I was hoping that I could catch up with Kate again before things would get hectic again in the new year. And she was available on a Tuesday. That was still a working day! But it was also my only chance. And I could just work on one of the days the university was closed. So I went for it. Luckily, the weather was good as well!
She was still slightly recovering from an illness, so she didn't want to do anything too strenuous. She suggested two relatively flat walks, and I picked the one I had never done before: around Llyn Alwen, a reservoir quite far east. I wouldn't normally end up there, but Kate already lives over half an hour east anyway, so this was my chance.
When I got out of the car I could already hear Bryn, her dog, barking. He tends to get quite excited when I show up! And this occasion was no exception. Kate suggested we first have a cup of coffee before we leave, and I never turn down things like that. And I had brought the last remnants of the last cake I had baked. So we did that first!
Bryn is always interested in food. And he was again this time! And he got so persistent I was scared I would be throwing coffee all over Kate’s living room. He is big and strong and can make you do that sort of things. And while I was being protective over my coffee, he saw his chance and ripped my cake out of my hand. It was gone instantly. The sneak!
Kate made him lay down on his bed, and gave me half her cake. He seemed to have been quite good until I showed up!
After the coffee we left. We parked up by the dam, and started to walk clockwise around the reservoir. It was very beautiful! I was glad I had chosen this. And Bryn did his usual Bryn thing: jump into any body of water, looking for stones on the bottom. He absolutely loves carrying a stone around. And he likes getting wet.
 |
| The dam |
 |
| Scenic path |
 |
| Bryn looking for a stone |
After a while we got hungry, so we sat down by a picnic bench. Kate made a very concerted effort to keep Bryn away from me, so I could eat my lunch in peace. And then we kept walking.
We were quite close to the furthest point of the walk when finally we met other people. Two chaps thought it was quite sweet that Bryn barked at them. On the other side of the water, we bumped into a few more people. The response was generally the same.
It was a really varied walk, with woodland and open hills and all sorts. And when we got back to where we had started, we decided to drive to Adjacent Llyn Brenig as that has a café, where we could go for a hot chocolate. That went down well! And then we went back home.
 |
| Open landscape closer to the far end of the reservoir |
 |
| Double selfie |
 |
| The bridge over the narrow bit of the reservoir |
 |
| Dreamy woods |
 |
| Dramatic skies |
 |
| Deciduous woods |
There we established we had actually run a race together in 2012. We had both done the Plymouth Half Marathon then! But it would be years before we would become aware of each other's existence. I hope one day we can run a race together and do it on purpose!
No comments:
Post a Comment