Some weeks ago Davidpingu of this parish asked me would I be up for an overnighter on a Friday night with him and Lloydus. I readily agreed. Last week he texted me to say the date was fixed as the weekend, and did I know where we were going yet? I thought he was organising this! Anyway, in the spirit of passing the responsibility to someone else, I texted Al (The Big Lebowski) to ask if he was available, so we could use his permission. He was available, but said we would have to use his alternative site up the valley above Talywain, which has public access. I have used this site before and it is fine, so we agreed.
So that organised, we all met up at Al's place on friday night, left the cars, and walked up the valley. Sadly we found that groups of numpties had visited the site and left smashed glass everywhere. They seemed to have pillaged some old pyrex lights from a deserted cottage, and smashed them to bits. The rusty metal parts has been thrown in the stream, and the pulverised glass was everywhere. It wasn't inspiring, what with cans and other rubbish strewn about as well.
We tidied what we could, and set about using the site anyway as we had little alternative. The other notable change since last time was that a huge mature beech tree had come down across the river, so firewood was not in short supply. We had to clear the top branches away in order to be able to use one of the hammock pitches.
There was one more difference to usual: midges by the million. A few midges there is not unusual, but I haven't seen them in these numbers before. We all sprayed on the insect repellant that I had in my pocket, and the midges duly ignored it. Dave reported 50+ bites after the trip.
Fortunately the midges died down as it got darker and the wind picked up.
My pitch. I stupidly set up so that the entrance to my hammock was on the tree-branches side, not the open side.
Al's pitch
We got a fire going and put on some of the greener branches from the fallen beech, and then all stood around in the smoke until the midges died back. The fire circle was already there.
Al, being the generous soul that he is, had offered to make a chilli. Dave brought wine, Lloyd brought beer, I brought cheese and salami. Al being Al did an exquisite chilli with elderflower and lemon rice, served in wraps with a drizzle of elderberry syrup and a handful of cheese. I eat better when camping with him than I do at home. We followed this with oatcakes, cheese and salami.
Dave and Lloyd's mate Dean also arrived, having notified them that he wanted to attend after we had already set off. he had to be guided into the site by phone.
We all talked rubbish and told stories until around midnight when a light drizzle started, so we called it a night. I discovered that the zip on my DD tarp has perished, so having midge netting on it was pointless as I couldn't seal it up. Luckily the midges seemed more interested in dave and Lloyd. Lloyd had decided to rough it, bringing just a sleeping bag and a mat, so when the rain started he ended up under Dave's tarp, which seemed to be where the midges liked to be too.
I slept really well, except for around 4am when, for reasons best known to himself, Dean decided that it would be a good idea to start chopping more firewood with an axe. This lasted about half an hour, and no-one told him to stop as he had an axe. There were dark mutterings though.
Anyway, it was a good night on the whole. I had a nice view out into the fallen tree in the morning. We pretty much packed up in the morning and made our way back to the cars, though we left Dean still asleep on site.
I seem to have made it sound like a horror trip, which it wasn't. We all had a good time and it was really relaxing and enjoyable. I had been wanting a hammock trip for a while and it was just what I needed.
Thanks to Dave, Lloyd, Al (and Dean) for the company.
So that organised, we all met up at Al's place on friday night, left the cars, and walked up the valley. Sadly we found that groups of numpties had visited the site and left smashed glass everywhere. They seemed to have pillaged some old pyrex lights from a deserted cottage, and smashed them to bits. The rusty metal parts has been thrown in the stream, and the pulverised glass was everywhere. It wasn't inspiring, what with cans and other rubbish strewn about as well.
We tidied what we could, and set about using the site anyway as we had little alternative. The other notable change since last time was that a huge mature beech tree had come down across the river, so firewood was not in short supply. We had to clear the top branches away in order to be able to use one of the hammock pitches.
There was one more difference to usual: midges by the million. A few midges there is not unusual, but I haven't seen them in these numbers before. We all sprayed on the insect repellant that I had in my pocket, and the midges duly ignored it. Dave reported 50+ bites after the trip.
Fortunately the midges died down as it got darker and the wind picked up.My pitch. I stupidly set up so that the entrance to my hammock was on the tree-branches side, not the open side.
Al's pitch
We got a fire going and put on some of the greener branches from the fallen beech, and then all stood around in the smoke until the midges died back. The fire circle was already there.
Al, being the generous soul that he is, had offered to make a chilli. Dave brought wine, Lloyd brought beer, I brought cheese and salami. Al being Al did an exquisite chilli with elderflower and lemon rice, served in wraps with a drizzle of elderberry syrup and a handful of cheese. I eat better when camping with him than I do at home. We followed this with oatcakes, cheese and salami.
Dave and Lloyd's mate Dean also arrived, having notified them that he wanted to attend after we had already set off. he had to be guided into the site by phone.
We all talked rubbish and told stories until around midnight when a light drizzle started, so we called it a night. I discovered that the zip on my DD tarp has perished, so having midge netting on it was pointless as I couldn't seal it up. Luckily the midges seemed more interested in dave and Lloyd. Lloyd had decided to rough it, bringing just a sleeping bag and a mat, so when the rain started he ended up under Dave's tarp, which seemed to be where the midges liked to be too.
I slept really well, except for around 4am when, for reasons best known to himself, Dean decided that it would be a good idea to start chopping more firewood with an axe. This lasted about half an hour, and no-one told him to stop as he had an axe. There were dark mutterings though.
Anyway, it was a good night on the whole. I had a nice view out into the fallen tree in the morning. We pretty much packed up in the morning and made our way back to the cars, though we left Dean still asleep on site.
I seem to have made it sound like a horror trip, which it wasn't. We all had a good time and it was really relaxing and enjoyable. I had been wanting a hammock trip for a while and it was just what I needed.
Thanks to Dave, Lloyd, Al (and Dean) for the company.
