Beddgelert

Distance: 5 miles
Weather: cloudy with rain showers, som
Campers: happy

This week has been a Grand Family Camping Holiday in North Wales, and we joined them for the weekend - our "big tent" looking very petite compared to our neighbours' tents on site. This was the last time we used our Robens Granite.

On Saturday afternoon, after a spot of shopping and pizza for lunch, we went for a family walk around Beddgelert. Due to the weather (wet) it was at first decided we would just have a walk down to see Gelert's Grave, but then it cleared a little so we carried on. We waited by the railway to see a steam train on the Welsh Highland Railway pass and then made our way along the Afon Glaslyn. The riverside path south of Beddgelert is rocky and in some places quite exposed over the fast flowing water and close to the rapids below. My young nephew, in his new walking boots, thought this bit was awesome. I would concur.

At Pont Aberglaslyn we turned away from the river, under a railway bridge and up over Cwm Bychan. The track was a little boggy in places, my feet (in my Asics) got a little wet crossing a boggy patch and my nephew's feet and his new walking boots, got very wet and muddy indeed when he "tripped" and ended up knee deep in a boggy puddle.

At the top of the ridge, we made our way down a quite steep slope passed the Sygun Copper Mine and down to the lane. Back along the lane into the village, to round a lovely afternoon off with an ice cream at Glaslyn Ices.

Sale Fell and Ling Fell, Great and Little Mell Fells

Distance: 7.5 miles
Ascent: 850m
Weather: bright and breezy
Wainwrights ticked off today: 4
Wainwrights remaining: 15

With a good weather forecast for today, we decided to tick a couple more Wainwrights off our list. So after hearty breakfast (at which some of the other residents seemed a little more subdued than they had been making their way to bed after midnight last night - the walls of the inn here are remarkably thin) we headed off to Sale Fell and Ling Fell in the north-western fells.

We parked up a little lane near to Brunston Bridge and headed through a gate towards Kelswick Farm, where we zig-zagged (with superfluous zag) up the hillside. The green grassy path was pretty with harebells and tiny purple and white flowers, lots of buttercups and yellow tormantil. Quite suddenly we were at the top of Sale Fell (359m) where it was quite breezy, and headed along over to Dodd Crag and a knee-jarringly steep descent back to the lane.

We then headed over Brunston Bridge and up Ling Fell (373m); it was very warm on the sheltered side as we went up and less warm in the wind on the top. It was a clear day, and we had good views of the surrounding higher Fells. We returned down via the grassy Corpse Road, where there actually was a corpse, but thankfully just a vole.

The day was still fine and it was only early afternoon, so we decided to do the Mell Fells on the way home. Great Mell Fell (537m) is an unusual fell, with a lot of windswept trees on it (possibly larch) and long lush grassy meadow as there are no sheep up here. We then drove the short distance around to the other side of Little Mell Fell, parked up by the side of the road and took a short sharp path up to the top (505m). According to the route, there should be a less steep path contouring around more to come down by, but we either missed it or it isn't there on the ground, so after a bit of wandering around on the steep grassy slopes, lots of sheep here, we found the direct path again and followed that down.

Ling Fell from Sale Fell

Sale Fell from Ling Fell

On Great Mell Fell

Troutbeck Tongue and Gray Crag

Distance: 12.5 miles
Ascent: 1050m
Weather: overcast start, bit of rain, sunny later
Things of interest: lizard, two different types of orchids, bogs.
Minor route amendments: many
Wainwrights: 2

We drove up last night and stayed at the Kirkstone Pass Inn, where this morning they filled us up with a fine breakfast and by 10am we were off up on to the Fells.

To avoid half an hour of walking along the Kirkstone Pass road, we headed up the hill behind the pub to St Ravens Edge and then picked a path that headed down Woundale, through some exciting bogs and lizard territory. We rolled our trouser legs up a couple of times, but although large, the puddles weren't particular deep.

The track comes out onto the road, which we followed for a short time and then took a gate near a sheep fold and headed down to Wounded Beck where there are lots of walls and a small wood. After negotiating the walls and the very wet hillside, we crossed the beck at the footbridge and then couldn't find the path that we had seen quite clearly when we'd been higher up. To avoid more wandering around in boggy, brackeny ground, we followed the good path down and around the farm at the bottom of the Tongue, and then followed the track that leads up above Hagg Gill.

From here. the path up to Troutbeck Tongue isn't clear to start with but becomes a good path once the muddy slopes at the bottom have been cleared. Once up on Troutbeck Tongue (363m) it started to rain a little, and as usual we decided to put our waterproofs on just as it was about to ease off.

