Video and pictures of the Mountain Laurel Designs DuoMid XL Pyramid Tent

 

A little video on the MLD DuoMid XL. Here's some pictures of the tent in use.

A Look At The November Issue Of The Great Outdoors

The November issue of TGO sees the start of a new gear spot in conjunction with Nikwax in which reviewers describe their long-term gear favourites and how they care for them to ensure they last. I begin the series with some favourite boots, Brasher Hillmasters, now over twelve years old and still going strong.

Also in the gear pages David Lintern reviews the Jottnar Asger HS fleece and Steph Wetherell reviews the Osprey Tempest 33 Extended Fit Pack. In comparative reviews Pete Macfarlane reviews four stoves, Kirsty Pallas and Alex Roddie review three midlayers each, and Steph Wetherell and James Roddie three pairs of three-season gloves each.

The opening spread is a wonderful photo by Lizzie Shepherd of twisted birch trees in autumn in Inshriach in the Cairngorms.

In the main features Norman Hadley tells an astonishing tale of a navigational error on the Cairngorm Plateau in winter. Five artists, writers and musicians talk about the ways they take inspiration from the outdoors. Phoebe Smith climbs Mt.Kinabalu on Borneo and learns about its place in the culture of the indigenous Dusan people. 

This issue is 2025's TGO Challenge one and there are stories of this years event from many participants.

In the skills section Alex Roddie sharpens up his map and compass skills on an Austrian Alpine Club - organised course in Eryri.

In the regular columns Nadia Shaikh describes hoar frost in On The Lookout; Stew Hume reviews And So I Run by Jamie Doward; Sunny Huang, who recently completed her second round of all 1124 UK hills on the Scottish Mountaineering Club register, describes her extraordinary life; Jim Perrin covers the Fiacaill Couloir, a winter climb in the Cairngorms, as his Mountain Portrait; and Juls Stobel gives advice on how to get teenagers into hillwalking in Uphill Struggles.

Wild Walks covers short trails and sections of longer trails that can be walked in a day or less. in Scotland Stefan Durkacz walks the Dava Way from Grantown-on-Spey to Forres. Vivienne Crow walks the Great Whin Sill in Northumberland, where the Pennine Way and Hadrian's Wall Path unite. In the North York Moors Ian Battersby walks Cringle Moor and Round Hill on the Cleveland Way. Over in the Lake District James Forrest goes from Rosthwaite to Grasmere on the Coast to Coast path while in Wales Andrew Galloway goes from Llanfairfechan to Conwy on the North Wales Path. Further south in Herefordshire Roger Butler climbs Bradnor Hill and Herrock Hill on the Offa's Dyke Path. Finally way down in Sussex Alex Roddie visits Cuckmere Haven and Seven Sisters on the South Downs Way.

Video on my trip to the north side of Meall a'Bhuachaille

 

Video of the trip described in my last post with an emphasis on the camping.

Tough Terrain On The North Side Of Meall a' Bhuachaille

Camp in the pines, Meall a' Bhuachaille in the distance

Meall a’Bhuachaille is a familiar hill that I climb several times a year. It’s ideal for a half-day walk. It’s great for taking up visitors who don’t have enough time for a full day out. It’s excellent when the higher Cairngorms look unpleasantly stormy. The views from the summit are excellent. The walk-in past An Lochain Uaine through the woods of Ryvoan Pass is lovely.

However although it is a familiar hill there’s a side I didn’t know, a side I’d never even visited, the north side facing Abernethy Forest. I’ve seen this from afar, looked across it from the track from Ryvoan Pass to Nethy Bridge. Long brown heathery slopes split by burns. Moderately steep in places. Not much sign of trees. Untracked. Like many other hillsides in fact. Not exciting, nothing outstanding. But what was it actually like to be there, to walk there? Places are always more individual, more interesting when you set foot on them.

An Lochan Uaine

So on a late September day I finally decided it was time to go and have a look. The forecast was for showers and a gusty wind with maybe some sunshine, which sounded fine for a walk that didn’t go very high, though I thought I might finish on Meall a’ Buachaille itself. Walking through Ryvoan Pass the air was warm and humid, my jacket soon in the pack. An Lochan Uaine was blue, white, and green, reflecting sky, clouds and trees. The water was still low despite some recent rain.

