Wild Camping. WHY? - A short video

You’ll have heard it before. Wild camping…. “Why?” or most likely, “WHY?!?!”

Wild camping. Why? - Watch the short 7-minute film on YouTube

Wild camping is difficult to explain, isn’t it? I’ve tried.

Monday morning stood under the fluorescent lighting of the office, trying to explain to a bloke in a suit why you’d spend a few days cold, wet and muddy on the side of a mountain.

Ice on your tent and shivers down your spine. Why go wild camping? Why bother? " I’ve got Netflix.

I decided to make a video compilation to answer this question. I asked for answers from the outdoors community and had an incredible response. This was later formed into a bit of a poem, here’s the start of it, and the full video below. Thanks to all who participated. This is why we do it….. I think.

The effort.

The fight.

The struggle.

The pain.

The discomfort.

The often relentless battle against the elements.

The often relentless battle,

against yourself,

against…

gravity.

In a war that you cannot win,

against elements that cannot be beat,

nor tamed,

nor….

changed.

Only…..

experienced.

So…..

why?

Some of the best scenes from WHY? with location descriptions of the routes and wild camping spots.

Climbing Crib Goch

Taking in a beautiful sunrise after a night wild camping on Rhinog Fawr in the Rhinogydd.

Leaving the Rhinog Fawr camping spot in glorious morning weather.

Climbing up into the Glyders for a wild camp on Glyder Fach in cold soggy weather.

Struggling to erect my tent on Y Garn in high winds. I took a big lens on this one, a Sony 200-600mm, terrible idea.

Hammock camping in the woods, in Worcestershire, with steak. Obvs.

Hammock camping in Worcestershire, again. Not gonna give the spot away, just some local woodland. It rhymes with dent.

Cooking up some bacon while winter camping on the side of Y Garn, making “Winter camping in Snowdonia” in late 2020.

Muddy trails in the Ogwen Valley, always… but what a great view. Off up to the summit of Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr, wild camping on Y Gribin.

The wild camping spot on the side of Y Garn, making winter camping in Snowdonia in 2020.

Enjoying a summit beer on Rhinog Fawr. The summit here has incredible views on a clear day, some of the best in Snowdonia IMO.

Having fun in the winter weather during a hard slog back after the Y Garn winter camping video. Going out of my way to find a bit of deep snow to walk through, after already setting the camera up. All good fun….!

Equipment. Worth a mention?

I know what you’re saying. It has been said quite a lot in the comments.

Why is this dude using such rubbish hiking and wild camping gear?

Well, I’m a bit of a cheapskate, and I think I spent most of the budget on camera gear and pot noodles.

But, then again. Who cares? I don’t go far. Most of my wild camping trips are short little hikes and I’m only usually out for a night or two. I’m not a “hiker”, whatever that means. I tend to hike as little as possible to get somewhere nice. Somewhere secluded, out of the wind and quiet. Somewhere I can set up my cheap tent, roll out my cheap sleeping bag onto my cheap mat and pull out my expensive camera to capture the views.

I’ll fry up my fatty steaks, chuck down a Pot Noodle and sink a couple of beers. By this point, I don’t care if I’m crawling into a posh branded down sleeping bag or my Aldi special.

Hahahahaha.

It has been nice to watch this back while writing this, seeing that cheap tent winter wild camping on Y Garn…. I can’t wait to do it again!!!

Why do I do it? I have no idea mate.

What about you?

Check out the YT video, happy to point out any of the locations, wild camping spots or anything else. Let me know in the comments. Cheers