Day 18 - 22nd June - back to civilisation!

I am sitting on the train in Harlech waiting for the single track ahead to clear. The castle is looming above the station, apparently, Edward 1 built a few to keep the Welsh in!

After the midge horror that was Cwm Bychan, we climbed for a while in hot sunshine to the base of Clip.
We had decided the night before that if the promised storms came, we would use our low level escape route off the Rhinogs which would mean a few hours of boring farm tracks and roads.
Once we reached the pass, the weather was looking good so we started the scramble up through a rocky stream/path/wall and it started to rain! We are both wearing Salomon trail running shoes for this trip and they are great on some kinds of wet rock and like roller skates on other. The climbing is ok but descending in wet conditions is slow and slippery.
We got to the top of the ridge and had a fantastic couple of hours of sunshine and showers with the best views yet of next weeks trip, with Snowdon and the terrifying Crib Goch in full veiw lit up in the afternoon sun.
We had a long tricky walk off the Rhinogs through some very wet marshland, across the nuclear powerstation dam (didn't make water here, although I am sure my new filter can cope with radiation) and through some horrible FE forests with gloopy paths and fallen trees.
We arrive at our campsite to brilliant blue skies and warm evening sunshine and pumped 20p pieces into the shower to wash off 3 days of Rhinog muck and sweat.
We hobbled a mile down the road to the village pub and had dinner and a few pints of Old Empire (5.7). Next thing we knew, it was time to get up and catch a bus to Portmadoc.

This has been a very tough week. Over to Cadairistic, then up it twice, the 3 days crossing the Rhinogs. The Rhinogs must be the wildest range in Wales, they are not huge when compared to the mountains of the north, but it is one of the few places in Wales that can give you a true wilderness experience - you make up your own paths, you don't see a soul for days and there is a suprise around every corner and over ever summit. We will definately be coming back for a more leisurely visit.

We have both coped well, although we are more tired than when we completed last weeks stretch (even though it was 30 miles less). My feet are in a bit of a state through being damp for a week (although the weather was very kind to us again, the ground underfoot was rather moist!). I am going to bring my Crocs next week for the evenings to give my feet a chance to dry - I am now strong enough to cope with the extra weight! Oh, and a pee bottle and teeth cleaning chewing gum for midgey nights.

Thanks to Matt and the guys at work for keeping everything running as smoothly as ever. Thanks to Jackie and Sarah for letting us do this. Only one more week and we'll be back under your feet again!

Back to work for a week and then back up to complete our Cambrian way - Porthmadoc to Conwy via some of the best mountains in the world.