Day 1 As I arrived in the Arans, I was hopeful for a heavy frost, unaware that I would be in a snowy winter wonderland by morning. I heaved on my heavy winter rucksack and huffed and puffed up a steep and craggy mountain path, pitching at 280m with a beautiful view of the valley below The stars came out and a big moon lit everything up, so brightly that I could see the crags and the freezing hills and rocks around me without a head torch I was woken by snow falling on the tent in the early hours, and watched everything turn white, both excited and nervous for the next day on the mountain - which would be my first time camping and hiking alone in the snow Day 2 I watched the clouds dancing in the valley below me as I had my breakfast, packed up, put on my snow spikes and continued up the steep and craggy valley. The snow fell heavily, and the valley, all white and wintery, was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been 🤍 It felt like being in a fairytale I slowly plodded up to 400m, before the terrain became steeper. Concerned about a potential slip or fall on the ice and new to this snow hiking malarkey, I wasn't willing to go higher on it, so decided to backtrack down to the valley and head up the low slopes of Pen yr Allt Uchaf on the other side Here I found a flat pitch on a rocky outcrop above a river and settled down for another cosy and gorgeous night in the snow. It would drop to below -3°C, making this my coldest camp yet Gear List
This gear list contains affiliate links. This means that WildBeare makes a small commission from any sales made via these links, at no extra cost to yourself - a great way to support the channel. Thank you so much! I made a separate video about the gear I used during this trip, you can see that here SHELTER Tent Hilleberg Soulo + Footprint TREKKING POLE Fizan Compact 158g https://amzn.to/3ETBs6T SLEEP SYSTEM Winter Sleeping Bag Rab Ascent 1100 https://amzn.to/3ATy3lM Winter Sleep Mat Neoair Thermarest Xtherm Max https://amzn.to/3uSjiLt Trekology Aluft Delux Pillow https://amzn.to/3xwuhM1 Highlander Reflective Foil Foam Mat https://amzn.to/3OxQ2mv Alpkit Kloke Lightweight Bivi Bag RUCKSACK & PACKING Deuter Aircontact 60+10L SL Women’s Rucksack https://amzn.to/3MqRvcW Exped Dry Bags https://amzn.to/33OmrDu Nylofume Pack Liner - https://outdoorgearessentials.co.uk SIT MAT Cheapo one https://amzn.to/3yP22u8 GPS NAVIGATION / SOS SAFETY DEVICE Garmin Inreach Mini https://amzn.to/3sVBi9f Garmin Backpack Tether https://amzn.to/3sTRibM FIELD REPAIRS Tenacious Tape https://amzn.to/2PmjxOq Duct Tape (I wrap it around my trekking pole) https://amzn.to/3qPKFEF COOKING X Bands https://outdoorgearessentials.co.uk Opinel Pocket Knife No.6 https://amzn.to/3ad0HAo Toaks 900ml Titanium Pot https://amzn.to/3j5Mwot Hiking Stove https://amzn.to/3cM173q Jetboil Gas 230g https://amzn.to/3z5qV5L Tito Titanium Spoon https://amzn.to/3xgwcqi Bag for rubbish WATER & HYDRATION LifeStraw 650m Filter Squeeze Bottle https://amzn.to/3TSeDVe Bottles for camp Milton Sterilising Tablets for cleaning https://amzn.to/3W4tLR5 TOILETRIES & PERSONAL CARE Tissue Baby wipes Hand sanitiser Trowel https://amzn.to/3etBVz9 Hair band Lip balm Talc Toothpaste Tiny mirror Mini Tweezers Tiny Pots https://amzn.to/3aJytgC Toothbrush https://amzn.to/2LqwgxY Sleep Mask https://amzn.to/3tD2lUs MED KIT Pain relief Antihistamine Plasters & blister plasters Torniquet (only use with knowledge of how to use safely) Wound Dressing & Small Bandage Alcohol Wipes CLOTHING & FOOTWEAR Boots Regatta https://amzn.to/3jufjj0 Peter Storm Winter Hiking Jacket https://amzn.to/3WiAUwV Merino layers - Decathlon Waterproof Padded Gloves Sealskinsz - https://amzn.to/3D694x7 Down Booties – Naturehike https://amzn.to/3eI4JqE Down Puffy - Decathlon Fleece hat, gloves & neck warmer – Decathlon Spare Bootlaces ELECTRONICS Power Bank Anker PowerCore https://amzn.to/3jqTQr2 Headtorch – Decathlon Bivouac USB (100 lumen) Light - Goal Zero https://amzn.to/32RI1pR Thermometer https://amzn.to/3TMdw9n Charger Cables Microfibre Cloth for drying hands & electronics in wet weather https://amzn.to/3rHZYyf HEAT Ocoopa Electronic Hand Warmer Green https://amzn.to/3BDyels Hot Hands https://amzn.to/3q1iiTp Hot Hands (bulk order x40 pairs) https://amzn.to/3eCWKLg ICE AXE & SNOW SPIKES Petzl Ice Axe https://amzn.to/3qTmx3W WardWolf Ice Spikes https://amzn.to/3HAF5wH NAVIGATION Map & Compass Garmin InReach Mini https://amzn.to/3EXYqpZ Phone https://amzn.to/3An5PQ7 FILMING Camera – Sony ZV1 https://amzn.to/3t4VamJ Ulanzi Wide Angle & Macro Lens https://amzn.to/3CC6Jaq ZV1 Screen Protectors https://amzn.to/3tYOnPA 128GB SD Card https://amzn.to/3tckuY8 GoPro Hero 8 https://amzn.to/3hjvtec Foam Wind Shield https://amzn.to/3nr2ys1 Screen Protectors https://amzn.to/3PsxRA0 GoPro 10 https://amzn.to/3T9CDUB Foam Wind Shield https://amzn.to/3TesuWA Screen Protectors https://amzn.to/3ww70Lf Selfie Stick https://amzn.to/3zRjDTh Rucksack Mount https://amzn.to/32Ojy4M Sandisk Extreme 128GB Micro SD Card https://amzn.to/3p8XQ0v SAM the drone: DJI Mavic Mini Drone Fly More Combo https://amzn.to/3rvF0SZ + an old iphone to control it – my phone is not compatible 128GB Micro SD Card https://amzn.to/3p8XQ0v Ring Light Clips https://amzn.to/2MZjCGK Basic Tripod https://amzn.to/3nxGg7p Mini Ball Heads https://amzn.to/32Zb87n Gorrillapod Flexible Mini Tripod https://amzn.to/3u9Tb3j COMPUTER & EDITING Editing Program – Davinci (Free) Sony Headphones https://amzn.to/3yds75R HP Wireless Keyboard Mouse https://amzn.to/3yjY24t Dell PC https://amzn.to/3CAp3mX Seagate 10TB External Hard Drive https://amzn.to/3MnK4Vj Day 3 On the last morning, I woke to condensation frozen on the inside of the tent and unzipped the door to find that the clouds had lifted and I had snowy views of the mountains all around me The morning was the coldest I've experienced at -3°C, although I was warm in all my winter gear. I spent a long time just watching the moon travel across the sky and the pastel coloured hues of the morning sun dance across the peaks Although my (slightly ambitious) circular summit route plan had not come to be and I didn't get very far the whole weekend, this lil trip could not have been more perfect. It was an amazing learning experience for me and so heartbreakingly beautiful. I'm so full of gratitude to have experienced it Comments are closed.
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AuthorHello, I'm Claire 🌿🐻 Archives
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