As I sit here writing this, it seems every part of my body hurts. There are muscles aching in my legs and bottom that I didn’t even know were there for goodness sake. I suppose these feelings are to be expected when I factor in what I’ve been up to these past couple of days in North Wales. Yesterday was spent completing an amazing hike in The Carneddau area of Snowdonia, but the previous day saw me enjoying a hike and wild camp in The Berwyn Mountains. What an experience.
A Bit About The Berwyns
Unless you have a slightly odd love of pouring over OS maps like I do, then I’m guessing that you’ve probably never heard of the Berwyn Mountains. There is a good reason for this. Located not too far from the lovely town of Llangollen, virtually every car keeps following the A5 all the way to Snowdonia. This is the National Park that everybody talks about and for good reason. What most don’t realise though is that the mountains you seem to enter just as you cross into Wales are well worth exploring too. The landscape is still stunning and it receives a fraction of the visitors. Surely a hike and wild camp in The Berwyn Mountains would be near perfect? It seems that some like Dave Outdoors would certainly agree.
The End Of The Road
The single track lane into the mountains was fun. It was very narrow in places, but the views both side were fabulous and it was quiet being a Tuesday. The same couldn’t be said for the end of the road. This might be a lesser-known part of Wales, but there is an attraction here that seems to draw a fair few visitors. Even before you reach the cafe and parking area at the end, you can both see and hear the impressive Pistyll Rhaeadr waterfall. At 73 metres ( 240 feet ), it is often claimed to be the highest waterfall in Wales. There may actually be a couple slightly higher in reality, but it doesn’t make this place any less of a natural spectacle.
The owner of the cafe does charge £5.00 to leave the car, but I avoided this by parking slightly further down stream for free. Plenty of other people had the same idea, including a Latvian guy I got chatting to. He was touring the UK in his van, which he’d converted into a camper.
Soon I was all packed up and ready for the off. The battle against gravity was about to begin…..
The Journey Skywards
Within five minutes of leaving the car park behind, I had the world to myself. The climbing started right from the off, but proved to be a steady drag, which was kinder on the legs. The ascent was made all the more bearable by the incredible view I was afforded. Right before me was a gorgeous valley, with a cascading stream at the bottom and sheep littering the fern-covered valley sides. Good weather made it even better.
It was an easy enough walk on the well surfaced route up. I did jump out of my skin a couple of times though as the hidden sheep in the ferns suddenly bolted across the path in front of me. Thank goodness there was nobody around to see my reaction each time.
After around an hour of gradually climbing, I made it to Llyn Lluncaws. This is a lake sitting in a beautifully remote location. There are far reaching views from its eastern edge, while the highest mountains in the range create a great backdrop to the west. I enjoyed the location for a few minutes and filled my bottles from a stream one last time. I couldn’t help but feel a little bit of nervousness though as I looked skywards towards where I was heading. It was still a good way up. I gave myself a bit of talking to, thinking about what Micky from Rocky would say. That worked a treat.
Soon I was heading up again and this time it got steeper. It was amazing at how quickly I gained altitude and the views back down towards the lake and other mountains got more and more impressive. The path did become rather precarious at times though. I chose to look straight ahead rather than to my right. There was one heck of a drop off and I didn’t dare think about what the consequences would be if you slipped.
The Summit Is Reached
With sweat pouring off of me and the heart beating quickly, I made it to the summit. That was certainly a good workout. What greeted me was a ridge line. There are three main summits along its length and all are easily accessible without having to do much more climbing. In ascending order in terms of height, there is Cadair Bronwen at 784 metres, Moel Sych at 827 metres and Cadair Berwyn at 830 metres. These are impressive altitudes anywhere in England and Wales, but they are all the more amazing because they aren’t in a national Park.
I walked the ridge and then headed back towards Moel Sych in the hope I’d find a good spot to pitch the tent. It proved tricky with the abundant heather, but I eventually spotted a flattish spot near the summit cairn.
Fighting The Wind
I’d had an upset digestive system on the run up to this trip, but thankfully the subheading above doesn’t refer to that. Being so high up, it was rather windy and I made the mistake of not getting layers on quickly enough. The sweat cooled me even more and I got really cold really quickly. What a school boy error! Thankfully, I had come prepared and stuck on all the clothes I had. My body was toasty in no time and the gloves certainly helped too.
The next job was to get the tent up. I have got pretty speedy recently, but this trip wasn’t to follow that trend. I ended up going fifteen rounds with the wind and used just about every expletive in the swear book. Character building it certainly was.
After nearly forty minutes I had the tent pitched ready for a wild camp. Phew!
Settling In
With the tent finally up, I set about getting dinner ready. This was easily done on the Jet Boil, which has never let me down once. Tonight I enjoyed a tuna sandwich to start and then enjoyed a Wayfayrer meal as part of the main course. These are so easy to cook and are delicious too. Well worth exploring if you want quick and easy meal options. The food was of course washed down with a delicious IPA beer. I was clearly slightly dehydrated as the 6.5% of alcohol went straight to my head. Thankfully I was going nowhere else that evening, so enjoyed the slightly tipsy feeling.
It was maybe the booze that gave me the confidence to strike up a conversation with my neighbours. Soon after the tent was erected, half a dozen sheep decided to come an investigate. They were short on chat, but were all about the eye contact as they just stared at me. I’ve written about my love of sheep before and once again tried to challenge them to a stare off. I lost of course. No matter how much I tried to entertain them, it clearly wasn’t enough. They soon got bored and headed off for yet more eating.
Enjoying The Views
Yes summit camps can be cold and windy, but we all know why we do it. You get a real sense of space being so high and the views aren’t bad either. I was blessed on this hike and wild camp in The Berwyn Mountains. Moel Sych is around 25 miles east of Snowdonia, but tonight I got to enjoy fine views over the entire area. I could make out Snowdon, The Rhinogs and The Carneddau too. I can well imagine that fine views are a bit of a lottery up here. Luckily for me I had the winning ticket tonight.
The sunset was equally stunning, but I had to keep doing bursts of star jumps and other exercises to keep warm. The wind was relentless and it was starting to get to me, even with a beer blanket now on.
A Nippy Night
When the sun set it got very chilly indeed. Thankfully I had plenty of layers and was quite comfortable once all wrapped up. The wind started to ease and it didn’t take me long to drift off. I would probably have slept all the way through if it wasn’t for my bladder. Climbing out of the warmth of the sleeping bag and into the frigid night air was an experience and annoyingly it woke me up. It may have been cold, but the night sky was beautiful. Other than the few twinkling lights I could make out in valley bottoms, it was the heavens that provided the best light show. If it wasn’t so chilly, I would have stayed longer, but alas the sleeping bag and its warmth were calling.
Leave No Trace
By just gone eight in the morning I was all fed, packed away and ready for the off. I surveyed the area to make sure I’d left no trace of being there and then took a slightly different route back to the car. It was tough on the old knees in spots, but the walking poles came in useful.
Fortunately, this route took me near to the top of the falls. I was soon in the water, having a wash and splashing about. The water was so refreshing and like this whole camping experience, I had it to myself.
By just gone ten I was back at the car and chatting to Konstantine from Latvia. I shared some photos and a handshake before loading the car and heading off to my next destination.
In Conclusion……
I loved this trip. A hike and wild camp in The Berwyn Mountains were just what I needed to reset the batteries. It is a stunning area, made all the better by how quiet it is. I didn’t see a single person all the way there and back. This makes it special. You feel like this beautiful place is all yours and because of this, you can more easily become one with the nature around you. I will be back at some point I am sure.
