Stephen and Richard Ross from Big Trail Adventures walked the Alta Via 1 in mid-September, one of Europe’s most celebrated high routes across the Dolomites.

In this episode, we cover:

• What the Alta Via 1 actually is — and why it’s known as a “high route”

• How hard it really is, day to day

• Planning late versus booking far in advance

• What it’s like staying in Italian mountain refuges (food, showers, dorms, sleep)

• How busy the trail felt — and when it suddenly didn’t

• Carrying light: why 5kg made the experience better

• Managing long, hot days with big climbs

• Swimming in lakes and rivers to reset mid-route

• Who you meet on the trail — from first-timers to seasoned alpinists

• How the Alta Via compares to more familiar Alpine routes

• Whether this trip changed how they think about future European trails

This is an honest conversation about walking in the Dolomites — what surprised them, what worked, and what they’d do differently next time.

In this episode, Rob sits down with Jennifer Stevens (Tiny Pine Outdoors) to discuss her solo journey across the Cotswold Way in the summer of 2024. Stretching 102 miles from Chipping Campden to the Roman city of Bath , the trail offers a unique blend of "picture-postcard" scenery and deep, ancient history.

Key Discussion Points:

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  The Reality of the Terrain: Why the "gentle rolling hills" can be more physically demanding than you think.

  
  

• Historical Immersion: Engaging with Neolithic long barrows, 17th-century market halls, and even the local tradition of "shin-kicking".

  
  

  Solo Hiking & Safety: Jennifer’s experience navigating the trail solo and using public transport to reach the start.

• Accommodation: Why Jennifer opted for Shepherd’s huts and camping pods over wild camping on this specific route.

  
  

• Trail Magic: A magical sunset in a field of friendly sheep and the "otherworldly" silence of Stanton.

  
  

• Advice for Beginners: Why the Cotswold Way is the perfect entry point for multi-day hiking.

  
  

Links Mentioned:

• Watch Jennifer’s journey on the Tiny Pine Outdoors YouTube channel.

  
  

  Do this trip for yourself at Big Trail Adventures

Hannah Campbell set out to run a long section of the Munich-to-Venice trail — known as Der Traumpfad, or The Dreamway — travelling solo from the Bavarian Alps, through Austria, and into the Italian Dolomites.

Over 15 days, Hannah covered around 450km, averaging roughly 30km per day, staying almost exclusively in mountain huts and carrying everything she needed in a 20-litre pack.

What she expected to be a late-summer journey turned into something very different, with early snow, freezing temperatures, and days spent navigating deep alpine conditions.

In this episode, we talk about:

* Why Hannah chose the Munich-to-Dolomites route* What the first few kilometres felt like — and how quickly conditions changed* How the landscape, culture and hut life shifted as she moved east* Life in mountain huts: shared meals, late arrivals* Dealing with snow and weather delays* Carrying minimal kit — and the one non-outdoor item she wouldn’t be without* Being told repeatedly that what she was doing was “irresponsible” — and trusting her own judgement* The strange sensory overload of finishing the run and stepping straight into Venice* Why this journey mattered to her personally, without defining her by it

This is a grounded, thoughtful conversation about long solo journeys — not as endurance spectacles, but as lived experiences shaped by weather, people, rhythm and perspective.

In this episode of Notes from Big Trails, Rob speaks with Mel Sykes about completing the winter Spine Race — a 268-mile, non-stop race along the Pennine Way in January.

Mel talks about:

• What makes the winter Spine fundamentally different from long summer ultras

• Moving for days in darkness and learning to manage sleep deprivation

• Hallucinations, emotional swings, and the strange logic of extreme fatigue

• The Pennine Way as a place — hostile, boring, beautiful, and absorbing

• Small acts of kindness that land differently when you’re exhausted

• Why reaching Hadrian’s Wall and Cross Fell mattered so much

• The reality of finishing: relief, exhaustion, and delayed pride

• What events like this teach you — and what they’re often misunderstood to be about

This is a conversation about endurance, attention, and keeping going.

Read more about Mel's Spine Race here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gz2e12387o

https://www.baldhiker.com/the-spine-race-adventures/

Plan your own recce with Big Trail Adventures.

