Visit by sister: part IV

Another day, another walk! It was Saturday and the weather looked good. Where should we go walk? Given that it was now weekend, I was of a mind to avoid the busy areas. I contemplated another walk in the Ysbyty Ifan area. But my sister wanted the terrain a bit more rugged. Could we just try do the walk we had abandoned the day before again? We had decided against it for reasons of wind, and today was not windy. I figured we could. Just check if there would be space in the Park and Ride! We made sure to have a backup plan and we were off. 

There was space in the Park and Ride. The plan was on! So we parked, and minutes later we were all my way up the side of the valley. As it so happened, we had started this walk a few years before, but it started raining, and we didn't have enough time to do the whole walk anyway as my sister needed to catch a train. And my shin hurt. We didn't get far! But now we did. 

Climbing out of Nant Peris

We walked up in glorious sunshine, and the route was beautiful. All was well! Until it wasn't. At some point my sister expressed the desire to stick her head into a stream. I know that that is a bad sign; it might indicate a headache. It turned out to be one. And we were just approaching the ridge.

We reached the ridge, and enjoyed the views. We also now had to contend with a lot more company. The ridge is busier than the approach we had taken! But we walked up to the top of y Garn, and just beyond, and then reconsidered our options. Given the headache situation (neither of us had thought of bringing paracetamol) we might want to cut this walk bit short. My initial plan had been to go over the top of Elidir Fawr, but we binned that. We could go down in Cwm Dudodyn instead. That saved some 200m climbing and descending again! 

Almost at the ridge

On the ridge!

View from y Garn, looking east

View from y Garn, looking north

And I thought we would go all the way to Bwlch y Brecan and catch the path from there, but we saw another path veer left from Cwm y Cywion, and we decided to chance it. I assumed it would go down into the valley, but it turned out it just followed the ridge of Esgair y Ceunant. I liked that! I had never been before. And my sister was quite OK. 

Sister and sheep fold on Esgair y Ceunant

Pretty flower

Looking back into the valley

We drove home, and there my sister made sure to recalibrate her biochemistry. And we had the rest of the soup. My sister made some sort of potato farls, but then Finnish, to go with it. And I baked a cake (badly). And then it was pretty much time to call it a day again. This day hadn't quite gone according to plan, but I think we managed to make the most of it! The next day would be our last full day together…

Christmas

My house had been decorated and I had Christmas plans. I was going to have dinner with my Dutch friends, in person, and have another dinner with my sister in Helsinki on a screen. And then the authorities were so worried about the infection rate that they tightened the rules even further. The screen dinner would not be affected of course, but would the dinner in person still happen? But the answer was: yes! It would have to take place on Christmas Day, is that would be the only day I would be allowed to visit them, but that was fine. So my Christmas was intact!

But there is more to Christmas Day than food. I wanted to get on landscape magic in! So on Christmas Day I put lunch into my bag and set off fairly early. I was allowed to bike some distance and walk from there, so that is what I did! I wanted to check out another one of the small hanging valleys in Nant Ffrancon, so I biked to it and parked up. On turning into that road I thought I needed to rescue a crow, as it was flapping around and banging into some street furniture; I thought it had become ensnared and couldn't get away. But when I approached, it just flew up. Then I understood; the street furniture was a mirror, and it had just been attacking its own reflection! Silly bird. But I was glad of it, especially as I realised I didn't have anything sharp on me.

Anyway; I got to my intended parking spot, and set off. I was in the little valley in no time! I suppose the road climbs a bit so the distance between it and the valleys gets smaller when you move further upstream. I sat myself on a rock to decide what to do. I could see two plausible options; there were two saddles you could climb to and then end up on the ridge. One seems to lead only to a place from which it would be difficult to move on, but the other one didn't, and it looked easy to then descend into the next valley upstream. So I went for it! There was no path or anything like it, so the going was a bit slow, but I got there. The ground was frozen and there was a dusting of snow.

the valley seen from below

the actual valley; notice the passes left and right

some decorative icicles I saw along the way

Anyway; I got to my intended parking spot, and set off. I was in the little valley in no time! I suppose the road climbs a bit so the distance between it and the valleys gets smaller when you move further upstream. I sat myself on a rock to decide what to do. I could see two plausible options; there were two saddles you could climb to and then end up on the ridge. One seems to lead only to a place from which it would be difficult to move on, but the other one didn't, and it looked easy to then descend into the next valley upstream. So I went for it! There was no path or anything like it, so the going was a bit slow, but I got there. The ground was frozen and there was a dusting of snow.

