Day 15: Dolgellau-Barmouth-Llanbedr
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 we spent lunch time playing on the beach and basking in Wales’ record-setting, Indian Summer, weather. The cold water of Cardigan Bay and hot sand on the beach was like a spa treatment for our feet.
After stocking up on groceries and a portable pub (i.e. canned beer) for the night, we caught the train to Llanbedr, about 15 miles up the road, and walked another few miles to our campground for the night. Tomorrow we venture out into the Rhinogs.
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