Wellie Walk & Mine Mooch 24th June 2012

[Ian A]

Wellie Walk & Mine Mooch â€" Report  24th June 2012

Adventure was to be had hunting mines in the Gwydyr Forest with myself, John and Vikki and the day began at 10:30am at the rendezvous just outside Betws.

Having all met, we created a convoy comprised of two cars and headed for the car park at the other side of Betws which, unsurprisingly, we found. Tickets were bought, wellies were donned, backpacks were loaded and off we went.

Spirits were high but the weather was damp. The forecast was for a clear day and, of course, it was raining a smidgen with dull grey skies and limp light. Still, we were having an adventure and we were determined to have fun. :cheer:

First stop was Gryffyn Mine which, due to an overwhelming amount of knackerness walking up the hill, John and Vikki volunteered muggings to traipse up the spoil heap and see if the gate was open. It was not. This was to be an omen of sorts â€" the sort of omen that conjures up impossibly bad things that have no purpose other than to ruin your adventure. :angry:

Unperturbed, we continued up to find the same story at Aberllyn mine â€" another sealed gate and no entry. This was not so bad though as this adit yields gooley deep muddy ochre and was as enticing as a frogspawn sandwich. :pinch:

Yet again we travelled onwards and upwards, still bravehearted and filled with adventure. The lake soon came into view and we decided to take the pretty path of greater undulations rather than the mettled track of lesser waves. By this time, the temperature (on account of the uphill walk and the day moving towards lunch time) had reached around 50000 degrees â€" about the same as the outer core of the sun. It was necessary to peel a layer off and we exposed our arms to the wild forest fireflies. :unsure:

Having reached the end of the lake, the little red dot on our map, being our target, was to be seen on the other side of the lake head but there was no path to it at all. Someone (not me I should quickly add) decided that the best route would be to walk straight to it following a wall which ascended at a tangent to the path. We duly obeyed and left the path â€" a path which we did not see again for quite a long time. Upwards we rose in the brash until we found a fenced area with the inevitable signage.  We knew it was not what we were looking for as we were not in the right area but an investigation took place nevertheless. This was to prove hapless as it was an adit which had been dammed and flooded almost to the ceiling. We left the flooded adit and continued in the direction we thought was right heading though trees and brash and found another such fenced area which sported a much bigger adit and a 10 foot wall built immediately in front of it. Although entry was possible by falling off the wall and into the adit, we considered that exploring an adit with broken ankles was difficult and getting back over the wall probably wasn’t possible. No one volunteered to be a crumple zone so we moved on. :whistle:

The forest became much thicker and much denser making passage much more difficult. We studied the map many times over the next 45 minutes and we regretted that not one of us had brought a GPS (all of which we had back in the car except mine which was in the drawer resting at home). I did, however, have a compass and we stayed true to our course. Snaking through the thick brash with a visibility of approximately nothing, we became drenched from wet foliage and stabbed by untold numbers of gorse arms and pine needles. We were all impressed. Again we consulted the map and believed that we may have gone slightly past where we needed to be and we changed compass direction to meet a track we believed to exist nearby.  In fact, we found “a track” within yards of this change of direction. Believing ourselves to be correct, we headed off in the wrong direction where we found another fenced area â€" this was a “biggie” but a thorough search yielded nothing but puddles (or sumped shafts) and more pine needles in the wellies. :ohmy:

We turned tail and headed back the opposite way along the track and found an area of fenced “stuff” pretty much where our red dot on the map was. This yielded a shaft and a trial adit which John explored and found to be less than satisfactory â€" he did, however, have the opportunity of trying out a new lamp he had bought for the occasion. Back to the main track we went and continued finding another shaft and then we stopped for lunch. Whilst eating as fast as possible (we were hungry from being lost, I mean, our trek through the dense woodland), I wandered further up the path and found another shaft, but, according to the map (and assuming we were where we thought we were) I was too far north. I headed back to find John and Vikki finishing their lunch and they set off back down the track we had been walking up. I struggled to get my buttie box thingy into my back and that is when I was attacked and bitten by 14 million midges or similarly irritating little insects that bite. :evil: My arms became covered in small red blotches and I was “annoyed”. :huh:

Walking down the track we considered we may not be where we thought we were and we might have been on an entirely different track â€" we pondered Occam’s Razor and also sod’s law. Passing a battered car apparently abandoned but with the drivers seat down and a quilt inside (which may or may not have had a body or two under it :dry: ) we finally came across a couple near a footpath that veered off. According to the map and assuming we were where we should have been, this would take us to the lake â€" the couple confirmed it did and we knew then that we had been right all along but had simply not found the infernal adit we were after. Somewhat annoyed and tired from the relentless jungle we had endured, we sodded off back to the lake and down the hill. We stopped off at Gryffyn mine and wandered in a very short adit â€" I do mean VERY short so we could all say we had been underground and we continued downwards.

We made a slight detour to something (let’s keep some mystery) and then back to the cars. John and Vikki were both caked in sh!t :blink:  but I had managed to stay clean (on account of me being a smart arse again). John’s suggestion of a pub seemed to be a good idea so although Vikki went home to see her dog â€" John and I had a pint of some golden, hoppy ale stuff which was called “Golden Hoppy”. Not a bad ending to the days adventure .... B)

As Doug would have said â€" “You’d pay a fortune at a gym for a workout like that”. :silly:

Until Next Time ....

Ian



The Moochers Three - somewhat peeved at not finding the adit :S

[John Nicholson]

Glad it ended with a nice pint of Golden Ale and a dog.

[Dylan Roberts]

Aberllyn has got an open adit on level 3 just up the hill from the locked gate with the mud :lol:

[Joel Colk]

I've never been able to find it Dylan, i was told that it was well hidden, but this information is a couple of years old.

I always just SRT in from the top adit. Much more fun

[Joel Colk]

[quote="Ian" post=7175]



The Moochers Three - somewhat peeved at not finding the adit :S[/quote]

Vikki is clearly staring at a butterfly or squirrel just out of shot .
Ian is doing his sex face and Johno is doing a fantastic gangster pose.

[Dylan Roberts]

[quote="Suboffender" post=7178]I've never been able to find it Dylan, i was told that it was well hidden, but this information is a couple of years old.

I always just SRT in from the top adit. Much more fun [/quote]

I found it easier to find if you walk up the stream from the level 4 gate as its not far from the stream.

[Tim Watts]

[quote="Suboffender" post=7179][quote="Ian" post=7175]



The Moochers Three - somewhat peeved at not finding the adit :S[/quote]

Vikki is clearly staring at a butterfly or squirrel just out of shot .
Ian is doing his sex face and Johno is doing a fantastic gangster pose.[/quote]

You mean sex 'pest' face surely ;-)

[Ian A]

Tim's right of course

Dylan ... is level 4 the gated entrance with the deep ochre behind it ?

:dry:

Ian

[Dylan Roberts]

Yeah level 4 is just off the path to the right if you're walking up and yes it's the one with thigh level ochre