Day 1: 10th July 2015 - Cadair Idris (almost!)
Another forum meet, this time, a different forum yet some familiar faces. We spent a long weekend in a lovely old cottage with quite extensive grounds. Quite a difference from the usual forum meet accommodation! The walks themselves were much better organised too... The dash up and bag the hill group and the slow, leisurely paced group.
Some pictures:
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| The leisurely slowcoaches! |
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| Cadair Idris with its head in the clouds |
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| Lovely woodland and waterfalls at the start |
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| Good views opening out above the tree line |
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| Higher still on the well maintained "Pony Track" |
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| Cadair Idris, still under cloud |
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| An even steeper than the previous steep path! |
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| Looking back down from the steep path |
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| Looking across to Cadair Idris from the opposite hill |
A lovely walk really. Once it was quite clear the mist wasn't lifting from the top of Cadair Idris, I was quite happy not to do it and myself and Catherine chose instead to walk up Carnedd Llwd which was free of cloud. Again, I found the relentless uphill a struggle but, due to the leisurely pace, I was in no pain with my ankle. One day, I will return in sunny weather to "bag" Cadair Idris as it really is a simple (albeit relentlessly uphill) walk.
Day 2: 11th July 2015 - Barmouth Bay
Again, there was 2 walk options; a higher route "the Precipice Walk" or a leisurely stroll round Barmouth Bay. I chose the Barmouth Bay walk again with Catherine.
Some pictures:
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| At the start, along the old railway line |
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| Heading across the footbridge over the Mawddach Estuary (note, the tide is out) |
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| I'd like to live there! |
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| Looking back across from whence we came |
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| Sheer rock faces carved out to make way for the road we were walking on |
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| Barmouth Harbour (and a curiously large amount of kites!) |
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| There appears to be some sort of kite festival going on |
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| Snacking in a cafe |
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| Random wooden head in the sand dunes! |
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| Jellyfish! |
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| Happy feet (and paws) |
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| Views to hills beyond |
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| Another jellyfish! |
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| Paddling! |
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| Snack stop number 2 |
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| Definitely the place to fly kites |
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| Some weird and wonderful kites! |
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| Heading back across the Mawddach Estuary (note the tide is in) |
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| View from footbridge towards Cadair Idris (still got its head in the clouds) |
Finally, a few photographs of our lovely accommodation - Bryn Adda, Dolgellau. A rambling stone cottage which sleeps 10 easily. I think (if my memory serves me right) we paid something like £30 each for 3 days.
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| Bryn Adda |
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| The gardens at the rear of the house |
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| BBQ area (which we did use) |
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| View of house from BBQ area |
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| Part of the house from the little courtyard area |
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| Landscaped gardens on the driveway |
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| View of the courtyard area |
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| Squirrel! wanting breakfast |
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| Our final night - we all brought "faith supper" style buffet food (we managed to fill this massive 15ft x 6ft dining table with food!) |
A really lovely weekend. I wouldn't hesitate to go on one of these again. Sadly, the forum that organised this is no longer around and everyone seems to have gone their separate ways as far as organising things like this are concerned.