I'm Having Trouble Finding A Headline

Thursday - Caerfai to Newgale
11.1 miles, 1669ft elevation gain

Well, what can I say. Another splendid day walking the Pembrokeshire Coast Path. What a silent night we had. No rain, no storm, no waves. Whitesands had felt like sleeping next to a motorway with the constant noise of the waves so close.

We slept like babies at Caerfai until the gentle twitter of a blackbird woke us up in the early hours. What a way to start the day! We stayed a bit longer in our sleeping bags, then had a meager can of fish for brekkie and set off in bright sunshine towards Newgale.

Had quite a couple of "Wow!!!"-views on the way with more and more amazing cliff formations and different kinds of rock. If you're a geologist you'd love this place.
Had quite a long lunch break with a bit of food and a coffee at Solva before we tackled the second half of our walk.

Newgale sports a very long beach, a pub and a campsite and not much else really. Basking in the sun with a pint of don't-call-it-cider Strongbow right now. Pitching the tent after, cooking just another chili with some fresh ingredients we picked up in Solva (they had free ripe bananas, bet they didn't expect hungry hikers). We might be back for more beers after since the campsite is pretty much right behind it.

Easy Walking in Perfect Weather

Tuesday - Off-day St Davids
Some miles, no elevation gain

Rich's feet were hurting too much to do any walking at all today and to be honest, my knees weren't too unhappy about that. And with a fantastic forecast for Weds and Thurs we decided to have a day off and go to St Davids.

The night at Whitesands campsite had been stormy with heavy showers, so we made good use of some extra hours of exhausted sleep.
Had a coffee and got onto the Celtic Coaster bus for the brief journey into St Davids, the UK's smallest town.

The Tourist Information Office had a John Constable exhibition including his most famous Salisbury Cathedral painting. Very nice way to dodge another shower. I found myself a book about pronouncing Welsh place names, which is a first step at learning Welsh for me. At least I want to be able to pronounce towns, mountains or rivers correctly and ideally know what those names mean.

Did some food shopping, had a pint and a nice lamb cawl at The Bishops and had a look at the cathedral and the impressive ruins of the Bishop's palace.

Back at the tent we cooked a feisty chili with fresh ingredients and necked our bought artisan ciders/beers. Happy days!

Wednesday
9.2 miles, 1040ft elevation

With rested bodies we got up at the usual time, had our butchers sausages for brekkie and left Whitesands just before 9am.
The sun was shining but the icy wind had us all wrapped up for the first couple of hours.
A small dog walked with us for a few kilometres before he turned back to do other doggy stuff.
Views of Ramsey Island and the turmoil of Ramsey Sound were superb and followed by huge and impressive St Brides Bay. Skomer was clearly visible on the horizon and more interesting cliff formations to marvel at.

We walked the last bit to Caerfai after a short tea and cake break at Porth Clais.
The campsite on the cliff by the small bay is by far the best we've had so far. Excellent facilities so we pitched with fantastic views along the coast and had a well earned shower. The first for two days. Ah. Happyness is!!!

Chilling in the sun now after some food. Will head the 15 mins into St Davids later for some pints at the pub.

Just Another Fantastic Coastal Day

Monday - Trefin to Whitesands
13.3 miles, 2500ft elevation gain

Just had a superb walk from Trefin to Whitesands on Monday. The wind was still quite there and at times rather icy, but without any gusts.
We put on sunblock right from the start to cope with sun, sun, sun and enjoyed the brilliant views walking ever South at first.
No rush today in such fine weather. We met a few people on the path, but as we reached the little harbour of Porthgain around 11am all of a sudden there were loads of people with dogs and children enjoying a nice bank holiday day.
We were just on time for the ice cream shop to open and ordered our big portions as the canisters were opened.

Wishing for more solitude we walked the fairly busy bit of the path to Abereiddi with a short detour to Trwyncastell, a watchtower ruin with superb views all around.

After Abereiddi we were mostly alone again, ah. Our leisurely pace had cost us quite some time so we quickened our step with feet getting more weary.
Had a few smaller breaks before views to the South coast and Ramsey Island opened up as we were approaching St Davids Head.

Our destination could now finally be seen - Whitesands. Not being a regular hiker Rich was broken, but managed to wobble the last few metres to the shop/café. My feet were hurting a bit and my knees were getting stiff, so I wasn't too unhappy to end our day here.