In this episode we talk to Richard Newsome — Mountain Bothies Association volunteer, responsible for Rohoish Bothy and involved in wider MBA work across the West Highland Way.

What we cover:

• Why bothies create such a strong emotional pull for walkers

• What actually happens on a maintenance visit

• The strangest things Richard has found behind a bothy door

• Vandalism, rubbish, winter conditions — and why none of it has put him off

• Memorable nights: Burns Night in a bothy and strangers who become friends

• The story of how the West Highland Way led Richard to move to Scotland and meet his wife

• The one thing every first-time bothy visitor should know

Mentioned:

• Rowchoish Bothy

• Strathcailleach (Cape Wrath)

• Greg’s Hut (Cross Fell, Pennine Way)

• Mountain Bothies Association (MBA)

A father and son take on the Alpine Crossing of the E5 — the section that starts in Germany, crosses Austria, and finishes in Italy. It’s six days of demanding terrain, high passes, long descents and huge scenery. In this conversation, Andy and Scott talk through:

• What the E5 actually is (and why most people only walk the Alpine bit)

• Their tough but brilliant first two days: steep climbs, vast snowfields, and the famous Zams Gorge

• Staying in the Bella Vista refuge and crossing into Italy on foot

• Their favourite moment on the whole route – a narrow ridge on day two with a 360° view of the Alps

Trail:
The E5 Alpine Crossing — a 120–200 km (depending how many cable cars/buses you dodge) high-level route from Oberstdorf in Germany to Vernagt/Vernago in Italy, crossing deep valleys, snowfields, exposed gorges and Tyrolean villages.

Rob chats with adventurer and writer Elise Downing and her dad Dave about their five-day trip around the Tour des Fiz, a quiet alpine loop near Chamonix. They talk about choosing this as Dave’s first big outing after hip surgery, the joy of slower days, navigating tiny French huts, run-ins with sheepdogs, gear they always carry, and why this lesser-known trail is such a good entry point for hut-to-hut hiking.

• What and where the Tour des Fiz actually is
• Why they chose this as a comeback adventure
• Slow, short days and why they loved the change of pace
• The difference between this trail and the Tour du Mont Blanc
• Hut life: tiny dorms, friendly hosts, and endless cheese
• Wildlife highlights (marmots, ibex, the world’s angriest sheepdog)
• Walking as a father and daughter — silence, pace, and faff etiquette
• What they carried and the kit they swear by
• Elise’s wider philosophy on accessible adventure
• Why this route is ideal for beginners to hut-to-hut hiking
• Their standout moments — and the one they never want to relive

What We Cover

In this episode Rob talks to Juls Stodel, a trustee for the Mountain Bothies Association.

It's a rich conversation. Here's what we cover.

• How finishing the Wales Coast Path led to giving up her flat and starting a 15-month journey through Britain’s bothies

• Why she avoided a “pure foot” approach and mixed walking with hitchhiking and buses to prioritise experience over mileage

• The postcard system she invented — and the unexpected friendship it sparked with a stranger from Skye

• A chaotic three-day slog to Greg’s Hut involving a £9 children’s sled, deep snow, fog and type-two fun at its finest

• What a typical bothy night actually feels like, from quiet evenings to 2am arrivals

• The emotional comfort of seeing a gable end after a brutal day in the weather

• How bothies preserve the history of ordinary people — crofters, workers, families — and why that matters

• The role of the Mountain Bothies Association and the unseen work involved in keeping the doors open for everyone

• The Bothy Code, and why litter is currently the biggest threat to the system

• Small kindnesses and unforgettable encounters: stew-carrying ex-army lads, shared candles, and strangers becoming lifelong friends

• The thin line between adventure and exhaustion — and how to tell whether you're being brave or being stupid

• Living out of a backpack for years, and how it changes your sense of what “stuff” really matters

• Schizophrenia, survival, and the deeper emotional journey behind choosing a life of simplicity and meaning outdoors

• Advice for your first bothy: where to go, what to bring, and how to ease into it with confidence

• Juls’ favourite bothy of all — the magical Guìrdil on the Isle of Rùm

  
  

  Find out more at https://www.mountainbothies.org.uk