Mick and Gayle were, as usual, accompanied by rain clouds, but as we travelled west we slowly managed to shake them off.
By the time we reached this excellent campsite (the disco is fairly distant) the sun was beaming down, and later, as I write this, a 3/4 moon is rising in full view of the tent door.
The day's undulating route took us through lovely countryside not usually frequented by hillwalkers. We saw nobody else out walking today.
It has been raining in recent days. The evidence of that is everywhere, and soon I had wet feet due to leaky boots and failing Sealskinz socks. Mick and Gayle were both better equipped, and had dry feet and much lighter loads. However, they did enjoy helping lighten my load of fudge brownies!
The bog zones were interspersed with areas of mud, sometimes slurrified, occasional tarmac, deep ravines, thistle zones and squeaky gates.
Buzzards mewed at us throughout the day, and David Davies (1818 - 1890) beamed at us from the other side of the River Severn (pictured above) as we enjoyed a break on a bench near the pretty village of Llandinam. It was all very rural. The shop and pub were both shut so our yearnings for beers and ice creams were just that - yearnings.
The Eagles are now serenading us from the disco (quite pleasant really!).
As we planned our final section of the day's walk (eventually the plan was foiled by a cow that had just given birth on our path) a Springer Spaniel, well, sprang upon us. Perhaps it smelled the chocolate. Anyway it jumped onto Mick's lap just as if it were a hearth rug!
Dinner was very civilised, as we ate around a big table in the camp kitchen. Whilst Gayle produced an eloquent report on the day's activities, I went searching for a can opener (tuna and rice is a bit boring if you can't get at the tuna), then we hunted in vain for part of my spectacles that seem to have vanished. Why do I keep losing such things - last time it was one of the handles of my billie can?
Anyway, it has been a lovely day, but after 27 km with 800 metres of ascent and a 16 kg pack it's now time to allow the lullaby of the disco to induce unconsciousness for a few hours. That should be pretty simple in the old Phoenix Phreerunner tent on this fancy new NeoAir bed gadgety thing.
We have an early start tomorrow...
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