Wednesday, July 24, 2013 @ 6:32 PM in 2013 Europe
Day 28
For my last full day in Llandudno I wanted to do another hike. Since I had already hiked the Great Orme, hiked to Conwy and walked the promenade countless times, all that was remaining was Little Orme. Little Orme is the mountain that rises 463ft from the east side of Llandudno and provides some great views of the surrounding area.
The day started off fine with a 2 mile walk to the start of the trail. I swung by the grocery to pick up some stuff for lunch before hand too. By the time I got to the start of the trail, it was warming up pretty quickly. I had to take my undershirt off so it wouldn't get drenched with sweat.
The hike to the peak only took a few minutes and when I got to the top it started pouring down rain for a good 5 minutes. Since there wasn't anywhere to get shelter, I just stood there waiting for it to end. I could see that the cloud wasn't very big and that it would pass soon. It did and when the rain stopped the views were incredible.
The rain shower had taken all of the haze out of the air and I was left with some outstanding views of the surrounding area. Soon after it stopped raining I was joined by 5 other people. They were staying down on the beach and made a phone call to some of their friends to come out and try to spot them at the top. I joined in waiving around and eventually they were found.
I sat down on some rocks and had lunch and then started talking with a husband and wife who were part of that group. We talked about where I'd been, where I was from and some areas they suggested visiting. When we left, they took one route and I took another. Apparently theirs was rather difficult and I ended up meeting them at the bottom. We got to talking some more and they invited me back to their place for some tea and biscuits (cookies). I couldn't decline so I followed them to the place they were staying at.
It was two families that were staying there, all friends who had rented the place out for the week. They made some tea and we all sat outside on the back yard overlooking both the Great and Little Orme as well as the beach and town of Llandudno. They had a killer view!
One of the guys was a motorcyclist and was blown away when I told him about how much sun we have in the southwest. They were also saying how much of a fluke this nice weather has been. When the tea and biscuits were done I thanked them and headed back to the hostel to plan the next few days.
After seeing the pictures of Snowdonia from a fellow traveler I knew I wanted to go see it for myself. I found a hostel at the base of some of the hiking trails and booked it for two nights. I'll take buses to get there tomorrow, relax, catch up on some work and get to bed early. Then on Friday I'll wake up bright and early and start hiking. If I take the trails I want to, I'm looking at about 17 miles of hiking so I want to start as early as possible.
Snowdon Peak in Snowdonia National Park is 1,084 meters (3,560ft) high and is the highest mountain in Wales. There's only a 20% chance of rain for Friday so I'll bring my jacket and some layers just to be on the safe side. It looks like there's a grocery in town too so I'll pack some snacks and lunch. If the weather holds out, the views will be incredible!
Teaser photos:
Tags: daily journal, wales, llandudno
Posted from: Wales