I had come through the first week of term! And there was still plenty to do, but I wanted to have some fun during the weekend as well. So I contacted Kate to see if she was up for that. And she was! She suggested going to Tal-y-Fan; a modest hill above Penmaunmawr. I thought that was an excellent idea! I had not been, and I had actually not been in the general area much at all recently. The parking lot she suggested we use was one I think I have only been once, during one of my marathon training runs. So it was time I go back.
Even though Tal-y-Fan is not very far as the crow flies, the way we would approach it meant quite a drive. The logical approaches from the Conwy Valley, so that means driving a big U. I suggested we meet up in Betws-y-Coed and then drive together. That would save us fuel, which is always a good idea, but in these current times even more so. And it is much nicer to share a car! And she agreed. And I had managed to get some fuel in the morning so I had no problems getting to Betws.
We drove over the tiny road to the parking lot and parked up. It is a beautiful drive, and just standing on that little parking lot is already amazing. This looked like a good idea! We had to walk down the road a bit to get to the start of the public footpath, but that was hardly a punishment. And soon they were in the hills. It was a bit soggy underfoot, and it was windy, but that was okay. The weather was rather changeable so I had the keep changing between sunglasses and a hat against the rain all the time, but that also was okay. And in not too much time we were at the top! We almost blew off. And we decided to head north a bit, and then loop back via the East to get back to where we had come from. It was beautiful walk! The landscape was empty and autumnal. We had a nice tea break with cake in the middle. We came across two walkers, and saw a little group in the distance. That was all! On a fairly sunny Sunday.
On the second half of the walk I recognised some of the terrain from an earlier Swamphike. This area was nice to see again this well. And altogether we only walked for a few hours, but we both felt our cobwebs had been blown away! Ready for a new week of teaching…
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View from the parking lot
 | | At the summit, holding on to my hat in the wind; pic by Kate |
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| Summit selfie |
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| Descending onto the plane north of Tal-y-Fan |
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| Rudimentary building we used as a tea break shelter |
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| Empty landscape |
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| There were a lot of rainbows that day |
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| dramatic skies |
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