3: Carned y Gribeau and broken bridges.:

Posted on 29th Oct 2016 by essiep

9°C. fog and no wind, no change from yesterday.

Wild-camp-> end: Woke to more fog and the sound of grouse. The night was utterly silent apart from the gurgling of the spring. Occasional soft drizzle and the odd waft in the calm air.

Back to the fenceline and head north. Back at L. Edno was a big pile of rubbish caught in a fence. The day before, made a note of this and returned to clear as much as possible. My storage was limited because I had my own rubbish, but I got the worst of it.
Next, walk north along the fences again. Net a fell runner heading south who seemed a bit troubled by the navigation. I know the conditions are tricky, but all he has to do is follow the fence line. His route round Edno is unnecessary, and probably slippery.
I continued passed the bwlch onto Carned y Gribeau. There was a brief moment of clear air which urged me on. The summit has a nice little lake which made a good place to shelter and eat.
For a small lake, it was amazingly deep. Even at the edge, I could plunge a fully extended walking pole.

The descent was aimed for the footbridges at SH673560. the ground in that area was horrible to walk on, lots of plunge holes and hidden streams. It was a struggle to get there only to find the bridges long destroyed and deeply rusted. Take note, they are clearly marked on the OS map, but not on Harvey’s.

Eventually, back at the car, I was glad to get my wet boots off and dip in the lake to wash my feet. You have to treat wet feet as soon as you can to prevent unspeakable problems later.

2:Wild camp in the Molwynion

Posted on 28th Oct 2016 by essiep

11°C, hill fog above 300m. Light SW.
By the time I broke camp at Hadfod y Llan, and re-packing my expedition bag, it was 11am.
I parked by Llyn Gwynant and started the day’s walk. The first part was through dense forest. Autumn looks different here, colours on the ground are very vivid. Even in the forest, bracken was almost fluorescent. I should have stopped to take more photos but the day’s walk is long.
Wild-camp after a 5 ½ hour walk in hill-fog. START: Llyn Gwynant then walk up the woodland to the hills (SE). Hillfog above 300m, no wind so no change.

Pitched at the top of Cwm Edno.

Lots of micro-nav Llyn llagi was invisible though I could hear it. I actually found the turn to make the gully onto the plateau. I missed it last time in clear summer air. I managed to pass Llyn yr Adair without seeing that either. Heading east, eventually I met the fenceline to confirm my position. There is a real complex of hollows, valleys mounds and mountains here. An area worth more exploration.
Northwards eventually, I got to Llyn Edno, my intended camp. To avoid the cool breeze, I headed down to Cwm Edno and found an ideal spot next to a spring.

Why I hate shopping.

Posted on 25th Oct 2016 by essiep

10°C, cool easterly dry wind.
It’s mostly the disappointment. Shopping is about making choices, you go into a shop and either choose something that doesn’t fit, or you choose to leave the shop.
It doesn’t matter whether I want clothes or a sleeping bag. Most clothes are either sized for medium people, or for fat people. Clothes for larger men are the same as medium except that have fat belly space. Sleeves are usually the same length as are trouser legs. Short sleeves and legs don’t have adjustable hems any more.

A capella, acapulca, a poodle-goat, as you can see.

Sleeping bags are sometimes available in long lengths. I say available, but that doesn’t mean any shops have them in stock, it doesn’t even mean the importer has any either. The sleeping bag I want may be available by the end of February.
Are you getting a sense of why I don’t like shopping?

Long cross day.

Posted on 23rd Oct 2016 by essiep

Rode the Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 64.00km, time: 05:56:49, pace: 5:35min/km, speed: 10.76km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/1827047048

Six hours in the saddle, but it didn’t start well. I left home along cycle tracks and picked up a puncture from thorns. Punctures are always annoying. More so from a cycle route, the hedges were trimmed and not swept. Fume.
The tyres on my cross bike have self sealing tubes which should heal up after re-inflating a couple of times. Six stops and pumping air is enough., clearly it wasn’t working. Eventually, I put a patch on the tube and that sealed it. However, the pump wasn’t working properly by now. It’s a two action pump and soon stopped compressing air in one direction. The other direction would only pump on the pull stroke, so I couldn’t get all the pressure I wanted.
Soon, I was on the Chase, a bouldery forestry land. Fortunately, the stones are rounded (Bunta Pebble Bed) which reduces tyre damage.
Anyway, the ride:
Coming down from Castle Ring is am area not covered by the map I took. Looking up, I could see the clouds sweeping from the east (I didn’t have a compass either). Finding north wasn’t difficult, finding a suitable path that didn’t peter out was less reliable. One section led to a tall fence, tall enough to stop Red Deer (there are some here). To escape that dead end, I rode through what looked like a reclaimed quarry. The rain stopped.
A day riding off-road beats your arms. All that vibration and resisting it by bracing is eventually tiring. If I did this enough, my arms would certainly build up.The return leg, by canal was lovely. All that sunshine blazing through the best of autumn colours was spectacular. A fine day.

