Revamp the headlamp

I think it was in Norway that I bought a headlight. A black diamond. I can't find mention of it on the blog, but I think I bought it for skiing in the Arctic night. Although I tended to do that in moonlight. Oh well! At some point, before I moved to Britain, I bought that light in question.

When I started caving, it became my light for that. It was a bit weak for that purpose, though, so after some six months I got myself a proper miner's lamp.

Since then I have changed lamp several times. The original Norwegian lamp was now a headlight for hikes and such again. Such as the Swamphike!

The lamp must be quite old now! At least eight years old. Possibly ten. And it still work perfectly well. But over time, the elastic band has become less elastic. It is all floppy and doesn't stay in position. Not good! So after the latest Swamphike I decided to change it. I bought some inch-wide elastic band, cut off the old stuff, and stitched the new stuff into position. It wasn't much work! And now I have a perfectly functional headlight again. I like keeping things going! 

Work in progress

 Works again!

Small hike between office and boots

When I had to be in Betws-y-Coed anyway, I decided to go out for a small hike. I spend a lot of time in the office these days, and some landscape beauty keeps me sane. So I went to the office in the morning and worked a few hours. It was more comfortable than expected; there was some citizen science day going on so the heating was on! I mainly worked on the upcoming practical. But then I shut down the computer and drove off.

I had picked a small path that lead from the road to Betws to a small mine at the foot of Moel Siabod. It would be a walk of the right length, and it looked nice. And it was! the path started on a slope littered with inclines and drum houses, and soon Moel Siabod appeared in sight, looking all gloomy. Nice! And before you get to the quarry you come past a nice scenic reservoir. Also nice! And there weren't many other people around.

I looked at the ruined buildings and took some pics and went back. Mental health recharged again!

 

The rural start of the hike, looking back at the valley

 

In the other direction, Moel Siabod looms

 

View from the top lake. Lovely!

 

Strange roof structure in a local building

New shoes

I am Imelda Marcos! Almost, anyway. I spent decades walking in shoes with orthopaedic soles, but I had successfully ditched them about a year ago. I still have all the shoes I used then. But without the soles, I need smaller shoes! For all purposes. Including hiking. And I had bought a cheapo second-hand pair of light hiking boots to see if I could indeed hike without soles. I could! Then I also bought a larger pair of clunky boots. And used the light boots; I hadn't been on crampons since buying the clunky boots. And they do the job, but the are leather, and when they get wet they don't dry. It takes a long time! And they also smell appallingly when they are wet. Which is always. And somehow my left heel started hurting in them. It was time for another pair and I was thinking of plastic boots. They dry out quicker!

I had tried to buy such a pair on internet, but they were too small. I decided to stop buying such things on internet and only buying stuff I could try first (even though one does not exclude the other; sometimes you find local sellers, so I had managed to buy second hand waterproof trousers and the aforementioned clunky boots through internet, but with trying). But before I even put them out for sale again I had been contacted by a woman who wanted to buy them from me. And she wanted to meet in Betws-y-Coed. That sounded good! I could go for a small hike nearby, and then sell her the shoes, and then pop into the outdoor shop next door (Bangor is hopeless for that) to buy a new pair. So I did!

The woman was very nice and was happy with the boots. We had a small drink together and talked outdoor stuff. It was nice! And then she left and I went next door. I first had them order a new pair of trousers. I went to the shop as these are also best tried first, but they didn't have my size, so I did have a gamble after all and assumed the size down from the too big ones I tried would be good. Oh dear!

Stay tuned for the trousers! But here are the shoes: I don't like the look of them, to be honest, but they do what I want them to. They are light and plastic. And they fit. I'll try them a bit indoors to be sure. But maybe I found myself a nice new pair to last me comfortably for years!

Another cake

Last year I made my debut in the cake competition. I lasted two rounds!And I figured I needed to show my good will again so when the call came, I registered. I figured I would have time at half term, when there is no teaching.

I was a bit wrong. I had that week for doing some rather intensive marking, and preparation of loads of upcoming stuff including the Palaeoceanography practical. I was working rather hard! I did go climbing on Monday, but on Tuesday I worked late again, and on Wednesday I had hoped to go on an unexpected Wednesday underground trip, but ended up still working late, and then going home not to relax but to bake these bloody cakes.

