Ice Ice Baby

We have had 6 weeks of rain non-stop - pretty much.
The Met Office had promised freezing temperatures over last night. This looked like the opportunity to do what i had considered.
It was to be an early start.
And it was - i quit the warmth of my house at 06.20 and headed south west towards Llandovery.
My last visit to Llyn Brianne i had hug a right at Beulah and approahed it via the Abergwesyn Pass. I considered the strong possibility that the pass would be icey and that approaching from the south east would be safer.
This proved to be a wise decision. I have them now and again :0)
there was alot of traffic about for the time of day tho' it was the 2nd day of the Winter Fair (llanelwedd) so maybe there were stallholders turning out early who weren't on-site.
The road up from Llandovery was icey in patches but taken sensibly it was fine and i arrived at Llyn Brianne in one piece - as was Storm.

Having taken some time around the dam it was time to head up the eastern side of the lake.
It was a great run tho' filled with icey patches so moving on at a steady good pace was a no-no.
The last time (and only time) i was here i was comfortable in a t-shirt.
Below shows where i'd parked before and taken the self-shot of me parked on a boulder.
Whilst i took another photo today i did not linger on the freezing boulder and my feeling chill is rather obvious in the shot. Brrr!


Entering the forestry above Llyn Brianne i was listening to Terry Wogan. Second day of his last week doing the breakfast show for which he is so famous.
I was traversing a beautiful bit of Wales (as is so much of my fair country) and Tel played a great song by a great welsh artist.
TJ
Up went the volume - both from the ICE and my own vocals.
It felt so powerful and all encompassing.
Anyway i reached the Abergwesyn road and worked my way east.
Now this was very slippery. Very very slippery.
With an ice patch on a bend on the descent in to the valley i had a sense of foreboding about ending up with a very dented car.
This did not appeal to me. It was time to bid a steady retreat to a safer way out. It was tie to take the Tregaron run out.
Despite an older gent decieding to treat the road as if it was his personal driveway i realised that this road would be added to the 'great roads' list. Again, there were patches of ice which had to be negotiated with care.



On the route north i was reminded of the existence of Strata Florida. Ruins of an abbey from the time when Cistercian monks hung around in the area.
The National Trust now look after it but there was no one to prise the £3.00 asking price from me. Not surprising. Anyone hanging about probably suffer hypothermia and/or frostbite





I entered the Ystwyth valley and so it felt like i was on home territory.
It was a good and very cold day.
Now - the rain is back. Sometimes one has to grab the nettle when it's presented even if there may be some occasional stings.

Dam

Told ya!
Above you see the Vyrnwy Dam in north Powys. This feeds the city of Liverpool.
I decided to visit the dams of Powys before the year was out. So that's Elan, Claerwen, Brianne, Vyrnwy and... ah! been passed and driven over but not stopped for a shot. I better get myself back to the Clywedog and get off a few shots.
I was up at the above last sunday. Sadly, i was not alone but a lateish night meant being up later than i might otherwise have been.
The best non-nature sight was the chap riding a large wheeled unicycle. One could but smile as he hove in to view.



Damnit! but the weather did play ball and i was so
pleased to see this shot waiting to be taken.

I left Vyrnwy taking the less used mountain pass road that leads to Bala. Another home to a lake but in Gwynedd as this was. It reminds me much of the Abergwesyn Pass. And i didn't meet anyone in any awkward spots which made it an even better experience.