{"id":43399,"date":"2024-08-06T09:31:56","date_gmt":"2024-08-06T08:31:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/?p=43399"},"modified":"2024-08-06T09:32:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-06T08:32:04","slug":"wild-camping-with-morgan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alananna.co.uk\/blog\/2024\/08\/wild-camping-with-morgan\/","title":{"rendered":"Wild Camping with Morgan"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now that Morgan is home for a few months, we won\u2019t be heading out to Canada to visit him. This means that we won\u2019t be hiking along the Juan de Fuca Trail on Vancouver Island\u2019s west coast either. A shame as I was looking forward to a few nights camping with the bears! It also means that the new tent I bought and got Morgan to take delivery of in Canada won\u2019t be getting used either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Time therefore for a new plan and a possible camping trip with Morgan somewhere in Europe instead. This is likely to be a little more mountainous and a little more remote than the Juan Fuca trail. So, rather than give Morgan his first taste of wild camping on a somewhat difficult, fairly committed trail we decided to head out into the local hills for a quick overnighter on Sunday.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Test Hike<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It was a good opportunity to see how Morgan felt hiking and carrying a heavier pack, to test some kit for him and to try out the new tent. I didn\u2019t expect the hiking with a heavy pack to be an issue, he is after all a fit, lean, 6-foot-tall, 19 year old these days. He should run rings around his somewhat podgy, heart-attack survivor, 53-year-old dad. However, I think that about most people but it\u2019s not usually the case, so I thought I;d better check that he could cope with the exertions of walking up a hill with a backpack on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We loaded up our bags, drove to Nant y Moch and set off into the hills under grey skies. I had a few camping spots I wanted to check out and had ideas for campsites later in the day if these didn\u2019t work out. I also had a definite spot in my mind if the others weren\u2019t suitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We tromped over the hills, snacking on blueberries as we went. We saw a few MX riders tearing up the countryside but soon left them behind and saw no one else. We started bush-whacking around Llyn Conach and stopped there for lunch. Once off the trail it was tough going through thick waist high vegetation and boggy ground. Over lunch we decided against continuing on through such ground and instead headed back to a path with the intention of either finding a different route to a summit or heading off somewhere else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An Old Geocache<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I knew there\u2019d be no other easy option to the summit so we soon found ourselves at Anglers Retreat. I remembered hiding a geocache<\/a> here back in 2007 so when I spotted its location we went to see if it was still there. Sure enough, it was!! It was a little difficult to extract as it was in a tree hollow and the tree had grown around it. We got it out though and took a look at the logbook which only had two finds in it – one from 2017 and the most recent one from 2020!<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"An<\/a>
An Old Geocache<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

We returned it to its hiding hole and then explored around the cabin at Angler’s retreat before heading off around the lake to walk along the dam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Perfect Camp Spot<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We were now looking for suitable camping spots as I\u2019d identified some potential places not far from here on the map. We spotted a farmer watching us from the cow sheds at Angler\u2019s Retreat as we crossed the dam, so would be looking for:<\/p>\n\n\n\n