I'm not a keen baker! It's a sense of duty that makes me do this. And I don't want to keep going so I openly hope I get knocked out in the first round. Last year I didn't. This year I probably would, as I was tired and wanted to go to bed and couldn't be asked to make much of an effort. I decided to bake apple pie as I can do that off by heart. It would also be easy shopping; I had flour, sugar, baking powder and and cinnamon so all I needed to buy was apples, eggs and butter. I thought I had raisins but I didn't, so I used cranberries. And I forgot the baking powder. And I got the dough wrong; it was crumbly. And I couldn't be asked to brush egg on top to make it look good. 

I ended up in bed too late! And the day after I finished the marking (although not data entry and writing a feedback document) and then went up to our dig. The next morning I fired up the oven again as apple pie is nicer when warm. Then I brought it in, in a towel.

All the time I forgot to take a picture. And by the time I thought of it it had been eaten. Oh dear! But trust me: the pie was crumbly and fell apart. I had not added sugar to the Bramley apples and it was all a bit tangy. The cranberry worked well! Its rival was apricot-marzipan cake. I don't really like marzipan but it was very good! But mine was warm. That was appreciated.

Then the email came. It was a draw! We were both through! Blimy that didn't work out. I have to go again. I hope not any time soon!

Back to the dig after a month

After Miles having been gone and me having been gone it was time to go back to the dig! We had altogether been away for a month. That dig won't dig itself! But we were on a low-key mission without a drill. But that was alright; I was running out of room at the top end. It was time to do some tidying. So I did! Miles wasn't keen to come up so he just cleared the stuff I chucked down.

This configuration meant he was a bit limited; I noticed I could, with some luck, throw rocks straight down. That meant he had to spend most of the time at a very respectful distance. Even though most rocks needed several shoves as they got stranded along the way, you couldn't count on it, so he had to be prepared form them plummeting all the way down.

When I was up I noticed something that worried me a bit; the big rock I was tunnelling under seemed to be sagging. It was leaning against the wall, but the rock was split and looked like it was ow only leaning on a remaining bit of less than an inch thick. Oh dear! Maybe that rock had to be blown up. That would bring a lot down! But sometimes that is unavoidable. At least I had more space for all that rubble now!

Miles in the meantime had been back to Generator chamber (there was bara brith there) and had noticed it seemed there had been people. Strange! We expect to know about it if anyone does. But maybe they were occasional and incidental visitors. The mine gets a lot of footfall over a month... They hadn't caused any mayhem but Miles wasn't too happy about it; he leaves things down there that aren't especially expensive, but are still best if not stolen or tampered with. I suppose it is safe to say that here; would anyone read this blog be keen to get their hands on a key so they could ab down and then, less comfortably, clamber up again, this time with a generator? Or a pump? Not overly likely.

I in the meantime was happy with the amount of progress made. It had been getting cramped; by the time I came down again there was quite some space. And that was the mission for the night!

 

The splitting rock (coming in from bottom left)

Often this kind of blog post ends with us coming back up, but not this time. When we were driving down we saw a light on the parking lot. Miles wondered if it was a car; to me it looked more like a fire. Hm! What was it doing there? And a fire it was. Luckily we saw, when we got closer, that it was quite far away from my car. It wasn't especially close to anything, fortunately. It was some furniture and boxes and the likes. Fly-tipping and arson combined! And when I was closing the gate something in it exploded. And the fire got higher quickly! We must have seen it soon after it was lit.

 The fire as we found it. It was a lot higher minutes later!

Miles decided to phone the relevant authorities. How much higher would this fire get? And if the wind would pick up things could get worse. I said bye and set off. But when I got home I saw I had a barrage of messages from the Thursday nighters, who had been visiting Hen Ddiffwys. That's on the other side of the valley, and they had seen the glow from there. They were worried it had something to do with us! And not an entirely unthinkable thought; if anyone is capable of accidentally setting his car on fire it's Miles. But we were fine! I quickly confirmed that. Later I would find out they had actually set off to check, but had bumped into the fire engine which was refilling with water and of which the associated people had told them all was well. Nice of them!

And the next day I checked my pictures of previous episodes in the dig; the rock had already been splitting before! For decades, probably. I might still want to blow it up. Next time we get there!