It was lovely to stand on the ridge! The views were amazing. And indeed, the descent on the other side was easy. I just zigzagged down the grassy slope. The valley I ended up in was beautiful, but I could tell it was also quite swampy. Now the ground was mainly frozen so it was okay! But this may be a bad valley for autumn.

Regularly sitting down for a coffee I made my way down. I came across a herd of about 20 goats. I enjoyed that! They are a good-looking bunch. And I started receiving WhatsApp messages from my Dutch sister, who was also on a Christmas walk. That was nice! And then I was back on the road. I wasn't far from my bike and I enjoyed the walk back. It was noon when the reached the bike, so it had been a modest walk, but I had enjoyed it! And now it was time to hit the kitchen to get ready for the rest of Christmas.

Christmas selfie on the ridge

towering over the main valley below

view from the ridge into the next valley

inside the next valley with Llyn Cywion

on the way down, with Llyn Ogwen in the distance

herd of goats

double waterfall

When I was done in the kitchen I video-called my Dutch sister. I figured they were having pre-dinner drinks by then and I was right! They put the phone in the circle and I felt like I was there with them. That was lovely! And then it was time to have a shower, dress smartly, and head to Anglesey for my dinner.

When I arrived at Jaco and Marjan's house and walked in I noticed how unusual that had become. And normally I get to greet them with hugs (the UK way) and/or kisses (the Dutch way), and that wasn't happening, but it was still lovely. We had a good chat and lovely food. And then we just sat in the living room and listened to some music.

The next day we would be visited by storm Bella, so I didn't want to go for a walk. I went for a long trail run in the late morning, before the wind got too strong. Then I phoned my mum for some Christmas talk. And then I vanished into the kitchen for my three course meal with my sister! And I will benefit from this for a while, as both starter and mains were big enough for four. And I just managed to do the dishes before it was time to start the video call.

The storm had passed Finland by, so my sister had actually been on a walk. A long one! So she was tired. And not yet entirely ready. But that was okay! We just chatted a bit while she finished things off, and I opened a bottle of heather beer. And then we had our parsnip soup! And we took it easy. No need to rush. The second course was onion quiche with salad! That was nice too. And then we really had to wait a while until we had space for dessert. But we had enough to discuss in the meantime. I went to the living room (I can eat dessert without dinner table) where I lit both several candles and the woodfire. With the wind howling in the chimney it was extra snug!

It was cool to have the same dinner. And our initial plan had been to do a game after dinner, but that was a bit ambitious! With the two hour time difference, the three course meal, and my sister's after-walk fatigue, that just wasn't feasible. But that is okay; we decided to just have a separate video call for that. It was lovely to have made an occasion of it!

dining table is ready!

living room ready too!

Then we called it a day. Christmas was over! And I think that by standards of 2020, it had been a very good one!

Visit by sister: part II

The first part of the week had been good! One epic hike, a slow day, and a partial day. On Wednesday we would do the BIG walk! It wouldn't be as long as the walk to Aber Falls but it was expected to feel that long at least. We wanted to go to Pen-y-Pass and walk back. And there is such a thing as the Snowdon Sherpa: a bus service especially for that sort of thing. We wanted to take that so we set an alarm. We were atypically ready by 8AM! Only to realise the bus only goes on Sunday. Oh dear. But we phoned a cab and he brought us after all, about five minutes after calling him. So by 9AM we started from Pen-y-Pass! And of ours the place was packed but hardly anyone goes up to the Glyders rather than Snowdon. We had the slope to ourselves!

We started out with nice views. But we had on purpose picked a cloudy day for this hike, as we did not want to boil, or burn to a crisp. So along the way we caught up with the clouds! A pity but it was nice and cool. And the path seemed to disappear. If it's still there we lost it. But after what felt like an eternity we reached the ridge! Time to sit down and have some lunch. And figure out where we were.

The Pyg Track seen from the start of our walk

Reaching the ridge

We knew we were on the ridge but where? We had missed the path and we couldn't check with any landmarks in the fog. But we knew we were on the ridge, so I figured we should walk north until we hit the cliff and then walk west and later a bit north. That way we would go in the right direction! But then I also wondered if my app 'footpath' knew where I was. And it did! We were slap bang on Glyder Fawr. And it told us exactly where the path to Llyn y Cwn was. Handy!

