Idris' Chair

Hi there,

Jen here with my first blog post (be nice) about our few days away in Wales. Read on for wrong turns, dodgy stomachs and fire!

As it was our 2nd wedding anniversary (we haven't killed each other yet, Yay!) and my birthday, Chris arranged a super secret retreat away to Wales for a few days.

We woke up super dooper early, it was holiday time!

Now we definitely wouldn't be classed as early risers - we blame our super comfy bed that's just so difficult to leave. We set off around 7.30am for the 3 or so hour drive, with a few stops along the way to enjoy the scenery Wales has to offer, and my god does it?

We loaded up the car the night before so we could just get straight on the road and expertly managed to bypass most of the early morning traffic. We drove into Wales, along the North coast down into Snowdonia National Park and was astounded by the gorgeous views of the forests and mountains we passed, sheep playing in the field; many streams and waterfalls.

Our first stop was Betws-y-Coed which we had visited before on a lovely weekend away to visit Swallow Falls, we stopped for fuel (car and carbs - Chris opting for the biggest pasty I've ever seen in the shape of an Oggie, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy). We had a hike planned for the day already. As per usual it didn't exactly go to plan....

We arrived at the car park totally unprepared, for we had forgotten to stop for cash and the parking meter didn't take cards. So we had to drive back into the town to get some, before returning to the start of our route. We loaded ourselves up with our backpacks and essentials for the day and left from Dol Idris Car Park which was the start for the Minffordd Path of Cader Idris (found in our trusty Countryside Walking Magazine 100 best hikes in Britain book - which is treating us fabulously so far, I have to say!)

The sun was beaming down and it took us a while to get going, and I started to feel really unwell after about an hour and a half in. Despite my best efforts I had to agree to come back down. The mountain isn't such a great place to be when you aren't feeling 100% I won't go into details!

Instead we decided to go check into Nyth Robin, the beautiful campsite we were staying in for our short stay. Chris really pulled it out of the bag as far as birthday treats go with this place, it was stunning. Located not too far from Aberdovey, the cutest little seaside village. The campsite was a perfect spot to recharge our batteries and get some 'us' time in. We stayed in the Gwidihw Hut (Welsh for Owl) and we couldn't have asked for more. Very peaceful, cosy and a great place to spot the stars in all their glory on a clear night. Chris was triumphant in building a fire and we cooked and drank wine and discussed our plans for the next day...We decided to go back to Cadair Idris.

Fully refreshed and raring to go we woke up early to tackle the Minffordd Path, stopping at a lovely little bakery to settle our rumbling stomachs. All backpacked up and ready to go, we drove through the village, past lakes, rolling hills and mountains, back to the car park we had left yesterday. I was nervous, and definitely didn't want a repeat of the previous day!

The weather was equally beautiful but I definitely had more energy and gusto for the initial steep climb through the forest. Now it was a hard slog, don't get me wrong but we were eager to get on and get to our intended place.

The scenery was gorgeous, few people around and plenty of spots to take great pictures. So quiet and calming despite the growing aches in my calves! We stopped a few times along the way to take in the scenery - we saw a gorgeous lake and on a day so fine, with the sun beaming down it was lovely to just be still by it and hear the rippling water.

Onward and upwards we went, surprising ourselves with each step further we got.

The weather turned the higher we went (as expected) and by the time we reached the summit it was pretty difficult to see. Our route had treated us well thus far but in all the excitement we had missread the directions and took a path leading directly down the mountain (bad choice) we spent a good 40 minutes carefully stepping through loose stones and rocks, scrambling our way down the mountain really not knowing we had now gone the wrong way and thought it better to concentrate on the terrain rather than double check our map! We didn't realise until we got to the bottom that we were in the complete wrong place. After a few arguments and checks of the map we decided to follow the only path we could see, despite this being in the complete opposite direction of the car, car park and the mountain, my plan was to not get stranded on the mountain - we weren't quite ready for that yet, and I'll be honest, more than a bit unprepared! Chris managed to find a route based on the direction I wanted to take, it would take us far, far away but it would be a direct route into the nearest town Dollegau.

We were tired, and a bit cranky but we finally got into the town - we needed to stop for chips and so did that whilst waiting for a taxi office to give me a call and let me know whether they had drivers available to take us all the way back to Dol Idris, a good 2 or more hours away on foot and we were spent! Unfortunately there wasn't a driver available so we waited for a bus which zoomed up straight there, we were back! We spent a while laughing and reminiscing about the hairy parts but we were happy, with a sense of achievement for not only managing to get to the top but for overcoming the twists and turns the day had for us in store.

Here are some of Chris' pictures: