Carrog overnight camp

Hello again people and pooches. Joe the Cocker here after an overnight camping trip. We are planning a backpacking trip shortly in a remote part of Scotland, and my human wanted to do a dry run to check all our winter kit out. We decided to stay fairly close to home so we could abandon and be home in less than half an hour if we had a disaster.

My human wanted to replicate the weather conditions that we might experience in Scotland. So, he chose a midweek day in winter conditions for our mini adventure. We had recently had a few nights with settling snow followed by a few nights of sub zero temperatures. The night that my Polar Bear crossed with a Neanderthal chose was forecast to be dry with a low of -7⁰C.

Before we left home, we had time for a short local walk. As you can see from the first photograph, it was snowing. The temperature was around zero degrees, so my human was excited. He is really a child in an old fogeys body!

Carrog Station Campsite is only 25 minutes from home and is open all year. It is situated close to a small village on the banks of the Afon Dyfrdwy or River Dee, a few miles upstream from Llangollen. We arrived there mid-morning after an easy drive. As we rose slightly in elevation, the main road still had the remnants of the recent snowfalls. As we turned into the site, it was obviously deserted. The 3 or 4 touring caravans were not occupied, and the site office was closed. My human spotted a sign on the door with a mobile number to ring if the office was closed. He asked if we could pitch for the night. The owner said,’Yes, if you are insane!’ The owner appeared in his 4 X 4 a few seconds later and explained everything we needed to know. The on-site showers were switched off, but the heated toilet block was open. That was all we needed.

We chose a sheltered corner of the field not far from the loos to pitch up. It was cold so I sat in the warm car while my manservent erected the tent. It didn’t take him too long because my human remembered how it all went together for a change! The frame and inner tent usually don’t present a problem for him, but the outer seems to take him forever. Maybe one day he will get around to colour coding the frame ends with the outer corners. He makes his life difficult at times. He looked at me, sitting in the warm car, as if to say, ‘I have everything under control’. I did a mental ‘tut’ to myself because I knew different.

He eventually let me out of the car, and as the site was completely devoid of human or pooch life, I was allowed to have a run around off lead. I checked the tent out as he was setting up. It was level, and the walls of the tent were tight, and the guy ropes secure. I approved!

So, it was time for zoomies and rolling in the snow. My human thought that it was amusing that I was eating snow. I thought that it was weird that he wasn’t. Each to their own, I suppose.

The big feller spent the next few minutes pumping his sleep mat up and faffing around with sleeping bags and stuff. When I say he was pumping his sleep mat up I actually mean that he attached his mini pump to the mat and pressed a button. This task confused him when he first attempted to use the pump. He was convinced that it was faulty until he switched it to inflate rather than deflate. Muppet!

Once everything was set up to his satisfaction, it was time to stretch our legs and to go for a short walk around the area. The site is positioned a few hundred yards off the A5 down a narrow lane and opposite Carrog Railway Station. The station used to be the terminus of the Llangollen Railway until the station at Corwen enabled the extension of the line in 2023.

The station was closed during our visit so there would be no watching the famous steam train for us. Well, for my human. I was thoroughly engaged in sniffing in the undergrowth and investigating the area.

My human took a photograph of the station sign and managed to catch me in the corner watering the plants. He has no shame! I decided to keep an eye on him when he had his phone out from then onwards.

We headed towards the river along the narrow lane. The weather was glorious. It was cold but the air was still and the sun was shining. The village of Carrog came into view as we turned left to walk parallel to the river. The surrounding hills were covered in fresh snow, presenting a beautiful picture postcard winter scene.

Ahead of us, below the village was the famous Pont Carrog or Carrog Bridge spanning the river. The five arched stone bridge was built in 1660 when the village was known as Llansantffraid Glyn Dyfrdwy. It is a Grade ll* listed structure.

A few of the local ovines watched us as we headed towards the village. I think that they were friendly as they didn’t attack.