First lunch was had just north of the Tongue, under the watchful gaze of some sheep, who I thought were after my baguette, but they were just keeping an eye on us, and then we headed up the track near Blue Gill to emerge just north of Froswick, and walked up to Thornthwaite Crag (784m), in clouds. The path was clear towards Gray Crag (697m), and we headed there and back quite quickly. To avoid the steep rocky path back down from Thornthwaite, we followed the wall and contoured around and down to Threshthwaite Mouth (near to where we sat and dried out after our High Street walk in August 2005) and had our second lunch on a handy rock. As we left our rock, it was quickly appropriated by a couple (with no sit mats!) who declared it a lovely spot for tea and biscuits. Shame we hadn't had any tea or biscuits. The exact location of our biscuits at that time isn't something I'm prepared to comment on.

A quick scramble up to Stoney Cove Pike and we were on the tops over Caudale Moor (754m) where we crossed over the drystone wall a few times to avoid some bogs, and then back again over St Raven's Crag to the Inn, where we are now having dinner and a few pints of Tirrill's Old Faithful.

The Kirkstone Pass Inn in the evening - we didn't see the ghost.

Stone bridge over Wounded Beck.

View from Caudale Moor towards Windermere.

Seathwaite Fell and Lingmell, via Broad Crag

Distance: 12 miles
Ascent: 1050m
Weather: bright and sunny, little cloudier on the tops
Hordes: many
Mountain marathon runners: many
Weasels: 2
Wainwrights ticked off: 2
Remaining: 21

The day after one of the wettest days in one of the wettest summers on record, we decided to go for a walk in one of the wettest places in the country. Borrowdale averages 120 inches of rain a year, compared to 50 inches in Keswick, just a few miles away.

It was warm and dry as we set off from Seathwaite at about 9:30am, where plenty of cars were already parked up by the side of the road. Our path lead up towards Styhead Tarn, but we turned off right just before the footbridge and made our way up the hillside to Seathwaite Fell, where we visited the two peaks and a bog.

We skirted around the wet, rocky edge down to Sprinkling Tarn, where there were loads of little fish, along to Esk Hause and up underneath Great End. There were A LOT of people having their lunch here. We went over a boulder field near Ill Crag and then over Broad Crag (this seems to be popular route for people doing the Three Peaks Challange, which may explain, if not excuse, the presence of a couple of smurfs and Captain Jack Sparrow) which is a boulder field and then down a very steep, scree-y path at Broadcrag Coll to then head up again to Lingmell. We had Lingmell to ourselves, with clear views of the train of people heading up and down Scafell Pike.

Coming down to Lingmell Coll we started looking for somewhere to sit and have second lunch, but the wind was quite strong all the way around to Styhead Tarn. We kept on down until just after the footbridge and stopped for a while by the stream and then headed down, admiring the water falls and views into Borrowdale. As we approached the farm in Seathwaite, a couple of girls asked us if we'd seen a big group of people who would have been coming down from Scafell Pike - why yes, yes we have.

Photo gallery from the walk here





  

Musings on Offa's Dyke

Total distance walked: 194 miles over 12 days

Offa's Dyke was fantastic walk, we had a great two week holiday and no major problems at all.

 

The weather was very mixed, I think we had just about everything that the Great British Summer could throw at us. When we set off it was days of 26degC or more, wall to wall sunshine and dry, dusty paths. The middle of the walk was mainly overcast but dry (better for walking but not so good for photography) and the last couple of days very wet and windy indeed - but this wasn't really a problem when staying in pubs, b&b and hotel accommodation, as you can wash and dry stuff overnight. We only met one family that were planning on doing any camping, and they were doing the trail over long weekends rather than all in one go, and we spent a good part of our last day feeling a bit sorry for them (Rob more so than me, I must confess, I was mainly of the opinion that it was their choice...but I did feel a bit guilty about that later as the awful weather reports came in.)

In the end, we walked 214 miles in total - and my Asic Trebuca's have very little by way of sole left on them. Unlike most of the other walkers we met, who had opted for the more popular sturdy, waterproof boots, we wore very light trail shoes that offered no waterproofness at all. This was fabulous during the hot weather, fine for 99% of the rest of the time, and slightly squelchy after fording the river and walking through a couple of very wet fields. I am very pleased with the way my trail shoes felt and performed (especially coming down steep slopes on wet grass, they stuck like velcro) and because they're not waterproof, they dried out reasonably quickly and with a change of socks were perfectly comfortable - well, as comfy as any shoes are after you've walked that many miles.

Having reviewed all the stuff we took with us, I think we were fairly happy with our packing. We needed more stuff like toothpaste, moisturiser, footcream and soap than we took from the start but these things are easy to get hold of along the way. I could probably have managed with one less pair of walking socks, should probably have taken liner socks instead in case I'd had to walk in my waterproof socks for any length of time and a warm hat would have been preferable rather than a spare Buff. Another couple of carrier bags would have been handy, but this was only because now in Wales you have to pay 5p for a bag, and we are a bit stingy - although I dolike this law as it has apparently cut down the number of carrier bags being used dramatically, which can only be a good thing.

The walk itself is fantastic. It has more ascent than I would have expected for a trail that doesn't really go over much very high ground, just lots of (sometimes very steep) ups and downs. Mainly the path goes through farmland countryside, sheep farming and arable fields. My usual preference for walking is high ground, moorland and fell tops, but I loved Offa's Dyke with its pretty flower-lined lanes and pastures, little towns, old woods,  castles and abbeys, and of course, the dyke itself.

