I'm sure Michael Fish must be back at the Met Office!!

Naively, and probably stupidly, we put our faith in the weather forecasters and decided that today's forecast was going to be horrific so we'd take a day off and go sightseeing. I mean, it wasn't like they'd sat on the wall and given us a fifty fifty chance of poor weather - they said it was going to lash down today and did it? Did it buggery!! We've had one shower which lasted 20 minutes. 

But, moaning aside, we've still managed to have a great day. Regardless of the forecast, Tim needed to have a day off from climbing and so, following a breakfast of sausage, bacon and egg butties, we headed off in the car to the Royal Town of Caernarfon. Caernarfon is a beautiful little town (although in 1955 was actually in the running to become the capital of Wales - Cardiff won 136 votes compared to 11 for Caernarfon) which sits on the eastern bank of the Menai Strait facing the Isle of Anglesey. The town is dominated by its castle, a hugely impressive structure built in the thirteen century by the English following the defeat of Llywelyn Ap Gruffydd - ruler of Gwynedd - at the hands of Edward I. 

Here's some pics of our visit:

Obviously I was simply holding this ice cream for the person who kindly took this photo for us!

So as you can see, Caernarfon is lovely and we spent a very pleasant couple of hours there. But, by about 11ish it still hadn't rained and, in fact, didn't even look like raining so Jacko and I started to get twitchy and decided that we ought to get back to the cottage, get our gear on and get climbing. We discussed it with Tim who decided that he really needed a rest day but he was happy to chill at the cottage and watch the cricket whilst Jacko and I walked. So that's exactly what we did, Tim drove us back to Camp Talysarn and by 1230 Jacko and I were walking again and heading for Craig Cwn Silyn, a really rugged peak which dominates the Talysarn skyline at 734 metres (2408 ft). Within 10 minutes of leaving the cottage, you guessed it, it bloody rained! But it only lasted for 20 minutes and so we walked through now deserted slate mines towards the mountain. 

Not a native of Wales I believe!

 And so we started the climb, and what a climb! We climbed a lung busting 700 metres in less than an hour!

The view from the top was unsurprisingly beautiful, although it really was bitterly cold on the top. 

This peak was in fact a slightly lower one at 700 metres called Garnedd Goch. We then walked along the ridge for half an hour to Craig Cwm Silyn. The going was really hard under foot because the ridge was literally covered in loose rock. 

But we got there and the views were stunning, looking across to Snowdon and Moel Hebog, impressive mountains which we'd already climbed earlier in the week. 

So after spending a few hours up on the ridge we headed back to base camp. It was incredibly hard to navigate because the footpaths clearly marked on the new Ordnance Survey Explorers simply don't exist or are so irregularly used that they are literally disappearing - really sad. 

Anyway just to show you how brave Jacko and I really are, take a look at this vicious bunch who had lain in wait for us as we made our way off the mountain. Didn't bother us though, we never flinched. 

So there you go, another fabulous day in Wales, a really enjoyable half day visit to Caernarfon - we also had tea and Welshcakes in the market square - followed by a 5 hour challenging hike - brilliant!

We've dined on Chilli, Rice and garlic bread (it's the future apparently) I'm blogging and Jacko and Tim.......yep, curled up watching Harry Potter - eh-ugh!!

The forecast isn't great for tomorrow (really?) but I think we'll just wait until tomorrow and stick our heads out of the window before we plan our day - all I know is that it will be another fab day in Wales. 

I hope you enjoy the photos. 

Russ

Cadair Idris

Believe me, I was much happier than I look on this photo today - the weather was fabulous all day, hot, sunny, perfect really and the walking, the scenery, simply breathtaking. Cadair Idris, which literally translates to the 'chair of Idris' is, if you've never been, one for anyone's bucket list - take my word for it, it is the first step on the stairway to heaven. 

We were up at the usual 0630, breakfasted on sausage, bacon and scrambled eggs and were on the road by 9. Cadair Idris is about a 75 minute drive from the cottage but well worth it. So, by the time we parked up near the banks of Tal-y-llyn and got the walking gear on, it was a little after 1030 when we set off. Tal-y-Llyn is a glacial ribbon lake which was introduced to millions of people in 2009 when Microsoft released a photo of it as it's official wallpaper. Here's a few photos from today, although I actually took these during our descent. 

We took the Minffordd path which immediately climbs steeply via wooden steps first and then stone steps all the while keeping pace with a beautiful woodland stream which runs fiercely in the opposite direction. 

Within 45 minutes we had climbed over 450 metres (almost 1500 ft) and whilst the scenery was stunning, nothing prepares you for the site of Llyn Cau. 

Tim took a load off and chilled in the sunshine whilst Jacko and I circumnavigated the lake. It took less than an hour and the different aspects were simply gorgeous. 

Once reunited with Tim we started the climb up the first of three mountains, Craig Cwm Amarch, the sheer-faced, beautifully peaked mountain you can see immediately behind Llyn Cau. It stands at an impressive 791 metres (2595 ft) and was a punishingly steep climb in the hot sun. But worth the toil. Here's the views from the top. 

We decided to have lunch at the top because the view was so fab. 20 minutes later we descended Craig Cwm Amarch and then immediately started another punishing climb up to the summit of Cadair Idris itself, a Snowdonian giant at 893 metres above sea level (2930 ft).There  were a few other hardy climbers up there enjoying the views and the sunshine. Another 3 lakes are also visible from the north side of the summit, Llyn y Gadair, Llyn Gafr and Llyn Arran. 

We sat for a while taking photos, chatting to fellow climbers and watching a couple of RAF Typhoons jousting in the skies above us. Then we set off again to climb the last of our 3 mountains for today, Mynydd Moel which is only 30 metres lower than Cadair Idris at 863 metres. Again, the sheer drops and sheer beauty were outstanding. 

Although I have to say that after getting a bit of peace and quiet to ponder and take photos, I did feel like a bit of a gooseberry when I turned back to Tim and Jacko - not sure what I interrupted here but it was all a bit awks - clearly their cosying up watching Pacific in the evenings has developed.  :-D

So that was the climbing out of the way and by now it was about 3.30 in the afternoon so we set off for the 2500 ft descent, which surprisingly only took just over an hour. 

So that was today's adventure. As I said earlier, if you've never been to Cadair Idris then do everything you can to get there at least once in your life - it brought back many fond childhood memories for me having visited a number of times on school trips, but it's plentiful and diverse scenery always promises something new for each and every visit. 

We're back at Camp Talysarn now, I've cooked and we've ate a roast dinner, I'm sat blogging with a wine and Tim and Jacko are......yep you've guessed it, snuggled up on the sofa watching TV. I'd tell them to get a room but the problem is it will be the one next to mine. Wow!!

Hope you enjoyed the photos, tomorrow's forecast heavy rain may provide us with a day off and a trip to Caernarfon Castle and possibly Portmeirion, we'll just have to wait and see. 

Goodnight

Russ