Quick one night wild camp, Snowdonia foothills

It had been a very long time since I had been out for a wild camp so with a trip planned to the north coast of North Wales to visit family I decided to take the opportunity to get out on the hills for a night under my Trailstar.

The Snowdonia National Park extends almost to the North Wales coast and I call the hills there, just before they drop to the sea (literally), the Snowdonia foothills. It’s a quick hop up the hill from Penmaenmawr to the foothills to the south so it’s not about the walk, it’s just great to get onto the hills. The views are great there too because you can see all along the coast and across to Anglesey, where the sun sets at this time of year, plus you have the mountains to the south and there are no roads until you get over the Carnedds to Llyn Ogwen.

My eldest daughter joined me on this trip and used my Akto. It was nice to have some company to share the experience and views. It was also great to see two of my shelters pitched together at the same location! The Trailstar is so large inside, as you know, that we were both able to sit comfortably inside to keep out of the cool wind and enjoy the views.

Here are a few photos. There is also a video showing 2 minutes of uninterrupted Trailstar view which is what you get as soon as you open your eyes :)

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My first night under my MLD Trailstar

I had been looking forward to this weekend for a while because besides visiting family in North Wales I was intending to wild camp with my new Trailstar shelter. The primary purpose of this wild camp was to test my MLD Trailstar. However, I also had with me a new Exped SynMat 7 UL sleeping mattress and some instant backpacking food that I had just received from Outdoorsgrub to try out. I was also closely recording how much I had used my little gas stove to figure out how much gas (roughly) I will need for the TGO Challenge; more on that in a later post.

By late afternoon on Saturday the light was already beginning to fade when I left my car in Penmaenmawr and headed off to the top of the hill behind the small town. I was not out for the walk particularly as it was not going to take long, or much effort, to get to the 400m or so top (although it is good training none the less) but the purpose was to spend the night under my new Trailstar shelter. The location is pretty exposed and can be very windy catching the westerly and northerly winds whipping across the Irish Sea.

MLD Trailstar

It did not take me very long to be at my intended pitch, the middle of a stone circle known locally as the Druid Circle. For some reason there is no heather and the grass is short having been grazed by sheep and wild ponies.

This will be a good test for both me and the Trailstar; strong winds, hail and rain, cold temperatures and 14.5 hours of darkness. Continue reading