My photographs have now been uploaded - you can see them here - because my new clever little camera has GPS, in each of the galleries clicking on "Map This" will show you where they were taken.

 We stayed here:

Chepstow: The Castle View Hotel
Monmouth: The Punch House (late rooms)
Pandy: Allt Yr Ynys (late rooms)
Hay On Wye: Kilverts
Kington: The Swan
Knighton: The George and Dragon
Mellington: B&B (found from Offas Dyke Association accomodation pages)
Welshpool: The Royal Oak
Llanymynech: The Bradford Arms
Llangollen: Bryn Howel Hotel
Llanferres: The Druid Inn
Bodfari: Glan Clwyd Isa B&B
Prestatyn: The Beaches

Our next challenge is to complete all the 214 Wainwrights before November 23rd 2012, which will mark ten years since we climbed up our first Lakeland fell on our first wedding anniversary - only 23 more to go...

Day 12: Aberchwiler to Prestatyn

Distance: 14.5 miles
Ascent: 800m
Weather: dry start, increasingly wetter and windier.

When we set off this morning, it was overcast and humid but dry and calm. A couple of cars passed us on the narrow lanes (where we had a fly-by by a buzzard) and then we crossed over the busy road and headed up a very steep path up a little hill. At the top of the hill we skirted around though woodland and lanes towards the coast. The clouds were gathering.

There was a short tree covered path and then we were out on a high sheep field, with good views towards the sea, debating whether to put our coats on or not. The clouds loomed darker. Our coats went on.

There is a bridge over the A55(T) near to Rhuallt where we crossed, and then we helped some ladies who were lost, before turning off the lane to make our way up around Mynydd-y-cwm hill. We had a couple of brief stops under some trees as it started to drizzle lightly, first with some cows, then with some other walkers. The drizzle turned more rain-like so we put our waterproof trousers on. The path levelled out and made its way though a gorse filled sheep field, where I thought my glasses had steamed up, but it was the clouds descending and we were in mist.

Until now our feet had been pretty dry, that soon changed as we had to walk through two fields with barley and long grass. The rain got heavier.
We thought about having a lunch stop, but nowhere suitable presented itself, so we had some jelly beans to keep us going and walked on.

Going along Prestatyn Hill, the path got quite narrow and muddy, with yellow flowers on either side (possibly St John's Wort) and I got stuck in a bramble bush. We had a quick lunch stop at a ruin of an old cottage (Pant-y-something) but didn't stop for long as it was starting to rain again. Rob's cheese and (very expensive, apparently) pickle sandwhich tried to kill him. From here the path got narrower and muddier and slopier, and the wind got stronger and rainier. It was really quite miserable for a few minutes, then we dropped down into shelter and things improved. Soon we were down on to a lane with houses, then into Prestatyn town (how many hairdressers?) and then onto the sea front. The tide was right in and the sea very choppy, so there was no paddling. Instead we had a bracing walk along to the Beaches Hotel, where we celebrated the end of the walk with coffee and a biscuit (and washing our socks) while outside it is now torrential rain and blowing a gale.

Day 11: Llanferres to Aberchwiler

Distance: 13 miles (11 on the ODP)
Ascent: 900m
Weather: quite wet, cloudy
Wildlife: bit lacking today, we saw a bunny and a couple of squirrels, a slug, a beetle and a spider, plus meadow pippits.

The weather forecast for today had been for heavy rain all day, but really it wasn't as bad as we'd feared. The weather didn't spoil our day, although it would have been nice to have had more than just fleeting glimpses of the views as they are supposed to be really spectacular from Jubilee Tower on a clear day.

We retraced our steps back to the gate where we'd left the Offa's Dyke trail yesterday, the path through cow wood didn't seem too bad this morning, obviously the cows hadn't felt the weather was bad enough to take shelter under the trees.

It was raining lightly as we'd left the Inn and we'd put on our waterproofs straightaway, so it was quite warm in them as we climbed up the hill towards Moel Fenlli hillfort. The weather alternated between light rain, drizzle in the clouds and very short spells of almost no rain at all, and we kept our waterproofs on all day.

The path heads over a number of peaks, many of them with Iron Age hillforts on them. On Moel Famau (558m) we stopped by the Jubilee Tower (which had been lit as a beacon on the Queen's diamond Jubilee and was still wearing a strange looking cone attachment thing) briefly, and then headed over the other tops. The path was wide and clear, mostly grassy with some rocky sections coming downhill. We had first lunch on a bench near to a car park and second lunch later on underneath an oak tree by some sheep. I phoned the B&B to check their exact location and, with the thought of kettles being put on and tea being brewed, we made our way quickly through Aberchwiler village to Glan Clwyd Isa.

We are now in the Downing Arms in nearby Bodfari, we walked the mile or so as it wasn't raining, but brought our waterproofs with us for the return just in case.