Tabla de contenidos para April 2023 en Trail

The oldest layers of rock on the Trotternish Peninsula were formed from sediments laid down during the Jurassic period 190 million years ago, when this was the coast of a warm shallow sea - evidenced by fossils of sea lilies, ancient fish and dinosaurs. Then, around 60 million years ago, massive seismic activity formed the north Atlantic Ocean and multiple layers of heavy lavas flowed over the top of the sedimentary rocks. These lava layers are 1.5km thick in some places, and over the millennia their weight has tilted the whole of the peninsula downwards to the east. Eventually, weaknesses within lower rock layers were too great and gigantic landslips occurred, shearing huge lava blocks away to form the cliff edge, and jumbled towers, buttresses and slumps between the top…

Sock supremos Bridgedale recently asked a group of outdoor enthusiasts what they wish they’d known before getting started in hillwalking. One of the main answers was that people wished they’d known more about the different weights and thicknesses of socks. Not every journey takes place at the same temperature or on the same terrain, so matching your socks to the right type of walking adventure is key. As a result, Bridgedale have put together this quick guide to four key sock weights, so you know which ones to wear and when. HEAVYWEIGHT Designed to be worn in colder conditions (tested at -25°C), these are Bridgedale’s thickest, most cushioned and insulating socks, and are suitable for mountaineering and trekking boots. Heavyweight styles, including Explorer Heavyweight Merino Performance and Explorer Heavyweight Merino…

The main things to look for are a variety of lichens, mosses and ferns growing on trees. The woodland should also be wet, receiving at least 1,4m rainfall a year, preferably in steady persistent drizzle. For a number of free identification resources - most notably, bryologist Ben Averis' guide, Drizzle, Midges & Moss - take a look at the web page bit.ly/3WxliW6 IN NUMBERS 485M the highest known upland wood in England today 760M the treeline in the Lake District 4000 years ago…

ASCENT 1513m DISTANCE 39km ROUTE Beginning at Horton-inRibblesdale, then tackling Pen-yGhent, Whernside and Ingleborough in that order. TIME TO ALLOW 12 hours is the challenge; 16 hours at a more leisurely pace. PERFECT IF... You enjoy a punishing workout and can get a day off to do the challenge in the week. KIT TO BRING The usual, plus a set of poles and plenty of food and water. Worth packing knee and ankle supports into your first aid kit. SPECIFIC HAZARDS Though there are brief easy scrambles on Pen-y-Ghent and Ingleborough, there's nothing especially exposed or technical on this route. The biggest danger is likely to come at the end, stumbling on tired legs or having a knee go. Depending on the time of year, you may also end up…

FITNESS Good hill fitness needed - be prepared for a long, undulating day. TERRAIN Grassy hills, boggy in places; young woodland; return route is on quiet lanes and on a track across rough grazing land. NAVIGATION There are trails on the hills, but they are indistinct in places; from map point 6, the route follows the waymarked Annandale Way. GET THERE There is a lay-by for cars beside the Devil’s Beef Tub viewpoint on the A701,8.7km north of Moffat, but no public transport. EAT & DRINK You’ll find an assortment of cafes, pubs, restaurants and takeaways in nearby Moffat. STAT OVER Moffat, a friendly little town that’s well worth a visit, has hotels, B&Bs, campsites and a hostel with small dorms and private rooms. BEST MAPS ■ OS Explorer 330…

FITNESS An easy day out for any regular fell walker. TERRAIN Heather moorland, woods, rough pasture and lakeside; mostly established paths and tracks. NAVIGATION Straightforward, though the undulating tops on Holme Fell could be confusing in heavy mist. GET THERE Nearest station Windermere, with connections towards Coniston on Stagecoach bus no. 505. EAT & DRINK High Park tea garden is on the route, and there’s plenty of choice in Coniston including Bluebird cafe and Herdwick’s cafe. STAY OVER YHA Holly Howe, Coniston, Elterwater Hostel, and High Arnside cottage. BEST MAPS ■ OS Explorer OL7 (1:25k) ■ OS Landranger 90 and 97 (1:50k) ■ Harvey Superwalker XT25 Lake District West (1:25k)…

