How did it go? Did you enjoy the walking? Sounds like you had fantastic weather. I'm off for my weekend under the stars soon .........
It was one of the best weekends I've had for a long time. Yes, the weather was fantastic by most people's definition but a bit hot for me. Couldn't have asked for better though. The last day, with the most walking, was a bit overcast with a breeze but not cold, so everyone appreciated it I think.
I couldn't stop walking - whenever the planned walks finished, I kept exploring. I was hobbling by the end of the second day, but started taking ibuprofen and carried on regardless.
The first one, the 'mindfulness / yogic' one which I was poking fun at, was possibly my favourite. We were all asked not to talk to each other, and walked very slowly up a steep forest path to a clearing, where we were all asked to spread out, find a spot by ourselves and stay quiet for a long while. There was a bit of meditation, breathing exercises etc along the way. It did make my enjoyment of nature more intense and it was nice (and a bit surreal) being with company even though we weren't allowed to talk with each other! Some of the people were getting very emotional - as became apparent when chatting with them on the drive to the start of the walk, they had 'stuff going on' in their lives to put it mildly, and some of them literally hadn't taken time for quiet reflection in months. There was also a lovely horse which shouldn't have been there mingling with us as we 'quietly reflected'. It was a lovely setting but unfortunately I didn't take any shots as it didn't seem appropriate to get my phone out!
The second one, 'hills & skills', well call me arrogant, but what I learned on that was that my navigation skills are better than I thought. Unfortunately we didn't get round to first aid training however, which I was hoping for. Nice walk and nice company though. This was our highest point and possibly the best view:
The bird watching / listening one didn't do much for me. There was a lot of standing still, and talking about a particular bird making a noise, when there were at least ten different types of birds all making noises at the same time so I had no idea which one they were referring to. I think it was aimed at experienced bird watchers. Was a very nice walk though, and I had fun staying back from the group in the end, chatting with the appointed 'safety bloke' who felt the same as I did - it's nice walking around a forest listening to the birds, but we really don't need to know any more than that! The walk was very nice again, and we came down a slope with more bluebells than I've ever seen in one place. I don't have the camera or skills to do it justice, but:
The final walk was very big and varied with some stunning views, plus I got really lucky, I asked the walk leader who seemed to know the area like the back of his hand if he knew how to get to the entrance to a mine I'd been trying to find for a while, and he's given me a lot of detail for next time I visit the area.
Some of my own walks were very nice, too. The area was sort of on the outskirts of the main mountains of northern Snowdonia, so you occasionally got amazing views of a lot of the big ranges from a distance. This was one of my favourite views. Tryfan in the middle, Snowdon somewhere to the left, and all the other bigger mountains around. There was just enough moisture in the air to give a nice 'layering' effect, with the more distant hills being light grey, and the nearer ones darker:
Some lucky so-and-so had a house high up in the hills where I took this photo from - this will have been the view from their window!
Anyway this seems to have turned into an essay with a slideshow! I've just been looking through the photos for the first time now and got a bit carried away.
If anyone likes the idea of heading out to Snowdonia for a bit of walking at the weekends, I'd highly recommend the Trefriw Walking Festival next year. The people organising it are a really nice crowd and make you feel very welcome. I didn't think big crowds would be my cup of tea but I really enjoyed it and I'll be going again next year.
I'm off for my weekend under the stars soon .........
I hope you have fun under the stars ... I expect a blow-by-blow account and a slideshow!