Soon we were on the steep rocky descent to the lake. It's not easy going! But we could see the lake. And after the lake we sat down for some more food while letting some other walkers go past. Then we went up y Garn, and walked the easy terrain after it until Foel Goch. Then we had to get down and up again to Mynydd Perfedd. By then we were sort of done with all the up and down! But we still had to get to Carnedd y Filiast and then down. Especially the latter would be tricky! The path is very narrow and easy to lose.

 

The ridge down y Garn

 

The smoother terrain after y Garn 

 

View from near the top of Garnedd y Filiast

It was a bit trying to get off the ridge. But we did it! And then we only had to walk home over my running route. We even went past the supermarket. And were home by seven! A long day. Luckily we had left-overs in the fridge and we did not have to cook. And we were in bed on time!


The day after we were very stiff in the legs. And it was another scorcher. So we didn't do much! Marieke wanted to go into Betws y Coed to buy souvenirs for the people back home, and she didn't mind me not joining but sitting in the shade on the riverbank instead. And then we did a small walk in the Gwydyr forest. It was so hot that when we walked past a gated mine entrance we both couldn't resist crouching in it and enjoying the cold air blowing past! And the rest of the trip was most notable for the fact we found more chanterelles than we could fit inside our lunch boxes. Nice! Good to have a mushrooming sister.

 

Walking past Llyn y Parc

The day after the weather would be OK again and our legs would have rested. So we could be back at it!

Visit by sister: part III

On the second full day of my sister's visit, we intended to go into the Llanberis area, as it was now only Friday, and in the weekend this area gets incredibly busy. The idea was to roughly do the walk I had done with one of the Kates a few months earlier, but then in the other direction. But when we were driving to the starting point, we decided it was too windy to be on top of the ridge. Only decided how we would deal with this: I would park up in Llanberis, my sister would go look for souvenirs for the home front, and I would advise an alternative plan. And I came up with something; I sort of recycled one of the plans I had made for a walk for me and Martin recently. She thought it was a good idea! So we drove to Nantmor. 

From there we would first walk East to pick up the path that goes towards Cnight, but as soon as that path bears right and goes up, we went straight ahead and walked into the valley there. I had wanted to do that for years! Now I was doing it. It was beautiful!

The area before the path to Cnight

The map suggests the path only goes to an abandoned quarry, but in reality a path continues to the little nameless lake (at least it has no name on the OS map) just beyond, and then down on the other side, and down by the side of the stream back to the Nantmor road. And from there we walked back northwest to Llyn Dinas. We had another break there, and then we walked back through Cwm Bychan. I thought it had been a great walk! My sister agreed.

Walking up to the lake

The lake itself

Descending into Nantmor

Bluebells

Almost back at the parking lot

On the way back I had been wondering what to cook, but I decided what I wanted to happen was that we made something quick and easy. We were only home a quarter to six. And I wanted to pop into to Wholefoods Coop! We were using up a lot of flour and suchlike... 

The neighbour had been gone the previous days, but now we saw his car again. He was back! And therefore, so was his dog. He heard us and came out barking his head off. And he really likes my sister so they had a really nice reunion…

Dylan is very happy to see my sister again

For dinner, we just made another batch of soup. We still had bread to go with it, and we made garlic butter to make that more exciting. Another day done!

Gyrn Ddu

The cat had run out of worm medication, so I had to pop by the vet's. They are in Caernarfon, which is to the west of where I live. I decided I might as well seize the opportunity to do a walk somewhere in the West. It is not a direction I go often! And I had had the look at the map. There was a ridge of three hills that way; I had never been on them. I had been on hills on either side; on the one side there was Bwlch Mawr, That I had once scampered up when I was on its flank anyway in order to visit Seler Ddu with the PCG. On the other side was the Eifl, where I had been once on either side of the ridge (south with my sister, north with Fiona). But this very ridge, with Gyrn Ddu as the highest hill in the middle, I had never been on. And I thought this might be a good opportunity!

My business with the vet was quickly resolved, so onwards I went. I parked up and found the public footpath. There is no path Over the ridge, but there is a path that starts you off in the right direction for all of kilometre or so. And then you're on your own! But it was okay. I walked up the rather steep slope of Moel Pen Llechog  in the clear noise of the road. By the time I got to the plateau at the top it was pretty much lunchtime, but I hadn't had coffee yet. So that happened first! One needs priorities in life. And the views were nice.

