Day 2
There was an eerie layer
of mist on the water as we awoke early on Saturday morning, as we cooked breakfast
by the water we watched the mist gradually clear into sunshine. We then carried
on the track to the end of the reservoir past the remote Claerwen farm and
then on to an even rougher path that would lead us to the beautiful and stunning
Teifi lakes. These lakes are set high up in the mountains and have a particularly
magical feel to them. Then it was the long decent down the lane to Ffair Rhos
and into the village of Pontrhydfendigaid, here we stocked up with supplies
and talked to a friendly fair damsel who served us in the shop. From here
it was on to Tregaron and past the famous bog. We were impressed by the number
of Red Kites we saw, these birds epitomize the feel of this land that has
a mystic air that keeps drawing us back here year after year. We carried on
a road that we have never been on before, the Tregaron to Abergwesyn mountain
road snakes its way up to the top of the Llyn Brianne, a large reservoir in
the Towy valley. After several hours of beautiful cycling we ended up at the
bottom of the Devils staircase. We have never been down this famous climb
but this time going down it made us realize how steep this road actually is!
Dark is around 21:30 in July which gave us plenty of time to set up camp at
the head of the tranquil Irfon valley. As we started to cook our food the
flying insects were once again on the attack but were repelled them with spray
and incense. After eating our glorious meals we settled down for the night
in this spectacular spot.
