Wales Coast Path – Aberporth to Cwmtydu
Coast Path Vital Stats
Aberporth to Cwmtydu
- Distance: 10.15 miles
- Elevation Gain Today: 784m
- Highest Elevation: 170m
- Time: 2:28:52
- Av. Pace: 14:40 mins/mile
- Calories: 1269
Totals to Date
- Total Distance: 1094.98 miles
- Total Time: 216:48:27
- Total Elevation Gain: 36228m
- Total Calories: 106779
- Distance to go: 17 miles
I managed another quick trip along the Coast Path on Monday, and thanks to support from Anna I didn’t need any public transport. Although, along this stretch, the T5 bus is quite reliable, so it’s perfectly possible to get around on the buses if needed.
We took an easy drive down to Aberporth and parked in the same Car Park as I’d finished in a few weeks earlier. I jumped out of the car, took a photo of the beach and then soon headed off jogging down the path to the sands. I noticed straight away that I was wearing the wrong shoes – I had some Inov8 Talon 212’s on and only now remembered that I had stopped wearing them as they were lethal on any hard, wet surfaces. It was only a relatively shallow descent to the beach but the wet tarmac felt like ice. There wasn’t much I could do about it now other than hope that once away from the village the paths would be muddy.
I crossed the beach, teetered over the slippery stepping stones across the stream and then started heading back up the other side. Once again this was on tarmac paths and I just can’t stress how difficult it was. I literally couldn’t get any traction and had to pull myself up using the handrail. Even once on relatively flat paths at the top of the climb, it was treacherous with my feet trying to slip and slide from out underneath me. I’d only gone a few hundred yards and already I was cursing these stupid shoes.
I made my way around the headland and out onto paths along the clifftops. Typically these were still slippery tarmac as it was part of an accessible coastal walk. Eventually, the tarmac did run out and I was onto more suitable paths with more traction. It was a grey, cool and somewhat breezy day which was just about right for running. It was a little humid and sticky though.
The path weaved its way along the cliff tops, past a caravan park and a number of coastal chalets. It then dropped down into the pretty beach of Tresaith.
I ran along the sea-front and then came across another impossibly slippery tarmac climb. I was almost on all fours at one point and was overtaken by a couple of runners. Fortunately it didn’t last long and at the top it turned left into a little woodland and continued to climb up onto the cliffs.
It was a steep climb but I caught up the runners that had passed me on the tarmac. I moaned about my shoes, and then overtook them and left them behind as I made my way along the cliff tops. The path was never flat, always heading up or down with a number of gates to negotiate. Sometimes there was wet vegetation to push through, other times more open grazed field edges. It was quite easy going and despite the lack of trust in my footwear I was making decent progress.
The shoes were fine on grass or muddy trails but any bits of wet rock or tree roots were lethal so I could never fully relax. I hadn’t yet fallen over completely but it felt as though it would happen at any second. At Penbryn I was taken into another deep, dark woodland that descended steep steps into the valley and then back up steps the other side. I never actually made it to the beach here as the path headed inland a little and then climbed for ages back out onto the windswept hillside.
From here it was more clifftop running surrounded by bracken, gorse and wildflowers with views along the impressive cliffs to the sea.
The headland of Ynys Lochtyn soon came into sight and it wasn’t long before I was heading into Llangranog which was somewhat hidden from the clifftops so suddenly appeared from nowhere.
This was where my slippery shoes became a real hazard. It was only a short descent into the village but I just couldn’t stand up on the tarmac. My shoes just slipped out from underneath me and in the end I had to ‘make like a crab’ and go down the hill on all fours with my hands on the floor behind me. Ridiculous!
I made my way through the village, across the beach and then up the steep steeps and back onto the coastal paths. These soon took me to the grassy slopes of Ynys Lochtyn which would have been a lovely place to camp had I been camping. Although, there wasn’t a water source nearby.
I followed the path around below the steep hillsides of Pendinas Lochtyn and then slogged up through dense bracken towards the top. This was quite a climb, so I stopped halfway up to take a photo!
From here the path stretched out along the hillside, climbing all the while. It took me past the dry ski slope and then out onto what looked like more endless paths with steep cliffs to my left and a steep bracken covered hillside to my right. You can see the path continuing ever onwards in the photo below. Behind me Ynys Loctyn was retreating into the distance.
This section felt quite long and I was wondering where exactly Cwmtydu was. Anna would be there waiting for me and I couldn’t have missed it so it must be around the next bend? Nope, the path continued on. Eventually the path did of course start descending into a woodland where the slippery rocky bits were replaced with tree roots that were not only slippery but a trip hazard too.
After a switchback towards the coast I emerged at the bottom of the hill onto a little bridge – yep, you’ve guessed it, all of the bridge crossings, including this one, were super-slippery as well. Anna was there waiting for me so I stopped running and walked the last few hundred metres along a slippery tarmac road with her. It had been just over 10 miles today so not too far, but there had been lots of elevation gain and no real flat bits so I was glad to be finishing for the day.
At the car I was half tempted to simply throw my shoes in the bin. I didn’t, but I doubt that I’ll ever use them again after that! Somehow I think I vaguely remember saying that months ago when I last used them! If only I’d remembered how bad they were. I got changed, had a picnic lunch with Anna and then we headed home to chill for the afternoon. By my calculations, there are only about 17 miles left. Do I tick that all off in a single day next time, or do I stretch it out for just a little bit longer with two short sections?
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Throw them out now !
I would, but they probably cost close to £100 and previous ones of the same model haven’t been too bad. Plus, they are good in thick mud.