Arbitrary post with charming dog

I've been mentioning Pi, my favourite dog, for years now! But there rarely is photographic evidence. I tend to be busy throwing things when he's around. But some time ago I was visiting dog and owners and Guy took a few pictures of us. And I'd like to share them! I've a bit of a crush...

Swamphike 2017

It was that time again! Half term in October, so the Dutch hikers were on their way again for the annual swamp hike. Lovely! I saw a car pull up at exactly the predicted time, and I scampered out to greet them all. This year we would be with six.

We got ready. We did some re-packing and last time changing and some talking through the route. And then we were off! We would drive down to Waunfawr in two vehicles, leave my car, squeeze into the rental car the others had brought, and drove to Dolbenmaen. Or rather, to Porthmadog, as we had forgot to buy more bread in Menai Bridge. But that's only five miles further. And then we could park up in Dolbenmaen and start walking! It was beautiful there, and the weather was good. It was only 3PM and we were off! Excellent.

Where it all started!

Soon after we left the road (which was after minutes) the navigating became a bit tricky; the public footpath had sort of vanished and we had to improvise a bit. But we went in the right direction. We ended up on a slightly different path but all was under control. Even when we crossed a brook only to decide the most efficient way on was crossing the same bridge again and finding out own way. After a while Sleutel saw a stile and got us back on track. The path was mildly boggy and the views were nice!

 

Nice view into Cwm Pennant (seen from the other side with Monique)

We walked up to a small lake I had seen on the map and which seemed a good place to stop for the night. We had only walked two hours but it was enough! The field was a bit boggy but we were already in absolute nothing. It was rather scenic! And I quickly went for a bath at the lake. Viking had lugged six cans of bokbier onto the hill. We enjoyed them! And then some lovely cheese fondue courtesy of Erik. This year we didn't have Roelof, so we could go wild on cheese.

Our first camp site

We sat outside for a while, talking away, and watching some strange wandering beam of light which we attributed to a chainsaw murderer. The it was bedtime. For the night, I swapped places with Erik, as I was still a bit under the weather and I had coughed myself awake 2.30 AM the previous night. I didn't want to do that to Viking too! So I got a night in Erik's comfortable small tent and I didn't cough. Good!

The next morning it was a bit foggy. No worries; it might lift. We could either walk over Nantlle ridge, or through Cwm Pennant. We chose the ridge! And it started a bit difficult with an invisible path, but it came and went a bit and it wasn't too bad. Navigating was easy! And it was rather swampy.

What I saw when I zipped open the tent

Breakfast

After coffee out job was to climb the first peak of the ridge. That went OK! Part of the way there even was a path (which was not on the map). On the ridge there was a path, but it went over a lot of loose slippery rocks so it wasn't very fast. And the views disappeared again.

 

Hikers in the mist

Where the path veered left at Craig Pennant we lost it and found a bloke I had met during the CasCare training, and his family. That was fun! Soon we found the path back and moved on. We ate lunch on a ridge from which we occasionally had some view. We were getting a bit tired!

Small hikers appear on a large hill

We had to climb the next ridge, to Mynydd Tal y Mignedd, which was considerable. By then we were really tired. We had more to go! But the day was drawing to a close. After reaching Trum y Ddysgl we decided to cut the walk short by bush-whacking down to a logging road an d skipping the last peaks. We could have camped in the woods but we decided to push on; that way a pub lay! I'd been there before...

It got dark while we walked back to Rhyd Ddu. We needed our lights at the end! I had hoped to camp at Llyn y Dywarchen as it looks nice, but we wouldn't manage that; it would have to be Llyn y Gader. Oh well! It's not an evident place, and we couldn't find a good spot for the tents. We decided to just camp on the path itself. Nice and flat! So we quickly pitched them and then went to the pub. Beer!

The lake as we found it

Dinner was nice. Afterwards we went back. After Nantlle Ridge with a big bag I was quite sweaty, so even though it was rather late and we would pack up early the next day because we were on a public footpath, I grabbed my towel and had a quick wash at the river. Nice! And I slept like a log.

