trail magazine september 2012

The Scottish hill-bagger’s route to rule them all!

BRITAIN’S BEST-SELLING HILLWALKING MAGAZINE

13 routes + mapsBen Nevis Arenig Fach Beinn Eighe

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Seeking solitude on the Black Mountain

LAKE DISTRICT Six hills Wainwright missed!

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MOUNTAINEERING LEGENDS Part 1

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cover sep12 sw.indd 1 03/08/2012 13:39

RIP Roger Payne 10Fond recollections of “a man so full of life”

Porters’ kit on its way 12Plus: the man who modernised Mallory’s jacket

Dream peak 14Haystacks, the fi nal resting place of Alfred Wainwright’s ashes, and a fi ne wild camp spot

OMM map pouch

Dream peak 14Haystacks, the fi nal resting place of Alfred Wainwright’s ashes, and a fi ne wild camp spot

CONTENTS Where this month’s issue will take you...

Going light 44Tips for saving weight on long distance routes – without sacrifi cing comfort

Ask Trail 46Repelling midges; waterproofi ng a jacket; tidying up rucksack contents; getting the wife walking; British brands; sack liner or dry-bag?

Trail talk 16 The world of hillwalking – according to you lot

Subscribe and save! 32Fancy an Aquapac case for your smartphone? Sign up for Trail today and we’ll send you one!

Why we love... 138... sheep, denizens of wild and woolly hill terrain

10 Munros in 1 weekend 18Conquering the many peaks of Glen Shiel

Brecon Beacons 34The wild open spaces of the Black Mountain

Lost hills of Lakeland 50Exploring six hills Wainwright ignored

Joe Brown 58A rare interview with a modest mountaineer

A DV E N T U R ESS K I L L SO U T T H E R E

p18

p58

SEPTEMBER 2012 TRAIL 9

Two brothers are bowled over by Glen Shiel’s Five Sisters. TOM BAILEY

Trail goes west, to The Black Mountain.MATTHEW ROBERTS

The historic Kangchenjunga summit expedition of 1955 and

Joe Brown today (right, aged 81).RGS & SIMON INGRAM

p34

MAT

THEW

RO

BERT

S

Y O U R T R A I LKeep your smartphone dry with this subscription gift: page 32.

AW wasn’t here, but Trail was! Page 50.

G E A RWin Fjällräven gear! 57Four fantastic tents and tarps to be won

Gear news 66The must-have kit that’s coming soon

Hilleberg Anjan 3 68A new lightweight 3-person tent, revealed Multi-activity jackets 70For all that stuff you get up to on the hill

20-30 litre rucksacks 80Sub-kilo offerings for fast ’n’ light action

Mapping software 90 Create, capture, download and share routes Quick! Check out our

multi-activity jackets...

Where this month’s issue will take you...

Lake District 105Route 1 Hart & Dove CragsTwo peaks and a lakeside stroll, with views

Peak District 107Route 2 Grindsbrook CloughA rocky ascent to whet your scrambling appetite

Snowdonia 109Route 3 Arenig FachA relatively short trip that feels like a big day out

Snowdonia 111Route 4 Moel HebogA monster of a mini mountain is up for grabs

North Highlands 113Route 5 Beinn EigheThe awe-inspiring Torridon Hills await your boots

West Highlands 115Route 6 Ben NevisA sneaky way up Britain’s highest peak

West Highland Way 117Route 7 Crianlarich to...Route 8 ...Bridge of Orchy to...Route 9 ... Kinlochleven to Fort WIlliam90+ miles is a tall order for a three days, so our fi rst Ultimate Weekend brings you this long distance route’s impressive northern half

Ennerdale 123Route 10 PillarRoute 11 High StileRoute 12 Haycock Fancy a long weekend walking the Lake District? Why not head to this unspoilt valley, home to one of the UK’s longest-running wild land projects

Snowdonia 129Route 13 Northern Carneddau round Our Classic Route takes you through curvy mountains that puncture the myth that Snowdonia has no true wilderness

R O U T ES


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OUT THERE

14 TRAIL SEPTEMBER 2012 SEPTEMBER 2012 TRAIL 15

HAYSTACKSLAKE DISTRICTIt’s not the prettiest, nor the grandest, nor particularly the most accessible. No – the thing that sets Haystacks apart from the 213 other Wainwright peaks in the Lake District is its summit. Rare for a Lake District mountain, the south-east top of 597m Haystacks contains a perfect little lake, off which sunsets frequently bounce to stunning effect. It’s down to Innominate Tarn that Haystacks has served as a wild camp, a postcard subject and – most notably – resting place for Alfred Wainwright himself. Prophetically (and correctly) he wrote in The Western Fells of outcrops that ‘will be grittier still when the author’s ashes are scattered here.’ Sniff.

