Solo Trek in Wales for a kit shake down and a touch of solitude

July 03rd saw me dash off for a solo trek in Snowdonia. The agenda was to wild camp, have a work out and shake out some kit.

I took no walking poles as I wanted to feel the thighs work on this trip. I wanted to remind my body what the ascents were about with a 30+lbs rucksack. I also whipped myself with a birch branch..

The weather was spectacular, and the views all around were magnificent.The level areas were sodden, with water pooling and still running off the mountains. This post will share some photographs of the two-day trek and also review some kit that was being scrutinised.

Route

Day 1

Park behind the Pinnacle’s cafe at Capel Curig. Ascent over Cefn Y Capel -> Y Foel Goch -> Glyder Fach – > Glyder Fawr – > descent “Devils Kitchen” -> Wild camp at Lyn Bochlwyd

Time – 6 hrs, no stops

Day 2

Ascent the miners’ track between Tryfan and Bristly ridge to return the reverse route via Foel Goch.

Time – 3.40 hrs, no stops

Pictures

The big man was providing great weather!

On the Glyders with the views south

Glimpse of Carnedd Llewelyn

Impressive  Tryfan

Adam n Eve on Tryfan

Descending Glyder Fawr towards Y Garn. The route to the Devil’s kitchen veers north at the bottom of this steep incline off the mountain. There was a navigation competition on, so it was busy around Glyder Fawr.

The wall before the descent into the Devil’s Kitchen. The main route down the Devil’s Kitchen is close to the mountain wall. “Pen Yr Ole Wen” looms across the valley.

Descent to “Devil’s Kitchen”

Water ran off the Glyders in bad weather, and I needed a jump to cross, so it’s worth remembering not to take it during really bad downpours. It was the path heading to the left of Lyn Idawal, which you can see in the picture below.

Camp at Llyn Bochlwyd. I was not alone..

Room with a View

Up at first light and home!

Kit review

My rucksack weighed in at 32lb. That included 2 litres of water that I carried due to concerns about finding water in the Glyders. Part of the trip was to test some gear, and here is my conclusion.

Rucksack

• Lightwave Ultra hike

Rock solid on a two-day hike. Soaked up 32lbs!

*Cook set 

• Optimus Vega
• ETA Power 1 Litre pot
• Vango wind shield

I wanted to test out the ETA pan as I have had it a while. I noticed the burn time of my TGO cook set was poor so wanted to see how this performed. Weight wise this is my heaviest cook load out at approx 360gms.  So, how did it perform..

Boil time was impressive, water for a brew and rehydrated scoff was under a minute. The size of the pan was great for adding boil-in-the-bag food. I like the plastic inner bowl that comes with the pot, as this can be used for noodles, etc. Despite the increased size/weight, I really like the pot and will put it at the top of my consideration. The Optimus Vega stove is great, the only niggle which can really hack me off is the fuel pipe kinks when you try and align it with the gas canister. If it didn’t kink it would be the perfect stove. The windshield did its job.

*Tent

• Hilleberg Nallo2

This is my base camp or tent of excess..coming in at 2.4kg. I had a Soulo, which weighed the same, so I didn’t flinch when packing it. The Nallo pitched quickly, and the space was a luxury. I camped at a height of 555m and there were gusts which did test the pitch. At one point, one of the pegs was ripped out of the ground and flung across the ground, impressive! Despite this, the tent held. The weather calmed, and the normal Catabolic wind rocked the tent, as did some rain squalls. The tent didn’t flinch, but id expect this. I like the weight-to-space ratio, I like the Hilleberg features that come with all their tents. The weight wasn’t noticeable during the day. There was no condensation despite a warm night. I used the vents and it wasn’t draughty as well. There was nothing I disliked.

*Sleeping

Cumulus quantum – 7 650g

I took this bag as it’s been sitting idle for a while. Boy, it was hot. The sweat rivers were running, know what i mean..So I’ll be saving this bag for colder days.

*Boots

SALOMON Wings Sky GTX 2

These were my footwear of choice. Since the TGO I am now rethinking footwear so it was time to revist these boots.

These boots have had their day. They leaked, and the soles had no bounce. I should have worn my trail shoes, as my feet were wet for both days. These are demoted to my dog-walking boots. I still think boots have their place on trips like this, as there is a strong case for waterproofing and support when traversing rocky peaks in Wales.

*Clothes

Mountain Equipment Eclipse Zip Tee

I have had this top for a few years and was eager to wear it because I thought it might be windy or cold enough to warrant it. The reality was that I sweated myself to near death in it. It was just too warm for anything but winter wear. The foot in the picture had just been to the mountains and is saying hello.