Day 16: Llanbedr-Trawsfyndd-Caernarfon

Posted on 30 September 2011 by -J

9.5 miles (only!) The fabulous weather continues to hold. The stars at our camp last night were stunning, brilliant in a night sky with no light pollution for miles. A few bats and the ubiquitous sheep wandering about completed the evening show. We were up early after a windy but dry and warm night, and were on the trail by a bit after 0800, off to traverse the Rhinogs. We’d learned from our mistakes at Cadair Idris and checked both map and compass frequently, resulting in a fairly slow pace but no time lost to backtracking. This country is quite different from the more southern part of Wales, all rock walls, scree and huge boulders interspersed with boggy bunch-grass meadows … Continue reading →

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Day 15: Dolgellau-Barmouth-Llanbedr

Posted on 30 September 2011 by -J

14.5 miles. We spent the morning and the majority of our miles on the very flat and very easy Mawddach Trail, which runs alongside the Afon Mawddach from Dolgellau and over 9.5 miles gradually opens into the Mawdadach Estuary at Barmouth. The views across the river to the Diffys and Rhinogs were fantastic, giving us a glimpse of the much more remote and rugged area we’ll be traveling through tomorrow. The tide was all the way in, submerging the sand bars and mud flats and thus limiting the number of shorebirds in the area, but we did see a number of ducks, swans and geese. We finished the walk on the half-mile footbridge across the estuary and into Barmouth, where … Continue reading →

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Day 14: Cadair Idris

Posted on 30 September 2011 by -J

15.0 miles. Had a glorious day to summit Cadair Idris, near Dolgellau – sunny and warm, with a warm southerly breeze. We bussed early in the morning to Abergynolwyn and after getting out of town (with one stop to visit and castle) we took a long but gradually climbing path that eventually met up with the moat commonly used track, the “pony path.” Reaching the summit took another 1.5 hours of steeper but not technically difficult walking, and once up there we could see about 30 miles in all directions! We could even see the summit of Snowdon, which we’re hoping to climb a few days from now. Our descent wasn’t quite so uneventful, it taking almost two hours to … Continue reading →

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Day 12: Machynlleth

Posted on 27 September 2011 by -J

0 miles. A day of rest, recuperation, recovery and reconsideration. We have at this point walked 175 miles including supposedly (I’m wondering whether I remembered to reset this , or not, at the beginning of the trip) 7693 meters of total elevation gain. If that’s correct we’ve walked up even more hillsides than I realized! After a breakfast conversation with our innkeeper and two men who’ve spent some time visiting this are, we decided to spend the day on the train, going up the Cambrian coast. Lovely area, this. Many birds in the estuaries, Edwardian castles and WWII defenses looking over the coast and some nice views inland toward Snowdon. This is an area we hadn’t originally planned on visiting, … Continue reading →

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Day 11: a barn to Machynlleth

Posted on 27 September 2011 by -J

13.2 miles, and the end of the second leg. Oh, the joy of having a short day! We were up early, not wanting to overstay our welcome in the barn, and repacked our more or less dry belongings, had some coffee and a light breakfast and then headed out, arriving in town around 1400. This day, unlike the previous, had weather which steadily improved such that it was warm and sunny by the time we descended into Machynlleth. The countryside is becoming more rugged, with stone outcroppings more common in the fields and much steeper slopes on the hillsides. The colors are different as well – the omnipresent verdant green pastures have been partially replaced by the deep green of … Continue reading →

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