A Welsh Hill (pic heavy)

[crazyclimber]

A few random pics from last night and this morning. I left home about midnight and bivied on top. Sleeping under the stars - can't beat it
Unfortunately I've only got a compact cam at the moment so the quality isn't as good as it could be. C'est la vie though! Should give you a general idea of what it was like

Brecon beacons (barely visible - little light polution - yay ) & Orion

My humble abode

Part of the black mountains

Fan-y-big, Cribyn, Pen-y-fan, Corn-ddu

Had breakfast (rat pack sausage and beans) by here - yum

Spring's on it's way

It really is nice to be back home!

 

[JonnyP]

Very nice photo's...Looks like you had a good time with views like that..

 

[litefoot]

A great night out,good for you.
Litefoot.

 

[tommy the cat]

Lovely pics of a great location.Was a bit cool here last night too Wanted to get out for a walk but wasn't sure if I was capable to drive at 630 am as I had a little date with Mr Bourbon last night and thought I may be 'over the limit' to drive
Dave

 

[Mungo]

Terrific pictures - none of the snow we have covering us here in Toronto...

 

[crazyclimber]

Haha, yeah was really nice to be out. I love winter anyway - snow camping's fun, but once in a while it's nice to go somewhere you know well and have an easy time of it. Gas stoves that work well, not have to melt snow, not think about blizzards, etc.
I'm not saying I don't fancy Toronto right now mind!
And Tommy - I don't think you were alone with that last night. I had a phone call just as I was settling down about 2.30 this morning - a mate coming out of a club (likely staggering out of a club) wondering if I wanted some chips. *shrugs* I offered him pork casserole (courtesy of the MOD) if he was willing to come and get it

 

[Clark]

That looks like a really nice place, can i ask what kind of bivi you have? Just that i bought one last week and will be trying it out next weekend hopefully. Some really goo pics you have up there, hope iot was a good weekend, looked like it.

 

[Greg]

Is that trig point (422m) Maen Richard on the common land nr the village of Llanfihangle?

The area looks very familiar!

 

[rik_uk3]

Nice pictures and I'm lucky, all of that area is within 20 miles of my home

 

[malente]

Oooh thank you for sharing. Beautiful, and you are a fantastic photographer.

I miss the Brecon Beacons!

Mike

 

[crazyclimber]

Clark - the bivi bag in the pic is one I picked up cheap on eBay a few years ago. I can't remember who the manufacturer is (got a feeling it might have been Vaude but a quick google finds nothing like it)... it does the trick; very light so I leave it on the sleeping bag almost as standard, packs (if i could find the stuffsack) to about 5"x4"x2". I wouldn't want to bivi out like that if I thought it was going to rain mind (there'd be a tarp packed too), at some point I might also get something bigger like an ex army bag so I can put the mats inside it too and have a bit more elbow space. Saying that that's mostly just about experimenting I've got enough tents / tarps / hammocks here now not to really NEED more!

Greg - I know the one you mean - Llanfihangel Nant Bran I think?
This one's actually a bit east of there - SO096396 and the pool in some of the pics = Brechfa pool SO119377.
Unfortunately the new gas pipeline's recently gone right over the top of that hill so it's a real pain crossing now. To go one side to the other you have to cross the pipeline four times (it zig-zags), and you've got a choice of jumping four barbed wired fences each time or going through the gated passageways which have been left, but which are used by all the stock and are knee deep with mud. No more morning runs up there
Nevertheless it is still a beautiful area... and I thought both you and Rick might recognise the mountains

 

[Greg]

Greg - I know the one you mean - Llanfihangel Nant Bran I think?
This one's actually a bit east of there - SO096396 and the pool in some of the pics = Brechfa pool SO119377.
Unfortunately the new gas pipeline's recently gone right over the top of that hill so it's a real pain crossing now. To go one side to the other you have to cross the pipeline four times (it zig-zags), and you've got a choice of jumping four barbed wired fences each time or going through the gated passageways which have been left, but which are used by all the stock and are knee deep with mud. No more morning runs up there
Nevertheless it is still a beautiful area... and I thought both you and Rick might recognise the mountains

I'm a member of a survival club & we have our base camp just down the hill from Maen Richard.

 

[crazyclimber]

A survival club? Nice location for it, I'm kinda intriged though. What do you do? Shelter building, fire lighting, that kind of thing?

 

[crazyclimber]

Another early start and some great views:

And, after a wander round the woods,

Breakfast

One of those 'hell it's nice to live here' days today

 

[Cobweb]

Looks so peaceful and great photographs by the way

 

[loz.]

Have to get me one of those new wind-up stoves !

 

[KNC]

Some amazing pictures.

 

[abushcrafter]

what is that stove :bluThinki

ps.nice snow peak! great pics to

 

[spamel]

Yeah, I like the look of that stove too!

Great pics though, reminds me of when I used to tramp about in Wales with my house on my back, pepper potting through wet grass, sheep poo and other unmentionables to assault some kind fellow on a hill who decided to initiate a contact when we were a kilometre away!

 

[crazyclimber]

Thanks for the comments all!

Hehe Spam - let me guess - Sennybridge right? There are times when I really don't envy you guys!! I used to do a lot of night walking in the beacons and it was amazing the number of blokes in green I'd stumble across. Almost gave me a heart attack one night when someone popped up out of this low profile tent about five yards to my left and shone some kinda super-duper-multi-million-candlepower torch right in my face!

The stove: the legendary Svea 123R! Rapidly become one of my favourites, and fits really nicely into the pot. Noodles cooking in the mug, hot-drink water heating in the lid on top - perfect!