DO IT! ›› TURN TO PAGE 123

september 2012 Trail 15

The summit of Haystacks, with Pillar and Ennerdale Water (left) and

High Crag and Buttermere (right). WWW.STUART-HODGSON.COM

dream peak

18 Trail september 2012 september 2012 Trail 19

Where? Glen Shiel, ScotlandWhat? Munro ticks

Going west above Glen Shiel with Skye in the distance.

Your starter for ten


Where? Glen Shiel, ScotlandWhat? Munro ticks

Words ben weeks photographs tom bailey

Your starter for ten

Want to get your Munro tally off to

a flying start? How does ten in

two days sound?

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Where? The Lake DistrictWhat? Hills Wainwright missed

WORDS PHOEBE SMITH PHOTOGRAPHS MATTHEW ROBERTS

T H E L O S T H I L L S O F

LAKELANDWe’re familiar with the 214 hills Alfred Wainwright wrote

of in his guidebooks... but what about the ones he ignored? We go in search of the fells that escaped AW's radar…


Where? The Lake DistrictWhat? Hills Wainwright missed

Unlisted and uncrowded. Introducing two cracking non-Wainwrights: Brown

Pike and Buck Pike.


Where? Brecon Beacons, WalesWhat? A wander westwards

Looking down upon Llyn y Fan Fach with the peaks of the Black Mountain stretching into the distance.

WILD OPEN

SPACES


Where? Brecon Beacons, WalesWhat? A wander westwards

WILD OPEN

SPACESThe Brecon Beacons stretch far beyond the famous peaks at their heart. Join Trail as we head west to explore the Black Mountain...

WORDS DAN ASPEL PHOTOGRAPHS MATTHEW ROBERTS


WORDS AND PORTRAIT SIMON INGRAM

ORDINARY JOE

MOUNTAIN LEGENDS PART 1

id you hear the one about Joe Brown? You know, the one about him sliding down the Snowdon railway, riding a � at stone like a skateboard. Or the one about the mountains of mail from all over the world addressed to simply ’� e Human Fly, UK’. About the plumber from Manchester who would become the � rst person to climb

the most di� cult peak in the world. � e one about the kid who began climbing armed with a length of sash washing line his mother had deemed ’too weak’ to hang clothes on.

“Hang on,” begins 81-year-old Joe Brown, wagging a corrective � nger. “It was never a washing line.” No? “No. Back in the forties, around roadworks they used to put these iron pins into the ground around the hole, and between them, there would be a rope. We’d pinch that.”

As far as ripping the foundations from beneath a legend go, this is a pretty pedantic point. But while we’re at it, we’ll correct another myth: Brown wasn’t the ’climbing plumber’ of legend – he was a builder. And while justly famous for his extraordinary rock-climbing ability, you may be surprised to hear that Joe Brown did an awful lot else besides. It’s just that – like all bona � de folk heroes – he doesn’t really talk about it.

� is interview is one of the few you’ll read with Brown. Rarer still, this November he will take to the stage at the Royal Geographical Society to recount his part in one of the key mountain climbs in history: the � rst ascent of Kangchenjunga, third highest mountain in the world, in 1955.

D

NO

�


ORDINARY JOE

WORDS DAN ASPEL PHOTOGRAPHS MATTHEW ROBERTS

MOUNTAIN LEGENDS PART 1

Rock-climbing legend, adventurer, Kangchenjunga-summiteer: Joe Brown at 81, June 2012.

