A Look At The June Issue Of The Great Outdoors

The June issue of The Great Outdoors is out now. In it is the first in an occasional series I'm writing about trips and the gear I used. This initial one covers the trip I wrote about here. I also review five sleeping mats (and Lucy Wallace does another five), the Black Diamond Highline Stretch Shell, the Klattermusen Brimer 24L pack, and the Millican The Smith Roll Pack 25L. And in part four of the Better Backpacking Guide I look at balancing weight, comfort and safety.

The theme of the issue is being outdoor with your family. Hanna Lindon looks at Outdoor Family Holidays, David Lintern backpacks the Deeside Way with his family, Roger Butler has a multi-activity family adventure in Slovenia's Julian Alps, and Plas y Brenin instructor Helen Teasdale gives some advice and tips on walking with kids. 

Other big features see Rebecca Coles walking the Snowdonia Slate Trail, and Ronald Turnbull enjoying the geology on Haystacks in the Lake District.

The issue opens with a dramatic photo of a scrambler on Crib y Ddysgl on Snowdon by Rob Johnson. There's an interview with Russell Moorhouse about becoming the first person to camp on all 214 Wainwright summits. Ten walks are recommendedin the Cairngorms - as this is my local area I can say they're all good ones but the top ten? Not really! In another interview Hanna Lindon talks to Amira Patel, the founder of The Wanderlust Women, a walking group for Muslim women. Ronald Turnbull says walkers should say yes to windfarms because of the climate crisis. Jim Perrin praises Ben Alder. There are two book reviews - Paul Richardson on Craig Weldon's The Weekend Fix, and Vivienne Crow on Women on Nature: 100 Voices on Place, Landscape and the Natural World edited by Katharine Norbury.