Visit by sister: part II

My sister had arrived! For the first time since 2019. And the first day had been mainly taken up by travel and the consumption of food, but we knew that the main focus of her visit would be going for walks. And the second day we could have a more substantial walk. And I had an idea; both when I had walked the slate trail with Kate, and then I had walked a loop near Blaenau with Martin, I had been looking at some old tram tracks on the other side of the valley. I was really tempted to look at them from a bit closer up! And she was up for it. So we drove to the road to Ffestiniog and parked up there. It seemed the most reasonable place to start.

I know there wasn't an obvious way to get to them, so we had to improvise a bit. And my map in my phone didn't quite agree on what was there with regards to paths. So quite soon we were bushwhacking, climbing over barbed wire fences, and being hindered by swamps. The swamps, though, were mainly in the middle of public footpaths, so that wasn't necessarily the fault of the bushwhacking. It was a little bit embarrassing though! But at some point, we came upon the actual slate trail, so from then on, things were comfortable going for a while.

When we got to the junction where we ended up on the tram tracks I had only seen and not walked on, I was enthusiastic. Finally! But by the time it had been 11 o'clock and I really wanted coffee and cake. My sister was a bit surprised that so soon after breakfast I already wanted food again, but I really did. Then we walked to the top of the tram track. I knew the actual quarry was a bit higher up on the hill, but Marieke didn't want to go and see it. And it was a bit windy so she didn't want to just relax a bit where she was and wait for me too long. I quickly went up and had a quick look! I really enjoyed that. And there was a bit of a path going further into the valley. When I got back to my sister she suggested we go and follow that for as long as that is possible. And when it petered out, we decided to just got back in the direction of the car in a clockwise way.

The tramline!

Where the tramline gets to the spoil heaps and the incline

Exploring the actual quarry

Marieke on what I think is the weigh bridge

Another sister selfie

We had lunch near the quarry. And then we somehow managed to get back to where the car was parked. It wasn't very late! I suggested we might see if Kate was home; we would drive straight past her house, and it would be nice to have a cup of tea with her. My sister thought it was a fine idea. And Kate was home! And a fine cup of tea was had.

After tea we quickly dived into Betws-y-Coed; we both bought hiking socks, and my sister looked for souvenirs to bring home for loved ones. And then we went home for dinner. We still had soup from the previous day, and I just made more naan bread! And then another day was done. The cat was still not allowed to use the cat flap after Finnish bedtime...