Robin’s Walk and AXA PPP Step Challenge
Bodfari, Moel y Parc, Moel Arthur, Moel Dywyll, Moel Fammau, Foel Fenli and Clywd Gate.
A Moel is a hill and a Foel is a slightly smaller hill. So from the names you can see today we did 5 hills with peaks between 1600 and 1850 feet with five ascents from around a couple of hundred feet to each of the peaks followed by descents to sea level again. It took us 8 hours and was one of the most difficult challenges both of us have gone through in our lives. This was really tough. Rob was in much better shape than me for the final Foel Fenli but on the final descent my ankles gave up and said no more. 
We were literally in the middle of nowhere so the last two miles for me were agony on any slight incline up or down. But we did it. I thought of Karen when my ankles gave up and know that this is what walking is like for her all the time. She was my inspiration. For poor Rob I was grumpy and complaining about the final hill. He took it well and was amazingly supportive.
Last night we stayed at Fron Haul with a wonderful hostess Glad who took fantastic care of us in her grand home. We saw photographs of the stunning views as the mist was all around and meant there was nothing to see. Karen stayed in to play an online bridge match with Glad watching fascinated and Glad’s husband playing the accordion on the sofa. Rob and I headed down to the Downing Arms for supper. We ate well and talked politics with the election tomorrow. Rob had to decide his proxy vote and it all got decided when he said ‘That’s it. If I vote for x I will not get the strong government we need right now so I must vote y for the first time in my life. Boy this is tough. Mum please forgive me but I gotta do it.’
On our walking today we saw some of the most stunning countryside we have seen anywhere in the world. The Clwydian range is just breathtaking. Farmland with undulations everywhere and then stretches of heather, bilberry bushes and grass along the peaks that just took the soul away to another place. Rob and I both felt primeval feelings. This is somewhere you want to go when all the pressures of modern living crowd in on you. I even saw a black grouse which flew in front of me making its distinctive noise. We are told later by Margaret at our B and B that this is a rare privilege as local people can often go four years without seeing one.
On our way from the B and B to Bodfarin we start our first gentle hill climbs and meet Maddie and Derek Harvey from Reigate and Mike Stevens from the Isle of Wight. They are completing Offa’s in sections and tell us we will really enjoy Coast to Coast. 
We continue. I am approaching the corner of a field and yet another stye (over 600 of them on the 180 miles of Offa’s) and I look back to Rob. Rob is wandering across the field like a poet thinking up lines to describe the landscape he is in. Not a care in the world and quite oblivious to the world around him. I shout at the top of my voice ‘RUN ROB’. He wonders what the fuss is about until he turns around and sees about 50 young bullocks charging towards him and about 10 feet away. I have never seen anyone change from calm reflection to run for your life in such a short period of time. Margaret at our B and B tonight (Yr Hen Feudy) said the bullocks were just curious and Rob should have turned around and made himself big and they should run off. The downside is they may not be able to stop in time and kill you anyway so bear that in mind when considering your response strategies. 
Then in the next field all of a sudden hundreds of sheep descend from the hills around and making the most amazing bleating din come to us as if we are some amazing shepards. Again Margaret explains they have got used to pellets of food from farmers who have now stopped so they feed on grass. They still think humans in fields means pellets. 
Tonights B and B is more than home from home and looks out on the Clwydian Range we climbed today. To pass the time I make Rob president and ask him to take me through his policies. So far we have completed education and immigration and are about to start work on foreign policy and health. Along the way we meet Megan, Pat, Janet and Heather from the Prestatyn Rambling club. We also meet Jim from Buckley who is trying out cycling to see if he likes it. 
Jim joins us as I am reading the times on one of our breaks after yet another challenging ascent. His wife is flying through the Icelandic Ash as part of her excitement. Before we start our ascent of Moel Fammau we meet Paul and Sheila Bradshaw from London and Hampshire.
I jokingly point to one footpath going vertically up the hill across the road and say there is no way we could do that. Well we were tested as that was our route. All I can say is don’t look up and if you go step by step looking a couple of feet ahead....you get to the top! 
At the highest point (Jubilee Point 1876 feet) we meet Steve Mazzone from Buckley also who is in to real climbing in the Alps and other challenging places. He popped out after work to get 20 miles in working his new boots in for challenges ahead. 
An amazing day testing both of us to the limit and me in particular. Now for some rest to be ready for tomorrow. We already know now what a huge challenge this is.
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