The Great Outdoors October Issue

Scrambles, dogs, Cairngorms, paddlepacking, Mercantour Traverse, waterproofs and more. There's lots of good stuff in the October issue of The Great Outdoors.

My contribution is a review of eleven waterproof jackets.

The scrambles are Ledge Route on Ben Nevis, the Cwm Uchaf Horseshoe on Snowdon, and Howling Ridge on Carrauntoohil, and there's advice on tackling them from mountaineering and climbing instructor Rebecca Coles. 

Alex Roddie also encounters some scrambling high in the Alps on the Mercantour Traverse. His account of this long-distance walk is thought-provoking and his photos are mouth-watering.

A very different long-distance walk is undertaken by Stefan Durkacz in the Cairngorms - a four day circular route from Tomintoul through wild country but without ascending any summits.

Dogs are the subject of a feature by Helen Mort who looks at how canine companions can become an important part of mountain days.

In an unusual feature Anna Richards describes a combination of activities I'd have said was very unlikely - paddleboarding and wild camping. 

Also in this issue there's a splendid opening spread of An Teallach at dawn by James Roddie; Josephine Hall's winning entry in a writing competition run jointly by The Great Outdoors and Black Girls Hike UK; an interview with Nick Hayes, author of The Book of Trespass, about the propsed new law to criminalise trespass; Roger Smith on the need for environmental education to be at the heart of our culture; TGO Challenge coordinators Sue Oxley and Aki Ogden on the future of the event; and Jim Perrin on Irish summit Galtymore.