Walk in the remnants of the storm

After the Open Day I felt I needed a bit of time outside! I felt cooped up. With all these storms I had also commuted by car several times. So I wanted a walk! And I checked if Chris was up for one too. And he was! Work had kept him away from lovely landscapes too this week. And we decided to stay close to my front door: we'd pop into Cwm Pen Llafar. I hadn't been for a while! I had walked into it with my dad and stepmom, and walked above it the previous Easter. But that was it! I had first been a fair while ago.

Dennis was still officially out there but during my run I had noticed that the wind wasn't so bad. And I had suggested Cwm Pen Llafar as the wind would be coming from the southwest, and the valley heads to the southeast so I figured it would be sheltered. We set off, and in the beginning all was quiet. We headed the scenic way; through Parc Meurig, Caerberllan, and then through the woods and the fields. What a good idea! Any next time I'll do it again. We even came across a very charming pig.

Walking past the falls in the woods

The mountains looking great in the distance 

The charming pig

When we walked into the open bit it did get a bit gusty. So far it had mainly been muddy! It hampered conversation but otherwise it was OK. And that landscape never ceases to amaze me! I thought maybe we should have a drink and a snack when we would be in the shelter of the ridge.But when we got to the ridge we found out my assessment was wrong. The valley was a wind tunnel! Oh well. We walked on. It is a really lovely valley!

Horses on the path

When we got to the cirque at the top we found a big block that provided shelter. There we finally had our drink! And after that we went the same way back. And the wind had changed; now we had it in the back. That was actually quite nice. And when we got into the open bit we saw bad weather come from the direction of Ogwen Cottage. And then it hit us. It was hail, propelled by the remains of Storm Dennis! Blimey we were being blasted. And pretty much blown over. It was quite spectacular! But it didn't last. And we did quite some drying up on the way home. It was a good walk!