I'm not sure whether it's right to post this here as there wasn't a
great deal of walking on my latest trip.
I took Friday afternoon off work and left the house at about 2:15pm to
catch a bus and three trains to the Dolgarrog Halt on the Llandudno to
Blaenau Ffestiniog line. I was carrying my 35 litre rucksack
containing everything I needed for a night under the stars.
My intention had been to reach the Dulyn bothy before nightfall but my
planning had been wildly optimistic. I think I would have had to walk
about 6 miles to the bothy, but I can't have done more than three
before I found I couldn't see well enough to read the lay of the land.
Also, I spent a fair bit of time going in and out of wooded areas and
I kept tripping over roots (and barbed wire; hence the hole in my
Paramo trousers).
Eventually I decided that it was pointless pushing on and that I
should use the last available light to choose a flatish bit of ground,
facing East for the morning sun, out of sight of the unknown buildings
I could see just below me.
This is where bivi bags are brilliant. Within 2 minutes my bijou
residence was complete. I had taken my down sleeping bag, as it has a
small pack size, and I had packed it inside the bivi bag so that there
was no chance of it getting wet whilst taking it out of my rucksack.
A quick shake and it was spread out on my roll-mat.
Unfortunately, I had not found any decent looking drinking water on my
walk in. This was slightly ironic as there's a flipping hydro power
station at Dolgarrog and I kept bumping into a HUGE black pipeline
presumably carrying water down to the power station.
I only had 500ml of water to last the evening so I did not have a hot
meal or drink, I just sipped the water and had an early night. I had
a weird dream that I kept filling my mug with cool fresh water and
drinking it, then refilling the mug and drinking it. I woke up, just
after that dream, with a slight thirst but resisted the temptation to
gulp down all my water and just had another sip. Luckily I did not
have to go far, in the morning, before I found a trustworthy water
supply - otherwise I would have had to head back to Dolgarrog village.
I awoke a couple of times in the night and was amazed at how many
stars there were. It was hard to pick out the constellations as there
were just so many bright stars, I couldn't identify the few I see at
home. I saw a few shooting stars which made me want to keep my eyes
open all night......but I drifted off again.
This is only the second time I have used my bivi bag and I was very
pleased with it. Last time I used it I was cold and I also suffered
from terrible condensation in the bag. This time, I was careful to
keep my mouth outside the bag (so as not to breath on the inside of
the bag) and I also chose a site that was slightly raised and had a
good breeze blowing over it. Maybe that made a difference, or maybe I
was just lucky with the weather this time.
I awoke at ten past six and it was still night-time, but when I woke
again at 7am it was dawn and I could see perfectly. I could see the
rock and the mole-hill that had been my bed.
By 7:25 I was on the move and looking for water. Breakfast (at about
9:30) was a lazy affair sitting on a rocky hillock, in the sun,
drinking hot chocolate and wishing I could stay there all day. I
decided that I'd visit the bothy some other time, so there was no need
to rush now.
I hadn't allowed much spare time to find my way back to Dolgarrog Halt
and I was glad of my GPS on occasion. My Outdoor Leisure Snowdonia
map does not appear to show the pipe-line at all so I could not use it
as a navigation feature. I'll have to see if the Explorer map does
have it marked on.
I was back home by 3:30pm having completed my aim of having a quick
dash to the hills and a night "camping". Total distance: About 11
miles.
Judith