Today was double figures day ! Day 10 had finally arrived. Porthmadog to Harlech.
Firstly I managed to get a cracking 8 hours sleep (Ffion, Diolch for your bed!). This was despite me 'face-booking' till late and somehow talking myself into wearing a dress on one of my days (arrrrrgggghhhhh!!!) - ( i thought I'd had enough 'Drag' for one challenge !!)
So for the first few miles today I meet and walked with Paula.
Paula sadly lost her mum to MND and was more than willing to share her local knowledge and navigate me on my way!! (she knew a few handy shortcuts too :))
With Snowdon watching from afar we set off along side the Blaenau Ffestiniog Railway towards Harlech.
Now you may notice 2 flags in the above picture!! That changes, further down in my story :(
Paula bid her farewell and I headed towards my 10th end goal!
Most of the terrain for the last 6/7 miles were fields and farming land - most of which contained sheep and yep! more pesky horseflies ! I'm sure they all got together (Horsefly Committee) this morning and discussed the best tactics to attack me along todays route !!
I also bumped into a local rambling group who seemed to know who I was as well (awareness working in earnest there mate!!)
One of the many fields i came across had no sheep - but they did have cows and/or bullocks !
Boris (as I've christened him - i think it was a him?, although I have met some pretty aggressive females in my time!) was obviously not too pleased to welcome me to what was obviously HIS/HER field !!
As I opened the gate, he snorted (not pig snorted, cow snorted), so I thought "Ok, lets just wait for him to calm down and join his cow mates"
After waiting 5 or so minutes I decided to continue! I started walking through HIS/HER field and IT took obvious objection.
Boris started to 'trot' towards me (this story is turning into a farce ! cows don't trot !!). Anyhow, I sensed his displeasure at my act of trespassing and decided to TROT away myself! Wrong move.
Boris picked up speed and I literally ***t myself !! A 200 yard dash (that Usain Bolt would have been proud of), saw me make it to the other side !!
In hindsight, it was pointed out to me that the cow/bull (whatever it was) was only protecting its calf !!
Still, I'm glad my flags were white and not red !! (although always fancied myself as a matador lol)
Which brings me to a solemn moment ! One of my flags had gone "missing in action"
A few miles on from my near-cow-death ;) experience, I realised I had lost a flag !
I tracked back for about a mile, to no avail (and there was no absolutely no chance I was reacquainting myself with Boris!)
Somewhere between PenRhyd and Harlech the flag is flying (albeit solo!)
Despite all this, I soon got to Harlech!!
Decided, that now I had reached the place, may as well check out its only true asset- it's castle !
Great sense of satisfaction today having reached the 10 day mark, even better knowing that tomorrow is the first of my 2 scheduled rest days !
Had spent most of the day missing my mothers Sunday roast dinner :(
But my 'adopted' mum for the next day or two Glenda totally spoilt me with a gorgeous roast chicken meal - very nice indeed.
So that's Harlech done, as I say tomorrow is my rest day, so I plan on hitting the leisure centre/pool etc and getting legs stretched and ready for the next 10 days slog! I'm also sure I can find some watering hole to lubricate myself ;)
People are continuing to donate and support mate, there's a hell of a lot of love and best wishes out there for you. It's all totally deserved! Stay strong Gar.
PS - All - please read comments left on yesterday's blog too x
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