Notes from Big Trails
The journal.
Field notes, kit thoughts, and stories from long-distance trails across the UK and Europe. Written on the trail, mostly.
The Smell Is Not a Problem
Beth Langley has fastpacked the Tour du Mont Blanc twice. The second time she had company, better legs and one t-shirt fewer.
More from the journal.
The Shore Looked Easier
Kit Birks walked 5,000 miles from the top of Norway to Greece. The day that nearly ended it began with a shortcut.
The Long Way Home
Elsey Davis ran the whole edge of Cornwall and back to Land's End in six days. The record was never really the point.
The Bench, the Stream and the Fox
Seven days, an eleven-kilo pack and a first go at wild camping. Rick Clark on what the Pembrokeshire coast does to an ultra runner who assumed it would be easy.
One Pole, Seven Days
Lisa Herbert ran the Coast to Coast alone in a week, and the day that nearly broke her is the one she'd go back for tomorrow.
Never Quit at Night
Seven days, eight passes, sixteen kilos each and not another walker for two days. Bodil and Ross on the Alpamayo Circuit, and the night they nearly called it.
Be Gentle, Relax, Enjoy
Scott Williams ran 380 kilometres across the Swiss Alps in six and a half days. The bit he remembers most is a chocolate bar at two in the morning.
Advice From Other Hikers: The Tour du Mont Blanc
Tour du Mont Blanc finishers on the climbing that kilometres conceal, the kit you can leave behind, refuge money and why a cable car is not cheating.
Advice From Other Hikers: The South Downs Way
South Downs Way finishers on finding water, protecting your feet from hard chalk and flint, travelling light and timing the final walk into Eastbourne.
Advice From Other Hikers: The Coast to Coast
Coast to Coast finishers on footwear, light packs, rest days, unpredictable food stops and the small practical choices that make a crossing.
Advice From Other Hikers: The West Highland Way
We asked our Facebook community of West Highland Way finishers one question: what single piece of advice would you give somebody setting off tomorrow?
7 Tips for Your First Solo Adventure
Nobody to consult with in tricky moments, nobody to blame when you get lost, nobody else's snacks to share. Elise Downing — who ran 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain, mostly alone — on how to stay safe and get the most out of going it alone.
Two Sticks of Rock
Elise Downing ran the Ridgeway in three days. Two friends tried to walk the same distances. It went about as well as last time.
Two Sisters, One More Day
Sarah and Ros walk a trail together every year — arriving from opposite ends of the country to spend one week together, all the planning sorted. This year it was the South Downs Way. On day five, they walked a mile with Bill Bailey.
Out of Season
Chris Townsend walked the GR5 in autumn, with a tarp on his back and the huts closing behind him.
Nobody Else to Blame
Elise Downing once ran 5,000 miles around the coast of Britain, mostly alone. Kirsty Reade's idea of a perfect evening is a meal by herself and a book in bed by nine. Between them, they have a lot to say about why solo adventures are worth it — and what actually keeps you safe out there.
Just Keep Moving North
Mel Sykes ran 268 miles along the Pennine Way in January. She ran mostly in the dark, through deep snow, hallucinating tigers. Eighteen months earlier she'd had brain surgery. At Hadrian's Wall, on day three, the sun came out and she knew she was going to finish.
Sixty Times Around The TMB
Kingsley Jones has completed the Tour du Mont Blanc 60 times. He has seen Kilian Jornet lap his guided groups on the way up to Champex. He knows the hut guardians' extended families. He still finds unexpected solitude. He is also very clear about what you should leave at home.
Just Gets Better the Further South You Go
Ally Beaven and his partner Karen walked 340 kilometres through California's Sierra Nevada in two weeks. It involved shipping their food six weeks in advance, seeing a bear and, every morning, a surprising trip highlight for Ally.
