Celebration walk

I had asked Martin, Sue and Dean whether they would be willing to celebrate my anniversary with me some way or other. I didn’t yet know how. I was hoping for good enough weather to go for a walk. One of the things that have attracted me so much in Wales is the landscape! So if we could incorporate that into the celebration that would be fab. And when the day came close, the forecast indeed looked good enough. 

I had to think of a route to propose. I brought the map out. Finding a route came with its challenges; the cat always thinks the map is a toy for her. And it is so hilarious to see her attack it that I don't chase her away from it. I have two of this particular map, by the way. 

I didn't want anything too high up. It was supposed to be a social occasion, not an endurance event. And I like the idea of something a little bit away from where we live. If I want to do something close to home, I can do that any day, on my own! And then I thought of a route I had walked with my sister a few years ago. We both thought it was beautiful. And we had picked it on the basis that it never gets particularly high. It starts in Nantmor, heads east towards Cnicht but steers clear of it, and loops back via Llyn Dinas and Cwm Bychan. It would be 10 miles. Quite doable!

Susan had suggested pizza afterwards, but because it would be the Easter weekend and it would be busy, I had suggested we just buy shop pizza and eat those. And as Martin volunteered to drive (as usual) we would do that at his place.

It was too busy to park at Nantmor, so we had to go back to a layby on the A498. This meant a little bit of uncomfortable walking along the road, but luckily not very much. Soon we were on the very quiet asphalt road to Bwlchgwernog. There literally was no traffic at all! And soon after we left the road I proposed a coffee break with brownies. I knew Susan had made a recipe from the cake competition! And they were amazing. And we were very comfortably sitting there in the sun.

The road to Bwlchgwernog

We continued our way, and encountered a few other people. The others also didn’t know this route. While we were heading for Cnicht there were quite a few! But given that we didn't head for the summit it soon became a lot quieter. And by the little lake near the pass we sat down for lunch.

Celebration selfie

Cnicht in the distance 

Amazing views

Lunch lake

The descent into the next valley was glorious, and then we had barely another ascent before we dropped down to Llyn Dinas. And it started to dawn on the others that from there, we would have to climb back up, so we could go down through Cwm Bychan. They had sort of forgot about that! And they weren't necessarily overly keen anymore. But we did it anyway. It's not a particularly strenuous ascent, though. And the weather was still great.

Descent; pic by Dean

Approaching the lake through the woods 

Industrial remains in Cwm Bychan

We had decided that upon reaching the river again, we would walk back on the other side of it, to minimise walking on the road. And that worked. It did mean, though, that our route became a bit longer. It ended up being 20 kilometres! And we were all quite happy to be back at the car. And we all looked forward to a shower.

I asked Martin to drop me off so I could have my shower, and to let me put a bag with beer into the car. I was okay biking back up the hill, but preferably not with so much weight! And then I showered (which was great!) and made my way back up. I was hungry now! Luckily, soon Sue and Dean appeared too, and we could start eating pizza and garlic bread. And I had made sure the bag contained a fair amount of alcohol-free beer, but to my surprise, we managed to polish off a number of the standard ones as well. 

Sue and Dean had even made me a trophy! That was very sweet of them.

Altogether I thought it was a very successful day! Will I remain in Wales for an additional 10 years? I do intend to. But only time will tell!