Friday, August 21, 2009

Day 2. Bodfari to llandegla. 16 miles.


I can't get a signal from llandegla so this won't be published till tomorrow. Could be the story of the walk. It's also quite hard to see if the photos are any good on this small screen. Hope they're ok. If not blame the unnamed mobile phone company. Anyway if yesterday's plant was gorse, today's was heather, hence the choice of photo. Heather with Moel arthur behind. It's always at its best in august and was everywhere today. I'd done 11 miles of today's walk on a couple of occasions before, so it was great to go the extra mile, or six, this time. I mentally split the walk into 5 sections. The first was a gradual climb, traversing Moel y parc with its massive tv mast, then over the top of Penycloddiau hill fort. The second was a steep up and over Moel arthur, another hill fort. The third section was the longest, a very steep ascent then a long plod up Moel famau and down. I had set off late because it had been raining when i woke up, and i knew the forecast was for better weather later. In the event i managed to avoid rain again today, with showers ahead and behind me but not above me. However the sun didn't really make an effort till the end of the day and the wind was wicked. As usual the summit of Moel famau was the windiest place on earth, but the views were fantastic. I love that summit, especially when nobody else is there like today. I wish someone would have a go at completing the tower. It would be an even better north wales landmark than it already is, till the wind knocked it over anyway. The fourth section was another slog over foel fenlli and down to the clwyd gate. I watched the beluga pass overhead on its way to broughton. How the hell does it stay in the air? I fancied a pint at the clwyd gate, even though i can't stand the place, but it had closed down. In fact it looked derelict. That meant i had to tackle the final 6 mile section beerless. Thankfully it was quite straightforward and the weather was lovely. The bed and breakfast i'm in, hand house, is bizarre. It's packed full of ornaments and my room is full of old peoples' clothes (no not mine). You wouldn't mess with the owner. She asked me what time i'd like breakfast. I said 8.30. She said that's too late and she'll make it for 8 o'clock. An early start then! For me anyway. She did greet me with fresh coffee and five homemade cakes though! Then she told me to have a long bath, which i did, even though i like short baths. Now in the crown inn at llandegla. It's curry night so i had a lamb rogan josh. Meal rating 4/10, firstly because there was hardly any lamb in it, and secondly because it wasn't a rogan josh. Beer is great though (lees).