The next day it was clear. We got up early as we were on a public footpath. We packed up the tents, walked to Rhyd Ddu station, and sat down for breakfast. It was nice! And it was only 9AM when we set off on the Rhyd Ddu path. It was a lovely day! And it would be up for hours, but that was OK. We scampered a bit, had coffee on the slope, and walked on. There were more people out, but it wasn't annoyingly many. The views were amazing! Not a cloud to be seen. And you look out over beautiful Cwm Clogwyn, which is nice. The ridge of Bwlch Main is spectacular. And then we were up! It was only about 12.30 and we were at the peak. It was busy there! There were trains going so the top was a crowd. Oh well. We admired the view and quickly scampered on. We wanted to come down Llanberis Path for a bit, so we could walk on until the Snowdon Ranger path and Miner's and Pyg tracks veered off. That would get rid of some of the people!

 

An early start

 

Breakfast while the sun comes out

 

A lovely day! 

Walking Lechog

Bwlch Main

Llechog seen from the other side, and Nantlle Ridge and Mynydd Mawr in the distance

 

The top (and its cafe) in view!

Amazing views from the top

It's busy there!

When the Llanberis Path veered left we went straight on to have some lunch. The views were nice but it was a bit cold. There were clouds appearing! We quickly went on while the cloud descended further. We took the path to Clogwyn Coch mine and upon reaching the first ruin, put down our bags. The more energetic among us went scouting for a camping spot while the rest of us lay down. We were tired!

Taking clothes off above Llyn Du'r Arddu

 

Tired!

Henco found an amazing spot and we went down. We pitched the tents nice and early. Most of us then went for a wash. Viking suggested even a swim, but it was very cold. I chickened out! But the wash was nice. And then we sat down for some whisky! It turned out we had some four supplies of it, but they hadn't come out yet. It was nice!

We later decided to cook in the mill ruin as the wind had picked up. It was nice and atmospheric! And the evening colours were nice. It was all good.

Evening colours over the lake

Erik is impressed with the whisky selection

 

Dinner time

That night I slept well, in spite of having drunk so much tea I had to get up at 1AM to go for a leak. That turned out well as Viking's air mattress was a bit leaky, and my departure gave him the opportunity to re-inflate it. All good! But when Erik started to wander around in the morning I wasn't really done sleeping. Oh dear. But I gathered myself.

It was foggy again! Quite atmospheric. We had breakfast and decided to go down via the Llanberis Path. It was quiet at this hour and in this fog! We moved fast. And when we got out of the cloud the first thing we saw was a bloke crawling up the path. He was raising money for charity! Blimey he wasn't doing the easy thing. We gave what we could (I had to do it afterwards as I had no cash whatsoever with me; you can do that too, here) and moved on. At Hebron station we crossed the valley, and took the path through Maesgwm, back to Nant y Betws. It was still foggy! We had some company of two mountainbikers we kept leapfrogging. At some point another biker came the other way, so he was going downhill; he shot past. And turned out to have left his dog behind! Poor thing. The uphill-going bikers stayed with it until its owner returned.

 

If you look closely you may see breakfast folk in the mill ruin

 

Crossing the stream at the bottom of the valley

When we got to the pass we had lunch. And decided to walk to the road. Any other option would leave us in the fog! And upon reaching the road we saw there was a marathon going on; we clearly caught the tail end. That meant a lot of people around, smiley people, and also that all cars were used to pedestrians on the road. We stomped along until, at Betws Garmon, we could leave the road and get back onto small paths.

 

Unexpected sign on a path

By that time it was time to look for a place to stay. There was a copse to the left and a quarry ahead; we chose the quarry. To our surprise, though, we were kept away from it with tall sturdy fences. Weird! And not very Welsh. We decided to walk on a bit and follow a logging road up into the next copse until we would find a better place. At its end we did. Good! We were all tired.

We pitched the tents and I washed. Then we had plenty of time for silliness, whisky, and spekkoek. Nice! It was the last night...

The last camping site

The next morning it was clearer. We had breakfast and packed up. We tried to walk back to the road via a nice small path but it vanished in a logging area. We gave up and walked along the road. Oh well! It wasn't far. Soon we reached the car. We dumped the backpacks and checked if the local pub was open. It was! So Viking and I said bye and went back to the car, drove to Dolbenmaen, retrieved the hire car from there, and returned. We picked up the others and, via a supermarket, went to my place. There we had a feast of a lunch, and the others showered.

Then it was time to say goodbye! It was another successful episode of the Swamphike, as far as I am concerned. So what next? Will it be Wales again next year? Who knows!