A Gran Sasso reconnaissance

A Gran Sasso reconnaissance

I was dimly aware of the Apennine mountains running down the spine of peninsula Italy, but I’d never given them much thought. I discovered the Gran Sasso massif is a hill walkers’ paradise, with attainable mountains even in the depths of winter.

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Backpacking in the Black Mount: a high level route for midges

Backpacking in the Black Mount: a high level route for midges

The most talked about subject in Britain at the moment isn’t the upcoming London Olympics, but the crap weather we’ve been having. First it was the wettest April on record, then it was the wettest May on record. I happened

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Backpacker’s Britain: walking guides for people who like it tough

Backpacker’s Britain: walking guides for people who like it tough

I’d like to pay tribute to a man called Graham Uney. I’ve never met him and I probably never will, but thanks to his Backpacker’s Britain walking guides I’ve had many an enjoyable weekend in the UK’s hills, in places

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The joys and perils of off-piste walking

The joys and perils of off-piste walking

While sitting in my tent the other morning deciding which Scottish mountain to tackle that day, I came across a couple of passages in Cameron McNeish’s book The Munros which struck me as out of place. “It’s interesting that the

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