Top of PageThe weather forecast is for winter to finally creep upon us with some colder temperatures. To John Mel and myself this could only mean one thing, lets get the sleeping bags out from their summer hibernation and get on upto Mid Wales for some camping and laning. It's late Friday tea time, Joy and I were due to leave at 7.30ish to meet the rest of the fellow winter campers at Llandovery around 8-30. A quick rummage in the shed, much to the annoyance of a sleeping cat and the tent is dug out and chucked into the Rangy along with piles of food, sleeping bags and the portable tv.. New heavy duty springs having been fitted on Weds. to cope with the weight of food and lager. 7-30 and we are off to bash the wallet in the petrol station, oh the joys of a V8!!! £50 later and it's a dash to Llandovery.
The plan was to meet young Andy and his chauffeur Christian in their latest acquisition, Rick and his brother Gordon in their 109, John Mel and Eddie in the laner at Llandovery. Just for a change the curse of Mid Wales struck before we even got there. 9.20 arrives and John and Rick finally turn up. The curse must have rubbed off onto Rhys who was spotted in the "rare" position of suffering from a lack of mobility and no doubt turning the calm evening air blue with some choice words. John and Rick thought they had better stop and see if he needed help. Thats the best excuse yet John... Meanwhile still no sign of Andy and Christian and just as the Cardiff boys walk off in search of the chippie, Andy and Chris turn up in an Astra. Some thing appears not quite right. If they are taking that they should have fitted a winch and some underbody protection!!!! No trip for them as the fuel tank on the "new" Landie leaks like a sieve, the back up V8 series one has no reverse and the old man probably would have fallen about laughing if they asked him for the stage one. So its an early finish for them.
Away to the woods with John Mel leading and making the first wrong turn within 300 yards!!!! Onwards to our usual campsite on Strata Florida. All turn in at 1.00 ish to listen to the strange noises of the wilds at night, those who have been on these trips know what I mean.......Eddie's snoring. Saturday came upon us in a bright and cheerful way and it was nice to be able to cook the good old fry up in the dry for a change.
Strata was not its usual 9 mile long car wash but just enough water present to test the electric's on the V8. So far so good, looks like the WD40 can stay in the box I thought. The next lane was a straight forward U/C road to lead you into a sense of security. Next was a lane by Devils Bridge that I have not been on and defeated certain members of our party a couple of years earlier during the monsoon season. The lane in question runs along side a river and gets rather narrow in places with the washed away bank having been built up on previous trips with stones for a short stretch. Joy did not fancy the look of the drop into the river so decided to walk this bit. With a bit of guidance from Eddie we all made it across. The next obstacle was a muddy/rutted/water filled stretch with a tight 90 degree left. John puts a rope on the motor front and back just in case but makes it through OK. I make it as well but Rick is a bit long to get around the corner easily and gets grounded and stuck against the bank. Out with the winch for the first time this weekend. This lane doubles back to the main road or continues to a blocked exit onto another road. I suggest driving it to the blockage to see whats there. The start was easy enough and slowly became very rutted and the steeper and steeper. John presses on and I manage to keep up with him. Not wanting to stop until forced to we carry on up the hill. John gets crossaxled at the start of a real washed out section and walks off to see whats ahead. I look back but there is no sign of Rick. Just the distant squeals of a 21/4. A walk down the lane and Rick is spotted charging at a section but not making any progress. I think he's ready to get the winch out but I suggest waiting to see what John reports back with. The findings were the lane got steeper and was covered with loose shale with plenty of sharp bits sticking out of the ground and the chances are they would do a lot of damage to the tyres. So with only one spare each it was decided to turn back - well not so much turn back but reverse all the way back down the lane. The rest of the lane was just a forestry track back to the main road. Onwards towards the old mines and Anglers retreat.
On the way we drove a nice little lane which caught Kev out a number of years ago on the "Lemsip Trophy" weekend. The section in question is not as muddy and has washed down to rock and caused no problems. It's now just gone 5.00 and we head up towards the old mines spotting some mad fools camping by one of the reservoirs!!!. The usual entrance to the mining area was a lot drier than in previous years so John suggested driving Ho Chi Min. I replied "lets drive the top section where Rick and Eddie got stuck last time, but downhill, should be no problem". "OK" says John. Its 5-45 as we start the top section. The top level section caused not problems last time when it was really wet. This time proved different. The ruts were deep and full of soft mud. John gets stuck and has to run the winch out twice to clear the section. Just for a change my tyres got me a lot further than expected and no one would have got much further. I could not open the doors to get out and it was now I thought the tv will not double as a winch and we should have brought the Tirfor!!!! After joining all the ropes and strops John gives me a tow out . By now the ruts were a bit clearer and Rick gets to within 25 yards of me. All ropes except one are placed between Rick and me and one on the front of me to John. All together now and we get Rick clear. Its 6-40 and we've gone a few hundred yards!!!!. The worst section was yet to come we thought. The rest though' proved no problem, not even the exit onto the forest track which had caused plenty of problems in the past. The last section of Ho Chi Min to the bog hole proved straight forward and to our surprise all the trees around the bog had been felled. The main hole was now a couple of feet down to the water level, God knows how much water and the nice soft peat. The hole could be bypassed now the trees have been felled, but we decided it was not worth getting passed it as the other side had been gravelled in sections. After much reversing and myself getting a sideways tow we headed off to make camp. The usual spot was chosen for the night and Joy was soon settling down to watch a Bond movie on an Irish tv channel. Later that night she made a valiant attempt to cover the sound of Eddie's snoring by keeping the radio turned up !!!!.
Sunday proved a day of surprises, the biggest being having to wait ages for John to break camp so we could set off . John told me to lead so it was off to have a quick look at two lanes nearby. The first was new to us, I started off in the lead with one bank taking a couple of attempts and Rick getting stuck in a gully and winching his way through. I walk on ahead and it looks OK. Just in case I sent John up front. Within a couple of hundred yards John stops and walks ahead. Just as I get out we hear John laughing loudly. I look ahead and think what's so funny about that bank, OK its a bit rutted and a bit of a tight left hand turn but John can winch up there. On walking a bit further and looking around the trees I see what he is laughing so loudly at. A nice long, very steep bank complete with a side slope and a 10yard wide strip of mud and ruts. Still, plenty of trees to winch off. The left hand edge looks the best bet until you get towards the top where there is a 18" rock step. The other side of the step, the hill falls away quicker both to the side and bottom with a rutted 90 degree right into the trees. Judging by the broken branches, someone must have rolled into the trees just after the crest. Yet some more reversing practice. The next lane was drier and flatter than last time and had to be driven both ways. Time to head back over the route we had driven yesterday back to the main road. Had a look at a new lane that in the past had looked fenced off where it joins the main road. This time tracks could be seen passing through the fence and closer inspection found the fence was removable.
This was to be the next lane as time was getting on. A quick dash to Claerwen Res. and a spot of food in the carpark. We set off down the lane and we soon had an audience following slowly on the main road. No problems on this lane although it could get rather muddy during the monsoons!!!
All in all a good weekend with cracking weather for a change. It would be nice though to have some different company on the next weekend jaunt. Next trip possibly in Feb. unless we have some snow before then.