Chris Townsend Outdoors 
A Walk And Camp On The Cairngorm Plateau In Mist, Snow, And Sun
Loch AvonAfter weeks of changeable weather, the second half of April has seen day after day of fine weather. The first mountain camp of the year called and I climbed up to the Cairngorm Plateau. The sun was bright and warm but the east wind was chilly. Snowfield crossingThere were still large snowfields and I took out my ice axe to ascend one. The snow was sugary on top but hard and icy
The camp in Coire an IubhairIn response to the photo at the start of my recent post about stove systems I was asked by Chris Sainty about the boots I was wearing. As I had no idea, the picture being 21 years old, and many boots having been tested since then, I searched through my files and discovered I'd written a trip report and gear review for this January 2005 trip for The Great Outdoors
A Look At Stove Systems For Backpacking And Long-Distance Hiking
Using the original Jetboil in 2005A lightweight backpacking stove system arrived for testing a few days ago, the third such new stove system this year, which set me thinking about the rise of these stove and pot combinations and why they are popular. A stove or cooking system is basically just a pot and stove that come as a package. They’re not new. The methylated spirits/alcohol burning Trangia
A Look At The May Issue Of The Great Outdoors
The May issue of TGO has a big feature on gear for wild camping. My contributions are reviews of four stoves - Fire Maple Petrel Titanium Ultralight, GSI Pinnacle Four Season, Alpkit MyTiBurner, & Robens Fire Wisp Solo Cook Set UL -, the Gregory Baltoro 65 pack, and the Alpkit Radiant sleeping mat. Another mat is reviewed by David Lintern - the Highlander Nap Pak Arctic.Also in this section
Fifty years ago I was on the Pennine Way, my first long-distance walk
Below Rakes Rocks. My first camp on the Pennine Way, April 7On April 7th, 1976, I set out on my first long-distance walk, a journey that was to set the pattern for the rest of my life. In the previous few years I had done plenty of day walks in the hills and a few one or two night backpacking trips. Now I wanted to find out what a longer trip felt like and whether I could complete one. I chose
A Local Walk & Camp In Stormy Weather
Camp in the forestWith a big storm approaching and unsettled weather already here venturing into the high mountains didn’t seem a good idea so I decided on an overnight trip in my local moorland hills. There were places I’d still never visited despite living here for over thirty years. This seemed a good time to go and see them. The field of young pines with the Cromdale Hills in the
A First Look At The New Jetboil TrailCook 1.2L
Jetboil TrailCook 1.2LMy most used stove and pot combination for winter camping for more than a decade has been the Jetboil MiniMo as it has a regulated burner and a wide pot with a heat exchanger. I’ve long thought this by far the best of Jetboil’s stove systems so I was excited to hear that a successor was being launched featuring some of the new features that appeared in the revamped
An Equinox Walk & Camp In The Cairngorms: Glen Feshie & Mullach Clach a' Bhlair
Beautiful sunshine in Glen FeshieA sunny forecast for the equinox suggested a walk to welcome the spring. Glen Feshie and the Moine Mhor beckoned (it always does). I hadn’t been there since last August – far too long. The sun was indeed shining and the air was warm as I set off down the glen. High above I could see remnants of a recent snowfall edging the rim of the Moine Mhor plateau. The Allt
Sleeping Mat Thoughts
With my old Therm-A-Rest Ultralite and a tent full of mats ready for making a videoI started thinking about mat and tent combinations for the first time last year. The idea had never occurred to me before because it had never been necessary. Why would the two items affect each other? Until fairly recently they didn’t but now some mats are thick enough to reduce headroom and end space in a tent,
A Look At The April Issue Of The Great Outdoors
The theme of the latest issue of The Great Outdoors is doing more with less, whether that's keeping gear in good repair so it lasts well or finding budget and second-hand gear. Peter Macfarlane combines the two, finding used items of clothing (Gore-Tex jacket, fleece jacket, fleece salopettes, baselayer) and a daypack for a grand total of £53 and describing how he returned them to working
Stoves for Winter Camping
Using the MSR Reactor high in the CairngormsI use a stove on camping trips year-round. I like my morning coffee. I like hot food. In winter a stove becomes much more important though. Hot food and drink can warm you up and be a huge morale booster. You may need to melt snow for water. So a winter stove needs to be reliable and powerful. Melting snow in the Jetboil MiniMoWhen I started
A Walk In The Woods & First Use Of A New Stove
A breezy, sunny day in early March. The sun warm, shaded areas cool, the wind chilly out in the open. The distant mountains shining with fresh snow, their summits in and out fast-moving clouds.The first buds are just appearing on birches, rowans and willows, only noticeable from close up. The grasses are still mostly faded yellow but again a close look reveals tiny spurts of fresh green in
A New Stove System From Fire Maple
I'd just finished a comparative stove review for The Great Outdoors magazine (to appear soon) when another stove arrived, this one the Fire Maple Star X1 Pro Cooking System.* This follows the familiar pattern of a heat exchanger pot that fits on top of a canister stove. There are a few interesting features on this version of the design though. Note that this is just a first look. I haven't used
In Search Of Changing Light In The Cairngorms
Late afternoon lightOne afternoon a few days ago I headed up into the Cairngorms in the hope of seeing the sunset. The day was sunny and quite warm for the last day of February but the forecast was for cloud coming in from the south-west on strong winds. I hoped this wouldn’t arrive too soon but at just the right time for the setting sun to colour the clouds red and gold. My favourite times in
Wind And Snow And Tough Terrain On A Winter Backpacking Trip
Snow on the last morningSometimes it only takes a fierce blast of wind to change plans. A few minutes being blown around in the high level car park was enough to persuade us that starting lower down and staying there was a good idea. So it was back in the cars and down to the shelter of the forest. The forecast being for the high winds and low clouds to continue we thought we’d probably stay low