With one thing or another taking precedence, the processing of these was unavoidably delayed.
Perseid meteors - taster pic below - click it to see a few more.
Perseid meteor.
Author Archive.
Consequences
Yup, I'm back on topic...
That piles op back in Jan 2012 - remember that, and the aftermath of it? Well, it's still giving me hassle. I've not been able to exercise properly since the op because it makes the rear-end swollen and dysfunctional. Yes, I've had the odd good day in the hills but I've always paid for it during the following week.
Eventually they sent me to a bum-physio who taught me how to retrain the damaged/wasted muscles down there. They needed to be sorted before the NHS would even consider any further corrective surgery. I won't list the number of times my appointments were bumped, suffice to say that I ain't happy about it and that my next consultation (to arrange the removal of the large skin-tags and the repair of the muscle-damage, both of which resulted from the original op) was to be on September 25th but they've already bumped that to October 30th.
So... consequences...
My inability to maintain a proper exercise regime for well over a year has left me seriously unfit. I didn't read much into the aching torso thing when I went up Moel Siabod in July, I thought I was just lacking in the oomph department, and an occasional minute or two of rest combined with a slackening of the pack-straps allowed me to keep going.
Fast(?)-forward to three weeks ago and I was struggling on the flat. We were at a wood-craft fair, it was a very hot day and again I didn't pay much attention to myself. After a beer and a sit down in the shade I felt better, I put the whole affair down to the unseasonal hot weather, my unfitness and the need for the hydrating effects of real ale.
A week later and it was clear that something was wrong. Cutting the hedges became a task punctuated by rests and cups of tea. I thought that the aching in the arms and chest was due to the efforts of wielding the not-so-lightweight electric trimmers, but I followed the advice of all and sundry and took it easy for a few days.
Aldi had some Blood Pressure Monitors on sale so we bought one, just so that I could keep an eye on how my ticker was coping. The first few days of readings were fine (112/65, 80bpm for example) but a few days later I took a reading after tightening-up while doing a bit of leisurely gardening and the pressure result was a bit of a shocker - 212/125!
I went to see my doctor ASAP. The prognosis wasn't good. The doc put me on aspirin and nitroglycerine spray, and put me down for treadmill and ECG tests at the local specialist cardiac unit.
And that's where I was yesterday. They didn't need to do the treadmill test, the effect of the walk from the car to the reception was enough to make the static ECG results conclusive: Stable Angina. Against all expectations the tests indicated that apart from the effects of Angina I'm in really good nick for a 51-year-old smoker, with no respiratory or weight/fat problems at all. After a chest X-ray and blood-tests I was sent home with a big bag full of meds and the promise of a coronary angioplasty with stent implantation(s) within a month.
Of course, cardiac problems always trump colorectal problems, so I doubt that my bum-doctor will do anything more until the ticker's sorted, which puts me in a Catch-22 situation where exertion is good for one end but not the other.
Of course, this might all have been avoided if they'd properly managed my recovery from the piles op nearly two years ago. I'd have been back in the hills keeping in shape instead of getting progressively unfit to the point where I've started to fall apart.
I tell you, getting up those last five Wainwrights is proving to be more of a challenge than the previous 209 ever were 😥
Beware of Rising Rocks
Some timely information for those intending to go out to see the impending Perseid meteor shower:
North Wales 2013 – Thursday/wildcamp/Friday mashup
51 today! A lie-in, breakfast in bed, pressies and cards - the perfect start to another roasting-hot day.
Outside the cottage the RAF did another low-level fly-by, I assumed that it wasn't all in my honour but it was impressive all the same:
Chinook #1
Chinook #2
Chinook #3
The resident Squadron Leader looks on, unimpressed by the thundering mechanical behemoth
We spent the day in Betws-y-Coed, sight-seeing and getting some retail therapy. As a birthday treat we dined at The Gwydyr Hotel, the food was very good although for some inexplicable reason, in a land that supports so many sheep, the kitchen had run out of lamb. No matter, the beef was fine alternative. Ice-creams were had from Cadwaladers Ice Cream Café, Chris got some walking-sandals from F*** & T***, and we spent much time in many shops trying and failing to get Anna some sunglasses that she'd be happy with.
After an evening meal back at the cottage me and Ella packed our kit - we were off up my mountain to introduce her gently to the delights of wildcamping. We took the same route as we had on Tuesday, eventually finding a great spot in the gap at the base of the Daear Ddu (a place that we christened "The Gap of Rohan"). We'd picked a fine night - clear, warm and calm, with a gentle up-slope breeze that kept the midges at bay. Ella went down to Llyn y Foel to get water while I pitched the tent:
The Banshee 300 pitched in the Gap of Rohan
After a supper of discounted Wayfarer meals (found a few days before in the bargain-bucket at Ellis Brigham Mountain Sports in Capel Curig) we settled for the night and slept well.
