Fat Girl Hikes

I found a loop for Moel Gyw last year, and decided to use that as a base for the walk yesterday: nearlyuphill.co.uk

Challenges in progress:

Challenges in progress:

We had agreed to go up Moel Famau on Sunday 26th Jan, but the weather was meant to be wet and windy so we decided to go up on the Saturday instead!

The Alwen Reservoir, looking ferocious, water gushing through the dam, fog in the distance, so much drama. We decided Tuesday 28th January was the perfect day to go for a hike, I have had my eye on this Marilyn which goes off from the lake path, for a few months now. Ramblingartist had posted about this on Instagram, and I found her page whilst researching last month. She very kindly sent me some more details on how to find it, which was a fabulous help. I bought my favourite wrap from Sainsbury's, a double chocolate brownie, banana and a protein yogurt drink as well as squash to keep me going. Husband brought a chicken tzatziki wrap, two mini sausage rolls, a monster and squash, Flora got carrots and dog treats, as well as her own water to keep her hydrated. All kept together in my Proviz 20 litre day pack- amazing Christmas present (photo of husband wearing the bag, with its fabulous bright yellow waterproof cover on).

January 15th

I walked a section of the North Wales Coastal Path on Sunday 12th January, covering just under 11 miles in total. Starting at the old Point of Ayr colliery which closed in 1996, and has  since been turned into a lovely walking path. There is so much history in this area, you can still see the old railway lines running across the middle section, there is a wooden statue of miner and his horse as well as a huge wheel. If you click on the link, it will take you to a history page with lots of information about the old mines- incredible to think how deep they go! 

I had typed this out already, but managed to forget I copied it, and copied something else so lost it...doh! Need to be better!

To welcome in the New Year, I enjoyed two whole bottles of wine over the evening, stayed up until midnight and enjoyed myself! Minimum fireworks so no stressed doggies, and good company from the husband.

I have a lovely friend who is an avid walker and traveller, it was on one of her amazing posts that someone mentioned Marilyn's. These are hills of any height, with a prominence or drop of 150 metres (500 feet) or more on all sides, you can find them all over the UK including Wales. There are 1556 in total over the UK, and 159 in Wales. I downloaded an app- Y Marilyns, to allow me to see where they are and 'bag' them as I go, the app also has these in Cymraeg should that be preferable.

Last January I went on a lovely little get away with the husband, my mum, stepdad, sister and her partner, brother and his partner and my auntie. We stayed in Chapel Stile which is very picturesque, the family were staying in a fab lodge in the Langdale Estate. I decided we should take our bikes so we could easily go back and forth without having to drive. I have a bike with electric assistance and still found it super tiring, much more tiring than I expected. We also went on a fabulous walk to the Cathedral Caves, walking up some hills and I was so exhausted, my breathing felt awful, even with my inhaler I couldn't catch my breath. We found the caves then went and found Slaters bridge, I had an amazing time exploring with my family. We went on another family walk, and again, it shouldn't have felt hard, but it did. As much as I enjoyed myself, there was a big shadow cast over, I felt my weight for the first time in a long time, I felt so unfit and upset. I re-booked to have a gastric sleeve- date booked for July as my first niece was due in June and I didn't want to miss it!