Category Archives: Walk Reports

Oregon: Nesmith Point

Something rather different : I’ve been in the USA for a couple of weeks and packed the bare essentials in case an opportunity to get presented itself.

I was staying in Portland,  Oregon, and a visit to the waterfalls in the Columbia River gorge was suggested.  It was great weather, and I started late, so unsurprisingly all the parking at the trailheads was taken.  I drove on , and took the trail marked towards Nesmith Point. At a little over four miles with just under 4,000ft of elevation gain, it’s a good workout.

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The trail leads into the forest, gradually rising towards a series of switchbacks as it steepens.  There are good views over to Beacon Rock on the north side of the river once you gain a little height.

The rock on the path gives plenty of clues about the volcanic nature of the terrain,  and there’s  an interesting selection of flowers out – mostly very different from those found in the UK.

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This one with the white petals is Trillium.

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The trail climbs steeply under the impressive canyon walls, and finally (with a huge sense of relief) the grade eases dramatically.

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The summit is a couple of kilometres on, after a marked junction. The views west down the gorge are impressive, but the trees still block the view north and east.

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The fresh landslip here shows the instability of a lot of the gorge – one major landslide a few hundred years back formed the Bridge of the Gods a few miles upstream.

A quick snack, a rest, and then a faster and easier descent back to the car.

First Winter Day

Black Mountains – 19-01-2015

Having just replaced my long-suffering boots with a new pair, the weather forecast gave an ideal opportunity to bed them in. The amount of ice on the driveway and local roads meant that somewhere near was athe best option, so I headed south to the Black Mountains at the eastern end of the Brecon Beacons NP.

Plenty of snow was visible on the hills as I drove towards Hay and then Talgarth, so I was a little surprised that the ground was mostly free of snow and unfrozen at the bottom of Y Grib – the undulating ridge head onto the high ground.

But after crossing over Castell Dinas and climbing out of the bwlch, there was no shortage. I followed the ridge up to the cairn, with Pen y Fan and friends impressively coming into view round the side of Mynydd Troed.

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On the ridge, the snow mostly just inches deep – the wind scouring from the ridge and depositing it on the leeward slopes – but on the plateau towards Pen Y Mallwyn it was much deeper and unconsolidated, making every step an effort.

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Much post-holing and floundering later,  and I reached the ridge path heading towards Waun Fach. The snow again was a lot easier here, and I made good progress on the path to the summit plateau.

I’d seen figures on the skyline earlier, and now could see they were all carrying unfeasibly large packs. And the SA-8o’s were bit of a giveaway that this wasn’t a D of E award group out training.

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After stopping for food, I took a wide loop round the summit plateau, before heading back to the car via Pen Trumau

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Overnight on Snowdon

The prospect of an imminent week in Amsterdam made focus on getting out for a day. The forecast was good but the inevitable traffic faff and late departure meant that it was almost 7PM before I got to Llanberis. The late hour meant I was tempted to cancel plans for a wild camp and use the excellent Llwyn Celyn Bach campsite, but the moon was full so I reckoned I’d be well up  the hill before darkness and tiredness struck.

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The sun set behind me, casting a deep red glow onto Snowdon as I made my way up the Llanberis path. Just a few folk were still coming down – happy faces after a beautiful day. As the sun went down, the full moon came up, disappearing behind  the cliffs above as I dropped off the path towards Llyn Du’r Arddu. Head torch was needed now for the first time, as I scouted around for a dry, flat and rock-free pitch. One located, it was time for a quick meal before bed.

I woke  briefly at about 2am to find the tent much brighter than  when I’d gone to sleep: the moon was now above the cliffs, illuminating the whole cwm below.  By 0600, it was properly light outside so after admiring the cliffs above I quickly packed up. My initial plan was to cross below the cliffs to the bwlch below Moel Cynghorion, but the weather looked good enough that a diversion to Snowdon summit (hopefully sans crowds) was appealing.

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Rejoining the Llanberis path, the sky was a patchwork of cloud, and the sudden views into the Llanberis path after Clogwyn station were a joy.

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As I neared the summit, my hopes of it being empty were dashed. I could make out a lone figure by the cairn. The views of the cloud bank rolling over Crib Goch, and a sea of cloud below me stretching out to sea were good compensation, though.wpid-P1020788.jpg

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The guy at the summit was  by himself – and seemed cheery enough, asking about the route down to Llanberis. Only then did he drop a bombshell: He’d walked through the night from Pen y Pass for 11 hours (no torch, and no obvious map, and you can guess the footwear), and he had two mates somewhere below on the steep screes at the top of the Watkin path. They’d had enough, and had called Mountain Rescue – and a helicopter was on the way.

On cue, Rescue 122 flew in over the cloud from Valley, and winched up the two below.  By chance, an ex-NEWSAR leader had arrived at the summit with some clients, and he led the third guy back down, while the Sea King headed off with his mates.wpid-P1020796.jpg

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Peace at last. I had the summit to myself for a good 15 minutes, before the first two trains of the day (first one: cafe staff; second one: water!) arrived.

wpid-P1020801.jpgwpid-P1020804.jpgThe rest of the day was less eventful: Down the Snowdon Ranger path, with my shadow  surrounded by a solar glory. The angle was never quite right for a full Brocken Spectre.

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A brief diversion to the top of the Clogwyn Du’r Arddu cliffs allowed me to look down to last night’s camping spot,  then up over Moel Cynghorion (tick!) and Fron Goch, (tick!!)  with a pause to watch ravens and (I think?) a peregrine falcon soaring over the cliffs.

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Finally, onwards to Moel Eilio (tick!!!) in the sun, and back to the car via the maze of little lanes and fields above Llanberis.

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