Our main objective for the day from Pont Carrog.
The Penarth or Corwen Mine near Pen-y-Grog in the Berwyns.
The River Dee looking towards Corwen, where we first saw the Kingfisher.
The River Dee looking towards Carrog and the direction we last saw the Kingfisher.
Carrog from the path to the Penarth Mine.
Made it at last at the start of the Penarth Mine buildings.
Probably used for removing waste slate.
One of the old buildings at the Penarth Mine.
A Rowan well laden with berries.
A better picture of the Rowan berries.
Carrog from our lunch spot.
The Llantysilio Mountains from our lunch spot.
Heather on open moorland.
More Heather on open moorland.
What some of the shooting fraternity think of our environment!
Even more evidence of a recent shoot.
Not what you would expect to see waiting on the platform at Carrog.
Walk stats: Distance: 6.1 miles. Climb: 1207'.
Time: 4 hours 54 minutes. On the move walking average: 1.8 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 1.6 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn and Phil.
A very select group today, if it gets ant smaller I'll be going solo!
We arrived at Carrog with a sort of mist hanging over the tops of the hills, a mist that never really cleared all day.
We set off along the river and just before we crossed the railway track we saw a Kingfisher, diving to catch a fish and then headed off heading towards Carrog. A good start for the bird count, but that was as good as it was going to get.
We encountered our first problem where a very sturdy fence had been built across the normal path that we use. Later we came to the conclusion that the path had been diverted to the East of the cottage onto a new track that linked with the original path above the farm.
The path heading to the Penarth Mine was a at a very pleasant gradient and gave really good views towards the Dee Valley and the Llantysilio Mountains. The views would be even better on a crisp clear day.
Half way along this path, to our surprise we met a man descending with his dog, a huge Great Dane. The dog's head came half way up my chest, and I'm sure if it turned it head upwards its nose would have touched my chin! Thankfully both the dog and owner were very friendly.
We decided to have lunch just before trying to find the path that would lead us into the Carrog Plantation. There were plenty of suitable stones at this point on which we could sit while we had lunch. This must be the first time that we have been able to see our cars from our lunch spot, even though we were at a height of about 1100'.
After lunch what route to take was going to be a challenge. We found that the path and entry point into the Carrog Plantation did not exist, so we decided to head for open moorland where we hoped to find another track that might lead us to where we wanted to be, but the route along the outer fence of the Carrog Planation became impassable and we ended retracing our steps to a new gate that lead into the plantation. Thankfully they had started to thin out the trees and we could see an obvious way ahed that should lead us to a forest track marked on the OS map. It did and we could relax that once aging we had a good firm wide track under our feet.
Humidity at this point was again getting rather unpleasant, so we decided to take one of the forest tracks back to Llidiart y Parc.
It was along this track that we came across lots of spent cartridges left at various points, often near marker posts. It is a pity those members of the shooting fraternity responsible couldn't take their litter with them when they went home. As well as being unsightly, these plastic and metal spent cartridge cases will take an awful long time to break down.
Crossing the railway bridge at Carrog station, I was surprised to see about ten Barn swallows on the platform, but by the time I had focused my camera there was only one left!
We arrived back at the car, quite happy that hadn't been any longer, 6.1 miles and a climb of 1200' was enough on the day.
Birds seen and heard today included: Kingfisher, Mallard, Barn swallow, House sparrow, Raven, Common buzzard, Mistle thrush, Carrion crow, Pied wagtail, Goldfinch, Woodpigeon and Common pheasant.
After walk drinks were enjoyed when a got home, a few cups of tea went down well, but the first had a tot of whisky in it too!
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