A weekend in Elan Valley... And sunburn.

[The Big Lebowski]

Back from an absolutely superb weekend in elan valley with mike/harvestman.
His report will no doubt be far more humorous than mine, as he's been thinking of captions for every event, which there where. All good though!

I'll just do a simple picture story, so enjoy

We went here...


Being there's no camping allowed whatsoever, we found a place outside the estate.


It had lots of these, but we decided before hand to sleep on the floor. Hmmm.


Despite pretending to be a ground dweller at times, I never seem to find the right spot.
We only had a choice of two anyways. Sleep was about three hours, if I was lucky.


After brekkie (chock chip cookies) we packed up and went here.
Elan valley visitor center. It was shut, being 8am, so we found a spot to brew.




I watched this for a bit, then had to go pee.


We then climbed steps up to here. Nice!


We then went to see this... Blown up to evaluate the bouncing
Bomb, WW2. I bet that was fun




We then went for a paddle, and general freshen up. If Wales has a coldest river,
this was is! It was 10am, and already roasting.


More to follow in a mo....

[The Big Lebowski]

We then went here... a somewhat bigger version of the last one!


Its big, really big.


I took this, and then felt quite sick for a bit...
Don't do heights, much to the amusement of others.




We then went here...


Mikes ace card and much more impressive.


You could get really close, at one stage I had a lie down in the mist.
Sunburn was now very apparent.


We then went here... One of mikes fave spots.
I can see why.

[The Big Lebowski]

We then decided to head to the hills for the night...

Found a reasonable spot and beaded down.


It was a nice area, giving me the chance to play with
the manual settings on the camera. All total guess work,
so I know its not great. I'm learning.






Sunset was splendid, the night still and the stars crystal clear.



In the morning we packed up, chilled out and went to visit a church built for the dam workers.


It was very pretty inside and gave me the chance for a few more piccy's.


Hope you enjoyed.. Amen!


Cheers mike, best weekend I can remember.

[Mesquite]

Looking like a grand time out TBL. Thanks for sharing

BTW, you might want to edit the first sentence of the second post...

[The Big Lebowski]

Ta... trying to multi task, missed that

[Twodogs]

Stunning photos
Cheers
Twodogs

[Dannytsg]

Seems like a brilliants trip. Thanks for sharing!

[RonW]

Looks like a good place to roam in and take picturs of.
Can not see much wrong with them.

[MartinK9]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.

[Harvestman]

Ooo eck, DM, better get my pics sorted then.

This has the potential to be the most pic-heavy thread ever. I took over 300 photographs.

Many thanks to Al, hereafter to be known as The Pink Lebowski (on account of his sunburn) for his company, and for putting up with me grumbling for the entire trip, despite the thing being my idea.

[Harvestman]

Just got most of the way to writing my report, and a fingerslip deleted it.

"My, how vexing"

<insert swear word of choice>

[Harvestman]

I have been promising to take Al up to the Elan valley for ages, and it all came together this weekend. We set off on Friday early evening, for a double overnighter.
The first notable encounter was the bionic pheasant. Spotting a male bird on the road ahead, and no other traffic, I aimed the car and accelerated hard. There was a resounding thud. We did an abrupt about face to collect our spoils, and looked forward to an exciting evening meal. Except… no bird. Not anywhere. Not so much as a stray feather.
Now I know a solid impact when I feel one. The car actually jumped slightly when we hit, but… nothing. We continued on, most confused. Al declared it the highlight of the trip.
First decision of the trip. on the way to Elan village...
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Night one was just outside the estate boundary, opposite the Cnwch wood nature reserve. Lots of nationally important sessile oak woodland here, and the entire Elan valley estate is a SSSI. Evening meal was packet curry with under-cooked rice, rather than roast pheasant.
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Al didn’t sleep well. I did.
So, next day, bright and early (we surfaced at 5.55am) it was off into the Elan Valley proper. We dropped in at the visitor centre for a coffee and a bacon sandwich, and then looked at Caban Coch dam, which is the base of the valley dam system, supplying water to Birmingham.
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It didn’t occur to either of us that the water in the river was coming from the bottom of the reservoir, so the river temperature was about 0.00001 degrees above freezing. Sensation returned to my feet about lunchtime today…
After a walk along the resertvoir to a smaller secondary dam that was blown up in the planning stages of the famous Dambusters raid of WWII, we headed back to the car, and off to my favourite part of the estate, the Afon Claerwen. First stop was the Claerwen falls. The light here was superb. Al declared it the highlight of the trip. The last picture is possibly my favourite picture of any to date.
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Then up to the Claerwen dam itself. This is the biggest dam in the system, and the reservoir, over 4 miles long and 650 acres, holds as much water as the other 4 dams together. We saw our first red kite of the trip, and a peregrine.
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My wife once absailed down this, in a high wind and torrential rain. Almost as silly as marrying me…
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A short trip into Rhayader followed, for cash, a pint of real ale, and some more kites. Then we took the mountain road around to the top of the estate, and came back through the main Elan dam system. Northernmost is Craig Goch.
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At about this point it threatened to cloud over
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To my surprise, Penygarreg dam was overspilling. Al was like a kid in a sweet shop here. I couldn’t get him away. To be fair, it was pretty spectacular, even if I had seen it before. You can get about 10 feet from the cascading water. Al declared it the highlight of the trip.
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Then it was back, at Al’s insistence, to the waterfalls, for another slightly warmer paddle, and more pictures, before heading up the Afon Arban for our second overnight. My camera battery died at this point, and the spare went missing, but Al’s shots show it up quite nicely. We dined on packet pasta by candlelight, and watched the stars come out.
In the morning there was nearly a fatal accident. I was deep in blissful slumber when Al woke me, declaring that it was 10.30 and the day was passing. I got up very reluctantly, only to be told that it was actually 7.30am. At this point the awareness that it was extremely unlikely that anyone would ever find the body in this remote part of the country passed briefly through my head, but then I realised that I would have to do the cooking myself on future trips, so Al escaped with a caution.
Passing some squaddies out on a timed training run, we went down to the last dam on the agenda, Garreg Ddu, which is actually hidden underwater, with a bridge on top. Garreg Ddu is there as a back-up in case Caban Coch dam fails, as it will retain enough water to provide a basic water supply to Birmingham. This is possibly the best photo spot on the estate. Al declared it the highlight of the trip.
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After which we headed home, stopping for a damn fine meal of deep-fried sausage, vegetable curry, lentil dal, and properly cooked rice, all served on the riverside where the Afon Elan meets the Wye. I knew it was a good decision not to kill him.
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Then we went home.
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Many thanks big man, for a superb trip, some great company, and lots of laughs.

