A Look At The November Issue Of The Great Outdoors

In the latest  issue of The Great Outdoors magazine I have reviews  of the Berghaus MTN Guide MW Hoody fleece jacket and the Osprey Stratus 26 rucksack plus a piece on choosing a three-season sleeping bag. 

On the subject of sleeping Alex Roddie has advice on how to get a good night's sleep when backpacking.

Also in the gear Pages Kirsty Pallas and David Lintern review 'active' insulated jackets for women and men and Lucy Wallace reviews headlamps.

In the long features Hanna Lindon looks at tackling six big walks from across the world, Grant Hyatt describes his life in the Welsh mountains and shares some of his favourite photographs (including a stunning one of a snowy Y Garn under a starry sky), and Jilly Sherlock has an off-season October walk along the Tour of Mont Blanc, also with some superb photos.

This is also the annual The Great Outdoors Challenge issue. As well as entry information there are entertaining tales from this year's Challengers.

In shorter pieces, Creator of the Month is  musician and ecologist Jenny Sturgeon (whose album The Living Mountain inspired by Nan Shepherd's book is superb), Mary-Ann Ochota says veteran wild campers should make space for responsible newcomers in the Opinion column, James Roddie is a guide for a weekend in Aviemore, Jim Perrin praises Beinn Alligin in Torridon in his Mountain Portrait, and round the coast walker Emma Schroeder wonders at what point camping is no longer camping. 

In Wild Walks Alex Roddie describes the Meall a'Bhuachaille circuit in the Cairngorms (which I've done over 100 times!), Vivienne Crow wanders up Broughton Heights and Trahenna Hill in the Southern Uplands and Birkside Fell in Northumberland, Stefan Durkacz explores Cairn Table and the River Ayr in Ayrshire, Ian Battersby links two streams via Hamsterley Forest and Pikeston Fell in Teesdale, and visits Redmire Force and Penhill in Wensleydale, Francesca Donovan climbs Fleetwith Pike from Buttermere in the Lake District, Roger Butler discovers hills and history in the White Peak on Roystone Rocks and Minninglow Hill, Andrew Galloway goes back in time at Castell Dinas Bran and Vale Crucis Abbey in Denbighshire, and Tim Gent walks the Upper Walkham Valley on Dartmoor.