Pentecost camping trip

I thought it was time for another mini camping adventure. My last time camping had been rather overshadowed by social complications, and it would be good to have an uncomplicated trip. As well; the weather was gorgeous. And Pentecost was coming up.

On the Saturday I was busy with chores. And given that it was a long weekend, I decided I could just be away the night from Sunday to Monday. And so I did!

On Sunday I first finished cutting the grass, and trimmed the hedge; I had not got around to doing that last year, so it was really really necessary. And then I packed my stuff.

In the morning I had had the map out, and decided where I would go. It was a gorgeous bank holiday weekend, so it would be really busy! So I made a plan with four options. I was certain one of them would work. Especially given that I wanted to go in the late afternoon, after a lot of people would've already started making their way home.

My options were: Snowden Ranger Path to Llyn Ffynnon y gwas, or the valley above that; Rhydd Du path to Bwlch Cwm Llan, Bethania to Llyn Llagi, or Pen y Gwryd to Llyn Cwmffynnon. And I went counterclockwise. And the first option was immediately a go!

You can't park overnight at Snowden Ranger, but there is a little layby just before that where you can do what you want, and there was space there. So that's where I parked up. And then I started my climb! 

The start

The start of Snowdon Ranger path is not very beautiful. But I suppose it is quite fast! And it is also very busy.

The view early on

Fellow path users

Sunny selfie with destination in the background 

After a while I could see the path zigzag up the slope, where I would veer to the right. I couldn't yet see the lake but I knew it was there. I was a bit disappointed by lots of signs of humans; on the slope before the lake (technically a reservoir) there was something unidentified, and on the slope behind it there seemed to be a tent. But all was not lost; I could just keep walking, and sleep one valley higher.

The reservoir; full screen view for spotting the tent(s)

When I got closer I saw that the unidentified things were piles of fencing material. And the tent was actually a cluster of tents. But it wasn't particularly late yet, so I was happy to keep going. And in a way it would be a bit of a waste to not check out that valley. I had never been before!

The piles of fencing material

When I got into the valley I realised it was very pretty. But by then I did want to have some food. So I basically put my bag down right where the stream came out of the first lake (Llyn Coch), and had my meal. I had bought a batch of vegan hike meals. This time I had Thai green curry and it was great!

I could also hear noises coming from above. The valley is right underneath the summit station of Snowdon, and there were clearly people there. I suppose they climbed the mountain in order to see the sunset from there!

After dinner I had a dip in the lake. It was too shallow to swim, but it still was nice and refreshing.

Llyn Coch, where I ate and bathed 

It was rather windy in the valley, so I needed to go and scout for a more sheltered spot. Preferably also even more beautiful than where I had had my dinner. So I had a walk! There was another lake further to the left; Llyn Glas, and I quickly found it. It was right at the edge of the scree slope, so there were big boulders, and it seemed more sheltered. It was also stunningly beautiful. I decided that that was where I was going to pitch my tent, so I went back to get my bag.

I pitched the tent, took a bunch of pictures, drank some tea, wrote this blog post, and brushed my teeth. And by then it was pretty much bedtime.

Llyn Glas, where I pitched my tent

Panorama of the valley; spot the tent! 

Nightfall

I didn’t sleep so well; my small tent flaps a lot in high wind. And I had been drinking tea until late, so I had to get out for a leak. And I hadn’t bothered avoiding that, as it makes you go outside and admire the nightly valley. It was stunning under a half moon! 

The next morning I got up at about seven. It will still quite windy! So I made my breakfast in the shelter of a very big rock. It was still quite cold! I was wearing my down jacket. 

Hot coffee on a cold morning

After breakfast I decided to walk back with a bit of a detour. I want to explore the I head of the valley, so I looped around, heading with a detour to the third lake; Llyn Nadroedd (the lake of snakes!). It was very beautiful! And it also had an old structure next to it. It looks like the foundations of an old launder. A bit like the ones in Bryn Hafod y Wern! 

Remnants of a launder?

I took my time walking back. First I stopped to brush my teeth and change into shorts, and later I stopped for coffee and cake. And then another time for refilling my water bottle. But the way back is downhill, so as soon as you are on the Snowden Ranger path it is rather quick. I was back at the car at noon.

Back in civilisation

I was quite chuffed with how this has gone. It was this Dunning Valley in a beautiful night! But if I ever want to do this again in the same location, I will instead take the gravel road past the quarry, a bit further east! That is much quieter and more beautiful than that Snowden Ranger past. But I'm not sure if I will be back soon; there are so many other options. After all, this had only been the first one on my list of four options!