70 Trail september 2012 september 2012 Trail 71

group test

what we testedKarrimor X-Lite HeLium £120Marmot mica £120Fjällräven Back £160Berghaus VeLum £200Mountain Equipment FireFoX £200The North Face apparition anorak £225Haglöfs endo £230Montane air £250


multi-activity jackets

test graham thompsonphotographs tom Bailey

multi-activity

jacketsA lightweight jacket is ideal for

moving fast across the hills whether you are walking, running or biking, but it also needs to be functional…

buyer’s guide

Six on-screen options for creating, capturing, downloading and sharing routes...

test ben weeks

Digital mappingThe use of GPS (Global Positioning

System) receivers to help walkers find their way across the

hills is very popular, while the addition of digital mapping makes these devices even easier to use. These days you’re far more likely to see somebody peering at

a screen in the palm of their hand than battling in the breeze with a full-sized paper map. Depending on the software, digital mapping lets you create, capture, download and share routes – both your own and those of others.

As with all software, digital mapping

is dependent on compatible systems and devices. Plus, some are designed for use out on the hill while others allow you to create or browse routes before you leave the house. These are six of the current leaders in digital mapping…

90 Trail september 2012


digital mappingja

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es p

ort

al

The ViewRanger app turns your smartphone into a GPS navigator for considerably less cash than a dedicated GPS receiver. Available for most Apple, Android and Symbian operating systems, the app is free to download and includes unlimited access to web maps and satellite photos from Bing and OpenStreetMap.

These maps can be used with your smartphone’s GPS receiver for real-time navigation, or they can be saved to your phone for use offline. More detailed mapping is available from the online ViewRanger Shop, and prices start from £10 for 1:50,000 for all 16 National Parks or 1:25,000 mapping of

one park of your choice. Other options include the ability to pick your own areas of OS map to download, plus international mapping for parts of Europe, America and New Zealand. The My.Viewranger community webpage allows you to create, share and download routes with other ViewRanger users.

Memory-Map’s software can be installed on your computer via direct download or by purchasing a CD-ROM complete with map credits. It’s only PC-compatible, which is frustrating for Mac users. Alternatively, install the Memory-Map App straight to your GPS-enabled smartphone. All that’s required then

is to simply purchase mapping by the square, tailoring the area covered to your needs. The app is licensed for use on up to five devices including PC, laptop, iPhone, iPad, Android phones and Memory-Map Adventurer GPS units. Maps can be shared between devices, allowing you create a route on your PC and

transfer it to your smartphone, or log a track on your Adventurer GPS and upload it to your laptop. Memory-Map’s TrailZilla site also enables you to share and purchase routes with other members of the community. Plus, you get free access to downloadable Trail routes with a subscription to the mag (see page 32)!

Computer mapping nogpS reCeiver mapping noSmartphone mapping iPhone, Android and SymbianWebSite www.viewranger.com

at a glance

Computer mapping PC onlygpS reCeiver mapping yesSmartphone mapping iPhone, Android and WindowsWebSite www.memory-map.co.uk

at a glance

ViewRangeR From £10

MeMoRy-Map From £25

best for mobile

users

best for multiple

devices

It should be impossible to overlook a mountain that’s as dominant as Moel Hebog, yet many still do. Not Tom Hutton though...!

The huge cleft in Moel yr Ogof from Bwlch Meillionen.

�

Moel Hebog is an imposing beast, towering above the bustling streets of the picturesque village of Beddgelert

with a presence that belies its modest 782m. And it’s this modest height that keeps the crowds away, especially among such exalted company as Snowdon, which is just a few kilometres up the valley. But Hebog is a great peak to climb, either as an out-and-back from Beddgelert, or, better still, as a circular outing that tracks along its north-west ridge taking in the outlying tops of Moel yr Ogof and Moel Lefn too. The ridge loses a lot of height before it eventually dissects the infamous Nantlle Ridge, in the col beneath Trum y Ddysgl. But the circuit leaves it before that, and breaks east into the Beddgelert Forest, close to the atmospheric remnants of the once huge Princess Quarry. Ironically it’s in the forest that the navigation starts to get difficult, and the final leg will involve a lot more map-reading than the outward one. But the paths and tracks are clear and easy to follow, so there’s not too much that can go wrong. The final stretch is also pretty flat: a delight on hill-weary legs.