Canal 25, clockwise.

Posted on 22nd Oct 2016 by essiep

I rode the cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 25.88km, time: 02:02:36, pace: 4:44min/km, speed: 12.67km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/1824892241

Habits can be hard to break, especially when you don’t think about them. Today, my Saturday early ride was changed simply by taking the route the opposite way round. It made all the difference.
We’re getting closer to winter, the ground is becoming softer, almost too soft for these tyres. For now, these gravel treads will do, but the winter knobbies will be needed soon.

Need a holiday.

Posted on 20th Oct 2016 by essiep

12°C, dry and fresh, dark early.

I rode Mustang with MapMyRide+! Distance: 29.98km, time: 01:30:04, pace: 3:00min/km, speed: 19.97km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/1820466335

Moody sunset.

I need a holiday. I feel tired physically such that even running up the stairs is hard. But on the ride, my head felt better as the miles wheeled by. Towards the end, putting on a burst was quite a pleasure. So its head tiredness, not legs.

Typical Sunday.

Posted on 17th Oct 2016 by essiep

I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 59.60km, time: 03:07:05, pace: 3:08min/km, speed: 19.11km/h.

http://mapmyride.com/workout/1813937243

Autumn is the start of the Cyclocross season, so it’s fitting to ride on the Jake. It’s windy today which makes the fixed gear a poor choice. There’s always a long leg into the wind, not much fun.

Today, the ride was largely gravel tracks and canal towpaths. Not so many fishermen were out today. They can be a bit annoying when I have to wait for them to move those enormous poles out of the path.

Looking for a bag.

Posted on 9th Oct 2016 by essiep

I’m after a winter sleeping. I’m in the Mountain Leader consolidation period where I need more mountain days (and nights). While I’m searching for a new bag, I can’t develop my mountain Dlog.
Why hesitate then? You may ask, but not that many bags meet my requirements:
Long, at least 215cm internal length,
Warm, cosy down to -6°C,
Compression, packed down, it must fit into my expedition rucksack.

This one is top of my list.

There are a few bags that may suit. Mountain hardwear, Montaine, and Snugpak.

Once equipped, I am free to have adventures. Camp near Llyn Edno, explore Moel Hebog and then the Berwyns. I plan to go in a few weeks, at half-term. At least one wild camp too.

Gold and Silver qualifying expeditions.

Posted on 7th Oct 2016 by essiep

One cool and windy week in the black mountains, South Wales.

On the road to Cafl-y-Ffin

Chris took the Gold group and I did the Silver with Carl.
Silver do 3 nights and Gold 4. Carl took the Silvers home and then I stayed with Chris to cover the Gold’s last day. Most of the Silver girls were carrying heavy bags, up to 16Kg which is a bit much for the smaller ones. It turned out that the excess was clothing. Many brought a change of clothes for each day. The Golds didn’t make that mistake, but conversely, they were cold at night. Mind you, the Gold group complained of cold too. Especially the sole male in the group. He was the only one sleeping alone, (as far as we know).
The picture above shows a defaced sign in one of the narrow lanes. Many were so narrow that both sides of the minibus were scratched at the same time by overhanging vegetation.
The staff base, a youth hostel, was up to am hour away from the kids’ camps. In response, Carl and I drove over after supper and pitched in near the gold and silver groups’ site. They were all quiet and inside tents, probably asleep by then, 10pm. It turns out that most nights, they were asleep by 7.30pm. That means nice, long sleeps which can only help their daytime progress.

In the end, they all passed easily. On the return journey, they seemed less tired and generally satisfied. So were we.

Packing for DofE, last expedition of the year.

Posted on 1st Oct 2016 by essiep

12°C, rain.
Gold and Silver groups go on qualifying this coming week. I think they’ll be fine, but the conditions are very different to their summer Practice trip. A new terrain, The Black Mountains, earlier sunset and cold nights.
Staff are staying in a Youth Hostel, but a few of us are taking light camping gear for a planned wild camp. The kids will break camp before dawn and we would like to be on the ridges before the get there. So Carl says, why not camp up there. He wants to bivvy, I will take both a bivvy and the small tent. We both want some mountain days.
It would be nice to appear at the and of a long climb to encourage the kids. Or, help with any problems.
I hope they did some preparation over the summer to keep fitness. Their practice was very good.

Micycle

Mike thinks b/hikes

Monthly Archives: Oct 2016