A Walk By The Afon Gamlan.

It has been sunny all day. The perfect day for us to head to Snowdonia for a riverside walk.

Peter had suggested a walk around Borth (not that exciting) but tempted by the prospect of being able to stop in Mach and stock up on same tasty treats from the Royal House Café he agreed to head to the wilds of Snowdonia. 

It was an easy drive to Ganllwyd, just three roads to follow to get us to the other side of Dolgellau. There we found the free NT car park, with clean loos, just off the main road.

We planned to follow the trail which led first to Rhaeadr Ddu (Black waterfall) and then on to a circular 2 mile walk through the oak woods. But things did not go quite to plan.

We crossed the road by the newly refurbished village hall and followed a lane that ran steeply uphill alongside the river.

Compared to our local Cambrian mountains everything- the mountains, rivers, trees and waterfalls, is bigger and grander in Snowdonia. 

Eventually we followed a path to a bridge across the river.

From there we turned uphill until we came to the two main waterfalls which have a combined drop of 60ft. At that point the way underfoot became very rocky  and uneven which is not good for Peter's ankles. We stopped at a viewpoint above the waterfalls and I went on to see what the path ahead was like. It went from the left centre of the photo below winding its way over the rocks and upwards. For me it was a do-able scramble but definitely not for Peter.

Instead we went back down the path (as did two other couples out walking) and instead of crossing back over the bridge walked along the other side of the river.

There was a nice level track leading us on through the woods though at the end we had to follow a more rocky and uneven path down to the river and the main road.

On the other side of the car park was a woodland corner where the Afon Gamlam flows into the Afon Mawddach. There were three picnic tables by the water so that is where we stopped to eat our lunch.

When we got home the fine weather tempted me to finish off the bit of paving I'd been doing in the back garden. I had both sand and cement so first I brushed a dry mix between the slabs and then made a wet mix to fill in the spaces around the edges and across the front of the step to give a neater and hopefully more secure finish.

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I've just come home from a good session with the choir. It's all chaos on the roads at the moment. Earlier on our trip out we'd come across a plethora of roadworks and temporary traffic lights, I guess the councils are using up their budgets before the end of the financial year. This evening there were more temporary traffic lights right in front of the hall where we sing. 

Also the main road to Mach is being closed from 7pm every night for the next two weeks. Anyone wanting to go further north than Tal Y Bont will have to take a massive detour down to Borth then out to Ynyslas, up to the main road at Cletwr and finally head south or north from there. Luckily this does not affect me. 

On my way home I was still on the main road when two police vans went past, blue lights and sirens on, in the direction of Tal Y Bont (and the closed road). Then when I was almost at Borth another police car again with blue lights, went racing past me. I wonder if he was going to the same incident?