Between myself and my destination at Llanbedrog there is only the town of Pwllheli. My plan is to stop there for lunch, thus saving on the weight I needs carry. The weather forecast has changed overnight and I hope to be walking in, at worst, slightly cloudy conditions.
Coming out the train station the path goes left on a minor road, on to a track and at a junction in the track I turned north to head out along the coast. It was a fine morning, with just a cool breeze coming in off the sea. The tide was out and I took station by the breaking waves where I walked on a thin band of sand and gravel. Visibility was very good and once on the beach there were good views in all directions of the compass. The colours were bright and vibrant and, on an empty beach, there was a wonderful sense of solitude, along with nature's version of peace and quiet. Feeling good, I set off at a good pace for Pwllheli, hoping to arrive in time for a nice lunch in a cafe.
I tried walking on the beach but the sand was very dry and soft, constantly moving under my feet putting substantial strain on my calf muscles. Later it became a pebble beach, not much better for walking. After staggering along for a short distance, often off balance because my stumbling in the sand caused movement of the rucksack, I had to be content walking behind the dunes with almost no sea view to speak of. Despite the lack of a sea view, there was an interesting landscape landward, with a range of hills running west across the horizon. Traeth Crugan runs from Pwllheli to the headland of Carreg y Defaid where the land takes an almost imperceptible rise going round the rocky outcrop to then give you a stunning view along the shore line of the beautiful Llanbedrog Beach.
Looking out from the tip of the headland, all signs of civilization are hidden as you gaze at the endless sea of Cardigan Bay. Across the bay, it is a stunning, unending sea of blue, a dream of bright, vivid, Impressionist hues. With no-one else on the headland, there was a wonderful sense of solitude and aloneness. I had been walking for a number of weeks and had spent untold hours with only my wife or myself for company.
Quietude is now my constant companion and on the headland I revelled in the capacity to be happy and content in my own company. With long distance walking there is a letting go that occurs; a coming to terms with a new order, an embracing of the ways thing are right now. Taking time on the headland to sit and ponder, I marvelled at the sense of contentment and ease that is to be had.
After more than five weeks walking, I am 'walked in' physically and mentally. The physical part sees me walking at a good pace, regardless of the terrain and more than once in the past ten days I have felt as if I am in the prime of my life. Mentally over the weeks the cares of the world have dropped away to be replaced by a wonderful sense of single - mindedness that there sees only this walk today, this section this morning, this step right now. As the defences drop and the six senses open up the experience is that of just being another part of nature. The heart sings and I am at peace. In such circumstances a panoramic view, the song of a bird or the flight of a butterfly move me to tears. Such is the spritual potential of long - distance walking. Enjoy the day!