Day 6 – Rhosneigr to Malltraeth

Thursday 1 May (0800-1325)

Distance: 12.5 miles (Tot: 112.5)

Weather: Dry start with some vague hints of the sun trying to burst through. Continuous rain last 3.5 miles, combined with sunny spells. Rain stopped the moment I reached Colin!

Number of snails on the path through the dunes behind Traeth Llydan: about 8 billion, which made not stepping on any quite difficult.

I set out this morning sluggishly and with a large degree of can’t-be-arsed-ness. As one who enjoys walking so much and, moreover, as the Anglesey coast has been such a joy to walk, that was a highly unusual state of mind for me and one that I cannot rationalise.

Had I been at home, I no doubt would have merrily gone for a walk for at least a couple of hours today and in so doing would not have trodden any ground that I haven’t trodden many times before. That walk certainly wouldn’t have involved pretty flowers clinging to every nook and cranny of sea rocks, nor the interest of a chapel built on a man-made mound, on a rock-bed out in a bay, nor would I have had glimpses of the Snowdonia hills when their cloud shroud allowed me to see them. Objectively, everything around me was most pleasing. And yet there I was feeling so little enthusiasm for the short distance I had to cover.

Today’s short distance wasn’t related to the missing enthusiasm. Rather, with around 32 miles left to walk to complete the circuit, and with today’s weather forecast being so wet, I decided to have a short day, leaving the bulk of the distance for tomorrow’s better forecast. The fact that there was a campsite handily located only about half a mile out of my way at Malltraeth decided where I was going to stop.

Seven miles through the day the path took me up the side of a gorgeous inlet, at the top of which was a welcome sight: Colin (with Mick inside, boiling the kettle). An egg bap, a hot drink and a whinge to Mick did me the world of good and by the time I re-donned my wet socks and shoes (it hadn’t rained by this point; wet grass was to blame), I was happy to be setting off for the last few miles to the campsite.

The surroundings for most of those final miles were rather lacking. Since my map (which was only bought last Saturday) was produced, the route of the coast path has been moved. Whereas it used to go across farmland, it now takes to lanes instead. I opted to take the old line in preference to tarmac, and discovered that the old line lacked merit (other than not being on tarmac). I also discovered that, if those paths are any indication, footpath maintenance away from the coast path is appalling.

No photos were taken in the last hour and a quarter of the day. Having left Mick in sunshine, I got to a point where it was quite clear that I was about to walk into the rain. Behind me was blue sky; ahead of me it was most obviously wet. I can’t really complain, can I? An hour and a quarter of rain in six days’ walking in Wales is a pretty good record, isn’t it? Particularly on a day when the forecast suggested rain the whole day through.

The rain stopped as soon as I reached Colin, and as I type this the sun is beating down.