Race recce with Kate

Kate was back! She has been off skiing forever but she was back. And she was up for meeting up. And she had an idea of what to do: in September she will do the Dragon’s Back Race, and she wanted to scout some of the route. Was I interested in doing Cadair Idris? I thought that would be ambitious. I was going out for dinner with Sue and Dean later, so I had to be home at a reasonable time. Even getting to the start of a hike that is 1.5 hours. It sounded like it could get hurried and stressful! Not my favourite kind of hike.

She then suggested a different part of the route that started at Sychnant Pass. That sounded better. We settled for it. And she came to pick me up.

When I stepped out of the door I could already hear Bryn bark. He was glad to see me! Soon after that I heard the ‘whump whump whump’ of his tail against the panels of the car. He is a sweetheart.

We drove up to the pass and on our way. We started on a path I had never done before! But it was beautiful. And after a while it came back to a route I am familiar with. I have, for instance, done that with the other Kate. And our goal was Tal y Fan. And from there to Bwlch y Ddeufaen. And then back.

It was really windy! That is a bit tiresome. You have the constant howling of the wind in your ears. But it was largely sunny, and dry, and the ground was not as sudden as either of us had suspected. So it was a great day anyway! And we didn't let the wind get in the way of catching up.

Bryn’s wind face

Sea views

Dreamy house

Kate had been ill not too long ago, and wasn't quite back to normal fitness levels. So the uphill bits were a bit trying for her. She even suggested not actually going to the top of Tal y Fan! That's not like her at all. We went anyway. We took one submit selfie and then quickly retreated. It was so ludicrously windy up there! And we binned Bwlch y Ddeufaen.

View from the top 

Summit selfie with wind hair

Below the summit we had lunch. I managed to eat all of it myself, in spite of Bryn’s efforts. A bit later on Kate had to wrestle him because he wanted to eat a sheep’s bone. She thought it would be bad for him. He wasn't going to give it up without a struggle! 

When we got back to the car I was glad to get out of the wind. I was really glad we hadn't tried Cadair Idris! Imagine the windspeeds up there. And I don't think Kate would have quite enjoyed the ascent. 

I got home in good time for the dinner, so I even had time for a bit of DIY! And I hope that some other day in the not too distant future, and a less windy day at that, we can scout Cadair Idris after all…