The Great Outdoors

THE GENTLE ROAR as your stove flame ignites with a whiff of propane after a long, hard day. Ring ouzels calling from a nearby crag as you eat rehydrated bolognese. Watching the sun set from your high home for the night and retreating to your sleeping bag as the temperature drops. Lying with your head out of the tent, gazing into the dark depths of the universe, watching space rocks vapourise and satellites slide by on their endless orbits. Crawling outside at a silly hour to watch the dawn unfold and marmalade-coloured light flood the landscape. The first sip of coffee. And, despite the aching limbs, a feeling of contentment like no other. I spend a lot of time daydreaming of experiences like this. I even get to actually experience them…

Heather Anderson is a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year, three-time Triple Crown thru hiker and professional speaker whose mission is to inspire others to ‘Dream Big, Be Courageous’. She is also the author of two hiking memoirs – Thirst: 2600 Miles to Home and Mud, Rocks, Blazes: Letting Go on the Appalachian Trail – and a preparatory guide to long-distance hiking Adventure Ready. Andrew Terrill is the author of two critically acclaimed books about a 7000-mile walk: The Earth Beneath My Feet and On Sacred Ground. Originally from London, he now lives in Colorado – but still can’t quite believe it. Even after two decades, he pinches himself each morning to confirm that the Rockies really are outside. To demonstrate his appreciation and gratitude for this privilege, he makes daily…

TURN TO PAGE 90 FOR THE LATEST SUBSCRIPTION OFFER Ullswater Valley, Lake District “I woke to the pre-dawn light about 4.20am. It was a still, windless morning in May and I knew the sun would be up in about 10 minutes. “I got in position as Carey and Harrison emerged from their tents too. I took some shots, including this one, as we watched the sun appear in the east from our wild campsite above Ullswater. “The sun was a burning red coin at first, but it gradually brightened until its rays flooded the landscape. Wild camping is all about these kinds of beautiful scenes.” danieltoal.com…

JUNE in the hills KATE SIELMANN mountaineering & trekking coach DO YOU KNOW how to lace your trail shoes if your big toe won’t stop banging into the end of your boot? How to pee whilst roped in on a ledge? How to deal with a period at 6000m? How to exercise to develop mountain endurance? Well, if the answer to any of these is ‘no’, Kate Sielmann has you covered with her one-to-one training and social media tips and tricks. The 33-year-old mountaineering and trekking coach and author grew up in Zimbabwe. Her first taste of climbing came at the bottom of her garden where untamed tendrils of nature spread. Here, she’d scamper up trees to escape snakes. Between her bases of London and Bad Oldesloe (Germany), her adult explorations at higher…

Postal address The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL. Please include a phone number and postal address. A flipping brilliant tip! In our May issue (right), we pulled together some of our best scrambling advice in our special 'Big Rock' guide. One tip really hit home for a reader, Sarah Lea, who suffers from a fear of heights. She wrote to us to explain… It’s not always predictable when vertigo will hit; but narrow ledges, a scree slope descent or even, on occasion, just walking downhill in a muddy field have left me fighting to stay calm and carry on. Over the years I have developed coping strategies, and this can simply involve sitting down! I like to think that I have not let…

PINE MARTENS THE ELUSIVE PINE MARTEN (Martes martes) might be more easily heard than seen in summer, when these solo dwellers come together to mate, making shrill, cat-like calls. They are named for their treetop habitat, where they commandeer tree holes, old squirrel dreys or disused bird nests. Despite being the largest of the Mustelidae family, pine martens are agile climbers that use bushy tails for balance and furry feet for grip – handy for hunting a winter diet that includes small rodents, birds and insects. Should their claws let them down on the climb, they twist in the air to land safely on four feet. On the ground they forage for berries, which colour their ‘scats’ (droppings) blue or red in summer. Whilst they are mostly nocturnal, pine martens do venture out…