Fast forward 15 or so years and i was up at 06:00 on a miserable Sunday morning in February wearing a borrowed pair of Aldi's finest walking boots, a scruffy pair of combat pants and a 80 litre Bergen with no waist strap, packed to the hilt with sandwiches and bottles of water. My brother had been organising and going on walks with friends for a few years and kept asking me to come along. I'd always make excuses as I was in (I thought) no shape to be traipsing up and down hills, but this time round things were different. The previous June I had run a 10K and was fairly fit for my build, so I thought "why not give it a try," forgetting that I had run exactly 0K since that June!
We arrived at Llangollen for around 08:50 at the large car park off Mill Street and set off by 09:00 for the first high point of the day Castell Dinas Bran at 320 meters of fair steep incline (see route map).
Route map....can you guess where we got lost?
Within the first 20-30 minutes of the walk I was absolutely goosed. Even though there is an easy path it's fairly steep and I was absolutely pooped by the time we reached the top.
A nice "easy" path (panting author not pictured.)
After a lot of huffing and puffing we reached the top of the medieval fortification. Most of the way up I'd spent swearing under my breath, promising i would never agree to another "walk" and thinking of an exit route back to the cars. Then miraculously when we reached the top all the heartache was forgotten and in its place a real sense of achievement (even though this was a minor hill.)
Our walking group, and one clearly elated author (second from right)
From the top of the hill fort we could the see rest of the route along the cliffs that frame the top of the valley and the length of Offa's Dyke. We had a short drop down the otherside of the hill fort and back into the valley to walk along the road until we hit the next challenge.
The cliffs pictured in the distance
The walk back down into the valley.
The next high point lay on top of the cliffs. Our route took us a short way down the valley, back on ourselves and up a small brook up to the top of the cliffs. Now all that previous heartache and internal moaning came rushing back. Standing at the bottom of those cliffs and looking up the small valley, I didn't fancy my chances.
The red line
According to my brother this wasn't a scramble, in hindsight
I totally agree. In reality it was an easy ascent. At the time though - in my
mind's eye - it looked near vertical.
Author not scrambling (camouflage backpack if
you can see it)
Author still not scrambling (I'm the figure at the back.)
As I fought my way to the top my full vocabulary of swear words was loud and clear. Anyone within earshot could tell I was not a happy
hill walker, let alone a mountaineer. After significant amounts of huffing and puffing, 'effing and jeffing I reached the top. The cotton band shirt (Red Fang
\m/ {><} \m/) I decided to wear was now completely soaked with sweat. We
stop for a breather at the top of the hill and then the cold hit me. It was
only then I remembered my school DofE expedition and how we were told not to
wear cotton as a base layer.
After a brief and blustery break we started making good
progress along the tops of the cliffs towards world's end. From these tops we
could make out perfectly the first high point we had reached then Dinas Bran, the Berwyn mountain range, the white peaks of Snowdon and the Glyders
Castell Dinas Bran
Snowdon and The Glyders
The Berwyn range and the Vale of Llangollen
Eventually we reached World's End - and it felt like it - but we weren't even halfway. One of my brother's friends actually ask if we nearly at the car. My brother replied, slightly bewildered, "We have been walking in a straight line for the 2 hours or so what makes you think we are anywhere near the car?"
We then started to drop down the head of the valley at World's End through the dense woods down a steep path. The going was extremely muddy. At this point I lost the ends of both my walking poles which were then rendered completely useless. Every time I used them they would sink into the mud to the handles nearly.
Further into the woods we decided to have a fuel stop and pose for a team photo with my brother's new camera's timer function, After three or attempts we managed to take a picture. Continuing on, we dropped enough height that we at the bottom of the valley and on the road back to Llangollen.
Still with one pole end attached... but not for long
"Sod it, that will have to do"
It's here where the actual route we took becomes a bit sketchy. At some point down the road we took a small detour and were quite happy until we were confronted with a field occupied by either a bull or a cow who was sporting a decent set of horns. Understandably my brother - the walk leader - was a bit concerned with the prospect of crossing said field, so he backtracked down to a farm to ask for directions (pictured wearing a "red rag to a bull" coloured jacket).
Illustrious walk leader in red asking for directions. (Note the farmer pointing in the direction had just come from.)
The news we had to backtrack back down the road was met with no great joy. We all slogged back down the road in near silence. At this point my legs and feet were not very happy either. This was the furthest they had ever carried me in one go. Everyone was feeling pretty exhausted.
We reached the right point which we needed to leave the road and join another footpath that took us to the correct farm we had to pass. This footpath start cutting up a hill until it reached its spine. At this point the route should have dropped from the spine of the ridge back down the flank of the hill and gently back to the road. Or it at least it should have.
Instead "we" decide to elect for the more "interesting" route that continued along the spine of the hill, over a barbed wire fence and onto a pine tree plantation with a 45◦ slope cover in about a foot deep of lose pine needles that hid ankle breaking rootes at every second step. At the bottom of the hill we were met by yet another barbed wire fence which we had to carefully get over without falling into oncoming traffic. I'm pretty sure we had our own little mass trespass. Thankfully we weren't met by the local gamekeeper.
Instead "we" decide to elect for the more "interesting" route that continued along the spine of the hill, over a barbed wire fence and onto a pine tree plantation with a 45◦ slope cover in about a foot deep of lose pine needles that hid ankle breaking rootes at every second step. At the bottom of the hill we were met by yet another barbed wire fence which we had to carefully get over without falling into oncoming traffic. I'm pretty sure we had our own little mass trespass. Thankfully we weren't met by the local gamekeeper.
...It felt steeper at the time
The brown streak marks the route we took down the hill.
A short distance down the road we met another path that took us along the Eglwyseg river through a beautiful little valley. We then made our way around the back of Fron Fawr along past The Birches towards the remains of Valle Crucis Abbey. Tight was starting to turn into golden evening sunshine. I was absolutely knackered.
The poles made a reappearance while I got my head down slogged away
Sign accurately captures the situation
The last leg of the walk looks the easiest on paper but felt like the hardest. We walked past the remains of Valle Crucis Abbey and followed the road until we reached the canal towpath. The Towpath took us all the way back into Llangollen and back to the car. We finally reached the car at 17:00, absolutely knackered and our feet killing us.
Valle Crucis Abbey
Powering along the towpath to the finish
Overall we had be walking for 8 hours solid with only 20 minutes for lunch. The next day (week) I was ruined and could barely walk, there was no way I would ever do that again...
Fast forward one year, and we took a slightly shorter (9.2 miles) and snowier route...
Llangollen the second time round
This route shared most of the same way but we cut out World's End and the little diversion, and instead dropped down a small valley near Plas Yn Eglwyseg. This time round was completely different. Not only was here snow on the ground but my attitude was different.
In the interim I had been on a few decent walks, conditioned my legs and knew what to expect. I also invested in a decent pair of boots (Meindl Bhutans,) a fairly good breathable jacket, synthetic base layer and rucksack with a waist band.
Author powering up the path Castell Dinas Bran
At the top of Castell Dinas Bran
Powering up the non-scramble
....Well sort of powering anyway.
Head of the valley before dropping down to Plas Yn Eglwyseg
The valley we came down
In the end the same walk (more or less) with a different attitude, a few pieces of better kit, and a little bit of snow made all the difference. I was hooked. Instead of traipsing and slogging, I was exploring and having an adventure. Instead of looking up at the little non-scramble and thinking "sod that", I was actually looking forward to it.
It's amazing what a fresh new outlook, and being better prepared can do..
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