Welsh Rovers
Outward
Bound Aberdyfi
7th
– 28th August 2004
GO Go Power Rovers 1!
Pip, Laurence, Anthony, Gayle, Rhona, Iain,
Scott and Alex,
Me and Alice
Day 1: The realization suddenly hits that we were going to be out
in wild Wales UNDER CANVAS for 21 NIGHTS with only a chemical toilet when we
were lucky.
Day 2: We learn what carrying everything on our backs actually
feels like
Day 3: Rovers 1 canoes down river, only to learn that they now
have to walk all the way back, and further, to base camp at Pont Ystumaner while Rovers 2 takes the train.
Day 4: Rock climbing at Crag X
Day 5: A large slurp of gorge walking followed by the ascent of Cadair Idris in 2 HOURS 47 
MINUTES
and 25 SECONDS! We camp in the bwthyn on top. The
tents probably won a few votes on comfort!
Day 6: A rather dubious descent of Cadair
down a scree slope and a walk to Abergwent
Farm
Day
7: Canoe to Barmouth for a return to civilisation if only for a few hours.
Day 8: Rock climbing on Barmouth Slabs
Day 9: Our longest day but supposedly an easy route along the Rhinogs. First mistake: Decide to take shortest route up to
200m ridge, ie via the steepest slope (something like
55%) Second mistake: Decide to take a break on top of Diffyws
where many of us freeze. Third mistake (luckily by now we’re close-ish to the campsite): it’s easier to follow sheep tracks
round the site of a mountain through knee deep gorse, heather and heaven knows
what else? We thought so.
Day
10: Walk to the solo site and meet up with Rovers 2 for afternoon and supper.
We’re given a bag ‘filled’ with a measly piece of cheese, a packet of crisps
(at least not cheese and onion), a flapjack and an apple before being taken
deep into the forest and dropped off one by one into our 5m circle
Day 11: Asleep
Day 12: Wake up and return to normalcy of our Rovers group.
After breakfast of bake beans and sausage followed by yummy pizza, we set off
unaccompanied (not a good idea!) across bogs to the second base camp.
Day
13: Scrambling up then down Tryfan
Day 14: Multi pitch climbing in Ffestinog
Day 15: Gorge walking with slides, the Flying Fox zipwire and the grand finale, the 43’ jump
Day
16: Supposedly a relaxed day and by some standards maybe so, but definitely the
most hard thinking day having to sort out our routes for the next 4 days.
Day 17: The groups split. No longer the Power
Rovers or even Team Sexy R.O. The Reservoir Hoggs
and the A team set off while my group, the Golden Wanderers are driven up to Llan Ffestinog as we are the
foolish ones choosing to walk over 80km! The less said about the Golden Wanderers’s day, the better!
Day 18: A shorter day but by no means easy.
Day 19: Longest day of the entire course: 28km
Day
20: Up what we considered early –
Day 21: A taste of the centre’s high
ropes and trapeze courses followed by a BBQ and the inevitable cleaning up,
mostly in the dark.
Day 22: Sad farewells for many but perhaps a joyous escape for
others
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