16 September 2015

Morning walk

I entered the weekend in a more urban way than I normally do. My marvellous office mate Stella had her birthday on Friday, so after work a throng of her friends (including me) went to the pub, a restaurant, and then the pub again. I hadn't been in a pub for such a long time in ages! I made sure not to hurry my drinks. I lasted until midnight.

The next day I did my standard morning run, but then chores waited. I wanted to wash my hair, for instance. And tidy my house, as I would have guests. And these guests, which were Jaco and Marjan again (this is now a nice and fairly well-established tradition) required shopping and cooking as well. So the Saturday wasn't too outdoorsey either! So by the time Sunday hit I felt like a walk. And over breakfast I decided on a nice little valley behind Bethesda to explore.

I drove to said village, parked up (nicely close to the wall, so as not to take up too much space) and started. Within minutes I was in an amazing landscape. Hurrah for Wales! And after some scampering through woodland, bracken, and agricultural land (with very handsome livestock) I ended up in the empty valley I had aimed for: Cwm Pen-Llafar.

Handsome rams

Scenic country road


It was one of those valleys with nothing in. I saw two horses, a fair number of sheep, some sheep folds, and some ruined structures, such as houses and a dam. That was it! It was lovely. I walked all the way to the cirque at the end, called Cwmglas Mawr, where I had a coffee. Then I headed back. I came across one other walking lady on the way. Busy!

After some 3.5 hours I was back at my car. A nice stroll that covers an entire valley, but not your entire day! A small drawback was that I was reminded of that you shouldn't park so close to a wall you choose to get out on the passenger side if your central locking doesn't work. The only door you can open with the key is the one on the driver's side... oh well. I managed to get in. Back home, back to chores! And with renewed appreciation for the small and modest, but still very worthwhile walks!

Cwm Pen-Llafar

 The old dam in Cwm Pen-Llafar

 Nothing in the valley other than a pile of horse poo


 The ragged top end of Cwmglas Mawr

 Handsome sheep with a talent for posing

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