TRAIL MAGAZINE Scottish Borders WILD & REMOTE7 The remote and wild mountains at the head of the picturesque Ettrick Valley provide walkers with tough, steep and often rough walking. They feel a long way from anywhere and the views from the quiet tops are stunning. Paths can be intermittent and often boggy, but if you love walking in wilderness terrain where you see few other walkers then you should try this area out. This route visits some of the lesser-known tops that crowd the Ettrick Valley Head. In association with 1 NT189092 From the parking area, head south-west to go half-right (before road gets rough] passing through a gate (signposted 'Ettrick Horseshoe’]. Follow a track towards the forest, passing through a gate. Curve right, rising into the forest. Stay ahead at…

In association with DAY 1 1 SK230815 From the amenity block in the centre of Hathersage, go north along The Crofts, keeping to the left of the flats ahead. Follow the path across the cricket field and through a squeeze stile by the stream. Exit via a small gate into allotments then take the right fork twice to exit the grounds via a metal gate on to a wide track. Follow the track north past Brookfield Manor then cross Birley Lane. Go over the stile into The Warren, keeping north to exit into woodland via a gate. Follow the path through the trees to a footbridge. Cross the bridge ascending the opposite bank north-west, through a gate and over fields to Green’s House. Exit onto a wide track and turn…

In association with 1 SH628504 From Pont Bethania, turn [eft and walk along the road, passing Caffi Gwynant on your way. Take the next left and cross a bridge spanning the Afon Glaslyn. The road twists and turns while rising gently, and before long fine views open in every direction. When the road takes a sharp right you’ll come to two footpaths. Take the one on the right, which takes you on a wooded track to Hafodydd Brithion. 2 SH639493 Follow the waymarked path through a couple of gates and past an old ruin to a clearing. You have entered a shaggy landscape of rock and heather reminiscent of the Rhinogydd. As you continue towards the gorge of the Afon Llynedno keep an eye out for a stile on your…

Come spring, a truly spectacular bird of prey arrives in our country. Once synonymous with Scotland, the osprey now has a more widespread presence. What’s more, it’s often the lochs and lakes of our mountainous regions that tempt these master fishers to spend the summer with us. Over the years I’ve been lucky enough to see quite a few osprey. But one particular occasion sits proud in my memory, a trip to Glen Affric when I saw the osprey upstream of the loch searching the waters of the river Affric. Flying low over that relatively narrow sliver of water, surrounded by mountains, it looked huge. Surely no fish could escape its gaze? I lost sight of it as it carried on making its way up the glen, proof these birds…

Mark Brennan, Managing Director At Bridgedale we're obsessed with socks. And many of our customers tell us they know that a sock isn't just a sock, and shouldn’t be an afterthought when choosing footwear. Many wish they had known about some of the amazing technical features we put into Bridgedale socks to make sure they fit properly, keep feet dry and make sure they are super comfortable. Bridgedale socks have many amazing technical features, such as Special Fit features to ensure your socks don't move around causing irritation and discomfort when you are walking. Plus... ■ WOMEN’S FIT Women’s socks aren't just the same as men's. They're smaller, with bespoke sizing, and have been specially adapted around the heel and toe areas to allow for a women's slimmer foot and…

■ BORROWDALE, LAKE DISTRICT Stand on top of Cat Bells and you look down upon a landscape of lakes and fells, farms and temperate rainforest. Fragments of it can be found just south of Keswick, across the slopes of Castlerigg, and all the way down the valley toward Stonethwaite and Seathwaite. ■ COED FELINRHYD & LLENNYRCH, ERYRI Just to the north of the remote Rhinogs range a huge area of Atlantic rainforest sweeps the lower slopes of the hill and clothes the sides of a steep ravine. Among the 200 lichens and mosses growing there is one dating back to the Ice Age that grows nowhere else in Wales. ■ HAWESWATER, LAKE DISTRICT The knotty hills on the south-east side of Haweswater are covered (up to about 400m on a…