Lochan a' Chait

Leaving the thicker forest I soon caught the wind, though it wasn’t very cold. The clouds began to clear. At Lochan a’Chait reeds were bending in the breeze. Across the water the tops at the end of Cairn Gorm’s north ridge, Mam Suim and Stac na h-Iolaire, and beyond them higher Bynack More glowed in the afternoon sun.

A squall in the distance

I’d spotted a faint path on the map that led north-east  from the main track in the direction I wanted to go, at least at first. This turned out to be a narrow trod, easily missed, leading through deep vegetation. A sign warned that there were cattle here, brought in by the RSPB, whose land this is, to help break up the ground and trample the heather so more varied vegetation can grow.

Stone walls & Bynack More

I followed the old path past the low stone walls of a former shieling to more stone walls on a low rise amongst big old larch trees. There had been several buildings here at one time. Cattle were grazing nearby. A touch of rain fell. I could see squalls in the distance and twice short bits of rainbows. The evening light was glorious.

A touch of rainbow

Beyond the old settlement the path became indistinct and hard to follow and the walking was much harder as I waded through thick deep heather and bunches of tall reeds. I headed towards the Allt Mullach, the stream that ran down from the col between Meall a’Bhuachaille and Creagan Gorm, hoping to camp at the point where the slopes started to steepen. The terrain did not look promising though, very rough with big tussocks and dense vegetation. Walking became even harder. Progress slowed.

Another touch of rainbow 

An old rough ATV track appeared and made the going easier for a while. I reached the Allt Mullach. There was nowhere for a half-decent camp. Going up meant steeper ground so I followed the burn down to a small rise with a scattering of old pines. The four hundred metres or so took me half an hour. There were young trees amongst the big ones. This grove is renewing itself.

It took a while wandering amongst the pines before I found a small mossy spot that looked just big enough. In wetter times it would probably be too boggy for a camp but it would do for this night. I pitched the tent just as the light faded.

Relaxing in camp

The wind dropped and the clouds cleared. The temperature fell to zero. There was dew on the flysheet and condensation inside at dawn. The sun soon warmed the tent and I moved outside to sit in the bright light and enjoy the quiet of the trees over a mug of coffee. I’d slept well and this was a peaceful relaxing spot. Beyond the pines I could mist in Strathspey. It looked grey and damp down there. 

Mist in Strathspey

Moving on was not relaxing though. It was tough and arduous. I headed back beside the little stream and up the slopes towards the col. In places remnants of old ATV tracks eased the walking but mostly it was a thrash through deep heather and reeds with tussocks and deep holes everywhere. Some of the vegetation was chest deep. At one point the tips of reeds were pricking my chin. I could rarely see where I was putting my feet. Terrain doesn’t come much tougher than this.

The clouds begin to close in over Meall a' Bhuachaille

There were a few old birches on the hillside and rather more tiny saplings just poking through the heather. Now grazing pressure has been removed the forest is slowly returning.

A grizzled old birch

The early morning sun soon faded as thick grey clouds moved in from the west. At the col the wind was strong. I wouldn’t go up Meall a’ Bhuachaille. Instead I followed the path down to Glenmore, relishing the sudden ease of walking. I’d experienced the north side of Meall a’ Bhuachaille closely and enjoyed solitude in an area few people go despite its nearness to popular places. It had been a good trip.

Overcast sky above the col

A new, wider Fire Maple Petrel pot - first look and first use.

 

The pot in use 

Fire Maple has launched a new pot in the Petrel series, the Ramen 800ml. It's the biggest Petrel pot so far, just, but more significantly for those of us who cook in our pots and don't just boil water it's also the widest. Thanks to Mark Perry (@markperry222) in a comment on my video (see below) for the information that in China ramen noodles come in a wide flat disc that is dropped into the pot, something you couldn't do with the narrower Petrel pot. Fire Maple is of course a Chinese company.

