A terrible night’s sleep courtesy of both my lack of mat, and the late arrival of a family at dusk. There seemed to be a lot of opening and closing of car doors throughout the night. I was up early, and they looked like they’d never actually been to bed (and it sounded like that too).
Once I made a move to get up, I just kept on going and found myself packed up fully pretty quickly. I didn’t even bother putting the stove on for breakfast or even a cup of tea. It was too slow a process when measured against my eagerness to get on my way.
I could have waited for the shop to open at 9am, but that too didn’t seem worth it compared with the inroads I could make on this last day. It wasn’t as if I had a shortage of food anyway.
Day 9: Meifod to Welshpool – 19.47km, 620m ascent / 621m descent
So I set off at 07:43, making this my earliest start of the trip, sans breakfast, but resolved to force cereal bars down my neck at least every hour.
A climb up through woods brought me to views over Llyn Du from multiple angles, as the path dog-legged around it. After this were some lanes. Stops at 3km and 6km duly dispatched two cereal bars.
It was all very farmlandy and uninteresting – there was nothing I hadn’t already seen on this walk. The climb up through Figyn Wood was even more torturous than the day before’s climb, but one field further on I could at least see the final hill of the walk: Y Golfa.
I guess keenness to get there saw me take my eye off the ball and have a few difficulties identifying the lines of some of the less distinct field paths, but eventually I was at the bottom of Y Golfa. The climb up was, fittingly, through bracken-lined corridors to the trig point. Each step felt like a lot of effort, and the warm day wasn’t helping.
Unsurprisingly, I took a big break at the trig point, and looked down on what I thought was Welshpool: the end was literally in sight.
The descent into Welshpool itself was a joy. There were good paths and tracks straight down the ridgeline and even better it was nice and gradual too. As track became tarmac and Welshpool itself drew near, I wasn’t too sure quite where the end was.
So I just kept walking through town towards the station, finally seeing it right next to the canal. I had time for a couple of pics and then had to hurry to get to the station to get my train to Shrewsbury – with trains only every 2 hours, it seemed silly to not try to catch this next one.
But at least it was done.
Congratulations on finishing and on writing it up. I’ve enjoyed reading it.
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I am saddened that your walk has come to an end. For the entire 9-posts I have experienced every step, every meter, every kilometer and every camp of your journey, albeit not in person but via Google Maps, but with the feeling I was actually with you. I also experienced your pain and your joys as you made your way. Well done. I hope you celebrated in style upon your return.
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I think I had a cup of tea.
Don’t worry, there will be more, as a change in circumstances means I now have time to tackle some of these longer distance walks I’ve been wanting to do for a while. Check out the video series for this walk too… https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-81u0wl6_n17izlAwUhgakUvUbF7KqLb
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Thanks for sharing. After completing the Offas Dyke Path this summer, I’ve been looking for my next challenge. Not sure this is it though! Its a bit too off-grid I think. You’ve also inspired me to write up my trip so I remember it in my old age.
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Congrats on the planning, execution/finishing the walk and producing such an enjoyable read. The small part of the GW I saw looked lovely in contrast to the cold wet Elynedd on my Cambrian Way.
You seemed to be struggling a little towards the end. could it be that 9 consecutive days hiking after 20 months Sars Cov 2 restriction is too much?
Thanks for sharing your adventure = I have reduced the targets for my multiday Lakes walk to avoid the end of hike blues/fatigue/injury.
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I don’t think it’s that. I find it takes 4-5 days normally to get into a walk, and find a balance of fitness – I definitely got that on day 4 on this walk. After that point the length of the walk doesn’t seem to matter physically – this walk didn’t feel any different to a pre-COVID walk in terms of the fitness pattern. It was just uniformly hard the whole way. Towards the end I don’t think I was struggling so much as wanting to get it finished as the best bit was already done. Interestingly, in the past I’d possibly have bailed from this walk at some point after Machynlleth, but I carried on, so if anything the pandemic effect is the other way around. Having said all this, if I hadn’t had a pretty physically active 6 weeks leading up to the walk, then it might have defeated me. Looking back, it was enough of a challenge but at the same time achievable, so in that respect met my requirements exactly.
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Congratulations on completing this epic and tough walk-it sounds like it’s much easier to do it as a series of day walks like I have been trying to do. What’s next on your list?
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It’s been great following your trip. Thanks for sharing it.
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