Lomo Aluminium Walking Poles £31 These are £31 for the pair. That's such an incredible bargain that we could almost leave the review there. But what you get for that £15.50 per pole is astounding. The sturdy aluminium tubes feature flip-lock adjustment (rather than less reliable twist-lock], an extended foam grip and tungsten tips, and are supplied with rubber covers and a selection of baskets for soft ground. They aren't particularly compact, with a minimum length of 63cm, although they'll extend to 135cm and weigh just 255g per pole. Other poles should be nervous! BEST FOR low budget, high-demand hikers Alpkit Alpine Trail Twins £40 One of the issues with poles is that on hard ground they can be jarring on your wrists and arms. Alpkit's Alpine Trail Twins solve…

FITNESS Good fitness, required - lots of rough ground and, surprisingly, the riverside will test your Stamina. TERRAIN Typical fell walk with moorland and woods, many paths indistinct slow-going by the river. NAVIGATION Good track at the start and paths lead towards Harter Fell. But no obvious path off the top and riverside might test your patience. GET THERE Car parking for walkers at High Wallowbarrow. Nearest station Foxfield near Broughton-in-Furness, but no bus connections. EAT & DRINK Visit the traditional Newfield Inn at Seathwaite, north of Wallowbarrow - it’s the only pub for miles around. STAY OVER High Wallowbarrow camping barn, apartments at the Newfield Inn, Turner Hall campsite. BEST MAPS ■ OS Explorer OL6 (1:25k) ■ OS Landranger 96 (1:50k) ■ Harvey Superwalker XT25 Lake District West (1:25k)…

FITNESS There's significant ascent - especially steep at the start - but mostly easy-going. Snow on the ground makes it more arduous. TERRAIN Rough path through woodland and open hill to the rocky summit. Good path on the descent. NAVIGATION Harder on the way up, but paths are generally good and easy to follow. Well flagged On the way down. GET THERE Large well-known pay & display car park at Succoth (get there early on fine weekend days). Arrochar and Tarbet train station is 3km away. EAT & DRINK Ben Arthur Bothy for great views and good pub grub. Cu Mara Bistro & Takeaway for exceptional burgers and pizzas with vegan options. STAY OVER The Village Inn for comfy pub rooms. TwoStones B&B and Cottage for homely rooms. Nearest hostel…

FITNESS High and remote mountain route. Lots of rough going and remote terrain. TERRAIN Steep/ rough ascents/ descents. Paths can be intermittent and muddy. NAVIGATION Route-finding difficult in places. Avoid in mist/ bad weather. GET THERE Parking beside large turning circle on minor road from Ettrick. Turning circle is just before road becomes rough and is marked 'PrivateV'Potburn’ (NT189092). There is no public transport to the start. EAT & DRINK Plenty of options to enjoy in Selkirk, Ettrickbridge and St. Mary’s Loch. STAY OVER Again, your best options are to look in Selkirk, Ettrickbridge and St. Mary's Loch. BEST MAPS ■ OS Explorer 330 (1:25k) ■ OS Landranger 79 (1:50k)…

In association with DAY 2 9 SK250830 Walk south-east down the path from Stanage Edge. Go over the road, through the gate opposite and follow the path across the field, exiting via a gate to a second gate opposite. Ascend the path to Higger Tor, keeping to its eastern edge. Descend the stone stepped promontory and cross the moor to Carl Wark. At the foot of the Iron Age fort, go west across the moor to a stone enclosure. Follow the footpath south to the car park by Surprise View. Go left, crossing the A617 to a holloway. Follow the path to the bridge across Burbage Brook. 10 SK257800 Go right, taking the path through Radley Gorge and exiting via a gate onto a steep track. At the bottom go…

