Very heavy rain as I write. Good, let’s see whether the gutters feed the newly installed water butt properly.
Today: I climbed a 2,000ft mountain in the Aran range, at at the top was a nun sitting on a rock. There she was, dressed in walking boots and a full habit – all pale blue and eating her packed lunch; making tea with a camper’s stove. I invited myself a seat next to her and ate my lunch too. We swapped life stories, she told me about her old dog and made a fuss of mine. There was a pond near by and the nun encouraged us to wade in and cool off my dog (who was obviously very hot in her thick coat). Out of her rucksack, she pulled a fold-open aluminium wind-break to shelter her meths burner; that would ensure a decent hot cup of tea. After a paddle in the pond, we chatted some more and then parted in opposite directions. It didn’t take long to get the the summit where I looked back to see her steadily walking away back to her life.
The Moelwyns And Yr Widdfa.
Saturday: wandered about the Moelwynnions, visiting ponds & small lakes on the hills south of Snowdon. The Rain threatened but didn’t carry it out until I was most of the way down. Then we walked through a dense forest which was good shelter.
Sunday: From Llyn Gwynant towards Pen-y-pass (but cut north to the Moner’s track & make Snowdon. It was horrible, I have never seen it so crowded. We pushed through the masses and found a quieter place on the Rhyd Ddu path. Met some nice people on that route, who I caught up with again after climbing Yr Aran. Beautiful day but cold in the strong wind-chill.
Today ( Monday): Drove home through the Arenigs, I’d love to camp there next time. Endless rolling grasslands which should offer some peace and solitude. There are few official campsites there.
There is another way.
This needs some research. Marina Tsvetaeva:
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Been on holiday: Rosie and I have been hill walking in the Rhinog and Gliderau ranges in Snowdonia for just over a week. Here is a quick summary:
Monday: tour round a bit & find a campsite. Chose one near the sea for warmer nights. It was fiercely windy though. The tent held but was noisy so I moved inland.
Tuesday & Wednesday: Camp in Cwm Buchan.Heavy rain first afternoon & night, but Wednesday was clear & drying so I wandered the Rhinogs all day. Saw not even a human footprint until 5pm.
Thursday: rest day, stayed at a relative’s bungalow on the coast. Felt very tired from 2 long walks. Very warm day in shorts.
Saturday & Sunday: moved to Ogwen valley in the shadow of Tryfan. I have yet to climb that mountain- it’s too rough to take Rosie so I intend to go for a weekend purely to make that summit. Camp wasn’t too busy. Took a very long walk along the Gliderau all the way to Elidir Fach, the western-most 3,000 footer.11 hours and 16 miles later I got back at sunset. A great route suggested by the mountain warden at Llyn Ogwen.
(Above; Tryfan, below- Elidir Fach)
Monday: felt a real heart-wrenching tear on driving away so decided to stay another night. Made camp at a National Trust site at the base of Snowdon’s Watkins path. This was a bit of a risk because the car battery failed in the morning. The farmer helped me jump-start it, huge relief.
this has been a very fine week, the best Easter I can remember- every bit as good as a summer holiday.
Vegetation was still brown, grasses yellow like a September after a long hot summer. The freedom to wander about Wales with a tent and dog is wonderful, nothing went wrong, and if it did it just becomes a problem to solve. There is no responsibility so therefore no guilt. Well, okay, there was a bit because Rosie got cold in the tent a few nights until I worked out the best way to keep her warm. The most effective move was to wrap her in my spare sleeping bag.
The mosses and lichens appear to be doing well, must learn the names of more of them.Coming home wasn’t too bad, I was met by fresh sunshine and plants in bloom.
Life is good.
England is a dirty place: With the vegetation at its annual lowest point right now, you can easily see through sparse hedgerows, grassy banks and ditches, and in all of it; on every lane, however far from towns, is rubbish. At its thinnest, you only see beer cans and McDonald’s wrappers every yard or so. I suppose, being generous, that some must be wind-blown litter, perhaps blown from uncapped bins. Riding along you can see some lanes have extra gatherings in places where there is some shelter- ditches, or maybe under a big tree. But, in openings, such as gateways, there can sometimes be seen a television set here, a flat-pack and old mattress there. Fly tipping. What is the motive for dumping this stuff- it’s not money: the car is loaded with junk, the council tip is paid-for in advance and the effort to drive to a gateway is the same as driving to a tip. So, it’s not laziness then, but what is it? Why do it?
I can see I need to work on commas in that passage.
At last; a decent, satisfying ride. The last ten felt like I was on the 100th mile ( and yes I do know what that feels like). took some photos on the phone, but can’t unload them for a few days yet. You’ll have to just wait.
Another long day, this one started at 5am.
Slow journey to work today, it was very dry so I decided to ride. There were a few stretches where I had to get off and run it where the ice was sprayed over the road from broken manhole covers.
Rab tells me her story, well my story but my memory eludes me of those fifteen minutes on the 10th that I can’t account for. I was indeed out cold, I had blankets put over me, maybe over my head (this bit I struggle to believe). I must have been out for a while rather than staggering about with amnesia. Then I got up, or tried to. After falling back to the tarmac, I got up enough to be assisted to the opposite footpath where I sat myself.
Strange, strange memorys. The thought of losing that time is quite unsettling, I’ve not had anything to compare in my life before.
The Kite Runner: tonight’s excellent film.
The worst ride to work yet. Involved a severe deflection by a lorry, a tarmac bounce and later, stitches. Parts the collision I can’t remember, there are two gaps in my memory and since, I have been behaving like a dopey person. Later I find out the damage to my bike, it’s being brought back as I write.
Starlings roost on the pier in Aberystwyth each night. They fly there each afternoon at sunset.
Well worth the trip to the coast to see this. Flocks fly in without interval, each in a rounded mass which them dive under the pier to spend the night on the girders underneath.
This must have taken some time to build up. Ice on a hedgerow that froze each time a car splashed in this puddle.
Got home slightly cold, but warming up from a long time in the cold takes ages.
Still struggling with bad gear-changes; 2 for & 1 back all the time. Maybe (as suggested) it’s the jockey wheels. They’re cheap to replace.
Micycle 