Wild Camping in Wales
My First Wild Camping Trip
For my first solo hiking and camping trip I decided not to travel too far from home. Fortunately I live only an hours drive or less from the beautiful Snowdonia National Park with beautiful valleys to explore.
Starting near the coast I found a place where I could park my car for free overnight (which seemed to be a rare occurrence), unfortunately this meant a fairly long walk to even get to the edge of Snowdonia National Park. It was a beautiful day however and the climb up through the local town led me passed a couple of quaint shops. Taking a detour under a bridge I followed a stream until I reached the beginning of Snowdonia National Park.
After passing through the gates following a gently rising and falling gravel path I glimpsed my first view of the falls between the branches, this was reassuring to see as I was starting to feel the burn in my calves walking uphill on a gravel path carrying everything i needed for the next two days.
Reaching the base of the fall I was greeted by a series of plunge pools and a cascade of rocks which I can only imagine used to belong to the cliff face infant of me.
After hopping across these slippery rocks back and forth trying to capture myself at the base I brought out my map to find a path up to the top. To the right of the falls was a steep face covered with scree and loose rocks. This proved difficult to climb with unsteady footing all the way to the top.
Here I am enjoying the bottom of the waterfall!
At the top of the falls I found a rock to sit down catch my breath and figure out my next plan to find a site for the night. Following the stream I climbed up a number of smaller waterfalls until the stream calmed down. I followed along its banks deeper into the park climbing higher above the horizon every time I turned to look at it.
As it got later into the day I found my first spot to set up my tent for the night before the sun faded behind the hill. I pitched up my tent then with the last few rays of light illuminating my surroundings I decided to explore and enjoy the peace and quiet I had found, being only disturbed by the sound of a small waterfall I had set up next to.
The next morning I awoke early at 5:30AM to pack my tent up before it got light to move on to my next site wherever that may be. Still half asleep and slightly soar I unzipped my tent to a family of wild horses parading across the front of my tent with a foal tucked against the mothers side. After eating my breakfast and studying the map I continued upstream further into the park passing more beautiful sites and taking regular breaks to rest and climb to the top of the hillsides now and again to gaze across the rolling welsh hillside.
Deeper into the park with few paths or roads even visible on the ordinance survey map I knew I was truly alone away from people I thought to myself as I sat at the edge of my tent watching the sun set behind a hill. It was a rare opportunity of reflection and meditation. As I sat there in my tent I let out the loudest scream I could confident I was far out of earshot of any other human being. I sat to see if there was a response and as I thought, there wasn’t! Smiling to myself knowing this was a rare opportunity to be this alone I was able to enjoy these moments disconnected from the world and enjoy the simplicity of life in a tent.
The next morning was my time to head back to the car a long walk was ahead of me made slightly easier by the fact that it would now be downhill towards the coast. Passing some of the familiar sights and sounds I noticed on my hike up I was happy. This trip had turned out to be more of a cathartic experience than I had planned it to be, and with the right precautions I would recommend anyone to do it.