Photo Journal
27th July // Long Distance Preparation
Ogwen Valley // N53.104 W-3.976
Early morning light on Castell Y Gwynt
Loading my initial roll of film into my second hand but newly acquired Canon F-1 I couldn’t help but shake the feeling that the film hadn't taken. But when that feeling started eating away at me I was two hours into my 2 day hike from Bethesda to Capel Curig and back.
So what's not documented here is the hike along Nant Francon following the winding river and the journey intersecting the northern decline of Tryfan capturing the most subtle of evening light.
What is here instead is a misleading narrative of my first day, of small cloud inversions atop the Glyderau, when in truth these are taken the following day.
My hidden camping spot after a run-in with a farmer
I awoke to the sun rising over the hills and hastily I packed up my tent and set off for a 3 hour slog to reach the top of the Glyders to beat the heat of the morning sun.
The purpose of this particular backpacking outing was to test my kit for an upcoming Scotland trip so it was expected that there would be some unforeseen issues.
Forgetting sun cream was one of those issues.
The top of the Gylders is the nearest thing to civilisation up in the mountains, even in the early hours on a sunny day there are plentiful people to ask for help.
Though the sun didn't last as I trundled along the rest of my route, which was a good thing, I had 1600 meters of elevation to cover over 20km and a heavy backpack despite the lack of sun cream.
