Monthly Archives: December 2016

Moelwyn’s navigation and wild camping

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Moelwyn’s navigation and wild camping

I had been asked to provide some one to one navigation training for a youth worker who is working toward their Countryside leader award, so we decided on a trip to North Wales and the Moelwyn’s. It was going to be a two day trip; we travelled up on a Friday and stayed the night at the Herts of Snowdonia centre, the weather was a wet and dreary so staying in the dry was good. We were up early on Saturday and the weather was still bit poor, so I decided that we would go out for breakfast – a tactical faff, as the weather was forecast to improve as the day went on.

After breakfast we drove and parked up at Geli Igo, just as the rain finished and the cloud began to lift. With boots on and rucksacks ready, we headed off, after a brief walk along the road we made a steep ascent roughly following a stream with Shaz leading the way ticking off features as we went, and identifying correctly our first objective, a col below Cnight. we had a brief talk about the the skills used and the next objective that Shaz was going to take us to.

We began the initially steep ascent of Cnight via the broad west ridge, identifying subtle features to practice relocation and commenting on how the weather was improving and the views were getting better. It wasn’t long until we came to the slope leading up the main ridge. We moved slowly as Shaz was finding this a little tough, but with only a few words of encouragement we had reached a flat area below the final steep section where we stopped to admire the view and have some food.

There were now three options to the summit from here; one involving climbing, the other Scrambling and the final walking. Shaz was keen on scrambling, so we set off up the gully moving fluidly upwards, the enjoyment was soon over however, and we were back to walking the last steep part before arriving at the windy summit.

We descended a little to the north to get out of the wind and had a spot of lunch enjoying the views and the welsh sunshine. We had a brief discussion about the route ahead and some features that Shaz was going to take us to, before heading off to the camp spot later in the day. We continued along the ridge, over the north top and descended the slope on the other side, looking for interesting contour features on the way down to a the col near Llyn yr Adar. The weather now was very good apart from the strong wind and the views over towards Snowdon were excellent.

On reaching the col we did a few exercises locating contour features and  getting away from paths, after this we started heading towards our camp spot at Llyn Clogwyn brith. The ground towards our campsite was a little boggy in places, but all the worst parts were easily avoidable and we chatted as we went, commenting on the lack of people we had seen during the day (we had only seen one group on the top of Cnight).

To reach the edge of the little llyn, you walk up a steepish slope and on reaching the top the llyn appears below you – and to my relief they’re was no one else there! The llyn itself is a man made lake which was used to supply water to the nearby slate workings which were out of sight below us. We soon had tents up and tea on and sat about going over what we were going to do later on our night navigation walk. We spent a few hours relaxing, reading and eating and I planned a route for the evening, I then went for a short stroll to check the route out.

Shaz was out of his tent and ready, but just as it was getting dark, he informed me that he was not feeling too good, but he thought he would be ok, so we set off into the darkness looking for a few features. The weather was now overcast and so, no full moon. We went over a few things that we had done in the daylight, but Shaz was clearly struggling so we returned to the campsite and went to bed. I checked the weather for the next day and it didn’t look promising…

I slept very well and woke early to the sound of a stiff breeze on the tent. I had breakfast and began organising my kit to pack up and went to check on Shaz, he was not feeling to well, so we decided we would pack up and walk out – moments later the rain arrived.

With all the packing done and waterproofs on, we began the most direct walk back to the Car, going over some of the ground we covered yesterday. With a total lack of any of the vistas that we had the day before, we did a bit of relocation with Shaz picking the route down, and it wasn’t too long before we were moving through fields towards the road, while avoiding the cattle. A short walk along the road bought us back to the car, it had been a very enjoyable couple of days.

Good luck to Shaz in his upcoming CLA assessment.

Fairfield horseshoe a sunny frosty walk

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Fairfield horseshoe; a sunny frosty walk

The day began very early with a long but uneventfully drive and we arrived in Ambleside just after 8.30 and parked. The parking was free today but I hadn’t noticed the sign and had already paid, so with boots on, rucksacks shouldered and a little annoyed we set off.

Today’s route was going to be the Fairfield horseshoe. We crossed the road from the car park and started up the opposite road, taking the first turning on the left and heading towards Low Sweden bridge. It was very frosty and the air was clear, it promised to be a good day.

On reaching Low Pike the view of the route stretched out in front of us. High Pike was the next top along the ridge and we were soon passing through the wall to the little cairn on top. It was our first stop and whilst standing by the cairn getting food out of my rucksack, I noticed the cold wind and got my hat and gloves out, the views were again good in all directions.

Returning through the wall, we followed it, avoiding snow patches up the now broadening and gentle ridge up towards Dove crag. After a short break for photos, we descended the slope to the col, avoiding icy patches and talking about the priest hole cave and how recently people have had to be rescued whilst trying to find it.

The ascent up to Hart crag is short and steep and in poor visibility can be a little tricky, but the only hazards today were hard patches of snow and ice. We soon arrived and for the first time today met some other walkers.

The next section of the walk was down the slope to Link Hause and then up to the relatively flat top of Fairfield. The first part of this section was mostly on frozen snow, so we proceeded carefully and were soon walking on the gentle slope towards the high point for the day.

The summit of Fairfield is a bit bland; no peak, no big cairn, just two small shelters, but what it lacks in summit furniture it makes up in some really good views all round, particularly towards the Hellvelyn massif. We stayed a short while, had a bite to eat and then set off towards Great Rigg with the sun in our eyes.

The descent of Fairfield down to the col before Great Rigg is not overly steep but takes some time, but the surroundings where good and we talked a little about features left after the last ice age, and then moved on to other subjects and before long we were over Great Rigg and down the other side. The ridge then undulates towards Heron Pike, but the going underfoot was still frozen, so care was still needed when crossing boggy sections as to avoid slipping on icy pools.

On reaching Heron Pike, the rest off the way was now descent, gentle at first but the way became stepper as we moved towards Nab Scar. There were a few zig zags to take the sting out of the descent, or ascent if going the other way, which a number of people were doing.

We made it down to the stile before the concrete road, which leads down to the main road, where somebody had left vegetarian mince pies to take and an honesty box for charity. We made our way down the road and then turned into Rydal Hall, past a good looking tea shop and through the attractive grounds of the hall, exiting onto a track that took us back to Ambleside. A short walk along the road led back to the carpark and then onto tea and cake. A great day out.