Initially, the going was tough in the deep snow drifts. There's a single track road under here somwhere beneath my feet.
Its amazing to see that the Gorse is flowering in spite of, and in contrast to the freezing gloom. By this time the going was getting a little easier. Our ski technique was begining to tshow signs of improvement too.
Climbing over stiles proved to be quite a challenge....................
............. but the whole procedure was executed with grace, (pride remained intact for the most part) honestly!
Skiing in deep snow through the woods is simply idillic, but once we were out on the moors navigation proved to be quite a challenge.
On the final push for the summit of Foel Fenlli our technique was called into question as we did our best to make our way through the gorse and heather. Ooops! .............. I'm actually perfectly in control.
Chris on the summit, in the centre of the hillfort of Foel Fenlli. It was far too chilly to up there for long and there was absoloutley no chance of a view so we hurried back down. As we zig-zagged our way back down, we were hoping to avoid colliding with the snowboarders we had met on the way up. We could hear them calling to each other nearby. Every now and then we would see one appear through the gloom.
Time for a rest and a Brew! We found a neat little shelered spot between the wood and a large snowdrift. Perfect!
The final stages of the descent had its moments! The track we had struggled up at the beginning had been neatly smoothed by tractor traffic, creating a rough piste. I was quite surprised as I gathered speed at an alarming and uncontrolled rate. Fortunately, the snow on either side of the track provided soft crashlandings! Thanks to Chris Bolton for the Photos.
Several of us NWSKers went up to meet Peter, the old man of the sea, on the beach beside the leisure centre at Fleetwood. He had kindly offered to take us all out for a paddle on his local stretch, The Wyre estuary. The Fleetwood coast and the Wyre estuary set the scene for two vaguely significant events in recent sea kayaking history. Photographer and round Anglesey record holder, John Willacy chased the English Channel record holder, Ian Tordoff to his victory here in the 2005 Seaquest race. A little a little earlier, the writer and historian, Mark Rainsley was stormbound upon these shores for almost a week. That particular episode was the inspiration for his article ‘Ennui’ which was very much on my mind as I paddled out into the cool gloom of a foggy winters morning.
The first task was to paddle on a bearing across the mouth of the estuary as quickly as possible in order to find refuge from any boat and shipping traffic that may have been entering or leaving the mouth of the estuary.
In the shallows of the upper reaches of the estuary the sandbanks were crowded with flocks of Oystercatcher and Lapwing. Once away from the sandbanks we got a feeling of paddling in a whiteout. The visibility was much reduced and there was no indication of where the horizon was. There seemed little point in paddling much further so we stopped for a short beak at the Wyre Estuary Country Park at Stanah for refreshments.
On the way back, local paddler Peter Roscoe told us stories from the estuary’s long history of salt extraction. The local maps show a great number of Brine Wells on the eastern side of the estuary.
Due to the continuing foggy conditions, we sneaked past the Stenna Ro-Ro ferry before she was anywhere near fully loaded before heading back to the beach beside the leisure centre.
We made an easy decision to change our original plan and drive accross to 'The Beacons' carpark beside Conwy Marina. The flood tide generates an exciting tidal stream that runs up to 6 knots between the marinas of Conwy and Deganwy. We played in the standing waves off the jetty before allowing ourselves to be swept along, upstream towards Conwy castle and the historic bridges. It can be an interesting ride with tricky water conditions because some of the larger mooring buoys become submerged by the powerful currents. Making contact with one of these buoys can give a nasty surprise, possibly followed by a capsize!
Views finally became more promising on the ridge close to Pen yr Helgy Du. Once we had safely descended onto the resevoir access road all that remained was a gruelling 2 mile trudge along the A5 back to the car.
I was nursing a vague state of apathy heavily encouraged by a hangover when I was horribly startled by Ian calling for me. We managed to get out for a short walk across the fields to the Jackson's Boat Pub beside the river.
The Clwydians lack the drama of Snowdonia but tend to miss some of the inclement weather that often plagues the mightier hills to the south. The Moel Famau Country Park has beautiful scenery and has some recently developed mountain bike trails. We walked to the top of Moel Famau where it was difficult to stand in the gale force wind, then headed off to the heart of Snowdonia to check in at the Siabod Longhouse, which was to be our home for the next 3 days.
This picture was taken just after we had hidden behind a wall to avoid hailstones driven by 60mph winds. We were unsuccessful in our bid to reach the summit and had much more fun visiting my friends Franco and Joan who laid on tea and cakes under the watchful eye of Llyr the cat.
Barry and I assembled a crack(er) team of elite paddlers including Kath, Liz, Pete, Ed & Michelle and Jane & Chris. Spot (the collie dog) did not paddle due to felling a little 'ruff' but acted as shore support.
Kath and I paddled my 'Aleut 2' double kayak and as it was nearly Christmas we made a pact not to argue fuss or fight, but to play nicely and be kind and considerate to others. (photo by Liz)
The Aleut 2 kayak complete with crew and Christmas goose! (photo by Liz)
Liz and Barry paddled his NDK Triton double kayak, Liz called me names and from that moment onwards IT WAS WAR! All the dirty tricks were pulled out of the bag; paddle splashing, (gentle) ramming and the use of portable bilge pumps cunningly used as manual watercannon.