[Johnnyboy1971]

Looks like a fantastic weekend gents and thanks for sharing the pics. I know its asking a lot but when people do these trips out i like to be nosey and see a basic kit list. That way it gives me ideas where and how i might be able to improve my setup.

[Shewie]

Great stuff lads

[Harvestman]

Kit list. Well...

Sleeping bag, tarp, and inflatable mat, although the tarp only got used as a windbreak, and i also tooka mat made from an old duvet for extra comfort.
MSR Pocket Rocket stove and Titan kettle
Home made wooden plate, plastic cup.
Sit mat.
Water bottles and a millbanks bag.

Didn't really use anything else apart from the camera, as this was a car-based trip.

[Ivan...]

Well done chaps , lovely pics and account of what looked like another great trip out , which bit was the highlight of the trip again ?

The Pink Lebowski , made i laugh .

[Harvestman]

On the point about kit, it occurred to us on the weekend that although Al and I do the same sorts of things when outdoors, and we both hammock and ground camp, there isn't a single piece of kit that we actually have in common. Right down to ferro rods and pouches and things like that, yet we manage to do the same stuff.

[The Big Lebowski]

We both had the same hangover...

Kit wise,
Silnylon tarp
Inflatable mat
Groundsheet
Bivi
Down bag
Cheapo gas stove, cookset, spork
SAK*
FAK
Headtorch
Water bladder, filter*
Jacket
Undercrackers/socks
Camera/tripod
One large drybag
Backpack

*unused on trip.

[Simplysu]

Hi, am new to posting on here. Read and thoroughly enjoyed the account of your Elan trip. I'm very new to backpacking, camping etc. Have not yet done an overnighter. Got a lot of kit tho just waiting to be taken out for a trip. Even thinking of giving the hammock a try.
Loved your pictures, very evocotive and has certainly whetted my appetite for some exploring. The Valley's not too far from me, Pembrokeshire. You said there's absolutely no camping on the estate itself.... you found places just outside....where did you leave your car? Have been looking on the Elan Valley site and apparently there seems to be lots of shortish walks for newbies like me to cut my teeth on. Incidently, I'm a mature woman who doesn't mind walking alone....do you think I'd be safe. Enough of my ramblings for now.....Oh I also have an inflatable canoe Tango 200 which I like to take to Dale....still a newbie canoeist too.

[The Big Lebowski]

PM incoming Simplysu, and welcome to the forum!

[redandshane]

Nice reports and photos
That looks like a great area for walking must give it a try sometime soon
Bet it was hot though

[Harvestman]

Simplysu,

Since you don't have ten posts yet I don't think we can personal message you. Anyway, there are three good options. There's a pay and display car park in Rhayader itself, but it isn't expensive. Alternatively, you can use the Elan Valley visitor centre car park (again pay and display) of one of the several free car parks around the estate. Thirdly, I like to park by the church, at Llanwrthwl, which is south of Rhayader, and lies directly on the Wye Valley path. To be honest, cars are pretty secure wherever you park the in that area.

With regard to camping, the Elan Estate enforces a no camping, no boating, no fires policy, and fishing is also rigorously controlled. There are wardens (several) and they do check. That said, it is a very big estate and if you are off the beaten track any significant distance, you are effectively invisible. It would be utterly impossible to enforce the no camping rule across the entire estate without the use of a helicopter equipped with thermal imaging. All of the woodlands on the estate are SSSI's, and most are National Nature Reserve status.

We found a woodland south of the estate for the first night, along the road from Llanwrthwl. The second night was on the moors, and I suspect we were inside the estate boundaries for that one, but am not sure, and we were in the remotest part of the estate region.

When you are up to 10 posts drop me a PM and I might be able to give you more information.

[Harvestman]

Nice reports and photos
That looks like a great area for walking must give it a try sometime soon
Bet it was hot though

It was, but it was also very windy, which offset it a bit.