THE BUS PASS TAKETH ME THERE AND THE BUS PASS BRINGETH ME
BACK (HOPEFULLY)
I haven't done the complete traverse of the Nantlle Ridge
for over 30 years and thought it was about time for another go, if I wait
another 30 years I'll be 93 so best get a move on.
The Sherpa: in my part of the country we have the
'Sherpa' Bus service, this circumnavigates its way around the main massif of
Snowdon, sort of.
Proper Sherpa's as we all know are small, hardy, tough
folk who carry huge loads at a nice steady pace, our Sherpa's are huge 40
seater, rattly, noisy old buses that once plied their trade in some far off
flat place like Norfolk where they were quite good, well here they're Norfolk'n
good and carry the driver and me, and lots of empty seats, although they do fly
along at an alarming pace on our narrow roads putting the fear God into
oncoming tourists.
I set off on the ascent of Y Garn (peak 1) at 9.30 and
this was going to be the second time in as many weeks on the steep climb,
reached the summit at 10.45 without much hassle, but it was bloody hot.
On to the next top which is Trum y Ddysgl (peak 3) a pretty
unspectacular lump but does show the way towards Mynydd Tal y mignedd (peak 4)
which boasts the 'mother' of all cairns, this huge obelisk dominates the peak
and can be seen from miles away. It was built to commemorate Queen Victoria's
Diamond Jubilee in 1897.
From here the descent down Bwlch Dros bern gives spectacular
views down Cwm Pennant (reputed to be the most beautiful valley in Wales) and onwards to the base of the Trwyn y Graig
where a much needed rest stop was required plus a swill of water and the
ubiquitous banana for some energy.
The slog up to Cwm Silyn (peak 5) was hot and without a
breeze was hard work but soon the plateau was reached and fond memories came
flooding back of rock climbing on the great slab of Silyn with my mate Bob, we
had a very lucky escape here when we were on the top pitch of a route called
Kirkus's Direct and a rock came hurtling down the face and hit the rope we were
attached to, luckily not straight through but pretty close.
Most people finish the traverse here and don't tend to carry
on to the last two summits, I did the same all those years ago but was
determined to do a 'whole' traverse
I decided that 'butties' were in order and this flat top was
as good as any with plenty of rocky tables to rest on before the final stint.
The summit of Garnedd Goch (peak 6) is reached by an easy
amble over the flat plateau but is worth doing in itself with its rocky
outcrops adding to the interest, from here the last summit Mynydd Graig Goch
(peak 7) looks tantalisingly close, it's not!
It's a long slog between these two summits and although
fairly easy it comes at the very end of a fairly strenuous trek. On reaching
the top I was amazed to find that someone had erected a 'flag' pole between the
rocks, a 20 ft scaffolding pole had been cemented in place and had the tatty
remnants of a Welsh flag hanging from it. Why would anybody want to cart a very
heavy pole and a huge amount of cement to the top of this peak is beyond me,
very weird.
The decent down to Llyn Cwm Dilyn was a knee killer and i
was glad to reach the water board track and what was the end of the route, but
I still had the bus trip to look forward to.
I met an elderly couple at the end of the lake and got
talking and they asked me where I'd come from to which they replied 'esgob
annwyl' a very poetic Welsh 'Good Lord' or WTF!
They offered me a lift to the next village as it transpired
that they knew my cousin, which meant I wasn't about to kidnap them, and within
two minutes a bus arrived, number 1A although not A1 in condition, this was
even faster that the first bus this morning and rattled along the new A487 at
an alarming pace, the driver informed me and the other passenger, a woman with
a small child which was strapped into his push chair as if he was about to be
launched into orbit, maybe she was used to the bus journey.
The (very) young driver informed us that there had been a
road traffic accident in Caernarfon and it was disrupting his turnaround time
and he had to get a move on, I could see what he meant.
The RTA had long been cleared but these days of course it
needs 3 police vehicles, a council lorry and a council van and a bloke with a
10 metre tape and some chalk to make sure everything was safe for us to proceed
and give them the satisfaction that they could hold the traffic up and close
the slip roads off, mind you I was in no rush as my onward 'Sherpa' wasn't for
another hour and a half, and no he wasn't coming from the Himalaya either,
although it may have been quicker!
So after a 'Tea & Scone' respite and a wander around
town, I and three teenage girls in pristine white trainers and ripped white
Levi's pushing designer prams with one hand whilst clutching their iPhone 6's
in the other boarded the magic bus and headed for home
I arrived home at 5.45 after what seemed an eternal day of
over 8 hours covering a total of 8 miles walking and 17 miles by bus, 25 miles
in total at an average of approximately 3mph or thereabouts, after sleeping the
sleep of the dead I drove a 100 miles to Liverpool in a shade over 2 hours,
nuff said.
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