A coffee and a cake later we had enough energy to walk the 3 minutes up the road to the campsite. Starting to pitch we realized that none of us had the pegs. Ahhh! We must have forgotten them at the first campsite. While I was starting to make some pegs out of some wooden sticks with my knife, Rich went back to the shop and luckily got a pack. Phew!

Had a canned beef soup for dinner and sat a bit at the beach hoping to catch the sunset which was hidden behind clouds, boo.

Back at the tent we got the cards outs and played for a bit but soon were simply too tired and buried ourselves in our sleeping bags.

British Coastal Walking as It Should Be

Sunday - Newport to Fishguard
12.5 miles,  2300ft elevation gain

We both slept like logs after yesterday's tough day.  Today promised to be equally long in milage and a little less in elevation gain,  but most of all the weather was said to be slightly better. Same strong wind, but the heavy rain only in showers.
We stuffed as much food as possible into our bellies for breakfast and the friendly B&B owner gave us a lift back into Newport.

Surprisigly, we were not hurting too much today so walking was easy enough. Up and down along the coast we went, catching only two showers and some strong winds here and there we dried quickly enough. Even a hail shower couldn't do us much harm. Halfway we stopped for a wee bite and some drinks at the Old Sailor pub.
More gorgeous views of rugged cliffs and clashing waves as we made our way towards Fishguard. The path got ever more muddy and looking like proper walkers we strolled into Fishguard. Our feet were hurting a bit after a long day, but we were more than happy for the unexpected mostly sunny day.
Ordered a taxi, had just enough time to pour down half a pint and of we went to Trefin. Shame we're missing what many say the most beautiful part of the PCP, but there was absolutely no place to stay available this early in the year and wild camping was a bit too uncertain with our 2p tent.

Checked in at the Hampton House B&B and chilled for a bit. Of to the pub down the road in a few minutes. Weather looks awesome for the next few days ahead!!! Might be we got all the bad stuff for the week crammed into one day yesterday. I'll be back with a tan!

Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

That was what the weather was like for our first two days in Pembrokeshire.

Friday - An Easy Start 

The sun was shining from a clear blue sky in the morning, very much as promised.What a nice start. Left the hotel just before 10am and walked up and down the high street which was a bit busier now. Saw some nice little crafts shops but we were merely window shopping. Instead we picked up some coffees and headed over to St. Dogmaels first. Found the coast path easily and soon got rid of or jackets, walking only in our baselayers from then on.What a glorious day! Views got nicer when we headed uphill over some slightly boggy fields. Visited the impressive ruins of the abbey in St.Dogmaels and having a thirst for some fresh alcoholic beverage, we finally found a hotel with an open bar after passing two very cosy looking but sadly closed country pubs. It was just about mid-day, but for us high time for a pint. Sitting outside in the sun, enjoying our drinks and the view of the broadening Teifi river we finally felt like HOLIDAAAAY!!! Had a bit of a chat with a guy who just stopped by. We watched him first trying to get a phone signal before he talked about living in Cambodia, water skiing and offering us a pint should we make it to The Crown in Oxford. What a random and fun meeting.   Picking up our path again we briefly stopped at the official start of the Pembrokeshire Coast which is marked by a map on a pillar.   Arrived at the campsite as early as 2:30pm despite not rushing it at all. Pitched, had some food and walked a bit ahead on the path taking in some fantastic views in the afternoon sun. Tomorrow the weather is going to turn so we took what we could, haha. "Turn" as in heavy rain and strong winds all day. Yay...