Friday morning was warm and clear, we were up at sunrise to see a warm glow on the mountain and misty haze in the Lledr Valley below. We wandered up onto the nearby ridge and had breakfast (courtesy of Decathlon's Aptonia range) al fresco on a suitable rock:
Moel Siabod cwm pano (the tent's on the left)
On the ridge just after sunrise
Lledr Valley - mist and haze
Dolwyddelan Castle #1
Ella doesn't do mornings...
but she does do breakfast
Dolwyddelan Castle #2
Cotton-grass
Ella
Heather
Knobbly #1
Knobbly #2
Striking camp didn't take long - we'd not brought much. With the weather set fair and with us being on familiar ground we'd figured that stuff like waterproofs, spare layers, rucksack liners, map/compass/GPS weren't really necessary. Hell, I even eschewed the Scarpa SLs and wore my tatty old Trezetas instead! No shorts though - I didn't want to scare the wildlife 😯
Holy Trezetas
We shouldered our packs and completed the circuit of Llyn y Foel, taking a few pics on the way:
Columnar jointing, Daear Ddu
Moel Siabod reflected in Llyn y Foel
Llyn y Foel and "The Gap of Rohan"
On the way back down we had time for a bit of exploring around the quarry. Ella kept finding rocks shaped like footprints, I aced her with this one that bore an uncanny resemblance to Brian Griffin:
Dug
Some of the small quarry buildings overlooking the reservoir looked like they'd be fine places for setting up a bivvy:
Quarry building 1 #1
Quarry building 1 #2
Quarry building 2 #1
That Lonesome Pine again
Ditto
Reedy margins
Nearly back at the cottage the view was extensive - here's a 180-degree pano:
Widescreen
Before long we were back at the cottage. Chris did us a superb cooked breakfast, partly to refuel us and partly to use up the bacon, eggs, hash-browns and other such stuff in the kitchen.
The afternoon proved to be hotter than the morning. Nobody was up for going out so we spent a leisurely afternoon getting a lot of our stuff packed up in order to make Saturday's 10 a.m. getaway a tad easier.
Outside the view down the Llugwy Valley was being ruined by these festrous things:
Soon afterwards the RAF provided more entertainment. We wondered if we'd been overflown by royalty:
Charlie's Angel?
Packing almost done, I took a few parting-shots of the cottages:
Cottages #1
Cottages #2
The kitchen
The Boss
After that, and after a third-and-final hot meal, we had an early night in preparation for an early start on Saturday.
North Wales 2013 – Wednesday – To Hell and back
Wednesday was set to be another roasting-hot day. Ready before the others as usual, I grabbed some time with the camera:
Carneddau
Siabod Holiday Cottages
Inside the cottage #1
Inside the cottage #2
Typhoon pic #1
Typhoon pic #2
Typhoon pic #3
It was a day for something, well, different (for us at least). Ella had been texting a friend and had discovered that said friend and his family were holidaying in Pwllheli, not a million miles away from us. We were due for a day at the seaside so I suggested a meet-up and we got an invitation in return - if we made our way to their caravan we could have a trip out on their boat. The kids were understandable excited at the prospect so we accepted and after several miles of proper driving and several more miles of detours due to roadworks we eventually found the site.
I was expecting a standard holiday-site rental-caravan and a dinghy, what we found was a plush residential static palace and a huge Chaparral, not dissimilar to this thing. We were duly impressed with the caravan, with the boat and with Ella's choice of friends! After intros and cuppas we hatched a cunning plan acceptable to all: the kids would go out on the boat with the other family, me and Chris would take our leave and do a mini-tour of some of the Lleyn Peninsula's beaches, later we'd meet at the caravan for a BBQ.
We waved goodbye to the kids and made for the beach north of Abersoch. The weather was scorching and I expected the sands to be alive with factor-50-lathered revellers but the beach was hardly populated at all - I had forgotten that Leicestershire schools' summer holidays start a week earlier than most of the rest of the country. We spent a quiet hour or so catching some rays and having a paddle.
Towards Abersoch
Towards Llanbedrog
From there we drove to Pentowyn Dunes, parked up and spent some time on Porth Neigwl (Hell's Mouth) beach, not far from where Belly plays with and tests the hand-made cedar sea-kayaks that he designs and builds:
Towards Mynydd Gilan
Towards Mynydd Penarfynydd and Mynydd y Graig
Some stones
Bird 1 #1
Bird 1 #2
Closer to Mynydd y Graig
Bird 2 #1
Some more stones
Even more stones!
OK, it's getting a tad silly now
Bird 2 #2
After a stroll up and down the beach it was time to get back to the others to reclaim our kids. They'd been around the coast as far as we had and they'd really enjoyed their day. We had a great evening with BBQ food, beers (for the others) and chat while the kids went off to explore the shore:
The kids on Carreg yr Imbill (Gimblet Rock)
Eventually we had to thank our hosts, say our farewells and drive back to the cottage.
On the way, there was fanciful talk of getting a boat...