I headed towards Gyrn Ddu. In order to get there I had to cross a saddle with a lot of old agricultural land. It was an amazing landscape! And I crossed the actual public footpath. I wasn't going to follow it, though; I wanted to go over the ridge. So I left the comfortable path and scrambled through heather and scree slopes. Progress wasn't fast, but it was nice to be somewhere so rarely trodden. I was soon following a drystone wall that went in the right direction. It didn't quite go over the top of Gyrn Ddu; for that I had to veer off to the right and do some scrambling onto a block field. And the views were vanishing! I was wondering if I should just forget about the last peak: Gyrn Goch. But I sat down for lunch while contemplating that, and in that time the view cleared again. So I was good to go again!

I was on the top of Gyrn Goch in no time. From there I knew I just should bushwhack down the slope until I would come across a path. That would lead me back in the direction of civilisation. I was wondering if I would have the time and the energy to explore the quarry on the side of the mountain, but I was soon deciding I didn't. I just walked back to the car. It took me about half an hour. I'll come back one day to see that quarry! During my walk back I had a good opportunity for having a look from a distance. When you drive past, you need to keep your eyes on the road. And I don't think my plan for walking around would have worked. This will be for another day! But I am convinced you can get to the quarry from the public footpath. And if I am there anyway I might check out some farms that looked abandoned! I like these days where you tick something off the list, but something else immediately replaces it…

Eifl range from Moel Pen Llechog

Coffee and cake!

Old agricultural landscape

Scree on Gyrn Ddu

View on Gyrn Goch

Stone wall geometry

Day 2 with my sister

The second day of my sister’s visit, the weather would actually be quite good! So we took the opportunity to go for a sizable walk. Armed with lots of sandwiches and tea, we headed for Bwlch y Groes. I really like the remoteness of that parking lot! And from there you can walk onto Moel Eilio.

The skies were still dramatic, and the landscape wet. I thought it was very photogenic. Until we actually hit the ridge. That is just grass, and it even went into the clouds! But we knew we would not be in these clouds for very long. Coming down to Bwlch Gwyn, we saw the landscape appear again, including Llyn Dwythwch, which we would basically loop around all day.

View from the parking lot

Approaching the clouds

The valley comes in view again when we descend Moel Eilio

View over Llyn Cwellyn

The going was good! It wasn't soggy, and the weather was calm. By the time we felt like having apple pie we were already coming down from Foel Goch. While we were eating, three Welshman and a dog walked up in the opposite direction of how we had come. They were carrying an Owain Glyndwr flag for some reason!

Soon after that, we took the path back to where we had come from. We didn't even have lunch until we were back at the car! But that wasn't enough; Petra wasn't done walking yet. So after we had eaten, we also explored the path that goes down to Betws Garmon. It came past the quarry, and we spotted a sheep perilously teetering on a steep cliff! We took a picture of it. We could ask Facebook if this sheep was actually in danger or not. (Facebook would think not.)

Unexpected fellow user of the path

Pretty stream

We didn't make this extra loop particularly big. At some point, it is nice to go back to the bottle of wine and the snacks! So we did. Wine and dinner were enjoyed. Then we had another job; my sister hadn't quite booked her train to get back yet. We needed to do that! And we found out that the day she travelled back on was marred by replacement bus services. It was going to be a long journey home! And one that would start early. But so be it.

We left the final decision on what to do the next day for the next day. We knew it was going to be rainy in the morning, so we would have plenty of time to decide. Now it was bedtime!

When my sister picked this week for coming over, I had no idea if we would be lucky enough to have days like this, when you walk up to 726 m, and only spend a little bit of time in the clouds, and absolutely none in the rain! We were lucky. And we still had a third day…

