Friday

Pete, Charlie & Tim travel down the A38 in the faithful Discovery to meet Simon - and grab refreshments at McD's

Pete had to reach for his wallet to pay £6.40 to use the M6 Toll motorway

When they near the cottage, they stop at a pub, "Y Pengwern", for a swift pint. Contrary to Simon's belief, Pengwern is not Welsh for penguin - see below:

"Pengwern was a Brythonic settlement of sub-Roman Britain situated in what is now the English county of Shropshire, adjoining the modern Welsh border."

At the cottage, they meet up with Dave & Steve

The Cottage ("Horeb Chapel House")

We arrive at the local bar & grill for our 8.30pm table - and good food & beer was consumed

The Usual Suspects

Afterwards we head to The Meirion Vaults pub for some banging tunes! ...

... before heading back to the cottage

Saturday

Pete cooks an eggcellent breakfast

"I see no ships!"

We set off for what was supposed to be a round-trip, including 3 (optional) peaks but due to poor weather conditions, it turned out to be a bit linear

The anti-tourist locals have added to this warning sign

We then embark on climbing up a steep ex-minecart slope, aiming for a tunnel through the mountainside

Simon admits to having a fear of climbing steep, slippy rock slopes on all fours (see video)

Discarded machionery including an old 6-cylinder engine block

Pete's attempt at a snowman

The Usual Suspects

NOT for breakfast ...

Style icon

Pano-view

As the weather closed in we could still just about see the damn

Lunch

Piercy Pot Noodle Pic

The decsent involved some very steep scrambles

Gaiter Aid

On the way up we had passed near a waterfall and Tim assured Charlie we would be visiting it on our return ... and we did, much to Charlie's excitement!

Then it was homeward-bound, passing under the Ffestiniog narrow-gauge railway

Recharging ...

We popped in to the King's Head for a pre-dinner pint and were made to feel very welcome by the landlord and landlady

(Photo courtesy of Google Images)

We then tried the local curry house and it was great. The chicken pathia scored 19.5 out of 20!

The Usual Suspects

Afterwards we ended up back in the King's Head for a lock-in!

Sunday

Just down the road, a cockerill and his 7 hens ...

... and lurking at the back of the yard is a sign with an all too familiar logo on it!

A glorius morning with not a cloud in the sky ... but still plenty of snow on the Snowdonia peaks

We set off, 6-up in the Disco, for an 8-mile walk around the man-made lake next to Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, built from 1958-64 and decomissioned in 1991

"Llyn Trawsfynydd is an artificial lake just south of the Vale of Ffestiniog. It was constructed between 1924 and 1928 as the water supply for Maentwrog hydro-electric power station and it also later served as the supply of cooling water for Trawsfynydd nuclear power station, which was in operation from 1965 until 1991."

Pumping

As usual on our Remembrance Sunday walk, wearing our poppies, we stopped for our 2-minute silence

DEFINITELY not for breakfast ...

The damn

But what is this green stuff?!

The Usual Suspects

Some white horses ...

Some brown horses ...

An open culvert

As usual when Pete is nearby, some worried looking sheep

Footbridge

"When the reservoir was created, around twenty properties were flooded and public rights of way across the land were lost. To compensate for the latter, a public footbridge was built across the southern end of the lake. The steel bridge comprises 20 lattice-girder spans supported by trestle towers, is a quarter of a mile long, and links Trawsfynydd village with the site of a former local chapel."

Lunch on the bank ... but where's Steve?

Ah, OK - there he is

Heading back to the cottage, Charlie's view from the back of the Disco

Back at base, we decide to open the complimentary bottle of Prosecco to celebrate Steve's 50th birthday (belatedly) and Tim & Sam's pending parenthood news!

Then it was time for some Botheration ...

... which Pete "It's OK lads, I'll Do The Scoring (Again)" Smith managed to win

Later we piled back in the Disco for a trip to Porthmadog to find somewhere to eat (which failed, so we had a pint or two and returned to The Quaryman for another great meal). Afterwards we got some carry-out beer (and custard doughnuts!) and headed back

Monday

We eat up the rest of the breakfast food in cobs and pack up for heading home ...

... but not before Tim tries to work out where it all went wrong!

And finally ...

What happens when Pete photobombs the end of a panoramic shot? ...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

THIS!! ...