15 April 2011

Mum, Emily and I went for a day out, stopping off first at the Cat's Back. Here, there was broken misty cloud, so we just got the odd glimpse of blue sky and from time to time the surrounding mountains appeared piecemeal through holes in the cloud. However, we enjoyed ourselves anyway. We walked a short way up then Mum sat down and I left Emily with her so that I could quickly go up to the first crest (the spine of the ridge gradually ascends, not so much like a cat, more like a stegosaurus). After a couple of minutes I stopped to look at the view and spotted a little blonde head appear over a grassy ledge.

I waited, and Emily made it all the way up on her own, with not a word of complaint. I was most pleased with her determination - rare for her to exert herself without a lot of encouragement and grumbling.

We continued on the scenic but twisty road to Hay, having to reverse on the single track road several times. In the small town, we walked into the centre and headed straight for The Granary. However, I found it hard to choose something on the menu that would suit both me and Emily, and the prices were higher than I recalled. I wasn't even very impressed with my meal, though as always the coffee and cakes were second to none.

Taking the road to Gospel Pass on the way home, we stopped again at Hay Common. I had already decided that I wanted to climb Hay Bluff and with Mum's collusion in looking after Emily for half an hour at the bottom, I was able to do so. It looked rather more imposing and steeper than I remembered, but I set myself a target to get up it and back to the car within 30 minutes. I set off at a brisk pace and was soon puffing and sweating, but other than a pause once I made it to the top gratifyingly quickly.

Returning half on my bottom over the rough heather, and the other half at a canter, I was chuffed to complete my little challenge in only 26 minutes. It was wonderfully life-affirming (paid for it for three days afterwards with seized up quads though!).

Dad had been out with the Ramblers from Llanthony, so we thought we would call in there to save him cadging a lift home. We pottered around the Abbey ruins for half an hour before the group returned to the car park. Emily is obsessed with picking wild flowers and was perfectly happy making a bunch of dandelions, and watching a few pretty speckled chickens that were pecking around among the pillars.