Arthur and I hadn't been out to the mountains for a while. We had been on a family (weekend) trip to Scotland earlier in the summer which hadn't gone exactly to plan (travel sickness, burst tire, biting insects etc)! I had made it the top of Ben Nevis in sweltering heat having boldly said, "I'll [...]
After hiking for several hours in blistering heat we reached the high point of our first encounter with Fan Brycheiniog. It was a great moment but slightly strange. I could only remember this place as being so utterly full of menace. The intense savagery of our two previous trips had been replaced with a picturesque [...]
'Don't take the Crib Goch route' I kept telling myself as we set off. I didn't think I would but there was always an outside chance. There was little wind and the night was warm. The fog was thick and just minutes after we left the car it was pitch black. I tried to remember [...]
We set off early, just after 6am. Tryfan was all that I had imagined and more. The cool morning air hid the blistering heat that was coming. I loaded more water and Lucozade into our packs. It was an audacious plan - carry all the kit we would need for the night up the North [...]
Crawling into a small depression in the ground I held Arthur tightly by his shoulder and shouted to make myself heard above the roaring wind. "Are you cold?" We had decided to give Fan Brycheiniog a second shot. 'Beast from the East 2' was upon us so our attempt wasn't going to be straightforward. We [...]
Over Christmas I met up with my old pal Oli and that was that - he was coming to Helvellyn on our next adventure. Great; what a team we were going to be. Arthur really liked Oli and during our first night car camping we had a right laugh. This turned out to be a [...]
"We're heading back", "We can make it Daddy, I honestly believe we can make it", "I know but we need to make if off as well; we only have one rule - safety first, please trust me. We're heading back" As temperatures dropped in the wind, fog, sleet and hail, we turned back. We had [...]
We parked. It was darker than dark. Not a soul in sight. Hadn't even seen another car for miles. I put on my headtorch and got out of the car. Spindly leaves remained on a branch of a tree battling against the coming winter. It brushed my face - illuminated by my torchlight. I was [...]
The weather was shaping up nicely for the weekend. It was looking like a final mountain fling for the year was possible before the weather closed in. With the decision made we were going back to the South Wales, back to Brecon. During my time in the army I had spent countless days and weeks [...]
Car camping was becoming a theme. Arrive late, sleep in the car, set off early. It's a system that works well but usually means you are shrouded in fog as you set off up. This day was no exception (apart from the car park which was fog free). We had spent a while picking [...]
Mountainous Memories 