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Arenig Fawr wildcamp 15/16 November 2010Weather: - Sunny start, cloud and sleet showers in the evening, freezing overnight, fiery sunrise, sunny morning.
Arenig Fawr is one of my favourite mountains, not one of the big ones, but it has a bit of everything….lakes, crags, ridges, a nice pointy summit with 360 degree views… being a fairly lone mountain, and about the nearest “real” mountain from my home. It must be a close call on if I’ve climbed Snowdon or Arenig Fawr more times (possibly about 30 times each) and I’ve camped on or around and stopped in the wee Bothy on around 10 occasions, so I like it!
Now I haven’t been walking or camping in Wales for about 2 months (Been a bit busy in Scotland of late) So with a small window of good weather at last (Even though it said that some wintry showers would pass over in the evening) I was of at 12.30pm for the hour or so drive to the start of the walk.
I was walking in sunshine to start,
but as I passed the tiny Bothy and lake, I could see some cloud nearing to the west.
It’s a bit of a climb from the Bothy, but then eases across the grassy slopes where some paths can be found.
By the time I was nearing the summit, the clouds looked really threatening, so I skipped going to the summit and headed for the northern grassy ridge where I was going to camp tonight, just in time because as I pitched the tent in the wind the rain started, but I was in before it became to heavy.
It remained cloudy with wind and sleety showers battering the tent through the evening, so my hope of some nice sunset pictures was dashed.
I kept warm through the evening, 1st with a cup a soup, then a meal of curry and rice, and when it went dark I lit the gas lamp, which warmed the tent to a barmy 16 degrees C at its warmest! (Not so warm in the night though as the temperature inside fell to 0.9 degrees.)
The showers and wind eased as I hit the pillow at about 10.30pm, although I was still in the mist and cloud. At around 4 or 5am I popped my head out to see a fabulous sea of bright stars in view, so it looked as if I would be rewarded with a good sunrise after the non-event of the sunset.
As dawn arrived the horizon was clear, but high herringbone cloud was overhead, the type that sometimes gives you a great red glow as the sun nears to rising.....
....I wasn’t to be disappointed, it soon turned to a fiery red, fantastic!
After wandering around taking pictures in the bitter cold breeze, I packed the partly frozen tent, and headed back down the slopes to calmer and warmer conditions by the Bothy.
Another 20 minutes got me back to a still frozen car.
Most of my freinds and family think I'm mad doing this sort of thing, so its good to share it with some who also do this type of thing
Watch the short video here:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2MvQ7Bw4rQ