The Hidden Gem Behind the Matterhorn
Craig Dickson walked a 150-kilometre circuit around the Monte Rosa Massif with his wife Daisy in July. On day two, they sheltered under a boulder in a lightning storm while Daisy's hair stood up on her head. Still, they kept going.
Someone Has to Carry the Bottles Out
Richard Newsome has been looking after bothies on the West Highland Way for 12 years. This once meant carrying 42 glass bottles four and a half miles back to his car. He moved to Scotland because of the West Highland Way and has never once walked into a bothy and thought about quitting.
No Path, No Signs, No Cairns
Simon Oxley spent 23 days wild camping through California's Sierra Nevada on a route with no path, no signposts, and no cairns. He cut his toothbrush in half before he left yet still carried 17 kilograms. He never felt close to being broken by it.
He Couldn't Kneel on the Rocks
Sara and Marco walked the West Highland Way in June — their first long trail, seven days, almost nobody else around. On day two, by a quiet stretch of Loch Lomond, Marco said he couldn't really kneel on the rocks, and showed her the ring anyway.
Finding quiet in the East Neuk
A slow afternoon between Elie and Crail, where the wind drops and the coastline lets you catch up with yourself.
Slow North With Watercolours
Stephen Passmore failed art school, became an engineer, and walked the Cape Wrath Trail for 31 days with one paintbrush in his pack.
Past the M6
Jessica Mather walked the Dales Way in four days last summer. She's still thinking about a man fishing in his eighties and a seventeen-year-old with a sketchbook.
I ran 5,000 miles round Britain with £1,000, a tent and a bottle of aftershave
A decade after running 5,000 miles round the British coast, Wayne still thinks about the night he tried to run to the moon. Guest name: Wayne Russell
The Trail Provides
Magnus Ross finished the Cape Wrath Trail nine days before we spoke. He has thoughts about bogs, bothies, golden eagles — and why solitude is more energising than it sounds.
Twelve Thousand Miles Along the Edge
Martyn Howe walked the entire coast of England. All 2,400 miles of it, in sections, over the course of years. He came back with a book, a map, and a lot to say about kestrels, tide bells, and what the Wash does to you when you least expect it.
Forty Years to Tengboche
Andy Dickson had wanted to see Everest for most of his adult life. When he finally stood on fresh snow above Tengboche Monastery and watched the sun hit the summit, he was wearing a tea cosy hat he'd bought from a roadside vendor, and he had not slept well because of the mice. Just how he’d dreamed it.
A Hardback and the GR221
Al and Richard have been married for 37 years. The GR221 in Mallorca was their first trail together. One of them carried a hardback Frederick Forsyth novel the entire way. Essential.
Nothing to Pull Your Attention
Hannah Campbell ran 450 kilometres from the Bavarian Alps to the edge of the Dolomites, solo, in two weeks, through two days of rain and nine days of unexpected snow. Perhaps most importantly, she had the best hot chocolate of her life at 3,000 metres.
Just Follow the Acorn
Martyn Howe has walked 19 of Britain's national trails. In this conversation he talks about the rhythm of life on the trail, a three-legged dog he met on the Pennine Way, and why the first step is the only one that's actually difficult.
Germany to Italy, One Step at a Time
Andy Dixon wanted one-on-one time with his son. Scott wanted to show off his basic German. Walking 120 kilometres through the Austrian Alps from Germany to Italy, including the longest day either of them has ever had on a trail, was the perfect solution.
The One Thing I Have
Morgan De Silva walked sections of the South West Coast Path when his mental health needed it most — and found, somewhere near Sidmouth, the most remote place he'd encountered anywhere in the UK.
All My Chocolate
Jess Day walked the length of New Zealand for her thirtieth birthday — three thousand kilometres of beach, mountain and weather, broken up by trail families and trail magic and the sort of small honest moments long walks tend to produce. Rob Savin sits down with her to talk about it.
You Can't Plan for Stanton
Jennifer Stevens walked the Cotswold Way in August: 102 miles, seven days, 30-degree heat. She came back talking about shin-kicking tournaments, a field of unexpectedly friendly sheep, and why tame trails can still surprise you.