In association with 1 SH684453 From the parking area, keep the stream to your left and follow it to a waterfall. Go through the gate and take the gently rising track into Cwmorthin. Before long, and just past a small hydro scheme, Llyn Cwmorthin comes into view and a slab bridge is crossed before going through a gate. Routefinding hereabouts is simplicity itself, allowing you to soak up the sombre ambience of the cwm and investigate some interesting relics on your way, such as the old chapel, over which two Scots pines stand guard. At the head of the cwm lie more dilapidated buildings and the track rises leftwards, passing another waterfall before arriving at the old Rhosydd guarry. 2 SH665462 Rhosydd is a powerful place where ghosts of the…

WILD SLEEPS THIS MONTH ILL Bell Fairfield Sugar Loaf Pen y Fan Fan Brycheiniog TRAIL 100 BIVVY COUNT 22/100 Calm is a superpower. When the wind is rattling your tent, when you hear strange noises outside, when your fingers are numb from the cold and don’t move properly. When it all seems a bit too much. Stay calm. Sleeping on the mountains has taught me this. Soaked on the evil hill I wake to find water dripping on my head and a puddle in the corner of my tent on Ill Bell. The name means evil hill and it seems fitting. Hiking up with Rich from Trash Tree Trails the day before, he asks: “What it is about camping on top of hills you like?” “The getting away from it…

In his new book, The Lost Rainforests of Britain, Guy Shrubsole treks into high and remote places from Dartmoor to Glen Coe seeking fragments of an ancient woodland. Some are well known. One in particular is so well-trodden that visitors were reportedly asked to walk around rather than through it in order to protect the delicate mosses creeping over the rocks. Others are known only by the landscape’s most intimate visitors. One, Guy says, isn’t marked on any map (yet it has a name, presumably handed, or rather mouthed, from ear to ear over time). These fragments of woodland are as different from a conifer plantation as a supermarket sandwich is from the piled high, gooey tower of leftovers your dad might construct on Boxing Day. This is temperate rainforest,…

PUB QUIZ TRIVIA A: Where is the world's largest national park? B: What are the most northerly and most southerly Munros? C: How many bothies are there on the Isle of Skye? A: Greenland, the Northeast Greenland National Park, Covering 972,000km2 it's bigger than most countries B: Ben Lomond (south) and Ben Hope (north) C: 3 - Camasunary, Ollisdal and the Lookout ■ ANIMAL STATS Common frog Rana temporaria SIZE: 8-13cm long; weighing about 22g, roughly the same as a couple of wet tea bags. LOOKS LIKE: Typically green to brown, yellow or grey with mottled black patches and streaks behind the eye. Skin is smooth and they hop rather than walk like a toad does. On the move at this time of year, as they head down to ponds and lakes in the…

Norway There are almost as many Norwegian brands to be found in the UK as there are Swedish. Along with well known players like Helly Hansen, we're big fans of the clothing produced by Norrona and Aclima. Finland You may be using Finnish gear without knowing it, particularly if you have a Suunto watch on your wrist or compass in your pocket. Clothing brand Reima also produces some excellent kit for kids. Denmark The Danes have a knack for producing superb tents and camping gear, with Oase Outdoor (whose brands include Robens, Outwell and Easy Camp] and Nordisk flying the flag for Denmark's outdoor exports. Iceland While not offering quite as many brands as its mainland cousins, there's some great gear coming out of Iceland, including the wonderful Icewear sweaters…