Abergwyngregyn horseshoe

 When there was another Sunday with a good weather forecast coming up, I decided I needed to go out again. I had felt a bit cooped up. With the frantic marking in the past week I really wanted some fresh air. And I had something I don't get very often; I was gripped by a desire to not be at home. On the Saturday I was going to have tea with Martin and I volunteered his place. As much as I love my house, I just didn't want to be in it too much over the weekend! But the Sunday was for the hills. Initially I was going to go with Kate, but something that in the way and I ended up going alone. And I decided to do a walk I had thought about for a while; just East of the furthest reaches I can easily do from home, there is one valley I don't visit very often. In summer I'd been there with Caro, but we had walked through the bottom of the valley, there and back. And I thought it would be nice to walk around it. I had a bit of a look at the map; I decided the best thing to do would be to park by the start of the path to Aber Falls, then walk to where I had started with Caro, but instead of taking the path into the valley, just find my way up to the crest. They didn't seem to be any paths to it, but I knew there was one on the ridge. And from there it would just be a case of following the horseshoe! That would bring me to Llwytmor, where I had been at the end of the previous summer, and then I would find my way down to intersect the path that brings you past the waterfall, and then eventually back on the main path, back to the car park. I had walked that path in the other direction with my sister, and I know it was beautiful. And so that was how I executed the plan.

The beautiful weather didn't actually materialise, but I had enough clothes with me. Walking to where I had started with Caro was a bit dull, but that was why I wanted to do it in the beginning and not at the end, when I would be tired. And it was a bit of a slog to bushwhack my way up to Foel Ganol, but I got there in the end. And from there it was a bit windy and cold, as on the ridge was completely exposed, but it was okay. I just put on gloves and a hat and went onwards. The skies were amazing! And some occasional sun was seen in the distance. I was making good progress. In this cold winter you are not going to dawdle.

Cwm Anafon

Carneddau ponies

My first stop was for coffee and cake. I had some gooy chocolate cake (recipe from Rutger bakt) with me; excellent food from the cold hike. And then I walked on. On Drum I came across the first other person; when I was only about 2 m away I suddenly realised there was someone sitting at the Tor. I walked on, and it got busy; I overtook two people who were going in the same direction as me, and there were two people coming in the other direction. Some waving took place. And we were coming to the summit of Foel Fras; it was very icy there! It was the highest point of the route, and it stood out like a sore thumb; it was white with rime, and pretty icy. I was glad conditions wouldn't stay like that; I didn't have things like crampons with me. It was totally fine on Foel Fras, but if the snowline (I suppose I should say ice line as there was no actual snow; only hail, black ice and rime) would have been lower I would have had to either have such things with me, or reconsider my route.

Dramatic skies

Stepping stones over the boggy saddle

Cold on Foel Fras!

I quickly descended out of the iciness. And I was getting a bit cold! I moved fast. And I enjoyed the barren plain between Foel Fras and Llwytmor. 

View into the valley of Afon Rhaiadr Fawr

Typical high-latitude swampy terrain

When I approached the peak of Llwytmor I saw the silhouette of a man was waving a flag. I wasn't sure what that was about. I didn't think much about it; I got to the block field that forms the peak, and was just scrambling around. I didn't actually intend to stop. A more sheltered space would have been nicer! But then suddenly a head appeared above the wall of the winter shelter at the top. A young man told me had put the kettle on, and asked if I wanted a cup of tea. And I still had two flasks with me, but I thought it was really nice he asked so I clambered in and joined him.

We had a bit of a chat about where we had come from, were going to, and how we loved these hills. And he explained to me what he had me doing with this flag, for it was him. He said that his grandma could see this hilltop from her house, so he had phoned her and asked her to look up! He knew she would be able to see the flag. I thought that was very cute. We also talked about what we did; he was a roofer, and when I told him I worked in Ocean Sciences, it turned out he knew one of my colleagues and asked me to pass on his regards. And I will!

Even though we were sitting in the winter shelter, we were not particularly sheltered, so we didn't linger. After a while we said goodbye and went our separate ways. I had stupidly not put on my down jacket in there, so now I was cold. I soon stopped to put on the jacket now. I don't normally walk in down, but today was a good day for it. I immediately felt better. And I was just bushwhacking my way down the hill.

Approaching the end of the hanging valley

Winter selfie with lots of clothes

The path on the steep slope past the waterfall

Near the river I had lunch. And then I found my way to the path that had come up from the bottom of the valley. It had a weird crossing of a stream in it; I didn't remember that! I was probably on a slightly different iteration of the path. But soon I found a part I recognised, and from there it was a very gentle stroll down. Along the way, the gloves, hat, and down jacket came off again. And then I was back at the car! I was feeling a bit sweaty, but then had probably been my brisk walking in the cold wind. It had been beautiful!