Y Garn, Foel Goch

My day began with a drive from Talysarn to Rhyd Ddu to Beddgelert before returning to Craflwyn Hall to meet today's hikers. The drive, on a one-lane, windy road, was lovely.

Above, a fence made of slate. Below, a ruin.

Once at Craflwyn, I met the rambling club from Caerphilly. One of the men led a lovely rendition of Happy Birthday in honour of one of the women on the hike. There were three hikes on offer; I did the most difficult, up Y Garn, where Darwin hiked and developed his ideas of evolution from studying volcanic rock and upended seabeds. We hiked up Devil’s Kitchen to Y Garn, then did a ridge walk to Foel Goch in the Gwynedd Valley.

This bridge is made of a chunk of slate. Imagine spending your days hammer and chiseling that into roof slates?

Me hiking at age 57. Not that impressive, given my cohort was probably, on average, more than 10 years older.

I found the stone walls impressive--again evidence of the incredible industriousness of the Welsh.

On the way down we got lost. Easy to do as we were following little sheep trails interrupted by rock slides. There were lots of little trails and we had a hard time finding the right one. We ended up higher than we should be, so we had to scramble down through heather on to a lower path, then do it again. It was tricky for some of my older companions, whose knees have more wear and tear than mine. Of course we all started laughing, some of us on our bums sliding. One woman sang “Always look on the bright side of life.” Another lovely group of people.

One was a geologist and taught us of the time when what is now Wales was a group of islands. He told us of explosive volcanoes and the types of rocks they produced. And of sea beds now standing at a 30 degree angle to vertical.

The hike ended an hour later than planned. By the time I got to Bedggelert for dinner, I was famished. I had asparagus and stilton pie, peas, carrots, and chips, and a pint of cider. I was in heaven in the Prince Llewelyn Inn. Then I had to drive the narrow track back from Rhyd Ddu to  Talysarn. I was glad I bought the extra insurance. But made it home in one piece.

Two final photos of Welsh ponies near the end of the hike.

April 30