Under a tarp.

11°C, brisk W. Just below cloud base.
Searched for hours for somewhere to bed down. Now I’m on the Bwlch between Yr Aran and an unnamed hill to the east. Altitude about 500m. Inside the bivvy is warm and the tarp is flapping noisily in the wind. This was the most still pocket of air I could find.
The forecast suggests low chance of rain.
It’s a pity the tarp is such a bright green. I prefer something better camouflaged. It’s great to be able to peep out and see the mountains. There has been nobody on this side of Snowdon all day. Unless you want to count a noisy twin rotor military helicopter.

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The Stone wall makes for a good wind break.

Arenig bothy.

11°C, sunny and calm.
Return with a vague idea to walk to the bothy in the Arenig range. Called in the hiking shops in Betws-y-Coed first. That took more time than it should but I did get some good stuff- a tarp and waterproof bag liners. There was a guy on the campsite with a tarp fitted to a tent the same as mine, that would be useful for cooking in the rain. I still haven’t got a decent bivvy bag though, but Rab seem like a good make.
Anyway, time was running out but the start of the route to the bothy was found after some hunting. The gateway was not signed in any way, I thought they had to put a marker on public footpaths?

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A short walk down to the footbridge confirmed that this is the right place. It’s always good to get your map-reading confirmed.
With the course at Plas-y-Brenin in mind, I fancy more challenging navigation routes, more difficult the better.
More stops on the way home including a walkabout on the Berwins. It looks like fine DofE terrain. With rolling heather and some cliffs to the east.

Cwm Caseg, Carneddeau.

11°C, cloud above 500m, NW breeze.
Valley walk behind Carnedd Dafedd. A forgotten valley that is largely marshy with wide open vistas. Or at least when you can see them, low cloud often closed in and removed any visibility, no reference points to show the way. Only the last known position and slope direction. Good job last week’s training was good at Plas-y-Brenin. I was constantly using the compass and even counting paces (59 is 100m). Not once did I loose my location; only near the lake did any doubt creep in. My phone’s GPS actually have a wrong reading, both for height and grid reference.  I nearly turned back and then as if some godly intention, the clouds lifted enough.
The lake was over the next rise. For a few minutes, it was clear enough to reveal the back wall.
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Odd things: dead horses, at least their skeletons. One was missing it’s skull, and another had only a jawbone. The hooves made it obvious what they were. Both were very small but quite chunky.
Another odd thing was the pennywort. [See photo]. The shapes it made were quite animal, like a throat, maybe.
There was a problem near the end to solve. A couple arrived part way through my hour of trying to find a river crossing. The bridge was down and the river in spate. Plenty of rocks stood proud of the water but they were covered in very slippery black slime. I even tried fording it in bare feet, but the boulders beneath the water were also as slippery as ice.
In the end, I changed the route to avoid that river.
The guy was still with me and he had a GPS device to map read. Nice, but it threw my concentration. Following him was the only time I got my feet wet.

All along the Glyders.

12° to 7°C with moderate wind.
Up at 6 and set off for breakfast at the pinnacle cafe, Capel Curig. Excellent and at a good price too. Bought a pair of summer gloves for days like today. Nice in the valleys but cold aloft. The gloves I really liked were £85! No way!

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From Capel Curig, I climbed onto the Glyders from the gentle eastern slope. Today was all about walking the length of the range and something good happened as I went along. At each summit, the cloud lifted or even cleared. By the by mid afternoon, the sun was out and the rocks were in sharp relief.
As often on the year’s first proper hike, the descent was quite hard and slow. I came down off the range behind Llyn Idwal. Place have made this ground far easier. Coming off Glyder Fawr was the worst bit with its loose shattered rock on a bed of soil on a steep slope.
I should have some good photos to show off when I get back.

Easter.

11°C, brisk westerly carrying showers.
Plans: may be abandoned for this coming week.
Abandoned so far:
Ride to work on the cross bike and return along canals. Felt ill yesterday.
CX ride to Fradley junction. Same.
Camping in Wales next week, bad weather forecast.
Maybe go to Castleton instead, and go up Kinderscout.

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Beinn Eighe and the 3 buttresses

Saturday, endless showers, 14C, strong SW.
Bad weather plus a desire to walk my last day means a valley hike. I went around the back of Liathach and snaked around the back of Beinn Eighe. The idea was to visit the corrie where the 3 buttresses are.
These hills are also sandstone of the same type as further north. It is layered in steps and terraces. Waterfalls usually fall in stages too. The one at the mouth of the corrie was swept back by the very strong wind. A smaller one further up didn’t fall at all sometimes. The water simply blasted into the air above.

