A Trip to Nant Rhys
July 26th, 2006 by Stephen
I’m off for a few days, so I thought I would leave something reasonably light before I went. The article below is about a trip we took some of our Youth Group on a few years ago.
Friday was hot. Not just your average beginning of August warm, but hot sticky thunderstorm weather. Well it’s been like that all week of course. In fact it’s been like that all summer – but who’s complaining? Still, it’s just as well that we didn’t leave Aber until six in the evening. By the time I had collected Gareth, Huw, Amos, Gareth, Alun, Justin and Gareth and having waited for Gareth Williams to figure out the seatbelt mechanism and then having driven out to Cwmystwyth, the temperature had dropped to something near comfortable.
We stopped for our first food stop just outside the minibus doors (well its hard work climbing down that minibus step you know), and then our glorious Mountain Leader (Amos) disappeared to have a long chat with one of the locals, leaving us with no choice but to have our first drink stop too.
Eventually we left the minibus and set off up a large track which went up a large hill. A very large hill in fact. Some would say too large, so not surprisingly when we reached the top it was time for another food stop.
For the observant, we had already passed a hanging valley, a river, a marsh and some very interesting insectivoress plants.
We carried on then down into a river valley, crossed the river (a raging torrent is not how one would describe it). Amos and I were quite hoping someone would fall in at this point, just so we could explain why we insisted on a change of clothes! Unfortunately no one obliged. We then followed the river up to the mountain bothy.
Well that was when we found out we were not alone!!. No, someone else had also trecked all the way out here to Nant Rhys and was already installed in the bothy, with the stove lit and a kettle on. It took several minutes to explain to Huw that we really didn’t know who he was!!
The weather was so warm that we eventually decided to sleep outside, so we collected and cut firewood, set a small fire, cooked our evening meal, heard about the shepherd of Nant Rhys (and other ghost stories) and lay down among the swarms of gibbons* (!!!) with the vaguest intentions of going to sleep.
Well we didn’t go to sleep, but we saw plenty of shooting stars, as well as a few satellites, and just about every other star visible to the naked eye. Meanwhile we had more ghost stories, as well as discussions of a certain girl who works in the chip shop and other such weighty matters. Amos managed to fall asleep shortly after midnight, but it was gone two before everybody else shut up.
Everyone was awake again by six the following morning, which was far too early so we all went for a walk into the forestry looking for replacement firewood. Before we eventually set off home we had to fill in the Nant Rhys visitor’s book of course, and after Gareth Williams’ astute observation I decided it should be his job to take all the litter home with him! (Anyone wanting to know what this observation was will have to go to Nant Rhys and look at the visitors book themselves)!
There was some discussion of short cuts and eventually Alun decided that he would lead everyone across the “quick route” back – cross country across the peat lands. Amos and I had a bit of a break to give them a suitable head start and then walked around on the track. When we heard the shouts we knew they had found the boggy bits!
When everyone else managed to get back on the path, joining Amos and me, I’m sure they had gained a much greater appreciation for the benefits of a path – and a much lesser appreciation for Alun’s short cuts!!
Everyone agreed it had been excellent fun. We would all do it over again without hesitation!
*Gibbon – Either another name for Alun, or else Alun’s name for a ladybird.**
**Ladybird – A flesh eating carnivorous beetle which normally feeds on aphids, but in times of drought in Wales it swarms to the west coast and has been known to eat whole campers at night.
