The Brecon Beacons (Wales)

Jacky chose the last excursion.. A long weekend in London, sightseeing and celebrating her friends Birthday.

So, It was my turn again to think of somewhere to go.

The last time I chose, we went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour... Earning me some serious Trip Points.

This time I decided I would opt against the usual tourist attractions and instead try something more adventurous.

Mount Snowdon is the tallest mountain in Wales. Standing at 1085 metres above sea level, the mountain takes around 5 hours to summit.

Good experience right?

I have walked up Snowdon twice in the past and although it's hard work, it's not exactly Everest. There are paths the whole way, a Train that you can use if you can't be bothered to walk and even a Cafe/Restaurant at the top!

So I figured it would be a good chance to be in the great outdoors, exercise and get a sense of achievement without putting us in danger.

But then I did a bit of research... Turns out that during winter, Snowdon is a very different mountain. Climbers are advised to go fully equipped with the proper mountaineering gear including an Ice Axe and Crampons... This is not the Snowdon that I remember wandering up with my dog, wearing a T-Shirt and Shorts (That's what I was wearing... Not the dog).

I picked Jacky up from her place and we set off on our trip. It didn't take long at all for us to decide that, as we didn't have an Ice Axe between us, climbing Snowdon was probably a bad idea.

And so we agreed to postpone our plod to the potentially perilous peak until a later date. However, now we found ourselves already en-route to Wales without a Plan, Place or Pot.

I guess I should mention at this point that we were going to be camping, and the previous evenings temperature had hit a low of -7 Celsius.

For any of you that are considering camping in Wales in January, one bit of advice I would like to offer you would be to.. Book your Campsite before you leave :)

Most campsites in Wales are closed between December and March. Some of them close because it's simply too cold to camp. In other areas they are required to close during this period by the National Parks.

We headed towards the Brecon Beacons, which is the name of a mountain range in South Wales, and eventually managed to find a campsite that met all of our requirements.

1. Dogs Allowed √
2. Hot Showers √
3. Camp Fires Permitted √
4. Parking Next to Tent √
5. Campsite Open √

It was already dark when we arrived but that wasn't going to deter us. We checked in at reception and were informed by the Manager that we would be the only people in field allocated for tents and also.. We must be crazy.

Our camp came together in a flash, a combination of teamwork and a very uncomplicated tent meant that we were able to progress quickly.
We pitched the tent, emptied the contents of the car into it and then methodically moved the required items back into the vehicle. By the time we were finished, we had a double bed in back of the car, a dog bed in the front, a tent for storage, table for food preparation, fire for staying warm and a couple of chairs to sit in whilst we enjoyed a bottle of Wine and some Noodles.

It was a cold night outside but comfortable in the car with the luxury of 4 blankets and 2 hot water bottles.

The following day we went on a 6 mile hike around the local area, ensuring we made plenty of stops to appreciate the beautiful surroundings (and for me to get my breath back)

Although I pretty much live in the countryside, I don't have much interaction with Sheep.. I naturally assumed that these guys would run away as soon as they caught sight of us and the dog. Instead, they decided to investigate and spent a few minutes walking alongside us on the trail. I guess they must have been more bored than frightened and so had decided it was worth the risk.

We stopped for a bit of lunch before heading back to Camp.

On our return it had already began to get dark and so the temperature was once again plummeting.
Not overly struck by the thought of Pot Noodles for the second consecutive evening we decided to do what all proper wilderness adventurers do, and that was to get an Indian Takeaway.

We had a quick pint in the Pub whilst waiting for our food and then headed back to the campsite for Dinner and a Campfire.

Every now and then Campers from the Campervan part of the Site would walk by and say hello, followed by comments like 'You must be crazy' or 'You are braver than we are'.. But we were fine, we didn't need a big fancy Motorhome to have a nice time because we were perfectly comfortable where we were.... Well, for one more night anyway.

We woke around 10:00 and began packing up Camp. By 11:30 we were on the road, heading for a hiking route that had been suggested to us the previous evening in the pub which would take us to LLYN Y FAN FACH.

A very pleasant 40 minute hike (up hill) bought us to a big lake where the story goes, A Witch used to live who now haunts the lake. Something like that anyway, to be honest I wasn't paying much attention when the tale was told

After a very successful mini hike we went back to the car and started heading off back for England, stopping off briefly in Cardiff to have a quick look around... But it was already getting dark, so there wasn't a great deal of looking to be had.

If any of you are intending to climb Mount Snowdon this Summer (Or any other Summer), drop me a message and we can go on a group adventure. 😊

South Wales has some stunning landscapes, and with it only being a few hours drive, it's a shame I haven't visited previously. But this time will definitely not be the last, as there is so much to explore and many more mountains to (almost) climb.

Though I don't think the dog has quite recovered from all of the excitement just yet.