Wild camping date: day 1

This is a post about a date that involves wild camping, not a wild date that involves camping. Neil had really specifically been looking for someone to do outdoorsy things with, and one of the best things you can do outdoors is sleeping. So I figured that would be something that would be on the cards quite soon. It turned out he didn't even have a sleeping bag! His ‘before’ life did not involve any outdoorsiness. I figured I needed to introduce him to wild camping ASAP. I was convinced he would absolutely love it!

I came up with two suggestions of where to go. He picked the valley above Aber Falls. I had slept there once before. 

We would set off in the early afternoon. That would give us plenty of time to walk into the valley, find a good spot, and pitch the tent, all before dinner time. I packed my stuff, and some extra stuff for Neil. And we met outside Abergwyngregyn. Neil had successfully predicted that the road to the path to the waterfall, and the parking lot, would be absolutely rammed. 

Before we started walking we divvied up the luggage. And then we set off. It was true that the road was rammed, and I was glad we had parked where we had. It was not particularly comfortable to walk on that single lane road with way too much traffic trying to get somewhere, and then on the very busy path with lots of families, but we knew it wouldn't last. Fairly soon we got to the junction where our path split off from the busy one. From there on, we would only see one family coming the other way. Otherwise, we had the hill to ourselves!

On the path by the waterfall. Pic by Neil

The views quickly get very beautiful. And it gets even more beautiful the more uphill you go. And we soon started to see suitable spots for camping. So after about 5 km we put the bags down and went on a recce. We picked a flat bit next to the river, with a view of a beautiful waterfall. And there we pitched up!

Start of the valley above the waterfall

Our home for the night

The nearby waterfall

The first thing I tend to do after that is sorted to go for a wash, and I stuck with my routine. Neil followed suit. And then we just admired the views for a bit while sipping from a mini bottle of whiskey I had brought. But then it was time to start cooking. I brought out my stove and set to work. I had brought pasta, with courgette, tomato, pesto, additional pine nuts, and cheese. Neil was impressed! He hadn't had high expectations of camping fodder. And I don't bring things like fresh courgettes and tomatoes or longer hikes, but if you only go for one night, you can.

Cooking. Pic by Neil

We both enjoyed dinner! And had a cup of tea afterwards. And then we went for a little evening stroll. Partly because that's nice, and partly because the midges had started to come out. 

That valley is just stunning. And full of waterfalls. It was a lovely evening walk.

During the evening walk

When we got back, the midges were still out, so we quickly brushed our teeth and retreated for the night. 

It wasn't a fully successful night! The wind had picked up, which probably meant that there were no midges outside anymore, but it was too late to enjoy that, and it did cause some flapping of the tent. That's annoying. I had hoped we wouldn't have much of that, given that we were in the big tent. My little tent is quite infamous for not being very good in wind, but I had had higher expectations of this one. And Neil’s camping mattress turned out to be a bit leaky, so he ended up practically on the floor. So not a perfect end to our first wild camp. But I still thought it had been a successful day altogether. We would wake up in a gorgeous valley! But more on that in a separate post.