Aberffraw Dunes

From Aberffraw I followed the river towards the sea. There was an early morning gloom and some of the clouds looked threatening. On my drive from Holyhead I could see that the Snowdonia tops had swirls of grey cloud over their tops. An Oystercatcher screetched as it came in from the sea and flew past me a few feet above the river. Suddenly the scenery opened up and a large expanse of beach came into view. Beyond the sea, the high hills of the mainland were still in cloud. I walked south along the beach, with the sea on my right and the high dunes on my left. For a moment or two the low sun made an appearance between clouds and looking back along the beach, my shadow appeared about 30 metres long. I looked remarkably slim which provided all the evidence I needed that my mince pie and stollen cake diet was producing remarkable results. 

At the end of the beach I headed off into the dunes. There were many, many tracks criss-crossing the area and I followed ones that took me in a northeasterly direction. The area seemed to have its fair share of dog crap. Maybe owners don't feel the need to pick it up when its easy to just kick some sand over it. Eventually I reached a single track road that bisected the dune area.

Field Hopping

My 2013 version of the OS map had the Anglesey Coastal Path heading off over fields to Langadwalade. There wasn't the familiar Anglesey Coastal Path sign where the footpath branched off, although there was a normal footpath sign. This seemed a little odd since my experience of the signage on the Coastal Path has been that it is accurate, thorough and excellent. I decided to follow my OS map anyway and started the process of field hopping. If you like sheep and muddy fields, then the next half hour would be a delight. Personally, I found it a bit of a boring trudge. The footpath signage was okay, but I seemed to have lost the Coastal Path signs completely. The fields dumped me out on to the A4080 at Langadwalade. I followed the roadside pavement through the village and onwards to the next village of Hermon. There was a tricky 200 metre section here where there was no pavement and I had to duck into people's drives to avoid oncoming traffic. I was glad to get safely to the other side. 

On the other side of the village I left the A4080 and joined single track road. At the junction I could see a fingerpost sign which had some empty circular holes ready ro receive the Coastal Path plate. It was pointing to a path in a field. It was obvious now that the route administrators were in the process of rerouting this difficult road stretch over fields instead.

Rainy Malltreath

As the single track lane descended, the view opened up over the large expanse of Malltraeth Bay. The tide was in and covered the large area of sands that are exposed when it is out. The sun had decided to come out and things seemed to be looking up after the field hopping and road walking. Before the road reached the bay the route diverted off on a track into some woods. The vegetation became quite enclosed so that sometimes it felt like you were walking in a tunnel. As I walked along I suddenly found that my baseball hat had come off. Turning around I found it hooked up on a thorn branch that was overhanging the path. I felt the top of my head and I was relieved to find that my scalp was still attached. 

The final stretch of the path into Malltraeth went alongside the bay with the shore on one side and the gardens of some very expensive houses on the other. Just before I got into the centre of the village, the sky went grey and the rain started. It was so bad I put on my waterproofs. How disappointing, the last time I came to Malltraeth the rain was terrible and I was soaked to the skin even with waterproofs on. It looked like I was destined to visit Malltraeth only when it rained. I made my way to the start of the cob. This was my turnaround point for the day. I didn't linger since the wind was driving the rain into me and I was getting soaked. I started my way back to see what meagre shelter I coud find back in the tunnels of vegetation on the outskirts of Malltraeth. 

Return

Rather than take the road trip through Hermon and Llangadwaladr, followed by the boggy field hopping, I decided to take a single track road that would eventually lead me right back to the carpark at Aberffraw. The route was all on road but it seemed preferable to the outbound route that I'd taken. As I walked along the road I saw some more fledgling Anglesey Coastal Path fingerposts where the new route would cross the road and head off through a wood on to the route that I'd used this morning. This new route will totally bypass the awkward stretch along the A4080. 

There wasn't much to hold interest along the single track road. The views were either of woods or fields. Only one car went by during this period on the tarmac. A few houses were scattered along its length. It was still raining on and off and I was glad I'd chosen this drier route. I noticed there were Anglesey Coastal Path route posts along this road. This was obviously the official route at the moment. My 2013 version of the OS map appeared to be well out of date. When I reached the dunes a rainbow appeared on the horizon. It added a bit of much needed colour to the day. Back at the carpark, I just managed to get my clothes changed and get in the car before heavy rain started splattering on the windscreen.  

Today felt a bit like I was doing my duty on the Anglesey Coastal Path in terms of landscape and weather. Most of the route was well away from the sea which is a bit of a shame for a coastal route. At least my left foot had pulled through although it was still throbbing a bit.