Only one week to stuff as much activity in as reasonably possible. Slightly handicapped by a shoulder pain thingy the range of activities were reduced to walking and so, on Boxing Day Ellie, Toby and I walked a loop from Picklescott up to Motts Road and returning via the Shropshire Way to the Bottle and Glass where we met Bram and Anna with their family. The weather was cool and clear keeping with the prevailing pattern of high barometric pressure with a steady breeze from the north west.
The following day we were picked up by Bram and went off to Dinas Mawddwy to walk part of the skyline, a minor classic which I undertook with Jess eight years ago. We started from the bwlch and headed south parallel to the road, again the weather was clear, and the wind had dropped easing our progress. We descended by Maesglase where I viewed the now fluid waterfall which i had climbed when frozen. Reaching the road our choice was to hitch a ride to the bwlch, or hoof it up the road, after ten minutes of watching cars pass us at high speed I chose the latter. A good day.
After two days off we planned a longer walk in south Shropshire taking in chunks of paths previously walked. Starting in Kempton, we headed west towards Bury Ditches on the Shropshire Way, descending into Clun. Hoping to find a coffee shop we walked through a ghost town before finding the only seller of hot drinks, a bit sad really. Our route now took us out of clun heading on the south side of the valley towards Clunton. Fortunately, we found the pub at clunton all together more hospitable and after lunch we headed up a hill in warm sunshine and back to Kempton.
Following the New Years celebrations my last opportunity for exercise was a scrambling trip to North Wales with Rich and Al. We chose a familiar route up the buttress and slabs above Idwal. The rock was cold and dry, the feeling of the movement associated with scrambling was most agreeable and as we gained height the ice and snow increased, the summit of Glyder Fawr was covered with snow and a keen breeze blew from the west. After lunch we descended Devils Kitchen to be greeted by hoards of people taking advantage of the conditions and last moments of the festive break.
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