escaping
104 CalmMoment.com
T
he Indian Summer is over, the clocks have
changed, and your woolly socks are on until
spring. But don’t pack your tent away just
yet – the time when autumn slips into winter is one
of the loveliest in which to get exploring.
Once you embrace getting outside in autumn,
it may quickly become your favourite season of all.
The weather has mellowed (no more baking hot
days trying to avoid sunburn), the trees have
turned to russet and gold – and all the kids are
back to school, leaving the UK’s best campsites,
hiking trails, lakes and beaches half-empty.
Autumn is the perfect time to head to your
favourite campsite. While many bigger sites are
only open from April to September, a surprising
number are open year-round. Camping is also one
of the best ways to enjoy the show as woodlands
deck themselves out in colour – pitch your tent
under glorious foliage in a forest or bring a camping
hammock to string up between two sturdy trees.
Camping in the Forest (campingintheforest.co.uk)
and Cool Camping (coolcamping.com) are great
places to find shady spots.
If there’s a chill in the air when you’re setting up,
then there’s no better excuse to start a campfire.
On the dog days of summer, the heat from a baking
hot wood fire can be overkill, but on crisp autumn
evenings there’s nothing nicer than a crackling
flame to warm the cockles. Check your chosen
campsite allows fires, and stock up on kindling
and logs on the way. You could even cook dinner
over the fire – try baking potatoes in the embers
or roasting kebabs or veggies on a grill. Don’t forget
toasted marshmallows and hot chocolate – you’ll
be cosy as anything under the stars.
There’s an extra incentive to camp in autumn
if you love travelling to Scotland’s magnificent
Highlands and islands. In summer you’ll have
come to dread one tiny but highly irritating local
inhabitant – the midge. These biting insects are
busiest on warm, wind-free days in summer, and
are usually active from May to early September.
Bring your tent to the Scottish mountains (whereCosy up outdoors
Cooler weather needn’t leave you trapped inside –
explore the natural world at its best as autumn slips into winterwild camping is also legal) in November instead,
to camp and hike in some of the UK’s wildest places
without feeling like you’re on the lunch menu.
My favourite reason to get outside on a walk
in late autumn? Foraging. Berry season may be
ending but there is still a rich bounty to be found
in November. Search out sweet chestnuts to roast,
chanterelles to cook up with pasta, wood sorrel to
add to salads and, my favourite, jewel-coloured sloe
berries, which are perfect made into a sloe gin for
Christmas. Sloe gin is the ideal beginner forager’s
project, as it’s so simple to make – pop 5 00 g washed
and pricked sloes and 250 g sugar in one litre of gin
and shake daily for a week, then leave for a month
before drinking. There’s nothing like a rich red
bottle of homemade liqueur sitting in your larder
to make you love sweater weather.
You don’t have to limit your adventures to land
either. September is the month when the water
is warmest in Britain’s oceans, rivers and lakes –
it may have cooled down by the time November
rolls around but it’s still an average of 1 4°C in
southern England, the same as in June. An all-
seasons wetsuit is one of the best purchases any
would-be water baby can make, as it lets you dip in
for a wild swim year-round without feeling the cold
bite too much. Team it with a warm fleece changing
robe so you can hop in and out of your clothes
without catching a chill and you might just find that
your summer love affair with the ocean
or your local river can continue all year, giving you
a much needed physical and mental boost as the
darker days of winter approach.Sian Lewis is a travel writer
and adventurer. Sian blogs at
thegirloutdoors.co.uk and her book,
The Girl Outdoors: The Wild Girl’s Guide
To Adventure, Travel and Wellbeing
(Conway, £ 1 4. 99 ) is out now.Words: Sian Lewis / Illustration: Esther Curtis