Hiker’s guide
WINTRY WANDERING
Anna Mcnuff is an adventurer, endurance athlete, speaker, mother and best-selling author. She was named by The Guardian as one of the top female adventurers of our time. Mcnuff adores getting out in the elements for a hike or run, especially in the early part of the winter. ‘I just love when it’s so cold that your face hurts, or when it’s lashing with rain and it’s pitch black and you’ve just got your head torch and your lungs are burning,’ she says. ‘But I also love getting home to a lovely warming meal, the fire blazing and a glass of red wine.’
Be cool with the cold
Whether you’re heading as far afield as the Peak District, Lake District, Exmoor, Snowdonia or the Cairngorms, or having a brisk woodland frolic closer to home, the winter creates its own magic, especially when there’s snow on the ground, or the autumn leaves and pine needles provide that sumptuously springy ground cover. There’s also the added benefit of something deliciously warming to whet your appetite, post-trail walk. ‘On the weekends, I try to seek out spots for hiking that I have seen in the summer, but have a completely different feel in the winter,’ she says.
‘It doesn’t have to be too far from home. I like to do a hike and end the hike at a pub for a Sunday lunch or seek out a new cool coffee shop along a canal and do a hike from that coffee shop bookended back to it after for some delicious food and drink.’
Light your way
What are Mcnuff’s kit essentials for heading out on a hike or off road?
‘On the weekends, I try to seek out spots for hiking that I have seen in the summer, but have a completely different feel in the winter’
‘I can’t do without my headtorch on the pitch-black trails. And my Buff, which is like a scarf that acts as a head band but it also goes around your neck as a snood, so it keeps your head warm, plus keeps my head torch in place! Another thing I never leave the house without is my hi-vis clothing; such as a jacket with some reflective stuff on so that cars [and other hikers] can see me and I’m safe when I’m out there pounding the trails,’ she says.
Step it up
But what if you’ve got zero time and you’ve committed to doing the Three Peaks Challenge in the summer months with a friend. Just keep varying your routes, basking in the elements and ‘don’t overthink things’, urges Mcnuff. And when in doubt? ‘Run stairs,’ says Abbie Mood at backpacker.com. ‘Find the biggest building in your town or city, and run the steps a couple days a week. This is probably one of the best ways to simulate hiking up a steep mountain trail.’
Don’t forget, the winter months are an ideal time to get you into great condition for all your upcoming summer challenges, be it a marathon, sportive or a hiking challenge. So why not wrap up, text a friend and embrace the changing season with some endorphin-inducing exercise? Sounds good to us!