Aberdyfi to Machynlleth

24th March 2018

Day 2 of our weekend and the hilliest day with 620 metres of height ahead of us. But first our journey to get there. Today we drove to Machynlleth and got a train from there to Aberdyfi. But not before Sharon discovered the cleanest railway toilets in the country.

Once in Aberdyfi (which is our first walk in the Meirionnydd section of the coastal path) we headed along the coast on the flat and found a nice little cafe for breakfast. Fully recharged we headed off on our walk through the town, but soon we were directed up to the left up a steep slope.

The path started up steps and soon opened up to fields and woodlands, with a stream running through the path….

And a field which included one where the sign had been knocked down, so Sharon was able to make her own directions.

Already the views were magnificent, but today was going to be about estuary views rather than beach.

At this point we caught up some fellow walkers who we had seen setting off while we had breakfast, they were also on day 2 of the weekend and heading the same way as us but at a slower pace.

At times we couldn’t see the estuary but instead could see inland towards Snowdonia National Park and the Happy Valley.

We climbed higher to Tyddynbriddell hill where a slate marks the spot where King Arthur’s horse Llamrai’s hoof scarred the rock according to legend.

We then came across a particularly “marshy” bit of land, which was quite odd given we were about 600 feet up at the time, and it took quite a bit of navigating to get through it without getting wet feet.

After that we headed downhill all the way to sea level, through a plantation, which also had a few exercise stops on the way….

And then we had to bear left past a hotel and all it’s rental cottages to get to Pennal and sea-level. Now logically at this point you could just walk along the main road a few miles and end up in Machynlleth – but no, the coastal path decided that, as there were no pavements, it would be much safer to take us back inland, and up around 700 feet through a forest to get us to our destination.

So up, and up and up we went; knowing we wanted to go “right and down” but every turn took us “up and left”.

Eventually the sign took us off to the right, and up another steep hill.

This was very similar to a climb we had at Little Orme last year in Llandudno.

And then it all became so much easier with a downhill walk to get back to sea-level again.

After a few fields and a few lanes we made it down to the Pont ar Ddyfi, which is famed for the salmon resting on stones below, but sadly they must have had the day off today.

And before we knew it we were back at the train station.

A total of 220 storeys climbed today, on a walk of exactly 13 miles in length and it took around 4 1/2 hours excluding our stops for food.  Our total is now 355.4 miles completed and 516.3 miles to go. Day 3 tomorrow and if today was our highest day, tomorrow is not far behind and looks to be over 15 miles!!