Heading North

I am Prestatyn bound looking out through a rain spattered train window as I head north for my second attempt at the Offa's Dyke National trail. it was four years ago that I first attempted the route. It ended with an ignominious descent off the Welsh hills at three in the morning in the dark and the pouring rain after only one day of walking. I had reached Bodfari in good time, the suggested overnight stop for the first leg, stopped there for a hearty meal in the village pub, and then pressed on into the high ground further along the route. Four miles on I had sat in splendid isolation among the grass and bracken and enjoyed evening views across the valley far below, a soft focus landscape of greys and purples, before I climbed into my bivvy bag for the night. At some point in my sleep the heavens had opened, my waterproof bag proved anything but, and I awoke lying in a cocoon of wet and in a sodden and clinging sleeping bag. Attempts with a wet phone to try and check the forecast proved fruitless: a chance of sun in the day would have given me an option of drying everything out and pressing on but further rain would make continuing questionable as I had planned for a second night of camping. In the end frustration, discomfort and a lack of information for sensible planning had me retracing my steps down the hill. A kindly off duty policemen drove me part way to Rhyl in the early morning and towards my unplanned train journey back home. 

Last night I was in Gloucester with friends Mark and Graham, colleagues from various journeys by land and sea over the years, and now with me for this trip. A crammed train to Birmingham was followed by a less crowded one to the north Welsh coast. Four years ago the September landscape was of blue skies and a brightly lit patchwork of greens and browns, trees and towering golden haystacks.  Today's landscape was similarly quintessentially British - although we can not have been far from the Welsh border - with the exception of some rain and the towering white clouds amongst the blue.

We reached Prestatyn station a little after four. By agreement we headed towards the sea, the start of the trail and the 'team photo' before an about-turn to a mile back along the route to the southern end of the town and our accommodation. Settling into the multi-bedded room took second place to some beers in the pub garden. We rounded the evening off with some Thai food in the busy Prestatyn high street before walking back uphill to our accommodation.