Moel Hebog tom

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The final steep pull onto Moel Hebog.

11.3km/7 milessnowdonia route 4A monster

of a mini mountain!

STRENUOUSNESSNAVIGATION

TECHNICALITYTRAIL 100 COUNT

■■■■■

■■■■■

■■■■■

1

In association with

To get this route and maps on your phone now, go to

www.viewranger.com/trailRoute code TRL0278

Distance 11.3km (7 miles)

Total ascent 970m

Time 6-7 hours

Start/finish Beddgelert, SH584483

Nearest town Beddgelert

Terrain rough and often faint paths over high mountains; some scree, some bog, some untracked sections

Maps OS Landranger (1:50,000) 115; OS Explorer (1:25,000) OL17; Harvey Superwalker (1:25,000) Snowdonia Snowdon

Accommodation camping near Beddgelert; Youth Hostel at Bryn Gwynant 0845 371 9108; B&B in the Saracen’s Head in Beddgelert (01766) 890223

Public transport the nearest railway station is Betws-y-Coed: National Rail Enquiries 08457 484950; and the 97a bus runs from there to Beddgelert: www.traveline-cymru.info

Guidebooks Day Walks in Snowdonia by Tom Hutton, pb Vertebrate Graphics

Tourist info Beddgelert (01766) 890615 (Easter – Oct) or Betws-y-Coed (all year round) (01690) 710426

1

2

Manchester

Middlesbrough

Kendal

Skipton

Sheffield

PeterboroughBirmingham

Derby

Betws-y-Coed

Pembroke

Brecon

Bristol

Plymouth

Poole

Bodmin

Minehead

BrightonSouthampton

Oxford

Berwick-upon-Tweed

Newcastle-upon-Tyne

EdinburghGlasgow

Aberdeen

Inverness

Fort William

Oban

MallaigInverie

Shiel Bridge

Ullapool

Braemar

Killarney

TraleeDingle

KenmareCork

Waterford

Dublin

Belfast

Londonderry

Donegal

Hay-on-Wye

Llangollen

IngletonBentham

Lancaster

Stranraer

Ballantrae

Ayr

Dumfries

Portree

MULL

ISLE OF SKYE

ISLE OF LEWIS

Lairg

Thurso

Invergarry

Aviemore

Newton Stewart

Jedburgh

Leeds

York

Northallerton

Barmouth

RhylConway

Cardigan

Aberystwyth

SwanseaCardiff

Gloucester

Exeter

ISLE OF ARRAN

JURA

ISLAY

HARRIS

Bodelwyddan

Liverpool

Carlisle

Penrith

Windermere

Keswick

SH584483 Park on the A4085, north of the

bridge. There’s usually space on the road but there’s also a small car park. Walk up the hill and take a drive on the left (private road). Cross a bridge and pass a farm, then keep straight ahead at a junction of paths. Continue to where the path swings left to more farm buildings, and here bear right over a step stile onto a footpath. Follow this to a marker post that directs you steeply uphill. Continue up through a couple of fields and out onto the open hillside. It then leads along a pronounced rib before losing itself in a field of scree. Keep ahead through this and you’ll eventually reach a small plateau where you need to bear left to climb the last few easy metres to the trig point.

SH565469 With the first and highest summit in

the bag, you’ve reason to celebrate, but there’s still a long way to go so no room for complacency yet. Turn right with the wall to your left and enjoy a long descent all the way down into Bwlch Meillionen. This is usually quite wet and you’ll be glad you wore gaiters. Keep ahead to cross the saddle then climb steeply onto Moel yr Ogof. Pass through a deep crevice and where the path splits, keep ahead on the fainter track that directly up onto the rocky summit. This has great views east towards Snowdon.

