Another 2-day circuit around the hills forming Cwm Lledr, this time exploring the lower cwm on the eastern side and returning via Dolwyddelan Castle.
The Ysgafell Wen ridge is superb for backpackers: great mountain views, rocky knolls, grassy pitches and bejewelled with lakes, yet little trodden and often walked in solitude, due no doubt to the difficulty of devising satisfactory circuits for the typical day walker. We have done several longer backpacks in this area but this route was a short one to take advantage of a fine sunny weekend and we saw nobody until the afternoon of the second day when a group appeared on the mine track from the Crimea Pass.
A single day walk on the west side of Altrincham. The outward line follows the Trans Pennine Trail (TPT) westwards as far as Latchford Locks on the Manchester Ship Canal. The return line follows the Bridgewater Way (BW) canal path through Lymm to Bollington Mill and the National Trust house and park of Dunham Massey.
This was our first backpack since my discharge from hospital a few weeks ago, a modest circuit with significant ascent to a choice deserted location in Wales.
An easy day walk to aid recovery following a stay in hospital: a few weeks ago my lower left leg swelled up and I suffered stabbing pains on the left of the upper chest when trying to breathe in deeply. My doctor quickly recognized the symptoms, made a few phone calls, wrote a letter for the medics at A&E and told me to go there at once. His suspicions were correct: after some hours and several tests and a cat scan at A&E, they confirmed it was a DVT clot in the leg, part of which had migrated upwards and caused a pulmonary embolism in my left lung. The chief consultant organized a bed immediately, in the transplant unit no less, where I stayed for four days under close observation during treatment with clexane in case part of the clot reached the right lung. On discharge I was prescribed at least six months on Warfarin to help clear the lung damage, hence no mountain backpacks for so long.