The Cambrian Mountains are about as far removed as you can get from the hectic life we are so used to in the south east. They cover a huge area and are often referred to as ‘The Backbone Of Wales’. These mountains are also known as The Green Desert. It certainly hasn’t earned this desert status through lack of rain. The main reason is the total lack of infrastructure and people. Take a look at this part of the country on a map and there is pretty much nothing. Only a handful of roads cross them and make for epic drives themselves. Where else in England and Wales can you drive a single track road for twenty miles and pass less than five vehicles?

      A view of a very remote phone box on the road from Tregaron.

On this trip we would be exploring two of the bothies that can be found in the region. We wild camped outside the Lluest Cwmbach over in The Elan Valley three weeks before and were so taken with the area that we couldn’t wait to come back.  This time we would be visiting the Moel Prysgau bothy and if not deterred from our stay here, The Claerddu Bothy on the second night.

  Lou insisted on an early departure, which proved to be an excellent idea. Just over five hours after leaving a flat Hertfordshire, we arrived in this stunning part of Wales and our adventure began.

The Journey To The bothy- Paths, Fords and Bog

We were both excited as my Sandero climbed the mountain road out of Tregaron. A look on a map shows a narrow lane marked with chevrons pretty much all along its twenty mile length. Many gradients reach 16% with the steepest part being the aptly named Devil’s Staircase, which tops out at 25%. I’ve driven it twice now and both times almost hear The Shining theme playing in my head as I picture their drive through The Rockies to reach The Overlook Hotel. You really feel like you’ve left civilisation behind as any reception on your phone soon vanishes as do other people.

The Devil’s Staircase. You have to drive or even cycle it to really appreciate its gradient.

  Studying an OS map, we plotted our route and found the closest parking spot to the bothy. As we sorted our equipment by the car, we watched red kites soar above us and water cascade down the steep slopes of the mountain on the other side of the valley. We estimated the route to the bothy to be around three miles, so banked on walking for an hour or so. The six fords marked on the map would make our route tougher though.

   It became apparent pretty quickly that we’d both struggle carrying our equipment. I had a good 8kg of wood and coal in my arms in addition to the pack on my back. My arms were begging for me to drop the weight within the first kilometre. Louise’s main issue was her pack not quite fitting correctly due to her petite frame.It slowed our pace and it was very hard work, but she never thought about turning around.  With determination almost written on her face, we pushed on knowing that every step was taking us closer to our destination.

  Despite the weight issues, the first three fords were easy to cross in our waterproof boots, which spurred us on. We weren’t so fortunate at the fourth though. This river was deeper and faster flowing and would be impossible to cross without completely soaking our shoes.  Luckily, I had packed a pair of those funny shoes you wear at the beach to help keep your feet safe on sharp rocks. I used these to make several trips backwards and forwards, carrying all of our equipment. The bottom was uneven and it was tough staying upright in places.  Louise didn’t have any such shoes and my size 10’s would be pretty useless on her size 4’s. She waded across barefoot, a walking pole holding her steady. Luckily she avoided a cold dunk and I was very relieved when she made it across without incident.

   The rest of the journey was tough going. Water flooded much of the path and we ended up battling bog and mud as dusk crept ever closer.  Thankfully at around 5.30pm we saw the chimney of the bothy in the distance. It was such a welcome relief after nearly two hours of wading, trekking and sloshing over and through the terrain!

Our Evening At The Bothy

  Now we were safe, we then turned our next thought as to whether we’d have company for the evening. Being a Tuesday and so far from civilisation, we thought the chances were high. As we neared it, a covered hole nearly swallowed my leg. I was very lucky not to break anything, especially in such a remote setting. Feeling relieved, we crossed the bridge over the stream that flowed out front and pushed open the door to explore our home for the night. What we found was a lovely clean interior that looked cosier than the building perhaps suggested from the outside. It was bright with white-washed walls and there was good sleeping space on two raised platforms. Best of all we were all alone.

We set to unpacking and settling in before I started the fire to warm the place up. Once done, we went out to enjoy our new garden. Surrounding the bothy on three sides were coniferous forests with hills beyond them. It felt great to be so isolated, especially considering the busy towns we both live in. All we could hear was the wind in the trees and the rushing of mountain water in the stream. Bliss!

 Once darkness fell, we enjoyed dinner on the Jet Boil and sat by the crackling fire sipping red wine. As basic as the bothy was, it was very cosy in the fire light and actually rather romantic. The flames became our tv set and we had great fun watching them flicker away.

  We both slept well, perhaps too well in my instance as Louise told me I’d been making some weird noises in my sleep. That must have been the booze!  We took our time enjoying breakfast and packing away before the thought of the long walk back drifted to the forefront of our brains once more. We wouldn’t have as much weight to carry now with food eaten and fuel all burned, but we still weren’t overjoyed at the thought of tackling that ford once again.

An Unexpected Journey Back

  Our journey back though was to reveal the unexpected. We had been walking for only a matter of a few minutes and were preparing ourselves for our first ford crossing, when a party of off- road vehicles came into view. They stopped on the other side of the river and started to inspect the route across.  It was such a relief to see people on a route we found so hard.  Once tackled, the man in the first vehicle offered us a lift, which we very happily accepted. The party we discovered were from Suffolk Search and Rescue and were in the area for a bit of off-roading.

Our driver and hero was called Chris and we spent the next half an hour or so enjoying an off-roading experience that we never expected. He spoke about his job and how he likes to enjoy his hobby responsibly. Sadly, others can give it a very bad name. The vehicle made short work of the challenging terrain and the bumps and rocking side to side appeared to be a match made in heaven for Lou as she was loving it. On reaching that ominous ford though that we had struggled with the previous afternoon, it was chilling to hear Chris point at a cross next to the bank that we had missed, where he told us of a poor woman who had rolled her vehicle in high water and drowned. I think he generally though we were slightly mad for tackling it on foot.

  Chris dropped us close to our car and we handed him some money to buy a beer or two as a way of saying thanks for saving our legs. We became quickly reacquainted though as Lou had found a sheep with its head stuck in the wire fence just around the corner. She stayed and cared for it, while I went to see if they had any tools to help. One guy came out with an angle grinder! We decided that simple cutters would work best. With part of the fence cut, the sheep ran off, but turned its head to bah before it did. Louise is certain it was saying thanks and I for one agree with her. A great end to our first bothy stay.

   Sadly, this isn’t the exact sheep Louise rescued as it didn’t want its picture taken. Our one looked very similar though and was given the name Sheepy. We’ve seen hundreds of these animals now and they usually earn this title quickly by Louise, but if they’re extra special, then they earn the prestigious title of being a ‘ big boy sheep!’ She has even made a song up about them. That’s one of the many things that make me think she is slightly mad.