Log No 209. Thu 9th Jan 2014 - Llandecwyn Stn to Fairbourne, 25 miles (3209 miles walked)

A bus service had been put on to replace the train but the times were different so I didn't start walking until 09.30. It also didn't help that the road to Llandecwyn Station and the bridge to Penrhyndeudraeth, where I wanted to start, was closed for repairs and the bus could only let me off a half hours walk further on.

The bus driver said the train company hadn't got the buses and routes properly organised yet and he hadn't been told he had collect any money so I got a free ride.

It was overcast when I left Fairbourne at 08.00 but the forecast was for it to improve.

When I got off the bus I stayed on the main road all the way to Harlech.

At Harlech I got down to the beach and walked along the sand to the end of the bay where a footpath took me up the side of the hill back to the main road at Llanfair.

After a mile on the road I picked up the footpath across and then alongside the river to get to the minor road at Llanbedr railway station.

I followed the road towards Shell Island and then took the footpath along the edge of the marshland and disused airfield to go through the dunes and onto the beach.

I could only stay on the beach for a couple of miles as I had to head back inland a bit to get back onto the road at Tal-y-bont to cross a river.

I stayed on the road as it headed toward the coast at Llanaber.

The railway line was squeezed between the road and the sea and a lot of damage was done here.

In some places the sea had thrown stones and rocks onto the line but more serious was that some sections of the line had the foundations washed away leaving the line hanging.

The bus driver told me it could take up to a year to get all the storm damage repaired.

The promenade at Barmouth had suffered a lot of damage too and although the debris had been removed it still looked a disaster area with broken walls and the concrete blocks in place for temporary defences.

Luckily the railway bridge across Barmouth Bay was unaffected as it had a walk/cycleway alongside it otherwise it would have been a long detour.

After crossing the bay I had half an hour on the road and I got back to Fairbourne at 17.10, it had got quite dark by now but the clear sky helped. It is noticeably lighter now than when I left Wales 3 weeks ago.

It was quite a tough walk for my first day back, with it being a late start and 25 miles to do I couldn't dawdle and only had 25 minutes of breaks to make sure I didn't have too much walking in the dark.