A Look At The October Issue Of The Great Outdoors

In the latest issue of The Great Outdoors I have quite a bit of gear stuff. There's a big feature on the gear I used on a two-week trip in Knoydart last May plus reviews of the Built To Send U1 daypack, three items from  Peak Design - the Leash, Capture clip, and Aluminium Travel Tripod-, and the BAM Summit Durlston Adventure Trousers.

Also in the gear pages Fiona Russell and Peter Macfarlane test four all-season waterproof jackets each. Peter Macfarlane also tries six insulated flasks and Alex Roddie reviews the Suunto Vertical Titanium Solar GPS watch.

Alex Roddie also looks at staying dry when hiking in the skills section.

The main theme of the issue is walks that combine mountains and water. There are suggestions for eight walks including waterfalls, lochs, the sea, and summits in the Scottish Highlands, the Lake District, the Pennines, and the Brecon Beacons. In a feature illustrated with his evocative photos James Roddie describes a walks from Elgol to Loch Coruisk on the Isle of Skye, finishing with a camp on Sgurr na Stri. 

Taking inspiration from 'Tours' in Europe Ronald Turnbull makes a circle round Scafell Pike, visiting seven valleys with some bivvies along the way. 

In the Alps James Forrest walks the new 72km Otzi Trek and learns about Otzi the Iceman, whose corpse dates from 3200BC. 

Creator of the Month is Carys Rees and her This Girl Walks website, which provides advice for women outdoors. 

The Opinion column is by Kate Ashbrook, general secretary of the Open Spaces Society and vice-president of the Ramblers, who argues that the victory on Dartmoor camping could be the catalyst for better access in the rest of England.

Francesca Donovan reviews a curious and fascinating sounding book, British Mountaineers by Faye Rhiannon Latham.

Vivienne Crow writes about Keswick and what to do there in the Your Weekend In .... pages.

Thorpe Cloud in the Peak District is Jim Perrin's Mountain Portrait and it brings back many memories.

This issue has ten Wild Walks, half of them in Wales. Scotland gets just one but it's big, a 32km ascent of Ben Macdui in the Cairngorms from the Linn of Dee, described by Craig Weldon. 

Four of the Welsh walks are in Snowdonia where Alex Roddie traverses Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) via the Llanberis and Watkins Paths, James Forrest climbs Arenig Fach, Emily Woodhouse crosses the Moelwynion, and Ian Battersby goes up Rhinog Fawr. The final walk in Wales is much further south in the Black Mountains where Steve Eddy walks over Hatterall Hill. 

In England. Vivienne Crow climbs Branstree in the Lake District, Norman Hadley goes up Pendle Hill in Lancashire, Roger Butler explores Walsgrove Hill and Devil's Den in Worcestershire, and Tim Gent goes to Devil's Tor and Wistman's Wood on Dartmoor.