Ed and Michelle managed to keep the peace during the lunchtime picnic in Parliament House Cave. The enthusiasm for war and hostility was soon quashed by our full tummies, the abundance of mince pies and chocolate rum truffles had us leaving the beach feeling quite mellow. Nevertheless we managed to russle up enough energy for a brief play in the tidal race at North Stack. Some stopped to play in the waves at South stack too but Kath and I headed off to continue in our quest to find Santa's flightpath.
....and after waiting patiently we were duly rewarded!
Ed had expressed a keen interest coming along for a paddle with the aim to doing a piece for the Daily Telegraph. The idea was to feature the authors and provide readers with a background to the rapid growth of Sea Kayaking generally.
There was a miraculous spell of sunny weather on the Monday morning, that followed two weeks of gale force winds and spells of torrential rain. At short notice, the acclaimed adventure sports photographer Ray Wood joined us to make the most of the dazzling golden sunshine.
Four of us paddled from Menai Bridge along the Menai Strait to the 'Gazelle Hotel' opposite Bangor Pier. Publisher and kayak coaching guru, Franco Ferrero was on hand to give Ed some rudimentary 'on the water' guidance, and Kirstine was on hand to make sure I behaved myself.
A cold wind had developed by the time we arrived at our final destination, but there was still time for a few more photographs before heading indoors to continue the interview over a warming bowl of soup.
The festival lasts 10 days spanning two weekends. Each weekday night had a different theme based around a different type of adventure sport, for example: Tuesday was ‘Bike Night’, Thursday was ‘Ski Night’ … etc… of particular interest was Wednesday ….
The Main Weekend Events were mostly centred on the Brewery Arts Centre. Films and seminars, slideshows and presentations from a variety of outdoor backgrounds were so much in abundance that it proved difficult to choose quite what to do.
Jon, Mark & Robbo’s Easy Drinking Malt Whisky Company were in attendance in the retail area offering their own blend of distraction, serving to steady the nerves of over inspired souls between events.
The British Mountaineering Council were one of the supporting sponsors and were at Kendal to promote the recently released ‘Alpine Essentials’ DVD and the new waterproof ‘Snowdonia Map’.
The event gave enthusiasts to buy recent releases and get them signed by the authors (Sir Chris Bonington, above).
I wasn’t expecting all that much interest in a kayaking guide at a mountain festival but I was pleasantly surprised to have sold and signed more than half a dozen by the end of the weekend.
The Eden Valley has a reputation for its stunning beauty and for typically 'English' and 'Quaint'! Nevertheless, the surrounding natural beauty could not defeat the butterflies in Kirstine's stomach, nor the nerves that were generating them.
Once we had successfully run two or three rapids the anxiety from the beginning of the trip left Kirstine to be replaced with excitement.
Kirstine was clearly full of anticipation for what lay around the next bend in the river.
The Sunday morning was bright and breezy, water was still pouring down from the fells so we headed off to the Beautiful 'Duddon Valley' in the south western Lake District. The River Duddon is a little more challenging that what we had paddled on the previous day, with the added excitement of some decidedly 'tricky bits'.
Mark was the only one to run 'Gill's Folly'. A scene of many 'Out of boat experiences'.
We arrived at the west shore of Llandudno on Saturday morning and hauled the mighty Aleut 2 double sea kayak from the roof of the car and down to the beach in readiness for our trip round the limestone cliffs of the Great Orme. We were joined on the excursion by another Mike, a flutemaker from Australia on a holiday and fact finding mission. (Australian,) Mike Grinter followed us on foot along the road that runs along the cliffs.
Soon after we set off we began to see plenty of Birdlife. This photo shows hundreds of Oystercatchers.
The towering cliffs of the Great Orme are riddled with caves and gullies and are wonderful for exploring. I managed to manoeuvre the kayak so that Mike was quite close to a gurgling blowhole, with which Mike was quite intrigued. All I had to do is wait for a larger wave to come and then, "Whoosh!" Mike was sprayed with gallons of seawater from the back of the amazing farting cave. Keeping the theme of flatulence I raised a question I had wished to pose for some time. On Mike's second album 'Fused' there is a tune called 'Windbroke'. Of course its nothing to do with 'trouser trumps', its Mike's dad's expression for being out of breath. This expression was frequently used as Mike's flute playing skills exceeded those of his father who found himself breathless and unable to keep pace with the young embryonic McGoldrick talent.
Hooray! we made it! Once we had landed beside the Pier on Llandudno promenade beach, it was time to get out the camping stove and make a rewarding pot of hot coffee followed by a large pot of Chilli Con Carne.
The return to West Shore began with smooth glassy seas, (Australian) Mike was amazed by the abundance of birdlife along the shores. I explained that it is relatively quiet at this time of year. During Spring and Summer you can hardly hear yourself think for the cacophony generated by the thousands of seabirds that nest on the cliffs here.
In true style the shower clouds parted and the sun came out right on time, just as we reached the beach at West Shore.
Bathed in golden late afternoon sunshine, there was just enough time for another tune or two, to mark the end to a wonderful day of adventure around the Great Orme at Llandudno.