Muddy Out and Back

A car beeps its horn twice. Strange how the first sounds angry and the second sounds cheerful though it’s the same tone from the same car. It’s not long before the brief climb up the start of the path leaves the urban sounds of Blaenau Ffestiniog behind and I’m left with the deafening sounds of the breeze blowing through the grasses along the edge of the Llyn and the annoyed tweet of the birds startled from their resting places. It’s hard to believe less than twenty-four hours earlier the whole area had been battered by Storm Hannah. The environment recovers so well. Before long my the horizon is broken by the shell of a building built entirely of slate. Not surprising as there is an abundance of the material piled high all around. The ‘slag piles’, would today be classed as an ecological disaster yet today they’re part of the scenery as they’ve been there before our perspectives and policies changed. The building, probably some form of a warehouse, still tries defiantly to ...

Saturday morning I argued with my companion about which run I would do. This was made more frustrated as I'd already planned a 42Km run around the Berwyns. The impact of the argument meant I was still in bed at 11:00. Any trip far afield was now out of the question. I decided, we'd run closer to home. So, I selected a route which took in both Foel Fenlli and Moel Famau. I needed the vertical climb (vert). A short journey by car and we were at the car park at the base of Moel Famau. I prepared me and my kit. I knew my companion would be happy just sitting in the car and occasionally he has won. It's very rare that I race. By racing I mean head down and running as fast as you can with only the sound of your heart beats filling your ears. Today would be different. I would race my companion and beat him to the end. The route is 16km and as hard as I tried I couldn't put myself far enough in front. I could still see two shadows. Over two hours later I returned to the c...

Having been woken by my dog, Tilly, who wanted letting out, it was then I noticed I'd woken late and wouldn't make the first GB Ultra recce run of the Snowdon 50 Ultra... Great! I needed to get a long run in as part of my training for the Chester 100 Ultra so apologies sent; I planned today's run. I've got a pile of map printouts of runs I wish to do and ones I've ran. I found one around the Clywdians, close enough to make it before lunch and long enough to meet my distance requirements. Let the adventure begin. I like to call my runs adventures because that's what they are. They'll never be training runs or quality sessions. My idea of quality, for running, differs from most keen runners. This isn't a poke at those runners. I couldn't push myself as hard as they do. I'd take my hat off to them, but my head would get cold... I've got little hair on my head! I seem to be alone today... Strange! My run started from Coed Larawyfan which ...

This route is one I often run when I am staying at the lodge. It is local and I can start it from my doorstep rather than having to drive to the start. The route gets its name from a lone telegraph pole I stumbled across when I first recce the route. I'm also a Dire Straits fan. I'm always within 15 minutes of the lodge, yet it can feel so remote when I'm running around Moel Ddu (SH7290 3269).  I've only ever seen a few people in the area when I've run the route and they've invariably been on the sections of path which my route joins together. The mixture of bogs and wet mud covered rocks means I'll never beat any speed records . I've been running the route for over two years now and I'm always surprised to see an abandoned quad bike south east of Craiglaseithin (SH6856 3333) near the shore of Llyn Gelli-Gain. I'm not sure of the story behind it. Maybe the farmer has forgotten it's there ! Running clockwise around the shore, I event...

The trail through the forest More moors! I had them all to myself.. Except for the geese I revisited this area for a run having last been here in January of this year. I thought I'd try out the, 'follow a route', choice on my watch. The slight issue with the downloaded route was during my last adventure I spent a few minutes, okay  a few tens of minutes, trying to find the path across the moor once leaving the forest. I decided I'd navigate that section the old fashioned way. Reaching the reservoir I made the same navigation error again taking the track ahead of me once I'd crossed the dam. I should have turned left and following the trail for a few metres and then taking the next trail on the right. This trail would take me all the way to the forests fence line i.e. The place I wanted to be. Instead, I spent, you guessed it, another ten minutes trying to find the correct path. Once I found the correct path I headed South past World's End looking for...