Thursday, August 18th, 2011: Lyn Peninsula Seacoast Trail
Bob: We hadn't had a good hike since the Lake District and we had read about a seacoast trail being constructed along the western coastline of Wales, so we decided to give that a whirl. The pamphlet we used to select a good section to walk and guide our footsteps was the Snowdonia Mountains and Coast--Lyn Coastal Path pamphlet (2007 edition), that we had been given when we stopped by the local Information Centre in Caernarfon the previous day. Although not nearly as detailed as the Ordnance Survey maps, the pamphlet gave a map with just enough information on it that we could, with a bit of extra effort and occasional use of the GPS, keep ourselves on course. The Ordnance Survey maps are VERY detailed, but they corresponding cover a very limited area. They are also pricey at the gift shops, and when you walk in many different areas like we do it adds up! So girding our loins, we set out to hike a bit around the very tip of the Lyn Peninsula. A parking space was shown for Aberdaron and I decided to try to park the car there and then walk clockwise around the bluffs that formed the shoreline at the end of the peninsula. Since it wasn't (yet) raining and the roads were noticeably wider in Wales than in the Lake District of England, the drive out to Aberdaron was slow, but not terrifying, as long as we were on the rural highways and byways. The cluttered, broken-field cars-parked-everywhere style of dodge-'em driving in each town, however, was still a bit nerve-wracking. Aberdaron turned out to be a small town or village, but all the traffic was constricted to flow through it over an old, narrow, barely-one-lane bridge. I was concentrating so hard on not hitting anyone as four streets converged on the bridge all trying to get across at the same time, that I completely missed the sign for the parking area (which was straight ahead!) and instead turned left and went flying over the bridge. I figured no big deal, we would just circle around and try again, but I did not figure on the vagaries of the Welsh road network. It turned out that there simply was NO connecting road back over to our original route until we two to three miles back out of town! To someone who has grown up with the "Midwestern grid" of streets for all his life, two miles with no connecting road of any kind is rather unimaginable. But I persevered and we finally circled back to try again. Taking it more slowly this time, Monika spotted a non-official sign for off-street parking in a local farmer's field, and I jumped at the chance to dump the car off for the afternoon for a mere 2 pounds. Since there was not much there there, we just walked a couple blocks downhill to the center of town, crossed the notorious, not to say infamous, "Bridge of Imminent Head-On Collisions And Death", and went down to the beach to start our walk. |
Monika: It looked like a cloudy day and that seemed like a good day to walk again. In Caernarfon we had gotten a book about the different sections of the coastal walk that went around the Lyn Peninsula - the region between Porthmadog and Caernarfon. Bob looked at it and thought that the walk around the southernmost tip of the peninsula sounded like the most interesting part. But first we had a leisurely breakfast and checked our e-mail before heading off. We drove out to the little town of Aberdaron where we wanted to start the walk. But first we had to park the car. There was no on street parking and Bob missed the entrance to a parking lot. Instead we found ourselves on a road heading back out of town on a one lane road. Only after about 2 miles did we get to a crossroad that took us back to the road into town. Before getting into the middle I saw a handlettered 'Parking' sign pointing into a field. There was a box attached to it, saying parking 2 pounds on the honor system. We parked the car, put 2 pounds into the box and were off onto our next adventure. The little town of Aberdaron lies in the middle of Aberdaron Bay at the very end of the peninsula. It had a nice beach area and we actually saw a few kids in the water. |
Bob: That was not the best choice of possible starting points, however, as our first move was to climb straight back up the side of the hill to get to the cliff top hiking trail. Oh well. We finally connected up with the official coastal trail and from then on things went swimmingly, except we actually put a lot of effort at NOT falling off the cliffs and going swimming! The cliffs were extremely steep and rugged pretty much throughout the 4-5 miles we hiked along the summit, and the trail was typically right near the edge with a downward slope out over the edge of the cliff and into the sea. That reminded me so clearly of the hiking path along the rim of the Grand Canyon where I also encountered a stretch with a slant over towards the edge of the canyon. It gave me the willies to think of sliding off and plummeting a mile down in the Grand Canyon, and perhaps not surprisingly it still gave me the willies to think of sliding over the edge of the cliff and go plummeting 200 or so feet strait down onto jagged rocks or into the really cold waters of the Irish Sea. |
Monika: We walked along the beach and then climbed up to the top of the cliff that rises up from the town. There we actually found the trail, which was marked with blue circles. |
Bob: I was awfully glad that it wasn't raining, as much of the trail was dirt and rain would turn that to mud which would make the footing even more precarious. Instead, the walking was fairly routine, at least on the flat spots, and I could enjoy the stunning landscapes of the steep, rocky headlands being lashed by the sea. Out over the deep blue sea we did see a couple of motorboats and even a couple of sailboats plunging through the waves. Did I mention how windy it was on top of the bluffs? The wind was a good thing in keeping us cool despite putting out a decent amount of energy, but I was glad that it was not really gusting because that would have compounded the balancing act we were occasionally required to do. We passed a couple of "ports" on our way around the headland, but they were really small inlets with a crude stone wharf. One was large enough to host a fleet of small sailboats and apparently even had a small sailing club. That one was also big enough that our trail zig-zagged down the cliffs to the wharf and then back up the cliffs on the other side. I didn't mind doing that big "down and up again" once or twice, but I was again glad that we didn't do it for ALL the little inlets that littered that headland! |
Monika: The walk along the cliffs was fascinating. At parts you really had to watch your footing and other parts it was easy walking. Most of it was relatively level but at one point, the path actually went all the way down to the sea, where they were restoring an old harbor, and then back up again. The cliff sides gave us different looks, rocks where seagulls were nesting, rocks going straight down into the sea, and even some rocks with caves that beckoned to be explored. Out in the sea were two islands and power and sail boats circled around them. There never was a dull moment. |