My very strange human was excited as we reached the bridge saying things like ‘can you believe that is almost 400 years old’ and ‘it was built to last’ and ‘what a piece of engineering ‘. He waffles on about every old bridge we come across in the same way. I wasn’t listening. I would rather go for a swim in the river, but I wasn’t allowed.

Across the bridge is the small village of Carrog. Opposite the village was reputedly the site of a prison used by Owain Glyndwr, the last Welsh born Prince of Wales, in the 14th century.

The river was running gently as opposed to a few weeks prior when a lot of the area was flooded and the Dee was in spate.

Pont Carrog is a narrow crossing with a few passing places for pedestrians and pooches to avoid being crushed against the walls.

We stopped to enjoy the view upstream with the village on the right and the Berwyns rising on the left of the valley, the Dyffryn Dyfrdwy.

The view downstream showed the river heading towards Llangollen with the wooded Clwydian range of mountains, the Bryniau Clwyd, rising from the valley floor.

We walked past the pub. I repeat, we walked PAST the pub. How my human resisted a pint of local brew in a 19th century pub with a log fire, I don’t know. The Grouse, aka Tafarn Grugiar, is a popular hostelry that reputedly provides lovely pub grub all year round. The pub once had its own brewhouse and farm. It was one of four pubs in the tiny village with The Golden Lion, The Swan, and The Bluebell being the others.

The original name of the village, Llansanffraid Glyn Dyfrdwy derived from the name of the church on the bank of the river. This church was swept away by an early 17th century flood. It was replaced higher up the hillside safely away from future flooding. There are also three chapels in the small community.

We walked through the village in the direction of Corwen before we turned to retrace our steps. This provided us with spectacular views of the bridge, the valley towards Llidiart y Parc, and the surrounding forested hillsides.

Once we were back on the bridge, my human wanted to take another photograph looking downstream. While he was taking it, I took the opportunity to jump onto my back legs to have a look at what was so interesting. That prompted my human to entice me to pose for a photo as I looked down the river. He called me an awkward begger as I refused to keep still. Eventually,  I thought that I would play along and remained still for a second as he produced a treat from his pocket.

At the bottom of one of the ‘V’ shaped passing points on the bridge, my human spotted the inscription ‘1661’.

No sooner than we were back at the tent, which was probably around 3:30pm, my human made himself a coffee. For ease, he had brought with him some Taylors Coffee Bags, the hot lava java ones to hopefully inject some life into him. He wrapped me up in my sleeping bag, which I love because it is toasty warm with its fleece lining. I lay in it on my own sleeping mat so that I was well protected from the snow and ice under the tent. It was time for me to do some serious snoozing while my human inserted himself into his sleeping bag.

The photo of the Chinook helicopter was not taken by my human. The reason we are showing it is because just as we got back into the tent, there was an almighty commotion above us. One of these massive beasts was slowly flying along the valley. It was that low that it caused snow whirlwinds all over the campsite. It scared the life out of us. I barked at it, and I think that I scared it away. My dopey human was not quick enough to react to photograph or video it. Useless!

After our shock, we decided to chill out for a while and to have a siesta. Snow started to fall as the temperature dropped. It was almost 5 pm, and darkness had engulfed the site. It was time for the gluttons evening meal. He had prepared a Chilli con Carne at home, so he mixed it with Basmati rice and some extra Sriracha for a hot kick. Needless to say, he scoffed the lot.

And his two slices of swiss roll to satisfy his sweet tooth.

He said that it is important to eat well in cold weather to maintain body heat and to aid morale. ‘Dad, we are on an overnight camping trip and not an expedition to the North Pole’.

Meanwhile, I munched on my regular evening treat of a Kong filled with cooked chicken. We were both warm, full, and content.

I snuggled into my sleeping bag while my human took the dirty dishes to the indoor kitchen area to clean. I suspected that he was taking photos again because I could hear his size 10’s crunching in the frozen snow all around the tent. He could never be a Ninja!

