Monday, 5 September 2011

Coastwalk

Llanfairfechan → Bangor

looking-east.png Distance: 8.91 miles
Ascent: 263 metres
Duration: 2 hours 30 minutes

Unfinished Business
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Fourteen hours out of the house for just two and a half hours of walking doesn't seem particularly sensible, but I had unfinished business in Gwynedd and didn't want this walk hanging over me any longer.

Unfortunately it appears Gwynedd had unfinished business with me too. Just two weeks ago Emma and I curtailed our intended walk to Bangor due to the sight of an impending downpour. That cloud seems to have been biding its time: ten minutes after I'd started to walk, the cloud sailed up the Menai Strait before crashing directly into me.

I could still hear the farewell of the train conductor when I disembarked: "At least you'll only get wet once", or the consolation prize offered by a dog walker who saw me hurriedly putting the camera away: "You might get lucky and see a rainbow". (I didn't.)

Once I'd dried out, the first five miles formed a lovely walk between the farmland and the shore. Particularly delightful was the footbridge across the Afon Aber which flowed fast through a gorgeous glad of trees.

penrhyn-gatehouse.png

The final three miles were less interesting as I was diverted inland by my usual nemesis: private land. The National Trust may manage Penrhyn Castle, but they seem keen to keep walkers off the estate, resulting in a rather anticlimactic descent into Bangor on the roads.

But my goal is achieved: I've joined up the last parts of the North Wales coastline. Only a couple of walks left in South Wales now and I'll have finished my first country.

Note to future walkers: stay outside of the nature reserve at Glan-y-Mór Elias since there is no exit from the western side of the reserve.

Posted by pab at 21:17 | Comments will be back later in the year. Please email me instead!