12 June 2020

Long day out: Moel Siabod with Kate

The rules are not so strict anymore; we can go for a walk with another person. But you can't drive somewhere to meet them. We can drive a bit but it's specified we shouldn't drive to the edge of our 'local area' (so that's 5 miles) and then walk further than that. But we can bike pretty far nowadays! And you can bike somewhere and then walk from there. So as Kate lives 20 miles away (give or take) I can't visit her. Or drive 10 miles to somewhere in between and meet her there. But I can bike there! It's weird that cars are now only for stretches shorter than five miles, unless of course you use them for things such as commuting to a hospital. And bikes are fore everything further. But if that's what it takes! So in between where we live is roughly Capel Curig. And that's about an hour on bike. So when we could again, we decided to meet there and go for a walk from there.

I parked my bike at Pont Gyfyng; the weather was fine so we would go to the summit of Moel Siabod. I had done that with my sister the year before! And there was nobody else to be seen. Not that Siabod is such a crowd magnet but now it was really calm. The parking lots nearby have been coned off so only nutters on bikes go there! And people with very snazzy parking skills.

When we got to the quarry on the flank we saw the water was very low. Really really low! Kate took it upon herself to triangulate the drop and calculate how much water it must have lost! A lot.

From there we went on. We ended up in the cloud close to the summit. And we had lunch there. It had been so hot but there we were, in long trousers and jackets, in the fog! But better than scorching heat I suppose. And while we ate it cleared up and we walked back in sunshine. And I biked back in a T-shirt and shorts!

It was good to be able to go for a walk again, a fair way from home and with a friend! And it's a bit of a faff you need to commute for an hour but so be it; it's very green. And if everybody biked to their Snowdonia destinations that would be great!


The quarry with its low water level
On the flank


Into the cloud!

View from the bridge once back

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