SH556478 From the cairn, keep straight

ahead into another col, this one a little easier than the last, and then climb again, this time to the summit of Moel Lefn. The way off Moel Lefn can be difficult to locate and there’s some very steep ground around so care is needed. Keep


GRADIENT PROFILE

METRESABOVE

SEALEVEL

140012001000800600400200

MILESKILOMETRES

Start Moel Hebog Moel yr Ogof Hafod Ruffydd Finish

00

1 2 3 4 5

11

22

33

44

55

66

77

8 9 10 11

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09

ahead until you reach the top of the steeper section, then bear half-left to drop to a clear path that then cuts rightwards along the edge of the steep north-west escarpment. Follow this down and then around to the left, where it crosses Bwlch Sais, before dropping steeply again to a wall by the disused Princess Quarry. Cross a stile and follow the wall steeply down the edge of forest, where you’ll meet a footpath that leads right into the trees.

SH553496 Keep straight ahead to walk

down through the wood to a junction with a forest track. Turn left here and then, after 100m, turn right onto a narrow path that leads back into the woods (cross a wooden bridge after 50m). Follow this to another junction and turn right to walk out of the forest and over a boggy clearing before going back into the forest. Keep straight ahead to a forest track and turn left. Now follow this to a junction and keep right. Continue around a hairpin and turn

5

Looking across to Craig Cwm Silyn and the Nantlle Ridge

from Cwm Trwsgl near point 4.

right at another junction. Fifty metres further on, turn left onto a narrow track that leads through an open area to a wall (stone steps). Cross this and continue to a stile at the bottom of the field.

SH570495 Turn right onto a broad track and

follow this towards the Afon Meillionen, where it swings left. Immediately after this, bear right to cross the river and

keep ahead along the edge of the next field to join a track in front of the farm of Meillionen. Drop to the drive and turn right to pass in front of the farm. Go through a narrow gate and bear half left to cross the field to steps that lead back into the woods. Go half left to a junction with a forest track and turn right. Follow this to a sharp right-hand bend and turn left onto a footpath. Cross a stream and continue alongside a wall until you eventually reach a junction with the path you walked in on. Bear left to retrace your earlier steps back to Beddgelert.

3

1

2

3

45

11.3km/7 milessnowdonia4 route

always take a map out with you on the hill

facts


ow we all know what you’re thinking… but do stop that sniggering at the back, because we’re going to tell you some perfectly wholesome reasons why we love sheep.

The first is obvious: wool. While it may not be the industry it once was, our ancestors’ ancestors have been warding off the cold with woollen garments since the time of… their ancestors. Wonderful wool traps countless impossibly small pockets of air that means soothing warmth for all (except the shorn sheep, of course). And it soaks up plenty of moisture before it fails, too, keeping on working even when wet. Sadly it’s been uneconomical to bother shearing most sheep for some time now… except merinos. Looking like a cross between a llama and an Irish water spaniel, these highly prized creatures – mainly farmed down under (New Zealand) – produce wool of a sublime texture that won’t pong, and wicks away moisture like nobody’s business. Best of all, its thin but strong construction negates the single most unpleasant aspect of wool: it itches like sandpaper pants filled with fleas.

Secondly, sheep keep the countryside in order, efficiently gnashing their way through overambitious weeds and grasslands. Without the perpetual gurgling of their four-

chambered stomachs and near-constant ruminating on nibbled cud we’d be overrun by greenery on our temperate, rainy isle.

Our third reason: we respect them. Or we should. Sheep stay out in the hills, whatever the weather. While most of us flip up our hoods and flee for the pub at the sign of a squall, they stoically endure the kind of conditions we can’t abide. What’s more, they walk delicately along impossibly steep slopes, pioneering new tracks and paths that only the most sure-footed of scramblers dare follow.

Our final reasons, inevitably, are a little more tender. So feel free now to start sniggering at the back, because a lot of us in the hillwalking world feel a genuine affection for sheep. Is it because they remind us (a little) of dogs? Is it because of the wee bleating, bouncing lambs that fling themselves willy-nilly across our hillsides in the summer months? Or perhaps it’s because there’s something enormously reassuring about them. They’re always there. In abundance. The UN estimates suggest there’ll be well over two billion of them globally by 2050. In fact there are just over 14m of them in the UK alone – enough for each family of four to adopt one as a pet. Which is a lovely thought.

Oh, and they’re delicious with mint sauce. T

Why we love...

Tell us what you love at www.lfto.com and Facebook and we may celebrate the things you adore in a future issue of Trail...

walkers’ wonders

...sheep

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trail magazine september 2012

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