Village on the Beach

This is the second day of my double-header walk on the Lleyn Peninsula. I left you in the last blog post as a relaxed in the van looking at the sunset and choosing not to put the awning away. As nice as it was to enjoy the moment, it turned out to be a misjudgment. I went to bed confident that it would not rain on my nice dry awning. It didn’t, but the clear night skies let the temperature drop to the point where a really heavy dew formed on it. If anything this was worse than rain because it just sat there rather than running off.

Even though the weather was going to be warm again I had to leave the site by 11 am, so I had to take it down wet - lesson learned. The site let me leave my bike fastened up. This would allow me to drive up to the end of the route and walk back. I could then ride back to the van. I packed up everything and headed for the National Trust Car Park in Morfa Nefyn. It’s a relatively short drive down narrow country roads and through the town of Nefyn.

As a National Trust member, the machine at the car park gave me a free all-day ticket after scanning my membership card. The WCP runs through the car park but the exit onto the path westward was closed. It didn’t really say why or for what distance. First, I needed to walk the loop along the headland of Porth Dinllaen. Double-checking my water and snacks this time, I closed up the van and headed west.

The WCP runs through the Nefyn and District Golf Club

A short straight road takes you up to the Nefyn and District Golf Club. The WCP runs through the middle of the course. I stuck to the coast and followed the path and through the little beach hamlet of Porth Dinllaen. Amongst the little group of buildings is a renowned beach bar called the Ty Coch Inn. Plenty of people were looking to make the best of this good autumn weather. There even seemed to be the odd coach party of ramblers.

Ty Coch Inn in the beach hamlet of Porth Dinllaen

The WCP takes a path that winds around the rocky sides of the headland. It is narrow and undulating - rarely more than one person wide. I found myself in a bit of a walker traffic jam. My legs were feeling the effects of the previous day’s exertions though, and I was in no rush. I had walked off their initial stiffness, but it was clear that they were not 100%. It was like I had a dodgy set of shock absorbers and my balance was all a bit wobbly. No, slow was just fine with me as I edged past the steep drops.

As the path arcs around the headland, you reach the modern lifeboat station with its long ramp heading out into the blue-green waters of Caernarfon Bay. You cross the beach and then climb around the back of the station to a little plateau that looks out over a host of small rocky islands. Many of these rocky platforms were topped by one or more basking seals. The favoured position seemed to be to hold head and flippers out of the water. It looked a little odd, especially for those on submerged rocks, making them look like a lovely inflatable lilo.

The cliffs get higher from here and the path moves onto the clifftop. You pass a coastguard lookout tower and track the edge of the cliff hoping none of the golfers hook their shot into the rough in your direction. I got a sneak peek from the west side of the headland to where my future walks will take me. At the narrow point of the headland, I intersected the path I entered on and headed back to the van.

I had a look at the map and tried to decide how to avoid the closed section. I could see a couple of footpaths that came off the main road and linked to the WCP a bit further along. I decided to risk the closest of those as the later ones were much more of a detour. The path got narrow and narrower until it became almost a tunnel of brambles. I met a lady gathering from the abundant crop of blackberries. Eventually, I popped out into the open and I was back at the coast and the WCP. The path is wide here with occasional benches at scenic points. Many look back towards Porth Dinallaen where I had been walking earlier.

The path detours around a farm onto the triangular headland of Penrhyn Nefyn. The long beach of Nefyn opens out in front of you with its colorful beach huts. I left the WCP which stays high along the clifftop and took a little path down the cliffs to the beach. It descended to a little group of properties and moored boats protected by a concrete pier called Porth Nefyn. A few people were out on the beach enjoying the sunshine, but the cute little beach huts were mostly quiet. I took the opportunity to grab a few shots. A steep ramp led off the beach and continued climbing into the town.

The WCP leaves the coast at this point and tries to keep you on quieter roads through the town. In my mind, I had done with climbing for the day but the WCP had other ideas. The route to Pistyll climbs up the quarry scarred sides of Gwylwyr Carreglefain. My mind and body were now pretty much on autopilot. It’s easy to miss turns here where the WCP isn’t the most inviting route. It always seemed to go up if it had a choice! It shares the route in some parts with the North Wales Pilgrim’s Way. I should have guessed that anything with “pilgrim” in the title would contain some unnecessary suffering. Eventually, the downhill section became more resolute and I emerged onto the main road a short distance from my campsite.

I retrieved my bike and headed back to the van. I didn’t have much energy left, so I set the assistance level to TURBO. It seemed to take so little time to get back to the van on the bike. Fortunately, the traffic was light, and not able to move much faster than I could. It took more energy to try and persuade the folded bike back into its travel bag and get into the van. I had time to take a break in the van and drink the Frappuccino I had waiting in the fridge. It had been calling me for some time.