Bob: Among the rock formations carved by the waves, we saw some rather fascinating sea caves at the base of one cliff. They would be interesting to explore but doing so would be rather dangerous when any type of swell was running in the Irish Sea, I would expect. We also stopped and chatted with a birder, who identified a yellowish bird as a "Yellowhammer" (makes sense!) and identified another big black bird sitting in a field as a Chough (pronounced "chuff"). It looked for all the world like a large crow or raven to me, but he pointed out the distinctive orangish beak and feet that characterize the Chough. It also has a distinctive high-pitched three-note call that sounded to me like "chee-ee-aw", which is very different from the raucous cawing of a crow or raven. |
Monika: We encountered a couple of birders, who called our attention to two rather rare birds they just had spotted, a small yellow and brown striped bird that was hopping in the brush next to the path called a yellowhammer, and two large black birds in a field that I had thought were crows, but were really Choughs. They had red legs and beaks and a rather melodic chirp, quite different from the caw of a crow. I managed to get a nice picture of the yellowhammer, but the choughs flew away before I could get a picture. |
Bob: At the end of the peninsula we turned West and veered a bit inland, which put us smack dab in the sheep pastures. There were sheep also grazing contentedly at the side of the trail as we walked along it, but the sight of strange humans seemed to spook them a bit, just enough to have them walk (waddle?) quickly out of our way. From our vantage point on top of the bluffs, we continued to have beautiful scenic vistas of the rugged shoreline in front of us and the offshore islands. |
Monika: When we finally rounded the corner to the headland, we saw another island out in the sea. The landscape became more rocky until we climbed to the top and there the land was covered with yellow gorse ground cover with beautiful patches of purple heather. But as predicted in our guidebook, the wind picked up and we were glad we were wearing coats. |
Bob: By this time we had been walking two hours, so we decided to close the loop by taking the diagonal road straight back through Uwchmynydd (pronunciation is anybody's guess!) to Aberdaron. Fortuitously, that route back led us right past a campground, and right at the front gate of the campground was located a nice little cafe. Since it was by then past 2:00 p.m., we were both ready for lunch and when we found out that they offered jacket potatoes, that clinched the deal. So we sat and enjoyed our potatoes while we watched the antics of a variety of birds at the feeders just outside the windows. |
Monika: By now we had walked for over 2 hours and were getting hungry and tired. So we decided to leave the coastal walk and head on the direct one lane road back into town. While walking along I spotted some signs for ice cream and when passing the next drive way there was actually a sign 'Cafe open'. Alongside the driveway into a campground was a small cafe and they had, to our delight, jacket potatoes. We were rather happy to be able to not only sit down and rest but even stoke up with some much needed calories. Outside the cafe were four bird feeders and we both enjoyed watching the birds dash around and eat while waiting for our food. |
Bob: The meal warmed us up and gave us some much-needed energy, which was a good thing because when we once again started walking a steady but light rain was falling. We had both brought our rain gear with, so we just popped it on and kept walking so it was no problem, really. But I did think how different it might have been back on the cliff top trail if we had had the same rainfall there. |
Monika: Feeling rested and sated we did not mind walking a bit more. While walking along we were surprised how many cars past us one way or the other. The lane itself was slightly wider than the similar roads in the lake district and there were no stone fences. So it did not look quite as forbidding. We even saw a car passing a tractor in one of the passing places. Then it was starting to rain. It was a light rain, we were walking on tarmac, and in about half an hour we did get back to the town and found our car exactly where we had left it. Driving home, I found a route that bypassed the town that had slowed us down on the way out, a typical welsh town with the wonderful name of Pwllheli (please, can I buy a vowel). Bob and I tried pronouncing it but gave up. |
Bob: It took us about another hour to get back to the car and I was certainly glad to strip off my sopping wet coat and hat and dry out by running the heater full blast while we drove back. Monika found a different route back that avoided all the little towns by hugging the center of the peninsula rather than the coast where the towns are located, and that was brilliant!! Despite the rain we got back to Criccieth in record time and with so little wear and tear on me that we continued on to the Tesco at Porthmadog to purchase sandwiches and beverages for our evening snack. It turned out to be a very tasty snack indeed, after which we took turns working on Baby-Baby and fielding a set of odd but important phone messages from Judson and Sarah,who were going to use our house while visiting with Sarah's parents and sisters for the weekend. That all seemed to turn out OK, and we were relieved that our international phone had worked exactly as advertised and that our kids and grandkids had a place to lay their weary heads! So we, too, could go to bed that night with a clear conscience. |
Monika: We decided to drive through Criccieth straight on to Porthmadog to the Tesco to buy a sandwich for evening meal. Getting there was easy, getting out not so much since the roundabout (American: traffic circle) in the middle of town really gummed up the works. But the British really queued up to get out of the parking lot and into the correct lane. It took some time, but there was no crazy driving, only polite letting people take turns. Once through the roundabout we quickly got back home and were happy to find the last parking spot in the little parking lot that belongs to the hotel. We had our sandwiches and were just starting to write in our journal when Sarah called, asking whether our neighbors had a key to our house. They were driving down to visit their folks but planning to stay at our house and had forgotten the key to our house. We told them our neighbors had a key and gave them the phone number. Last we heard is that everything should work out fine. Ahh, the wonders of modern technology. |
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