June 2013 – Snowdonia Solo Walk – Day 3 – Filler Day!

Day 3’s route was very short at 4.8km with 77 mtrs of ascent and 271 mtrs of descent. It was effectively planned as a spare day, to allow extra time if I ran behind schedule on the previous two days. Red is planned, Blue is actual. The Red spike was my original planned camping location, but in the end I found a stream by the trail I was on and just camped there!

Day 3 was designed to be a spare filler day. With the infrequent trains servicing the area, I had to allow additional spare time to make sure I made it to Roman Bridge train station before the last train of the day. As things would pan out, I was around 3 hours ahead of schedule, which resulted in me arriving back at Bristol at a much earlier time than planned!

Once again, I will let a small selection of photos from my Facebook journal tell the story!

Day 3 starts with a brilliant sunny morning. This is the view from out of the tent toward an old derelict building. It’s in a perfect spot, right by two streams – one of the reasons I camped here. I wonder what it must have been like to live here?

Despite my kit muster before I set out, I missed one important item – a sponge and scotch-bright. The result is that the frying pan wasn’t fully clean from yesterday’s use, which resulted in localised heat build up causing some of the non-stick coating to peel away! Lesson learned!

The Akto tent. Over the last few weeks I have been contemplating lightening my load. I almost decided to go for a Terra Nova Ultra – but thoughts about durability and dependability, especially in very windy conditions convinced me that the Akto was still the way to go. That said, for my next walk I plan to use it without its footprint. This will be a first for me and should save some weight!

Once again, I leave the camp site in pristine condition!

I’m now all kitted up and ready for the off! Today’s walk would be a very short and mostly downhill 5km. This was a necessary planning requirement as I had to build in extra time into the walk to allow for any issues on the previous two days. Trains don’t run very often from here and it was imperative that I not miss them!

Most of today’s walk is Eastward right into the blinding sun. This meant that I didn’t get to see much!

I find the footpath into the Garnedd Pen Y Bont forest. But first, I have to cross a stream!

Most of today’s walk had been pretty boggy, but here it was up to my knees in places. I was surprised that even without gaiters my boots kept the muddy water out!

The way up the small hill and into the forest was exceptionally muddy – and there was me thinking I had almost managed a whole journey without encountering much real mud!

As I proceed through the forest, I’m dismayed to discover that a fair proportion of it has been logged. 😦

The loggers must be using some serious machinery as it has literally just pushed the trees over – ground in all!

As I reach the top of the small hill I’m surprised at the scale of the devastation.

To the North it looks like a war zone – I found the whole thing quite disheartening. I note from my map that this forest isn’t part of the National Trust territory, so I guess the whole forest is here for commercial purposes.

Despite the destruction, the trails seem to be mostly intact…

The devastation seemed to be unending. It’s kind of strange, but when I plan a walk on a map, I can kind of see in my minds eye what to expect – but nothing prepared me for this.

I make it out of the shattered remains of the forest and head Southward on this rather water logged track. The intent is to get to Roman Bridge Station.

The track soon gets smoother and wider. My speed at this point is very rapid!

A timed photo from a rock. A lot of the kit I’m carrying here will be gone or changed for my next walk. My intent is to lose at least 3 Kg of pack weight in an attempt to bring my load more in line with other hikers – it currently hovers around 18kg… To aid this, the rucksack will be replaced – as I had discovered that this one weighs 2Kg empty! Also, the water bottle holder will go as the bottle will now fit on an easy to get to rucksack side pocket – one less strap rubbing on my neck! These changes along with a change of stove and a move to my 2 season sleeping bag should herald the dawn of one of my lightest multi-day loads!

A panoramic view of the scenery on my way Southward. I had plenty of time in hand so spent a fair bit just munching spare supplies and enjoying the view!

I soon run into the River Afon LLedr. This is my cue to follow it and head East. This should take me to the main bridge over it that will ultimately take me to Roman Bridge train station.

In the distance I get my first glimpse of the railway station – my journey is nearly at an end.

And here it is on Max Camera Zoom! The final destination of this walk!

I’m now on a road headed Southward. Ahead of me is the bridge crossing the River Afon Lledr.

The view Eastward from the bridge!

The view Westward from the bridge!

I finally get to the station. The railway workers up ahead looked at me like I was a nutter when they discovered that I had been living in the wilds for 3 days, climbed Snowdon and walked 40 odd km!

Roman Bridge Railway Station! Woooot! I made it – and ahead of schedule! It was now time to relax and contemplate my achievements of the previous 3 days!

In a first for me, this train station is unmanned. To get a train, one has to wave one down! I was hoping the driver would see me in time to stop!

As railway stations go, this one has to have some of the best views ever! It was so nice to be slumped on the station chair with my rucksack off and just being able to chill and relax whilst waiting for the train to arrive! So ends my trip to Snowdonia. I will be back! In fact I enjoyed it so much that I’m thinking of doing a very long walk here this summer instead of the Pyrenees!

Laters
RobP