An Impromptu Adventure in the Welsh Wilderness
Having failed to take my time on the West Highland Way, and with feet and toes somewhat recovered I headed off into the local hills at the weekend. To keep my distances down I didn’t start until mid afternoon on Saturday and planned to be home by midday on Sunday.
I didn’t go far, just up into the wild Welsh wilderness from the Dylife Mountain Road. I parked up and wandered down towards Llyn Glaslyn and then up to the summit of Foel Fadian (564 m). I paused for a while to take in the spectacular views from here. It feels as though the whole of Mid Wales is laid out below you in a tapestry of greens and browns framed by the grey mountains of Snowdonia to the north.
A group of people seemed to be following me up the flank of the hill so I headed off-piste and back to the track and continued on past the serene-looking Llyn Glaslyn and on to Llyn Cwn-byr where geese floated on the waters. I stopped at the far end to take some photos of the calm waters and the lone tree on a tiny island. It couldn’t have been more peaceful.
I crossed the footbridge over the outfall and watched the peaty waters tumbling down the valley to become the Afon Dulas. I then climbed up the track avoiding the boggy, muddy puddles as best I could before heading off the track and steeply uphill to the summit of Clipyn Du (582 m), the highest point for the day. It was dead quiet up here, there was no wind to rustle the heather and grasses and for a while even the skylarks, whose song had accompanied me throughout the afternoon, fell silent.
My plan now was to head back to Llyn Cwn-byr and onto Llyn Bugeilyn to find a suitable camping spot. First though, I took a bit of a detour towards the opposite ridge to see if there was a more direct route. There probably was but it soon got very wet and boggy so with shoes squelching I headed back to the track and back to Plan ‘A’.
Just before Llyn Cwn-byr I caught up with a couple of bikepackers who were struggling with a gate and a muddy patch. We stopped to chat for a while and then headed off on our separate ways. I investigated a few potential camp spots around Llyn Cwn-byr but decided to head on towards Llyn Bugeilyn as originally intended.
The areas by the bridge and little boathouse were far too wet so I ended up on a gorgeous grassy ledge just above the lake and sheltered behind by a rocky outcrop.
Even here it was a little difficult to find a flat spot in amongst the tussocky grass.
I set my tent up, collected water from the lake, let Anna know where I was and then cooked my dinner – nothing fancy tonight just a couple of pot noodles!! I washed the mud off my feet, looked after them as best I could and read some of my book.
I then climbed to the top of the rocky outcrop behind me and watched the sunset with some amazing colours as the day faded.
These geese on the lake were particularly rowdy and seemed to be fighting over the best spot right in the middle. Every 10 minutes one would come swooping in, honking loudly and land on the water, skimming across it to attack the one in prime position. Honking and flapping would ensue and one would then fly off making just as much of a racket. 10 minutes later it would happen all over again.
It wasn’t completely dark at 10pm when I settled into my quilt as the moon shone on the now completely still waters of the lake and stars began to appear in the sky. The geese continued with their antics as darkness fell!
I got up around midnight and was surprised to find I had been enveloped by a thick mist. I couldn’t see more than a few feet but the moonlight cast a hazy light over everything. This made no difference to the honking geese either. On they went with their raucous behaviour!!
I did get a bit of sleep now and then. I don’t know if the geese calmed down or I just slept through their nonsense. The mist had cleared and the temperatures had dropped below freezing. My water was frozen solid and the tent was coated with a layer of ice both outside and in.
I took my time in the morning. Had a porridge breakfast, a couple of cups of coffee and wiped my tent off once the ice had thawed a little. The air was calm and the waters of Llyn Bugeilyn completely still to start with.
Once the sun broke above the hills there was a light breeze so the last bit of moisture on the tent soon vanished and I packed it all away dry.
I had a few summits to target today so headed off to the first, Llechwedd Crin (539 m) just above my camp spot. There were no paths up here and barely a sheep track to follow through the bogs and tussocks. The actual ‘summit’ of these rounded hills was difficult to determine as well so I wandered around a little at the top hoping to ‘bag’ it. I descended back to the track and after surveying the routes to the summit on the other side of Bugeilyn I decided to take the NWly side of the lake rather than the very boggy looking SE side. Both would be wet but this looked better.
I picked my way through the bog, jumped the stream, negotiated more bog then headed up into the heather-covered hillside towards the summit. It was tough going but I made it. Again the summit was hard to determine as the hilltop of Banc Bugeilyn was a large, relatively flat expanse of peat bog. I actually missed this one as I should have gone a little further south – maybe that’s why my original plan had been to approach from that end.
I was now miles from any tracks or paths, so surveyed the route ahead and took what looked like the driest and easiest route into the valley and back up to the peak of Esgair Greolen (501 m). This one was more obvious and I hit it spot on before turning left and heading to another little peak called Bryn yr Wyn (500 m) at the edge of the forestry plantation.
That was kind of it for the day. Now, I just had to negotiate a few more streams and boggy patches before contouring around the hill to the old mines at Nant Ddu where I could find a track and head back towards Glaslyn and then back to the road and the waiting car.
A lovely little impromptu adventure in the wilds of Wales.
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I think you are trying to recapture your youth of the icicles on the inside of your bedroom windows ! Although im sure the hills are a lot more peaceful than life at Frayne Road .