Siabod with Kate - again

I hadn't seen Kate in a while, except during lunch at work. It was time we’d get out together. And one Saturday we were both available. Kate suggested Siabod. We didn’t want to make it a long walk given that it would rain in the afternoon. And Bryn, her Labrador, is getting too old to come with us, so he would be alone while we were out. 

We met up at Pont Cyfyng, and headed in Siabod’s general direction. It didn't take long before we took our jackets off because we were getting warm. And then it didn't take long for us to put them back on because it was starting to rain. 

Along the way we passed a commercial group, headed by Richard aka Rusty; it was fun to see him again. And there were some other walkers as well. The weather wasn't great, but it was a weekend, so we didn't expect to have the hill to ourselves.

Early on

We decided go along the east, past the lake, and then to do the route to the summit through the gully. We struggled to remember and when we had done it before. My memory is rubbish! But as soon as we were properly in the gully it all came back to me. We had both done this once before, together, but quite a long time ago. Checking my blog showed that that had been in lockdown.

 

Quarry lake along the way

We'd done the same hill together since, in the evening. And confusingly, I've also done it with the other Kate. I really wanted to go visit her after she moved to England, but I must admit it hasn't happened yet!

While we were in the gulley, it was mainly misty and drizzly, but not properly raining. And when we popped out we had lunch in the wind shelter at the top. There were two marshals of UTMB there too; there were several races going on. My track mate Louise was doing the 100 miler! She is tough. 

 

Kate in the gully

 

Summit selfie

After lunch we headed down. And the rain got worse. We both wondered if we should have put on our waterproof trousers while we were in the wind shelter. A bit late now!

When we got down things improved a bit. For quite a while, we could even see the lake in the valley! But by the time we got To Cafe Siabod (its new iteration) we were both quite soggy. Our jackets had held, but we had soaking trousers, socks, shoes, and gloves. And I had a soggy hat as I wasn't using my hood.

On the way down

We ordered the hot chocolate with all the bells and whistles that they offer. And we inhaled them quite quickly. That made us feel better! And then we trudged back to the cars.

A bit of a soggy get-together but really nice anyway! Soon again, hopefully…