We leave early to hike around the lake of Cadair Idris. We arrive 8:45, there are already a few cars on the parking. We take a kids sweater with us as it might be cold when sitting in the Deuter. Luckily the kids don’t need the Deuter, they jump from rock to rock like spider mans.
We hiked it also last year, Cleo even wears the same T-shirt. We arrive soon at the glacial lake. It sits like a jewel enclosed by sheer cliffs that rise over 200 metres above the water. The kids play a bit in the water while Tim make long-exposure shots.
The name translates from Welsh as ‘Chair of Idris’. According to Welsh mythology, Idris Gawr (Idris the Giant) was a warrior, poet, and astronomer of enormous stature who used the mountain’s great summit hollow as his armchair, gazing up at the stars and contemplating the universe.
We see climbers passing us, on their way to the steep Cadair Idris mountain. Zeno is fascinated by the robes and helmets they carry. It’s funny to do the same hike one year later, as the kids are clearly bigger and stronger and hike on a much higher pace.
We take a break half way, at the same point of last year, where Zeno fell into the river. The kids build a dam in the same river, we eat some peaches and play some more with the water.
Cleo has some energy left and is intrigued by the rock climbers she passes, so she wants to climb up and see them up close. Tim and Cleo take a small detour and Cleo inspects their climbing gear. She is inspired and climbs a big rock herself.
Zeno falls more and more, and is therefore put in the Deuter, to avoid serious injuries. After 4.5 km, we’re back at the very crowded car park. Drivers are waiting and ask us if we’re leaving. But they have to wait as Tim has to eat his breakfast first. Back in the car, we realise Cleo’s cardigan is lost. It must have happened somewhere at the final kilometer as that’s the point Tim put the drone back into the Deuter.
Olga runs back to look for it. Unfortunately it’s grey, just like the stones. She asks all other hikers if they have seen a grey cardigan. Nobody did. She runs back to the half-way peach stop, but no cardigan.
One hour later, she’s back at the parking. In the meantime, Tim & kids went on a drone tour in Snowdonia. Nobody is happy, not that the cardigan is lost and not that an hour of the Snowdonia day is lost. Since we have a pool slot at 14.00 already, so we do not have much time left.
We notice there are many thrift shops in our town so we’ll try them another day. This means Cleo is happy she will get a new cardigan, Olga is happy she does not need to buy a “new” one, and Tim and Zeno are happy that they can almost eat lunch.
We buy some lunch and drive back to our holiday home, just in time for our pool slot. We also do our laundry and the kids get a haircut. In the meantime, Tim walks to the castle in Rhuddlan, some 4 km away. As he gets there he sees that his effort was in vain as the castle is closed on Tuesdays.
We have dinner and Olga walks the kids to the playground, a grey cardigan is hanging on the fence. Four days already. We just never paid any real attention. If it’s still there tomorrow, we will take it.
When Olga walks back she notices dozens of seagulls circeling our caravan. They clearly noticed the left-over lentils on our terrace and prepare themselves for a fight over the snacks. What a compliment to the cook! Like a good blogger, Olga first takes a picture before cleaning the terrace.