Saturday - The Toughest Weather for the Toughest Bit 

Somehow we thought that it might not be as bad as we feared. The forecast promised heavy rain pretty much all day long and strong winds with gusts of up to 35mph. Well, I can say now: it was bang on what was out there. At first we only had the rain going from a steady drizzle to heavy and back. Not so bad. We were still snug. But reaching the first of countless little climbs we said hello to the wind for today. Holy shit. Horizontal from varying directions but mostly into our face or trying to push us off one of the cliffs. There were indeed quite a few no-slip zones, where a mistake would've been certain death. So we passed extra carefully while getting soaked more and more. With no shelter whatsoever anywhere on the trail we had no choice but to plough on through the lashing rain...   6.5 hours we fought the elements without a pause, before we finally reached Newport, traipsing our feet. Completely drenched we had also managed 3300ft of elevation gain. I'm was wet and thus a bit cold but otherwise only my feet were a bit knackered. Rich however was shot. Fair play to him, he's not a hiker and this day was as challenging as it can get. Well done!!!   Slumping on our chairs at the lively and cosy Golden Lion pub in Newport - the first one we had come across - we gulfed down a coffee and destroyed a bag of crisps in seconds. The plan had been to camp here, but soaked to the bone we badly wanted a B&B instead. We asked at the bar if there were any rooms available cause we really liked the place. Unfortunately,  it was completely booked, but the guy offered us to phone a few places. Wow, how nice!!! Long story short, half an hour later we were booked for the night at the Salutation Inn 3 miles up the road. Result and once more proof of don't-ask-don't-get. Brilliant! !! Ordered a taxi and chatted a bit to a few locals who saw our big rucksacks and were curious of where we had walked today. When we told them, their eyes grew big for respect and maybe even admiration for what we had done. Someone said this was the toughest bit of the path, someone else had done it in good weather and found it very hard. We got loads of virtual pats on our backs. Short taxi ride late we found ourselves at the nice quiet counrty pub that is The Salutation Inn. Had a well deserved hot shower and it was simply awesome to get some fresh dry clothes on. Had a great and filling meal there as well, washing it down with Thatchers on tap. Doesn't get better than that.

Far, Far Away... in Wales

Feels weird and good at the same time to be back on the road again. Only had 8.5 days at work after my Scottish mountaineering trip before it was time to head into the wild again. The Welsh coastal wild this time.
So rucksack packed I hitched a lift with a colleague to work last morning. Felt a bit weird with my big backpack and hiking clothes but no one really seemed to bother.

Bus from work to Newport train station to catch the 2:30pm to Carmarthen including my boyfriend who'd come from Bristol.
The weather had been kind the last few days but was throwing a steady spray rain at us right on time for a nice bank holiday weekend. We didn't mind for now as we sat behind the window for the next 2 hours the coach moving ever westwards along the industry-scarred Welsh South coast.

We killed time by munching some salted sweet popcorn which at first I thought was just wrong, but it actually tasted way too good.

Stepped from the train onto the bus for another hour and a half passing through endless boring, deserted villages with those ugly 70s-built houses. It all seems a blur now of the same village over and over again.

Cardigan was a most welcome destination with fairly pretty houses and a faint touch of Aberystwyth flair. Easily found our hotel, which felt more like a working class local pub with some rooms. Don't get me wrong, we quite liked it.

Had a well needed pint at the bar before we walked across the street to the Cardigan Brasserie for food. Rich had found it looking for somewhere to eat and with excellent reviews on TripAdvisor it was our best shot.

Lovely place with amazing but still affordable food and friendly staff. What a nice start into our holiday!!!

Back at the hotel we didn't feel like switching on the smallest tv in the world so we just chilled on the bed for a bit with our bellies full of yummy food and our minds getting into holiday mood.

Killing time on the train

The smallest telly of the world!

Bye bye Scotland, Hello Wales

Back home in Brizzle,  still with vivid memories of the two weeks in Scotland. I'm off to hike the Pembrokeshire Coast Path from Thursday on.

Scottish Winter Mountaineering - My Conclusion

I've had a great time in Scotland, with awesome people. Again Jagged Globe proved to be a great organizer for such a trip and I'm planning to be back next winter.

I've learned a lot. Good and bad. My boots are too clonky (which I half expected anyway) and will prob be replaced, but the rest of my gear worked out great!!! Will add crampons and ice axe during the year, now that I know what to look for.

I need to adjust my training. Circuits are fun and nice for overall fitness. But short intense bursts of exercise is not what you really need for mountaineering. Back to low intensity cardio with cycling and hiking plus - and here I can use my circuits - strength training.

The only real problem is my bad circulation. My toes go numb so quickly and hard boots don't help. Standing on my two front points in boots and crampons is the same as standing on my toes on a small foothold when climbing. Both issue a cramp straight away. I have to accept that fact although I'm a bit gutted. This means I'm very limited in terms of technical routes.

Hello Pembrokeshire

After a week and a half at home I'm off tomorrow with my boyfriend for a lazy (in my terms) walk around the South West coast of Wales for 8-10 days. Compared to what I normally do it's going to be very relaxed, but it's nice to do something with my partner. Plus, I've always enjoyed walking along the British coasts, especially when on a long distance path where you end up in a different place every day.
We don't know how far we'll get, from day four on we'll make it up as we go. The weather looks like the typical mix of pretty shitty and not so bad. Still, looking forward to a couple of days with no rushing, no pushing, just simple walking, plenty of scenery and lovely small coastal villages.