Too Many "K's" ?

I had checked his oil and tyre pressure, cleaned his grubby little windscreen and polished up the worst of his rusty spots, so Trusty Rusty was ready for the road again. One final check of camping gear and we were off, heading steadily north towards Llanberis. The General Election was but a few days away so I decided to count the signs supporting the various candidates and parties which decorated the road verge. I gave up at Machynlleth, the result was beyond any doubt: Labour 3, Liberals 4. Conservatives 2, Plaid Cymru 57. It was clear that Plaid Cymru were going to achieve a mighty landslide result throughout the country, although I have to concede that maybe my sample was little biased!

I arrived in Llanberis about 5pm. A grand 50 year reunion had been arrange, with 3 of the former occupants of the first flat I lived in while studying in Glasgow in 1974.  My old school mate, Dai Lampard, and I had set off for Glasgow from the wilds of west Wales in September of that year. There we soon encountered one Rosie Hughes (as she was then) from Anglesey. In the drunken melee that was our first year there, we managed to occupy two flats having got kicked out of the first one for holding wild party! And 50 years later, we had managed to coordinate our diaries and had assembled in one place, Dai's cottage in Llanberis, for a few hours.

"Aah! Those were the days we reminisced." as we consumed Dai's legendary cottage pie and vast quantities of cheese, before heading off to the local pub for a few hours - just like the old days! Dai's wife Rhona, another Glasgow vet graduate, was also in attendance and the conversation flowed well into the small hours, and most of the next morning, as only well lubricated vet conversations can.

At this point I should probably add that Dai has only ever been a part time vet, preferring full time climbing and some crazy construction work on stadiums and church steeples, to the rigours of the vet profession. So it was no surprise when he announced,

"It's time you buggers left, I'm off the climb K7 in the morning." 

It transpires that this is his fifth attempt on one of the last great challenges in the Himalayas:

Prior Attempts on K7's Southwest Ridge: The southwest ridge of K7 is one of the great unclimbed rock ridges of the Karakoram, and has been attempted on multiple occasions, most notably by Dai Lampard and friends (U.K.). With exceptional persistence, Lampard has now made four attempts on the route, from 1990 to 2022. In 1990 his team climbed 88 pitches over 18 consecutive days in capsule style to reach a high point of around 6,150m on the Fortress. Apart from 10m, the route was climbed free. He returned in 1993 and spent 32 days on the ridge, reaching the top of the Fortress at 6,300m (with pitches of British 6a) before retreating in a violent storm. In 2006 he made another attempt, experiencing appalling snowfall, and was equally unsuccessful in 2022. 

http://publications.americanalpineclub.org/articles/13201216525

So with fond farewells all round, and a helpful priming of Trusty's diesel supply (he didn't like the steep slope he had been parked on!) I headed out of Llanberis, over the top of the pass in low cloud and heavy rain. Pen y Pass, a popular starting point for the peak of Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon) was heaving with damp walkers, many of them in suspiciously new waterproofs and very shiny boots; the car park was full, apparently you have to book your 8 hour parking slot on the web these days! It wasn't very inviting weather to walk in, so I headed to my favourite cafe in Capel Curig, but it was closed, permanently it appears! So there was little option but to head down into the tourist mecca of Betws y Coed where I purchased a paper and some fresh milk and headed to a convenient spot for the rest of the day. And yes, I may have been a little slow for reasons other than the day's weather!

The Sunday morning dawned and after a lot of rain overnight, it looked like clearing. In Wales, it continues to be one of the coldest, wettest, most unsettled summers I can recall, so I decided to make the most of an average day. Moel Siabod, a giant of a peak at 2,861 feet, just over 800 meters, loomed near me and I set off to climb it. Who needs K7! It's a good walk with a loop route possible and it took me nearly 3 hours of steady climbing, with a little scrambling at the end, when I may have strayed slightly off path. As I munched my salami and cheese sandwich at the top, I calculated I had not been up here for possibly 40 years. It is said that you can see 13 of the highest 14 peaks in Wales without turning your head. I didn't count them but the cloud had not yet totally descended and I could just about see the peak of nearby Yr Wyddfa (Mt. Snowdon) to the north, which would have been the highest, so I think they were all there. To the south I could see the village of Dolwyddelan, dominated by its castle; a fitting memorial to the memory of Llewellyn ap Iorwerth, Llewellyn the Great, a man who would surely have voted Plaid Cymru? I looped around and made a steady descent, walking through some forestry tracks back to Trusty. About 5 hours total and another notch for Sticky McSticKy, and a pint for me in Betws.

      Dolwyddelan Castle lay below me                                     The cloud started to roll in over the 13 peaks

Too soon it was time to head south, stopping for a while at the Ynys Hir, my favourite RSPB reserve,  where I saw a Flycatcher! https://www.rspb.org.uk/days-out/reserves/ynys-hir

Fran had a K challenge waiting for me at Rhoose Ferry:  Kitchen sink tap leaking! It soon became a K7 challenge as it took over 7 hours to remove the old tap, which after forty odd years was corroded in to position and then reconnect to new one, with connections that were too short and all the joys of 15mm vs 1/2" fittings. I only flooded the kitchen once though! 

And its not leaking any more!

And the General Election result was no real surprise! Plaid Cymru indeed doubled their number of seats; they now have four constituencies in a nice green row up the western Welsh coastline. Time to change them for a hotel? And we have a new prime minster, who has got off to a flying start! Hopefully that is not one K too many!

More soon! I will be posting regularly on this blog. If you are interested, become a follower and you will be notified about new posts. Just click on the button top left of this blog, to follow me and be informed of future posts. And tell your friends!