Chris Townsend Outdoors 
Moray Way videos
Here's a link to the first of four videos I'll be posting about my Moray Way walk. One for each section of the walk and one on the gear I used.This video covers the Dava Way and my first camp.
Just back from this year's Outdoor Trade Show in Liverpool. To my surprise this was the 20th show. I didn't think there had been that many. As always there was plenty to see and plenty of people to chat with, often the only time I meet them face to face each year.Three days in this vast hall with its temporary outdoor gear village.Amidst all the new gear it was good to see Keela promoting its
The Moray Way: some thoughts & pictures
First camp, on Dava Moor on the Dava Way.The Moray Way is a 100 mile/160km walk linking the Dava Way, the Moray Coast Trail, and the Speyside Way. Forres on the coast is usually the starting point for the walk. However, as I live just a few kilometres from the Dava Way at Grantown-on-Spey it seemed logical to start there. Indeed, for the first time ever I set out on a long walk from my front door
Thirty years ago I walked over all the Munros and Tops
The first of 517. On Ben More on Mull, May 18.Thirty years ago on May 18, 1996, I climbed Ben More on the Isle of Mull, the first summit on a walk over all the 517 Munros and Tops - mountains and subsidiary summits in the Scottish Highlands over 3,000 feet/914.4 metres in height. The walk ended 118 days later on Ben Hope, the northernmost Munro, after around 1770 miles/2850 km and some 575000
A Look At The June Issue Of The Great Outdoors
I have an unusual gear feature in the latest TGO magazine. Rather than a review of any particular product it's an opinion piece on packs and, in particular, what features I really don't like. More conventionally I also review the Patagonia R1 Air Fleece Vest.Also in the gear pages Lara Dunn and Peter Macfarlane each review three daypacks and Gemma Palmer and Peter Macfarlane each review three
A video comparing two lightweight stove systems: the Jetboil Stash and the Primus Lite Ultra
Jetboil Stash (left) and Primus Lite Ultra 0.8LThe Jetboil Stash, launched several years ago, and the new Primus Lite Ultra 0.8L are, as far as I know, the two lightest gas canister stove systems by a long way. By stove system I mean a pot and stove designed to work together and only available as a unit. Usually the pot and stove lock together when in use though this isn't the case with the Stash
A Visit To The Abandoned El Alamein Shelter In The Cairngorms
On a sunny day in late April I decided to wander up to Cairn Gorm’s long north ridge and have a look at the abandoned El Alamein shelter, which lies on the steep bouldery slopes falling into Strath Nethy. I’d visited the shelter before and I remembered that it wasn’t that easy to find. It can’t be seen from the ridge, you have to descend a fair way down before it comes into view and even then
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
From the Archives: a wild camp and a mountain 21 years ago and the gear I used
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