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I had to crouch behind an erratic to get out of that wind and eat my snack. The socks I sat on were polished and scarred with striations. Strong wind sprayed water backwards from the waterfall as I said. That made the gusts even colder.
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I stayed there for a while, ate sandwiches and looked upon the scene. The cliffs had deep scars with conical landslides at the base of each.
The effects of cold air, spray and rain ended my time there. You can find photos mostly taken on the descent on my Flickr site. Showers became more frequent and heavier. Patches of sun did break through the drizzle. The stage was set for a meteorological special effect: low down a clear rainbow rose before the valley side.

Coffee, had a success with an idea taken from the German teenagers in Achmelvich the other day. I got this coffee maker for £8 that works on a gas stove.

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Good coffee.

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Suilven, the north approach.

Thur,16C, light wind and breaks in the cloud mostly midday.
This very long day started at 9.30 with the three hour walkin through the Glencanisp estate. Most of the track is easy up to the turn. After, it’s very boggy until the lowest slopes. Then it was steep, very steep. More than 1 in 1 until the bealach.

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Suilvan looming

About this time, breaks in the cloud appeared, very encouraging.
Walking back felt hard, my feet hurt from three days of long walks with wet boots and socks. Long walks like these always run down my water supply. I had about four miles to go when the water bladder ran out. The day finished well, firstly the Glencanisp estate has spring water on offer for walkers from an outside tap. Then,
Lochinver has a very nice pie shop which does take-aways. The perfect way to conclude an exhausting day.
Tomorrow I head for Torridon.

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Kirkaig Falls.

16C, fewer showers, lighter sky.
Morning, climbed the cliffs near Achmelvich in fresher sky with sun attempting to break to break through. I heard Shearwaters before I saw them skimming the wave tops. Still no sign of the Divers. Shearwaters are charming enough, the sound they make is so odd.
Afternoon, walked up from Inverkirkaig to The Falls Of Kirkaig. This walk had a dual purpose: one to see the falls and the other, to check the last part of the route for tomorrow.
The last quarter could be one walked in the dark if this went wrong. It’s good to get some familiarity. There was a problem though. On the north-west shore of Fionn Loch there is a gap by Loch Uidh na Ceardaich where the path runs. Except it didn’t.

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The water was so deep that the path was under 2 or 3 feet of water. I tried to wade in after stripping off to my underwear. Its was strange to look down and see my legs an orange colour. The water had so much peat that it looked like beer.
I backed off as I was not happy to try this in bare feet. I have to decide whether I make two crossings or carry my load all in one. Two crossings means three if you count the return to collect the second load. What if I take the lot in one, and I fall in- my camera and phone would be destroyed.
Sleep on it.

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Benighted.

16C, showers to start, cleared late afternoon.
Long long day. It wasn’t meant to be, but the walk time was nearly doubled. Perhaps it was the conditions. There was water everywhere. Every dip, every footprint was a puddle. Any soil was a bog and the whole effect was to make all surfaces very slippery.
The skies cleared and the highlands shone in their full glory.

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Two Monroes in today’s walk. Sgurr na h-Ulaidh and along the same ridge- Stob an Fhuarain. Descent was eastwards but there were two very difficult rock walls to cover. There was no way around, so I took it slowly. This is not the place to have an accident. Nobody was within miles and no phone signal.
As it was, the final glen was boggy and rocks were hidden in the long grass. That made going very slow. Darkness fell with about an hour to go and the final river crossing was not obvious.
In the end, I came across a track that led me to walk through somebody’s garden. Hope view didn’t notice me with my head torch.
Back at camp, the block said 11.30 pm.
The best mountain days!
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Tried too much?

19C, showers, some heavy.
Break camp at Oban and head towards Glen Coe. The road along Glen Orchy is single-track through Caledonian temperate rainforest. Each tree is decorated with feathery lichens, any rocks were coated in thick velvety moss. These places are rare now, but still, the magic is there.

I was looking for a hike, the rain wasn’t so bad, more drizzle by now. But I failed after making friends with some pigs. So, drove on to The Bridge Of Orchy and decided on the climb on the opposite side- Beinn Dorian. At 1076m, it is about the same height as Snowdon. The top was in cloud and so was the approach along a ridge. It’s a shame because the view would get been stunning.

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You have to watch out for the false summit. The real one is at the second cairn.
Rain has been the big problem today, I took the tent down is rain and later, put it back up in an even heavier downpour, and it was dark.
Everything ran too late today, I got back to the car at about 8.45.
That screwed the plan to have a pub meal near the campsite, view stopped serving at 9.00.
So I cooked in rain too.

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