FLEECE TYPES Gone are the days of fleecy options being limited. Since Polartec invented the first 'polar' fleece - a soft, double-faced polyester fabric - in 1981, there's been an explosion in fleece material innovations. Traditional options include polar fleece, micro-fleece (lightweight and tightly-woven] and high-loft fleece (fluffy and warm]. Modern, high-tech versions include gridded fleece (chequered squares] and Polartec Alpha Direct's fluffy mesh tufts (highly breathable]. MATERIALS polyester, but moderen iterations are more as merino wool; others blend in additional breathability and stretch where you need it Historically fleeces have been made from varied. Some feature natural fibres such Gyntnetic materials such as elastane. Hybrid 'mapped' construction optimising warmth, jackets with a mix of different materials are now more common, with 'zoned' or most. Many fleeces are now made…

FITNESS A moderately demanding day due to distance and ascent involved. TERRAIN Heather moorland, rough and boggy in places; woodland; long valley return is beside rivers, lake and roads. NAVIGATION it's esay to lose sight of the moorland paths in poor visibility, particularly on boggy stretches; straightforward valley retu rn. GET THERE The National Trust pay & display car park at Great Wood, Borrowdale [NY271214] can be reached from Keswick or Rosthwaite via bus 78. EAT & DRINK On the route, you'll find cafes, pubs and hotels (open to non-residents] at Watendlath, Rosthwaite, Grange and, towards the end, along the B5289. STAY OVER Borrowdale has accommodation to suit most budgets - hotels, guesthouses, hostels and campsites. BEST MAPS ■ OS Explorer 0L4 (1:25k) ■ OS Landranger 90 (1:50k) ■ Harvey…

FITNESS Two sections of steep uphill, one above Arthog and the other to the summit of Pared y Cefn Hir. Apart from that you don’t need to be super-tit for this walk. TERRAIN paths and tracks, sometimes indistinct but mostly easy to follow. NAVIGATION One or two sections across open fields and hillside which can be a little confusing, but overall very Straightforward. GET THERE The route starts at Arthog car park. If not driving, bus no 28 and the train stop at Morfa Mawddach, from where you can walk to the start along the estuary. EAT & DRINK The George III in Penmaenpool, or several options in Dolgellau. Fewer options in Fairbourne. STAY OVER Several great B&Bs and hotels in Dolgellau and Barmouth. A few campsites around Dolgellau. BEST…

In association with DAY 3 16 SK279729 From the Three Ships, follow Birchen Edge north then north-east for 650m. Head north-west over the moor and exit via the gate onto the crossroads. Take the road running north-west, for 200m, and go through the first gate on the right. Keep north-west across the moor, aiming forthe upper corner of the top enclosure then follow the footpath along White Edge for 3.9km. 17 SK266784 On White Edge Moor, turn left through the gate and follow the path down to White Edge Lodge. Go left at the lodge wall and walk down the clear track exiting via a gate. Cross the A625 and go right, following the track through the National Trust Longshaw Estate to Longshaw Lodge and the café. Continue along the…

In association with 1 SH700486 From the parking area, turn Left and carefully cross the A470, following it until you reach a gate at the top of the pass. Through the gate is an excellent track on which you will be returning later in the day. Leave the track almost immediately and chart a largely pathless course up onto the col in-between Moel Dyrnogydd and a nameless hump to the south. Upon reaching Llyn Dyrnogydd, traverse its southern shoreline and cross the stile. This is an extremely secluded spot and it’s hard to imagine that the busy A470 is only a few hundred metres away. Follow a line of telegraph poles uphill to another small col and turn right where a path finds its way onto the ridge. The next…

OUR EXPERT SAYS... "A wonderful line to experience the joy of movement and the thrill of exposure on this type of route." In this new series of scramble guides, we’ll be taking a look at the big boys, the tough nuts, the hard cases. We’ll be putting the most famous of the UK’s Grade 3 scrambles under the microscope to see what challenges they offer, and why you might want to take them on. These are the routes that tread the line - or rather, climb the angle - between scrambling and climbing. A mix of mountaineering, cragging, and Alpine techniques are what’s required to tackle these beauties. As such, we’re not suggesting you’ll necessarily want to ‘up and at ’em’ yourself. These are the kinds of routes for which…