Summer Camp 2006 - Snowdon, Wales
Summer Camp 2006 will be remembered as the "extreme lightweight" Summer Camp. Basically we decided that only one car would be needed for the duration of the camp, a good thing for keeping camp costs down. However this did mean cutting back on a lot of the gear that we would normally bring to camp (might have been a different story if we had a big blue van with us). This meant that there was no room for the TV, DVD player, heater, stereo system, etc (this makes Easter Camp 2006 seem like a luxury camp by contrast). We also didn't take a cooker with us, but this was mainly due to cooking facilities being provided at the Youth Hostel building, next to the camp field.
The main activity of the camp was walking up Snowdon. This was the second time we did this, having walked up Snowdon before in 2004. This time however we took a different path, the Miners Trail (we did the Railway Trail in 2004). It was fair to say that this trail was both quicker and shorter than the Railway Trail. Another rewarding walk in our opinion.
A coastal walk and tourism were the other activities that we did on what was a relatively short Summer Camp (Only 4 nights). Still, it was another successful camp.
Adam Thompson
Photos - taken by Andy
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| The Youth Hostel where we camped was a popular spot with the tourists... | We set up camp in a small clearing in the trees, a few yards from the luxuries of the youth hostel... |
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| Further down there was a waterfall... | ...and a view into the rest of the valley. |
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| It was a spectacular location! | We were camping in that clump of trees roughly in the centre of the photo! |
Unfortunately these are the only few photos I managed to get from the camp, before my camera was destroyed by seawater the next day. Lesson of Summer camp 2006 - cameras don't like salty water!!
Andy
Camp or Break
An interesting discussion broke out after the camp. Was it a proper camp or just a break? This discussion was sparked off due to us staying at Youth Hostel grounds, and using their facilities instead of bringing our own (a cooker for example). Anyway despite the fact that we did sleep in tents it was decided that this Summer Camp was not actually a camp, but it was a Summer Break*. This was primary due to the reasons stated above regarding the facilities.
*This is wrong of course, if you take tents and sleep in them it is a camp. If we slept in bunk beds (think Gradbach) then it is a break - Adam's view.