Trip to snowdonia in my disco camper

So with my sleeping platform finally finished, and a couple of days off work, I thought I'd go and try it out on a quick trip to N Wales. I got back a few hours ago from Snowdonia. Did a short trip there and back in about 28hours, but packed in a night at shell island campsite, and a trip to the mountains to climb Tryfan.

Thought I'd share some pics with you guys:

Got there just as it got dark, so had a 20 minute drive round with my spots on trying to find a good spot out of the way, to park the disco:



Got the sleeping platform extended, laid my bed out, and put the curtains up. Then got dinner on the go. Chicken and noodles:





Morning next, and cooking breakfast. Cooking bacon from the comfort of my sleeping bag, after a very good nights sleep, christening the discovery's sleeping platform:



I was joined by a little birdy as I was tucking into breakfast:



Packed the car up and then off I went for a bit of driving round the dunes:











Not exactly snorkel-worthy, but a fun bit of paddling nonetheless:



Next I went off down to the beach for a quick swim:



Didn't hang about though, as I took the hour long drive from Llanbedr to Capel Curig, parked up near the start of the Tryfan route, and donned my boots.


I climbed up Tryfan which I have to say, as an experienced mountain walker, was quite frightening at times, not by the scramble's complexity, but by it's exposure, and the height of the shear drops which are at times, close enough to reach out and grab you:





Anyway, when I got to the top I somehow found it within me to make the traditional leap of faith, from Eve to Adam, and back again, although unfortunately no pictorial evidence, but only a scottish hiker as a witness who told me just before I left the summit, "Well done, you've earned the freedom of Tryfan". The seminal moment of my trip, before I headed quickly back down to the layby and embarked on the 2.5 hour drive home.


All in all a fantastic little trip, which cost me only the fuel there and back, and 6 quids camping fee. Money well spent.

That looks great! Was everything really secure when pottering around the dunes? Not like those Top Gear Tossers that have tea pots and crockery "accidentally" smashing about!

I like Tryfan, it feels like a proper mountain, even approaching from the south you're likely to use your hands. By the look of your photo you can up the north ridge? Last winter I did the aonach eagach ridge in Glencoe, the exposure on the pinacle section there is phenomenal, one slip and it feels like you'd end up on the A82 at the bottom of the valley!

Anyway, as this is General Land Rover Chat I better say something about Landys - nice landy ;-)

I was surprised how secure the storage thing in the back was to be honest. I did some very upy-downy dune driving, and going across heavily waterlogged grass which hid plenty of potholes, the disco did jump around quite a bit.

If anything, the platform actually prevented stuff going everywhere, and my boxes underneath it, which hold it down since it's not bolted down, did the job nicely. I also had big boxes of my cooking stuff, loose knifes and forks etc. and I expected them to be rattling like hell but they made no noise. I was surprised how secure the whole thing was.

Yeh Tryfan was awesome. I left to go up at 2pm and wanted to be back and the car by 6. I went up the north ridge, and on several occasions, having seen nobody else on the mountain, and with no obvious route to follow I did find myself seriously wondering if I was climbing myself into an impossible situation. I just sort of figured that there's no safe way down (downclimbing is never wise), until I can get to the Heathers Terrace path on the other side of the summit. In the end, I was back at the disco for 5 on the dot. I plan to get back to snowdonia soon and will tackle glyder fach.

ajb403 said:

I like Tryfan, it feels like a proper mountain, even approaching from the south you're likely to use your hands. By the look of your photo you can up the north ridge? Last winter I did the aonach eagach ridge in Glencoe, the exposure on the pinacle section there is phenomenal, one slip and it feels like you'd end up on the A82 at the bottom of the valley!

Anyway, as this is General Land Rover Chat I better say something about Landys - nice landy ;-)

Click to expand...

Love Tryfan too, remember climbing it with a friend when I was at uni - we arrived at the climbing hut just at dusk and all the old boys were getting back from a days climbing and we set off (they thought we were nuts) we literally ran / scrambled / free climbed up the closest face (no real path) and got to the top in 1 hour dead. As it was bascially dark by then, we donned the head torches and took the path back down!


Errm... landy comment - I can't see your pics (at work) which makes amusing reading - "christening" the bed and being joined by "a bird" in the morning make it sound like an interesting trip...

tryfan. even though its a 6 hour drive for me and my son. i love it. we always have a few scary moments on it. was up there in november and it was covered in snow. slept in the car and was the coldest i`ve ever been.
going again over easter and going to do grib goch as well. my son has not done grib goch so will be fun.
would like to take the disco, but cant afford the fuel on a 600 mile round trip. hence the car.
good pics there, readysalted.

Great little setup you got there ReadySalted. I did the same thing with my 110 using a bit of ply I found in the garage, just plonked it across the rear wheel arches. Good to see it works for you, I love the K.I.S.S aproach to things

ReadySalted said:

I was surprised how secure the storage thing in the back was to be honest. I did some very upy-downy dune driving, and going across heavily waterlogged grass which hid plenty of potholes, the disco did jump around quite a bit.

If anything, the platform actually prevented stuff going everywhere, and my boxes underneath it, which hold it down since it's not bolted down, did the job nicely. I also had big boxes of my cooking stuff, loose knifes and forks etc. and I expected them to be rattling like hell but they made no noise. I was surprised how secure the whole thing was.

Yeh Tryfan was awesome. I left to go up at 2pm and wanted to be back and the car by 6. I went up the north ridge, and on several occasions, having seen nobody else on the mountain, and with no obvious route to follow I did find myself seriously wondering if I was climbing myself into an impossible situation. I just sort of figured that there's no safe way down (downclimbing is never wise), until I can get to the Heathers Terrace path on the other side of the summit. In the end, I was back at the disco for 5 on the dot. I plan to get back to snowdonia soon and will tackle glyder fach.

Click to expand...

A few years ago, some friends and i did Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr and Tryfan in one day. now that was a slog! but such a beautiful part of the world and so fulfilling. and it made that nights curry taste so much better!
Nice job with the sleeping compartment, looks sweet.

How long is the sleeping platform?