A short backpack in the northern Arans with the objective of a pitch by Creiglyn Dyfi, designed for the brief daylight hours approaching the winter solstice and the delicate condition of my foot, still recovering from plantar fasciitis (it’s going to be a long haul with this).
We had promised ourselves a pitch in this excellent location for some time and this was a perfect opportunity: a weekday in December and a very high probablilty of solitude. The whole area below the main ridge is seldom trodden even at the best of times, but the lake could be a magnet for the very few who explore these parts. The visibility was excellent for the most part and the clear frosty morning by the lakeside made an idyllic pitch.
The recent atrociously wet weather and its consequences further north in Cumbria had been headline news for the past month, and although Wales escaped those epic floods, it still received a fair old deluge and the ground rated an 8 or 9 on the squelchometer at times.
9 Comments
Good to see you are on the hills Geoff. Fantastic photos as always and I am checking your Arans routes out.
Looks good. Lovely pitch. Hope your foot improves.
Martin,
Out at last, it seems like an age. The Arans routes have a fair bit of repetition but it’s all grand stuff.
Robin,
A fantastic pitch location, especially with the clear dawn.
Indeed a cracking spot for a wild camp, when there on a warm sunny Sat in Sept we had it all to ourselves. I dont think you need have worry on a cold Dec night! As usual a great set of photies and trip report.
James,
I remembered your pitch earlier in the year as we set up the tent, wondering why it took us so long to get around to camping in this lovely spot.
Good to see you out and about Geoff. Hope the foot is improving. A nice set of photos - not an area I know.
Thanks Phil,
It was a relief to get out and the pictures were rather better than anticipated.
I’m a bit late here. A lovely place to camp Geoff. I pitched my then brand new Akto for the very first time on that same spot on a very pleasant weekend in September 2005. I didn’t get much sleep though as there was a bleeting lamb stuck on the cliff face somewhere. Its mother, rather annoyingly, answered its bleets all night long. It’s funny how a near sleepless night never seems to bother me on a backpack as I always sleep like a log on the next night. It’s a very steep descent down that ramp though, very tough on my knees as I recall.
Steve,
It’s an excellent camping location, there was evidence of others thinking the same.
Ah, the bleating lamb and mother scenario, it’s quite familiar!. Bad luck to have it continue all night though, it’s always been over in a few minutes on our camps.
The ramp is pretty steep - we veered rightwards just over half way down towards the stream where the ground is even steeper, arriving wobbly-kneed at the bottom.