Bendy ODP Day 2 - Bodfari to Llanarom-yn-ial

24.4Km in 8:16

Ouch!!!! Today was a real shock, it has been dubbed the 'bastard of a day'. We recorded our slowest average speed (3 kph) since starting the Pembrokeshire Coast Path.

Early start at about 0830 and a fairly easy up and down back into Bodfari. 

River/creek at Bodfari

From there the day hit us as it went predominately up for the next 4.5Km to the ancient hill fort Pen-y-Cloddiau. A huge hill fort with 4 defensive ditches around it. We had a short break here to chat to a couple of blokes walking on the opposite direction.

Approach to hill fort

After a downhill section we were led into a false sense of completion then we hit another uphill section that just went on and on and on. 14km into the day and 5 hours after leaving the B&B and after a torturace uphill section we arrived at the Jubilee Tower. It was built in the mid 1800"s and was not completed.  The top section fell down after a storm so while being a proximate landmark it was not as high as it used to be. We had lunch here; a welcome 25 minutes of not walking. 

Jubilee Tower

We had a good 2Km downhill section after the tower and we were feeling tired but proud of ourselves; that was quickly dashed on reaching the car park at the bottom as we had another huge uphill section to complete.  By now we were tired and fairly much over it.

We continued up and up and then down until we met Libby and Gail at the arranged pickup point; they were the best thing we had seen all day. 

We start tomorrow with a big uphill section but hopefully the day won't be as tough as today. 

We are staying at the Raven Inn which is a pub that met financial problems and was saved by the local community; great pub and really good the locals rallied around preserving it

The Ravern Inn