{"id":41992,"date":"2024-02-23T06:54:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T06:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=41992"},"modified":"2024-02-22T17:05:28","modified_gmt":"2024-02-22T17:05:28","slug":"machynlleth-to-tre-ddol-wild-camping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/02\/machynlleth-to-tre-ddol-wild-camping\/","title":{"rendered":"Machynlleth to Tre Ddol – Wild Camping"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With a new rucksack<\/a> to try out, and what looked like a break in the weather I decided to head off on a wild-camping adventure on Monday. I don’t officially work on Mondays or Tuesdays, but often end up doing so, especially if I’m at home. A couple of days in the hills would mean I wouldn’t be working either which has to be a good thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I set off to Tre Ddol and left the camper van there and caught the bus to Machynlleth. I had my new Deuter Air Contact Ultra 50 backpack with me. I had modified it somewhat to fit me better and wanted to try it out. It was fully laden with all of the gear I’ll be taking on the West Highland Way and enough food for 2-3 days as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Machynlleth to Pistyll y Llyn<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I was soon in Machynlleth and after a quick stop to buy some things for lunch I headed off towards the Golf Course and then headed steeply up the hill towards Glanmerin Lake. It was a cool and overcast day and the recent rains meant that everything underfoot was sodden. I was soon tromping through flood waters and ankle-deep mud. At the top of the hill I made a little detour in order to bag the summit of Ffridd Rhiwlwyfen (278 m). I wasn’t sure if I made it as the actual summit was deep in thick, impenetrable forest, but I did manage to get close enough for it to register.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I retraced my steps a little and then walked around the hill on paths that I was familiar with from running here. I headed back up and once again made another little detour to bag the summit of Ffridd Cae-crydd (272 m). The sun came out briefly while I was here and I had some nice views of the surrounding countryside. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next I headed SE along a track I hadn’t been on before and soon headed off the track a little to get another summit at Bryn Mawr (367 m). It was still very wet and muddy everywhere, but it was a nice enough day for walking and my backpack felt good. At times I could see the huge waterfall of Pistyll y Llyn. I was heading towards it and hoping to camp at the top of it tonight. <\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"The<\/a>
The waterfall of Pistyll y Llyn in the distance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I aimed for the forest where there was some shelter from the wind and stopped for lunch at the bottom of ‘The Chute’. This is a mountain biking trail that I have ridden a number of times in the past. I knew that it was a steep descent coming the other way so I’d now have a steep climb ahead of me. I lingered a little over lunch, and admired the thick carpets of moss everywhere but soon got going again.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Colourful<\/a>
Colourful Mosses<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The climb up the Chute was indeed a long one but it wasn’t too bad. The clouds were rolling in by now and as I made my way off the path towards the summit of Pen y Darren (529 m) I was shrouded in mist. The terrain here with knee-high tussocky grass and boggy ground was a little more difficult too. My original plan had been to head from here towards the waterfall of Pistyll y Llyn and camp for the night. I was still early though so instead I thought I’d bag a few more summits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A few more Summits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I therefore headed south, away from my final destination and wandered up and down the summits of Creigiau Bwlch Hyddgen (506 m), Foel Uchaf (522 m), Foel Grafiau (528 m) and Foel Fras (529 m). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cloudy<\/a><\/figure><\/div>
\"Views<\/a><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

With those under my belt I’d now walked quite a way so headed back towards Pistyll y Llyn. I made my way through the forest and then out through a very wet path towards the falls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pistyll y Llyn<\/strong>\u00a0is one of the tallest\u00a0waterfalls\u00a0in Wales and in fact the United Kingdom. It is formed where the\u00a0River Llyfnant\u00a0falls from\u00a0Llyn Penrhaeadr\u00a0for approximately 160 metres into\u00a0Cwm Rhaeadr. There two waterfalls, and a series of cascades. The tallest waterfall is a single horsetail drop of 91\u00a0m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I scrambled around in the difficult terrain at the top of the falls and then found what looked like a perfect area of flat grass to camp on. I started to set my tent up only to find that the reason there was none of the crazily uneven tussocks of Molinia grass in this small area was because it was solid rock. There was no way I was getting my tent pegs in there. I went off looking elsewhere. I waded through the bog, crossed the Llyfnant River and eventually found a spot on the other side of the falls. It looked fine, but once I was set up it wasn’t quite as flat as I had thought.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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