Who Knew It Was There?
The South Hams Way is barely a year old — a hundred-mile circular route through South Devon that links Dartmoor, the South West Coast Path, and a string of small towns most visitors drive straight past. Claire lives on the route. She's been walking it in sections, and she keeps finding places she never knew existed.
Four Years South
Ryel Kestano has been walking the GR5 in stages with his children for four years — starting near Rotterdam when his son was twelve, working south through the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. This is about long-distance trails, but more than that it's about what happens when you give young people something genuinely difficult to do.
Why we walk in shoulder season
May and September are the honest months on the Scottish coast. Fewer people, better light, and the weather you were probably going to get anyway.
Three Islands, One Week, No Plan
Janie Oates and three friends ran across three Canary Islands in a week, hopping between them by ferry. No set route, no firm distance, no plan beyond wondering, can we get from here to there in a day?
The Bakery in Callander
Pawel Cymbalista ran the Rob Roy Way in under twelve hours. He nearly stopped for a pastry.
One More Out of It
Jennifer Stevens has walked the Cumbria Way twice. She knew she'd be back before she'd even reached Carlisle.
A Mouse, A Storm and the Great Glen Way
Jennifer Stevens walked the Great Glen Way alone in late September — wild camping, reading geology boards, and getting caught in the kind of weather Scotland reserves for people who check their phone too late. She also found a mouse in her tent. It smelled of strawberries.
Up, Down, Up, Down
Marijke flew from Montana to the Dolomites on the strength of a wedding she wasn't actually invited to. What followed was six days of the Alta Via 1 — steep, exposed, relentless — with her best friend, a lot of grappa, and a perspective on being outside that only comes from having had reasons not to take it for granted.
The Only Thing You Know for Sure
Juls Stodel packed her life into a storage unit, walked away from her flat, and spent a night in every open Mountain Bothies Association shelter in Britain. The result? 104 bothies, a sledge that didn't work, a Yorkshireman she recognised from a postcard, and a conversation about what it means to build a life worth fighting for.
The Lake Came First
Stephen and Richard from the Big Trail Adventures team booked the Alta Via 1 a month out, accepted whatever dormitory beds remained, and carried only five kilos of gear each. What they found was a trail that exceeded every expectation — and a German couple in their mid-seventies who hadn't booked anything at all.
Something in the Air
Nicola Whitbread walked the Anglesey Coast Path solo, sleeping on clifftop ledges, watching the tide creep to within four feet of her sleeping bag, and talking to the army about her laundry. She'd describe the island as magical. She's not wrong.
The Route Most People Walk Past
A quieter corner of the French Alps, injury recovery and a sheepdog that definitely wasn't playing. Elise Downing and her dad Dave take Rob through Le Tour des Fiz — the hut-to-hut route most people walk straight past on their way to the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Keep the Sea on Your Left
Sophie McCarthy walked the Pembrokeshire Coast Path solo. 186 miles, mostly camping, carrying everything on her back. She had one very dramatic fall, told a badger to “go away”, and sat in a public toilet for sixty pence just to get out of the rain. And guess what - she'd do it again in a heartbeat.
190 Miles. One Hour's Sleep. No Regrets.
Kirsty Reade ran 190 miles across England — non-stop. Here's what she noticed along the way.
The View from 60 Laps
The Path to Joy
Walking the John Muir Trail with Ally Beaven
Walking the Cape Wrath Trail with Magnus Ross
Update Blisters, Joy, and a Three-Legged Dog: Martyn Howe on Britain’s National Trails
The Toughest Trail in America?
Jennifer’s First Big Trail: The West Highland Way
Jennifer Stevens had never walked a long-distance trail when she shouldered an 18-kilogram pack and set off alone into the Scottish Highlands. What she found on the West Highland Way was something no video had prepared her for.
Following Roman Footsteps through Albania
