Walking

[Hugo]

My friend Pete missed out on our walk to Pigeon's cave last week so it was a good excuse to go there again only this time with a slight variation to the walk.  The two of us set out from the West Shore at Llandudno and set off along the shoreline.  It's not too difficult walking along the stony beach and allows you to see things that you can't see from the Marine Drive,  The first thing you come across is a tunnel under the road which I assume was for the quarry that was there before the Marine Drive was built.  Evidence of iron ladders still remain there and at one time there was a wooden jetty around that area.    We passed the Summer House of St Petrocks, perched in an idyllic location but sadly deteriorating as each year passes.   The remaining wall of the Bishop's Palace is perched on the edge of the cliff face and is covered in Ivy.  It's about 3 to 4 feet thick so how long it will remain there is anyone's guess.   All along the shoreline you can see various types of sea defences and as we came to the tower that Frank Tyldesley built you can see from the erosion there why the tower is no longer in use.  The door was open so we took the liberty of going up to the top and seeing what it was like up there.  In it's time it must have been an outstanding building and is in a remarkable state  of preservation all things considered.  We plodded on and then come to the first buildings on the Gunsite and after looking around we took the path uphill that took us into the centre of the Gunsite where two of my relatives once lived many years ago.   We followed the path uphill and came to a lookout tower and walked past it up the sheep track above Hornby Cove.  It's definitely not suited to anyone suffering from vertigo!     At the top we headed for the Marine Drive and made our way past the Lighthouse before we stopped and had some refreshments in the hot Summer sunshine.  We stopped above Pigeon's Cave to have a look down and could see people fishing and sitting around and then made our way down to the ledge and had a look around the cove,  The Rock Pippits that were on the beach made quite a racket which was probably amplified by the roof of the cove which seems to go under the Marine Drive itself. It was time to move on so we passed the young teenagers sitting on the ledge but noticed a definite whiff of wacky baccy in the air!
Back on the Marine Drive we retraced our way past the cliffs and as we did 3 Sparrow Hawks flew together and appeared to be landing just above us but then took off again and went out of sight.  After the cliffs we went up a marked path that I haven't been up before and it took us uphill and ended in the grounds of the Pink Farm.  Normally it wouldn't be a problem walking up there but yesterday it was hot, very hot and we were glad to have a few breathers on the way up.  From the Pink Farm we headed to the tram track and went down hill and along Tyn Y Coed Road and descended the zig zag's and then back to the car.   

[Hugo]

Great Orme Walk

[Jack]

It has been far too long since I last went out walking but this week decided to walk up the north face of Tryfan and then maybe the Glyders if my legs could take it.  It was a beautiful day and as usual with Tryfan a lot of people wandering up it including quite a few school groups which was nice to see.  Views were terrific and hadn't gone that far when the obligatory low flying jet skimmed over Llyn Ogwen - always an amazing sight.
Ridiculously busy at the summit and couldn't get anywhere near Adam and Eve, even if I had the bottle to jump between them!!
As it was only midday decided to climb the scree path up the Glyders (rather than Bristly Ridge) and was amazed at how eroded this path has become.  Descended down through the Devil's Kitchen and Llyn Idwal and back to the car by 4.

[Hugo]

That's a good walk Jack and lovely photos too but I don't envy your trek up that scree as it was bad enough walking down it when I did it last month.
I'm glad that you're out and about now and look forward to reading about your walks in the future.   

[Hugo]

Yesterday, with hot weather forecast we decided to have an earlier start on our Snowdon walk.  After catching the bus from Llanberis to Pen Y Pass we set off up the Pyg Track at 8.30am and by then  it was 23C  and rising.    The visibility was very good and  Crib Goch looked very impressive ahead of us.   We stopped just before Bwlch Moch and had a good drink of refreshing water before moving on.  One good tip Pete gave us was to put the plastic water bottles in the freezer the night before the walk and that way we would always have cool water to drink, rather than the warm stuff that we normally had.     About half a mile further on we stopped to take some more photos and then reality dawned on me.   I must have left my camera on the ground when we stopped for a drink!      Leaving my rucksack with Wayne I started to run down the slope to look for my camera and was running as fast as these old legs and size 46 boots would let me.   After about 200 yards I slowed down to pass a couple of guys coming up and to my relief  one held the camera up and asked " is that what you are looking for"    I was so grateful for that and walked back to Wayne with them.  So thanks to Ian and Lee for their good deed and honesty.        I then secured the camera to my belt to make sure that it didn't happen again and we carried on to the summit taking our time for rests and drinks and photos too.    At the top we headed straight for the cafe which was surprisingly empty but outside there were scores of people enjoying the hot Summer sunshine and enjoying the spectacular vies you get on days like this.    We then went outside and stayed for quite a while on the summit before making our way back, taking the Miner's Track down just because Wayne hadn't done it before.  That path has been well built but is very steep and we were glad that we were walking down it and not up it.   Further down on the path to Llyn Llydaw it seems that there has been erosion problems and that part of the Miner's Track is in poor condition but they are working on it.   Once down at Llyn Llydau the path is level and an easy walk back to Pen Y Pass and the bus back to Llanberis.    It was a good enjoyable walk but very hot and we'll wait until after the Summer before doing it again