The Petrel Ramen 800ml

Back in January I wrote a post about the then new Petrel G2 pot which is wider than the original Petrel pot, now designated the G3. The Petrel 800ml is wider than the G2. 145mm wide and 70mm deep compared to 100mm wide and 120mm deep. It weighs slightly more - 193g compared to 187g (with lids) - and holds slightly more. The G2 has a max fill line of 0.75l marked inside. The 800ml has markings for 500ml and 900 ml. There isn't one for 800ml despite the name.

From the left - the 800ml, G2 and G3 Petrel pots.

All the Petrel pots have heat exchangers on the base that increase stove efficiency in terms of fuel usage and boil times and slots for fitting onto the pot supports of a stove, which improves efficiency even more and adds stability. A difference with the 800ml is that has slots for stoves with three and four supports. The other two pots only have slots for stoves with three supports. This means that the 800ml will fit the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex stove. The slots for three and four supports are marked on the 800ml pot heat exchanger.

Markings for three and four pot supports

Another difference with the other Petrel pots is the lid. Instead of plastic it's made of aluminium like the rest of the pot. There's a soft rubberised tab for lifting it off the pot. Inside there's a clip for hanging it on the side of the pot. I'm not sure if I'll ever use this. 

There's one visible drain hole on the lid and three more on the lip that fits inside the pot. These only work when aligned with the pour spout. There is a mark on the lid for doing this. As with the other pots the long insulated handle clips over the lid to hold it in place for packing.

Because the 800ml is shallow a 230g canister won't fit inside with the lid on. A 100g canister will fit and leave plenty of room for a stove.

I tried the pot with several stoves and found that it was a bit fiddly with the Soto Windmaster 4-Flex and the MSR Pocket Rocket Deluxe but the Pocket Rocket 2 fitted easily. The Soto Windmaster Triflex fits too but isn't very stable as the supports are so short they only just fit in the slots. I wouldn't use the pot with this. With the other stoves stability is excellent and the pot can tilted almost horizontally without falling off as I show in this little video I made.

I had thought that the difficulty with some stoves might be due to manufacturing tolerances with the pot. I now think it's due to stove pot supports become slightly bent and so not fitting exactly. This is easy to see with a four pot support stove. Looking at the Windmaster 4-Flex I can see that the supports don't form a perfect cross. Slightly bending a support made fitting it easily. All my stoves are well-used so it's not surprising 

I've used the 800ml pot on one overnight trip so far and found it excellent. I took noodles that needed simmering and then a sauce stirred in and it was easy to do this in such a wide pot. The width also made it easy to use as a bowl. Boil time was fast even when it was just 2C in the morning. I suspect it may be faster than with the other Petrel pots. I'll do a test to check at some point. I think this is going to be my most-used pot. 

Book Review: Waters Of Life - Fighting For Scotland's Beavers by Tom Bowser

 

At a time when the world seems dark and bad news a constant presence this book is very welcome. Positive and uplifting, it tells a conservation success story, of how the author and a cast of supporters overcame bureaucratic inertia and anti-wildlife forces to stop the killing of beavers in Scotland and allow them to be relocated to new homes. In the process the campaigners changed the whole way beavers are regarded by the Scottish establishment and paved the way for their spread to other areas of Scotland and then to parts of England.They did this in a surprisingly short space of time, just less than two years from the initial idea to the release of the first beavers.

The book is very much a personal account and I think this gives it emotional power. The author writes well and is not afraid to describe how he felt, including feeling depressed and elated at times. He triggered the events described by applying to have beavers relocated to suitable habitats on his land rather than be shot and the results were intense. His struggle to save the beavers is quite gripping with much tension even though the reader knows the outcome. I've read works of fiction that are far less enthralling! 

The author brings to life the other conservationists who worked with him to save the beavers and some of those who opposed the plans. He makes it clear that individuals and organisations working together led to their success. This co-operation is itself encouraging.

After the first beavers are released Bowser writes about the delight of living with them, about how they changed the landscape. His joy in their presence is infectious. 

In the fascinating last section of the book he visits a series of conservationists involved with different species in different parts of Scotland to talk to them about their work and their personal stories and motivation.

This is a book of hope, a book that shows that not all is lost. It's a wonderful tonic.

Video on my last trip

 A little video on the trip described in my last post with a look at the Expedition Foods meals I was trying.