And finally into 2014 – New Year amble on the Aberedw Moors

Well, it’s April in the real world but January 2nd on my blog, still playing catch up and at the moment I doubt I ever will without some concerted work. Mind you at least a damp dreary and uninspiring weekend at home has given me some writing space and a lack of activity to fall further behind.

January 2nd and another stormy looking day but with the promise of a little more sunshine. With the whole family plus TBFs mum in tow we needed an easy stroll. The hills above Aberedw fit that bill nicely. Check out my previous long walk up here and shorter family stroll from summer 2012.

To make a decent circular I dropped everyone off at the start and drove the car further up the road.

5.6 Miles

It had rained heavily on the drive but by the time we set off it had stopped. It was going to be a stroke of luck to avoid a soaking at some point in the day. The watery start to the new year was emphasised by the fact that there was water welling up through the tarmac on the road like a spring! A rainbow appeared to cheer me on my way along the brisk 2km walk back down the road to catch up with the family.

I passed yet another large group of trail bikes destroying another section of path. It’s becoming a rare day around here when you don’t see or hear these infernal machines on a hill walk. The damage they cause is immense. An issue that is really starting to bother me enormously. 😦

I rejoined the rest of the clan and we wandered up onto the moors. The lower slopes were a soup of mud and water but the views, dark stormy clouds and sunshine were great lighting up the browns of the common to great effect.

The usual brew up was just about completed before everyone got too cold and we followed the edge of the low cliffs to the small lake at the heart of the moor.

As we wandered along the moors the weather improved and the low light was sublime.

TJF is not the fastest of hikers and I began to wonder if we could reach the car before it got dark. It was further along the path past Farlan Pool and on to Glannau Pool than I remember. The pace was a little slower than I’d have liked but she seemed to be enjoying the walk which is the main thing.

I’d planned to follow a long raking path that returned to the road along a  huge zig-zag. Unsurprisingly in such a little-walked area, the first section was vague in the extreme, and the second non-existent. We just headed straight down hoping that we wouldn’t become entangled in trees and undergrowth and luckily it worked and we were back at the car in the last vestiges of daylight. Luck had indeed given us a stroke as we remained dry

Other than an absolute soaking on Garway Hill when I went out on the last day of  the holiday just to escape the maddening bore of being stuck at home in ceaseless rain that was the end of my New Year walks. Considering how awful the weather was, I didn’t do too badly 🙂