describe four routes, ranging in length from 470 miles to over 2,000 miles. In the gear section I review the Patagonia Ultralight Down Jacket (which really is superlight) and the Rab Infinity 500 down sleeping bag, which I praise for keeping me warm at -2C. Since writing the review it's kept me warm at -8C so I'm even more impressed with it now. I also look at 18 pairs of three-season boots to which Judy Armstrong adds 6 pairs of women's four-season boots.

There's a double-page spread on the Cairngorms In Winter film with photos from Terry Abraham, including a superb dawn shot from the summit of Cairn Gorm.

Elsewhere in the magazine I'm delighted to see a big feature by David Lintern on his traverse of the Haute Route in the Pyrenees. There's also a look at how to keep the costs of walking trips down with Hanna Lindon having a weekend in the Peak District from London for under £50.  Of course one way to save money is by wild camping. It's also a way to escape the crowds as Daniel Neilson discovers on a trip to Snowdonia. Over in Lancashire John Manning goes on a history expedition to walk the Clarion House Way and find out about Clarion House itself and the socialists who spawned an outdoor movement in the early twentieth century. In the same social history vein though a bit later in the century Jim Perrin praises Eric Byne's and Geoff Sutton's High Peak, the story of walking and climbing in the Peak District, a book I remember from when I lived in Manchester and Bleaklow and Kinder Scout were the hills I walked on regularly.