The snow had stopped after a new thin coating had covered everywhere. The temperature had dropped to 3⁰ below, but I was cosy in the tent.

The moon was bright and causing an eerie glow in the cloudy sky. There wasn’t even a hint of a breeze. My human loves conditions like this. Strong wind is our nemesis on camping trips.

The big feller jumped into his sleeping bag as soon as he got back into the tent. He had brought his old faithful, his Ajungilak 5 Season sleeping bag. It is bulky and heavy, but  as we had driven to the site, he thought that he would treat himself. He has used it on the West Highland Way, but for backpacking, he has bought a much lighter Rab bag. The Ajungilak has been to Everest Base Camp and to Kilimanjaro amongst other trips, so he knew it would be warm and comfortable on a cold night. The bag is 28 years old and still in great nick!

The other item that he had brought was his ‘medicine bottle’. He had filled it with a medication called Cardhu Gold Single Reserve. Apparently, this helps to keep humans warm. I think that it smells disgusting, but it seems to make my human smile (and snore). He says the following about it, which he obviously read on a website. ‘Dark chocolate, toffee and spices. Malts with a warm and clean taste. Sumptuous textures and a balance of sweet fruit’.

The weather forecast for the night was for nippy conditions but I knew that my human wouldn’t let me be cold. I had my Equafleece on and I was snuggled up in my sleeping bag. I had my own sleeping mat underneath me to keep me away from the frozen ground. So, I had a kip for a while as my human watched FA Cup football on TV on his mobile. He said that it was an awful match. He mumbled something about that he would rather watch grass growing.

At around 1030pm, he decided that it was bedtime. He let me out for a pee. I took the opportunity to have a good blast around the field. My human said that the sound of me running around in the frozen snow sounded like a hippopotamus chewing on tortilla chips. He is strange!

After I had been whisper-shouted at, I finished my business, shook myself down, and got back into the tent.

The tent glowed in the darkness illuminated by my human’s headtorch. It was so cosy inside as the temperature dropped even more.

The expedition photographer insisted on taking more photos of me while I tried to get to sleep. Shortly, we both got comfortable. My human with his Merino baselayers, microfleece, and down jacket on. He disappeared into his mummy bag with the hood tied up.

We both slept really well, and I was aware that my dad kept checking on me through the night. Just to ensure that I was snuggled into my bag. He was happy with his new inflatable pillow after he had tried so many different options over the years.

He woke around 7am. It was still dark, and the temperature was -7⁰C so he decided that we would have another hour and a half shut eye until sunrise. I woke up and decided to have a good shake and to try to find another position to sleep. I sat on my dads head and Mr. Grumpy had a good moan at me. I had another shake before curling around a few times more to end up in exactly the same position as I had been all night.

I woke again to the sound of the tent zips opening. My human was making himself a huge coffee. 800ml of hot lava java. That would wake a hibernating grizzly bear up after a winter in a cave. He snuggled back into his rats nest while he slurped away on his hot drink. It was a balmy -6⁰C at this point, so I stayed put until he was ready to feed me.

While I was scoffing my breakfast outside of the tent , my human stayed in his sleeping bag, cooking his breakfast. Four thick rashers of smokey bacon on two Village Bakery white bread rolls. Did he share with me? No, unless you call sharing, giving me a tiny piece of each as he finished munching on them. That’s it now! I am not sharing my Kibble and raw beef with him anymore.

We had a visitor while we were eating. I hope that you noticed that he shared his breakfast with a certain Mr. Redbreast!

Well, that was us done. All that had to be completed was for my human to pack everything into the boot of the car. I helped, of course by sleeping on the back seat and staying out of his way. The tent outer was frozen solid and took some time to shake and pack away. The outside of the car was frozen solid so he ran the engine while he scraped all the ice off the windows. He can be so noisy at times. I could hardly sleep. Eventually, all was ready for our short trip home.

We had a really nice short break. My human was happy that his winter gear was all ok and ready for a backpacking trip. I was happy because I had played in the snow. Till next time!