Thanks to All

Thanks to all the walks leaders, Steve, Ray, Jackie, Angie and Rita, for leading some splendid walks. Without them we would be lost!
Thanks also to Maureen for organising the weekend and sorting out the finances, not an easy task but well worth the effort.
Finally thanks to William and JAK Travel for getting us safely there and back and being there waiting patiently for us at the end of a walk. Full marks to William for his 12 point turn to get us out of the hostel car park!
And now a look forward to our next weekend away in beautiful Swaledale in March 2007. Get your booking in early and come and join the fun.

Swallow Falls

After a tea stop near the river we all made our separate ways to Betws-y-Coed via Swallow Falls and the undulating river path. Time for a drink or fish and chips and a chance to unwind and talk over the weekend's events before making our way to the coach for the journey back home to Bradford.

The Ugly House

Our walk along the river took us past the Ugly House, which is now used by the Snowdonia Society as their headquarters. It was a ‘Ty Un Nos’ - or house built overnight. Under ancient law, he who built a house between sunset and sunrise, with walls, roof and smoking chimney, could claim the freehold, and legend has it that this was built in the 15th century by two brothers.

Moel Siabod

The ascent from Capel Curig was steady and we stopped just short of the summit of Moel Siabod (2861ft) for lunch. It wasn't quite such good weather today and we needed coats, hats and gloves to keep us warm whilst we waited for everyone to catch up. There was a cold wind and we soon started the descent, dropping down steeply in stages to the valley below.

Woods and Waterfalls

After all that excitement on Saturday I thought I would have an easy day on Sunday and do the woods and waterfall walk from Capel Curig to Betws-y-Coed. I wasn't the only one feeling tired as the two 'A' party walks on Saturday had both been very strenuous. Steve's walk took in Crib Goch, one half of the Snowdon Horseshoe and definitely not for the faint- hearted. Angie's walk was very varied and included a scramble up the Carnedds, a ridge walk, a disappearing path, the descent of a scree slope and the magnificent Aber Falls.
However Maureen persuaded me that when in Wales in good weather you should climb a mountain so I opted for the 'A' walk climbing Moel Siabod before descending to Swallow Falls and Betws-y-Coed.

Brocken Spectre

The weather had been perfect but as we neared the top a few clouds started to gather and the summit of Snowdon (3560 ft) was shrouded in mist when we arrived. It was a bit disappointing to see loads of people, a demolition site where the cafe once stood and no views!
As we finished our lunch the clouds lifted so we went to have another look towards Crib Goch to see if we could see Steve, Stuart and Lisa who were doing Snowdon the hard way. We didn't see them, but we did see something much more amazing........a Brocken Spectre. This is a shadow of oneself in the middle of a circular rainbow effect called the 'glory' and only occurs when looking down from a high mountain with the sun behind you and a misty cloud below. Local people there said it only happened about three times a year so we were definitely in the right place at the right time and we all felt amazed and privileged to have seen such a sight.

Leaping Sheep

I hadn't really intended to climb a big mountain as the coastal walk from Llanfairfechen back to Conwy sounded very inviting. However the weather was so good that it was impossible to resist a walk entitled 'Snowdon the Easy Way'! We climbed steadily from Rhyd Ddu and stopped for an early lunch about two thirds of the way up. The local shepherds were gathering up their flocks from the highest part of the hills and bringing them down for the winter. This caused us much amusement as the sheep came rushing and leaping through a nearby gateway.

Early in the Morning

We stay in some beautiful places on our weekends away but our schedule is so busy that you do have to make a special effort to see anything of them. I had an early breakfast and went down into the town to see the castle and the seashore. So for those of you that missed it, here it is!






It was a really beautiful morning with not a cloud in sight and looked to be set fair for the day. What a great start to a day that got better and better.

Conwy Weekend October 2006

We set off from Bradford at 6.30 pm on Friday 13th! Our journey was long and slow to begin with as the traffic on the M62 just crawled along. We eventually arrived at our destination at 10.50, just 10 minutes before the YHA locked up for the night.
Conwy YHA is a four star hostel and we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had a shower, wash basin and toilet in our room for four people. After a complimentary cup of tea or coffee we took to our beds hoping for a good night's rest.





Unfortunately there was a party of students on the floor above who got up at 5.30 am to paint the sunrise. I think they specialised in clog dancing in their spare time and it was rather noisy. I missed the sunrise but took some photographs from the viewing area on the roof of the hostel.