Aberdaron to Abersoch

Day 3 – Aberdaron to Abersoch

Day 1 was the steepest, day 2 was the longest, today, day 3, offered the best beach.

To be honest, I am not sorry that the 2 longest days of the walk are over. After averaging 25 miles a day for the last 2 days, today's 15-miler was a doddle by comparison. It wasn't without its moments, but life is definitely getting easier.

First of all, the bus back to Aberdaron. One day I will return to this delightful place and have a proper look around, but that was not what I was here for today. Abersoch was calling.

Again, as the cliffs are unsafe to walk, the official path heads inland, and I found myself heading towards Rhiw. A pretty uneventful route other than to say that it is steep. However, what goes up must come down, and what a down it is. Not only is it through some stunning scenery, but the beach at Porth Neigwl comes more and more into view. It is 4 miles long and just as deserted as Traeth Penllech was yesterday. It's not the official path, but it is marked as a recognised alternative, and that will do for me.

As with yesterday, the water looked inviting, and I had a paddle, but carrying my stuff this time in order to keep moving and make progress. After a moment of that, I decided to walk along the beach would be better than keep dodging the water, and it was walking on the beach that I turned back to see where I had come so far, noticed a cloud, and noticed that any second now, this place was going to live up to its English name, Hell's Mouth.

Basically, what happened next was that Hell's Mouth unleashed its fury. Before I had time to get my waterproofs on, I was soaked. The downpour came from nowhere and was merciless in its attack. It must have made one of the strangest sights ever, me on the beach, in full waterproofs, coat and trousers – and bare feet! Well, it's one way of keeping the trainers dry!

Fortunately, the cloudburst was over as soon as it arrived. Having seen the cloud make its way along the beach, I now watched the blue sky make its way overhead – it was all over in 5 mins, but wow, what a surreal experience! Happily, everything dried out quickly!

The rest of the walk along Porth Neigwl was uneventful, though I turned off just before the end. There was a fast food van close to the car-park, and although I didn't buy any fast food, a cup of coffee was most welcome! From there, it was down a country lane into Llanengan.

What a beautiful village Llanengan is. It was a particular pleasure to discover that the church was open – it was a bit sparse inside, but non the worse for that.

Lovely though it is, it's a bit of a detour and is a little way away from the coast. That said, this is another place where there is no obvious right of way along the headland, so a brief excursion inland does have to be made. Eventually, I arrived on the beach to the south of Abersoch, and, arriving in that town, had plenty of time for a very welcome scone and peppermint tea before the bus back to Pwllheli.