The euphoria of knocking off 15 miles and nearly 1000m of ascent on a day when I was feeling sluggish soon wore off. The wind picked up in the night and was really pressing on the tent. Again I had bits of cheap Chinese inner in my face. I was glad to get up, but boy was it cold. I set off wearing 4 layers. Continue reading “Cambrian Way #9: Bryn y Fedwen to Mallwyd (Days 20-21)”
The need to get in some serious backpacking practice before the Big One in Scotland in May saw me heading back to Ponterwyd a bit sooner than I’d expected. I’d decided that the Cambrian Way would be a suitable training … Continue reading Cambrian Way #8: Ponterwyd to Bryn y Fedwen (Days 18-19)
Ice cream and tea consumed I got on my way, leaving sleepy Strata Florida behind and heading along a lane that would take me to the Teifi Pools. Climbing up gently over grass, I gained a trackway and soon saw the first of the lakes – Llyn Egnant. Continue reading “Cambrian Way #7: Strata Florida to Ponterwyd (Days 16-17)”
It probably wasn’t a great idea to begin a 4 day backpack through remote mid Wales with a night of virtually no sleep. Even less a good idea to do so with a newly hurt knee obtained in an ill-advised game of garden volleyball at a gathering with the in-laws a few hours before. And it’s probably best not to mention the recovering ankle that caused me to allow more days for this walk and to adopt full-on boots rather than my usual trail shoes. Anyway that’s the hand that I somehow dealt myself, and so it had to be played out…
Continue reading “Cambrian Way #6: Llandovery to Strata Florida (Days 14-15)”
Cath (@wellycath), being the incredibly juvenile middle-aged person that she is, could not let the opportunity to visit a comically-named mountain go, and so the Tuesday of Easter week saw Cath, Andy and I set off on the quest. To … Continue reading Three for his Knob
After a long drive, I parked up by the Cornewall-Lewis memorial in New Radnor and met up with Stuart who’d parked just up the road. Stuart dumped his recently acquired Mariposa by my car while he did his pre-walk faff, and I took the opportunity to have a good look at it. I really should have brought my older Dyneema version to compare it directly with Stu’s Robic model, and that feeling only grew as I tried to attach various extra essentials to the outside of my Jam – critical items like beer, whisky and my lunch. Continue reading “24 Hours in the Radnor Forest”
Day 12: Storey Arms to Llyn y Fan Fawr – Making up lost ground That “night in” did me a power of good, especially as I’d arrived at camp fully laden with water and early enough to simply chill out … Continue reading Cambrian Way #5: Storey Arms to Llandovery (Days 12-13)
Day 10: Friday 11 July 2014 – Filling in the Blanks I woke early to a gloomy and rainy world. Thankful that I’d all but completed the packing the night before, it didn’t take me long to get the last … Continue reading Cambrian Way #4: Merthyr to Storey Arms (Days 10 – 11)
What with work commitments and leaving it late to make the final arrangements, the original intention to do the Cambrian Way in one 3 week (ish) adventure had to be reconsidered, and I planned a shorter trip to do as … Continue reading Trip Report: Cambrian Way Phase 1
It will be clear from the last post that the trip didn’t go quite to plan, as I stopped short of my intended end point of Llandovery. But that’s not to say it was a failure, and I’m looking at … Continue reading Cambrian Way Phase 1 – Post Mortem
Day 9: Monday 6 May The best night’s sleep so far, and in a dorm to myself, following a half-rest day and a decent feed should have all meant that I would feel up to today’s walk. With today’s walk … Continue reading Cambrian Way #3: Talybont to Storey Arms (Day 9)
I’ve now reached Talybont which marks approximately 2/3 of the walk for this southern section of the Cambrian Way. Replanning this stage as a 4 day rather than 3 day walk was the right thing to do, with the result … Continue reading Cambrian Way #2: Abergavenny to Talybont (Days 5 – 8)
I’m writing this at the end of a chilled out day whilst waiting for my curry to arrive. I’ve only walked around Abergavenny town today, certainly not set foot on a hill. And that’s actually a good thing…
Continue reading “Cambrian Way #1: Cardiff to Abergavenny (Days 1 – 4)”
Beddgelert disappears behind me as I tackle the steepest part of the walk and head for the climax of this trip. This is a time to enjoy the finest mountains in Wales, but also to get used to seeing people again, for soon I have to re-enter civilisation. Continue reading “Planning the Cambrian Way – Part 9: Beddgelert to Conwy”
And now things get serious with the most controversial section of the Cambrian Way. Rough walking over demanding terrain, nowhere to stay overnight, but in the eyes of Tony Drake the most rewarding part of the whole route. Except in my case, I don’t have the accommodation issue… Continue reading “Planning the Cambrian Way – Part 8: Barmouth to Beddgelert”
