ROUGH-STUFF CAMPING TRIP TO DRYGARN FAWR - Day 1.
13/09/08
After weeks of rain and the worst summer I can remember we decided to venture out on a camping trip. The promised good weather did not arrive on the Friday evening so it was not untill the Saturday morning that we set off. Last year we had traversed the Cambrian Mountains over Drygarn Fawr, we had enjoyed it so much that we were to climb again this year to the 645m peak. Our Friday evening start was put off due to bad weather and we ended up cooking on our BBQ's in the garage! However Saturday was good, the Brothers set off from Beulah. The sweet smells of Mid-Wales wafted through the air, the sun glistened and before long we were in the remote village of Abergwesyn, the start of the Irfon valley, the springboard into the Cambrian Mountains! There were a few cyclists about, the warm weather was welcoming for those who wished to climb the infamous Devil's staircase at the head of the valley, we, however, turned off just before here, up the forestry track that is our usual route to the open sacred mountain that is the Drygarn. This year the ground was even boggier than usual. The vast area of bog land has to be traversed with care, this time the actual path on the map was found. This boggy, hardly defined, track was a welcome addition. It was like finding a needle in a haystack but this track saved us from a lot of hard work tussock humping. Drygarn Fawr, due to the steep valleys, can only be seen from another mountain. This and the fact that it is miles away from anywhere make it an unpopular ascent for walkers, magnificent! The great matriarch was ascended in the late afternoon; we paid homage at the 4000 year old cairn. Last year we camped down at the lower cairn, this year it was time to take in the vibe of the main cairn on the summit. Food was cooked, tents were set up, a mist rolled in from the north, it filled the valleys below us, and amazingly the brothers were above the weather with a clear view of the sky above Drygarn as the sun went down.
Day 1 ~ Day 2
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Day 1 ~ Day 2