[Hugo]

Snowdon Walk

[hollins]

So pleased you got your camera back especially so that we could see your super photos. It is also good to hear about the kindness of others.

[Hugo]

Thanks Hollins, it does restore your faith in human nature when these things happen.

[Gwynant]

    I bet it was hot up there yesterday Hugo! The last time we went up Snowdon we did the "Horseshoe" route (Crib Goch, Cib-y-Ddysgyl and Lliwedd) and we were lucky enough to feature in a "Brockenspectre", when our giant shadows were cast from the knife-edge on Crib Goch across onto the cliffs below Glyder Fawr on the other side of the Llanberis Pass. It was a great moment, only there for a couple of minutes and then the sun burnt through the cloud again and it was gone.
   On the subject of the Llanberis Pass I was very sad to see the report of the tragic death of John Ellis Roberts (the former Head Warden with the Snowdonia National Park) who was killed recently on a climb on Dinas Cromlech in the Llanberis Pass area. We came across him a couple of times when walking in the area many years ago and he was a very pleasant, helpful and knowledgeable man, who was very well known and respected in the climbing and mountain rescue circles in North Wales.
   Thank you for your encouraging words about my hip replacement, my recovery programme is going according to plan, and I am now discharged from physio, walking without a stick and hoping to get back on my bike in the next couple of weeks and then back into some hill walking again. It has been very frustrating not being able to get "up there" with all the recent good weather!

[Hugo]

It was hot Gwynant and about 26C when I came down.    When Wayne and I were having our iced water in the shade of a rock two guys and two girls walked past all in their teens or early 20's and I overheard the older guy say to the others you don't need to drink any water as your body automatically takes care of the heat!     I didn't have the heart to say anything as I'd just be an "interfering old man" but we passed them later and the girls were suffering going up.   We took 3 bottles up and finished the last one off on the Miner's Track going down.
Wayne isn't comfortable with vertical drops so we had to avoid the Horseshoe but it was perfect conditions yesterday if we had of gone up there.
That was tragic news about John Roberts and ironic after a lifetime in the mountains that he met his death in those circumstances.
Glad to hear that your hip replacement is continuing to improve but don't rush things, just take one day at a time

[TheMedz]

So that's what the views look like

[Ian]

you don't need to drink any water as your body automatically takes care of the heat!

It does. It's called heatstroke... Seriously, what can he have been thinking?

[snowcap]

us golfers carry a bottle of frozen water and a bottle of water to top up as the ice melts, much better than having to drink warm water in this heat, hard work if you haven,t got any

[Hugo]

Yesterday we travelled to Aber to do the Aber Falls walk but when we arrived at the car park it was dark and raining steadily and the clouds were very low in the valley so we decided to head home and leave the walk for a better day.  Coming back home I wanted to show my friend Harry the start of the Crafnant Lake walk and drove up to the car park there and what a difference in the weather on that bit of the Carneddau!     It was sunny and dry so we opted for a walk around the lake instead. We took the forestry track on the right hand side of the lake and it seems that a lot of work has been done on it since I was last here.  It wasn't long before we came to the end of the lake and then returned along the lane on the other side.  There were loads of people camping by the lake and some of the tents looked very impressive, like Mongolian Yurts.  Last nights rainfall didn't seem to dampen their enthusiasm though which was good to see.
At the abandoned Chapel we headed through the forest until we arrived at Llyn Geirionydd and had our refreshments on the picnic tables near the lake.   There were loads of enthusiastic canoeists on the water and it was so peaceful and beautiful there that we could have stayed there all day.   Very reluctantly we had to move on and we followed the road to the dam at the end of the lake and crossed over past the Taliesin Monument and took the path to the Crafnant Lake car park passing some quarry workings on the way.
At least  we made the most of the day and enjoyed an easy walk in some lovely surroundings.

[Hugo]

Llyn Crafnant & Llyn Geirionydd