Happy Birthday to Vytas. As can be seen he and Sally enjoy going to heavy metal gigs as well as all their outdoor activities including, walking, snorkelling in Mallorca, wassailing apple trees and visiting the old folks (us) in Wales.
And now back to a grey and chilly Wales. Today's walk began by Llyn Pendam then over the hills to the source of the River Leri at Craig Y Pistyll. We followed the river for a short distance and then made a heroic climb up the other side of the valley to get back on to the Syfydrin Trail before swinging back through the forest to our start point. Somebody's phone made the distance 4.5 miles but with some treacherous downhill paths and then a very steep path up the side of the valley it felt like a lot more.

We had begun on a narrow path through tall conifers. It was actually a track for bikes and we, all six of us made sure to stand aside when a couple of people on trail bikes went past. We also moved over for a lone mountain biker who grumpily shouted at us that it was a bike path. Before long we arrived at the much wider forestry track which brought us beside large areas where the trees had been felled. They keep saying they will be replacing the forestry area with native woodland but the clearing filled with many sacks containing conifer saplings waiting to be planted told a different story.
Halfway through the cleared section we came to the track I ridden along on the second of my long rides last summer. Far below us we could see the cottage that sits beside the Leri.
Our track took us steeply down a muddy path which is places was blocked by fallen trees. I had found myself a long pole which helped me to balance and avoid slipping on the wet ground. Useful things sticks.
We made our way safely down and instead of stopping at our usual picnic spot we crossed the Leri. We carried on down the valley and stopped to eat by a restored small barn. It's funny to think that this small stream flows all the way to Borth and on to Ynyslas where as a medium sized river it flows into the sea.
A bit out of sequence the photo above shows the building we sat by and the second bridge we used to cross the Leri.

Our lunch spot was a little way along this track. From there we went down into the valley past the old mine buildings and across the river once more by a handy wooden bridge. In the photo above I've added a red dotted line showing the path (starting on the right) that we took to go up the hillside. Although it had a wooden post marker it was a barely visible grassy narrow path that went on and on and ever upwards until we reached a wide track running across the hill. (centre of photo) Had we followed that it would have brought us back down into the valley. Instead, we had to scramble straight up the hill until we reached a higher stony track, the one I had ridden on. Once on the track we doubled back until finally coming to the gate (4 photos up).
Part of the old mine workings down in the valley. High up on the far side can be seen the two tracks we reached in our epic climb.

I took this photo from the lower of the two tracks. You can see just how far up we had to climb. Those dark shapes in the middle are full sized conifers.
And finally back to the bike trail. No bikes passed us this time. Like last week I had had a lift share with another of the group along with two more walkers who don't have their own transport. I better make sure I drive next time though my car is smaller and can only take three passengers.