The Great Outdoors November 2021

AS I WRITE THIS, the weather is a volatile brew of warm sun, roving downpours and rainbows. The swallows have left for Africa, to be replaced by flocks of fieldfares from Scandinavia. The leaves of ash trees are starting to crisp and fall. Darkness happens abruptly and can easily take you by surprise. Summer is definitely gone, but possibly the best – and most fleeting – season has arrived. Autumn is a spectacular time to enjoy the outdoors, and this is as true in the hills and mountains as it is anywhere. Rutting stags, migrating birds, leaping salmon, foraging squirrels, spectacular foliage; all these things enliven the landscape and bring a freshness and energy that can feel like a sort of upside-down spring. But on top of that, as hillwalkers we…

Alec Forss Originally from the outskirts of Birmingham, Alec has lived in Sweden for the past ten years where he works as a writer, editor and researcher. Covid-19 and the birth of his son have seen him mainly confined to walks and paddles near to his home in Stockholm’s inner archipelago. He is looking forward, however, to exploring the landscapes of Ireland, where he is moving with his family for nine months. Check out his feature on Sweden’s forests on p42 and follow him on Twitter: @alec_forss James Roddie James is a professional photographer based near Inverness, and a regular contributor to The Great Outdoors. He has been trying to make the most of the recent spell of fine weather in the Highlands, with some memorable days out in Torridon and the Cairngorms.…

“After a warm and almost windless camp on top of the 1234 metre-high Aonach Beag, I woke up to the sort of day you can spend years dreaming about: the many hundreds of peaks that make up the Scottish Highlands floated above a vast cloud inversion, which sat at around 600 metres. Visibility was almost flawless, and I could see from Ben Lomond in the south – Scotland’s most southerly Munro – to the peaks around Ben Hope, the most northerly – and everything inbetween. “This photo was taken from Aonach Beag’s summit, just after dawn, looking to the south east, with what I think is the Ben Lawers massif centred on the horizon.”…

IN THE FRAME AS AUTUMN holds the country well and truly in its clutches, the indecisiveness of the season makes the Scottish weather even more unpredictable than usual. Rachel George depicts the moment you look to the sky for answers, only to find more questions: the blue peering hopefully out from fluffy white clouds appears at odds with the dark and thunderous storm making its way over. “The sky came quickly,” notes Rachel as she recalls creating this piece. “Then I kept reworking the land for some time until I felt happy with it. Conveying the vastness of the sand was tricky.” Based in Edinburgh, Rachel enjoys escaping to the Outer Hebrides in her work. “When I couldn’t travel there in 2020 and my other work was on hold, I spent much…

1 PAPS OF JURA, ISLE OF JURA BEST FOR: RUTTING STAGS Red deer outnumber people by a ratio of 30:1 on Jura, so it makes sense that this is one of the best places in the country to see rutting stags. Listen out for the clash of antlers as you tackle a round of its three iconic peaks: Beinn an Oir (785m), Beinn Shiantaidh (757m) and Beinn a’ Chaolais (733m). It’s a remote and often pathless 17km (11-mile) adventure that takes a good 9 hours to complete. 2 GRIZEDALE FOREST, LAKE DISTRICT BEST FOR: AUTUMN COLOURS Autumn turns the rolling hills of Grizedale Forest into a russet rainbow – the effusion of reds, golds, deep browns and yellows is positively New England. Strolling through the forest is a great way to admire the many shades…

START/FINISH Car park opposite Armitt Museum, Ambleside. GR: NY376047 Maps: OS 1:25,000 Explorer sheet OL5 & OL7 (this route straddles the fold between the two); Harvey British Mountain Map 1:40,000 (Lake District) Distance: 17.5km/10.8 miles Ascent: 1090m/3576ft Duration: 6-7 hours Illustration: Jeremy Ashcroft. For personalised prints see jeremyashcroftmaps.etsy.com ONE OF the great things about the Lake District is its accessibility. Although you’ll find plenty of comparatively remote corners of the national park to explore, there are also big, impressive – and, yes, classic – fells within walking distance of towns and villages. One such route is the Fairfield Horseshoe. This circular walk begins and ends in Ambleside, climbing a long ridge to Fairfield with splendid views in all directions. Fairfield feels like a real mountain, but paths are good throughout and the ascent is relatively gentle, making…