In reply to jezb1:
Jez, it's not often I post on here so I hope you realise how wrong you are here.
The café linkup should start with Siabod Café for breakfast, having first driven through a moody and decidedly damp Ogwen valley whilst cursing the eternally optimistic yr.no forecast. "Perhaps it's dry in the Pass?" ventured between mouthfuls of bacon and egg bap, washed down with black coffee. Windscreen wipers wiping furiously, whilst swerving drenched walkers with hoods up and heads down as they battle to get to the start of their walks. The Pass is not dry. Necks craning to check out the crags above and slivers of silver spilling down between them. Pulling through Llanberis, the wipers start to squeak. "Stop at Pete's?". "Meh. Overrated and anyhow, it'll be rammed." "Sacrilege! We're at least popping in for a quick pint of tea." "Fine, at least it will give the slate a chance to dry"....
Retreating from the high point of the day (the top of the stile heading into Bus Stop Quarry) back to the car, having been beaten back by a brief but decisive drizzle; thoughts soon turn to sustenance. "What about the Lodge Dinorwig place? Not been there yet." "Nah, save the onsight for another day. Stick with tried and true"....
Safely ensconced in the Caban with peanut butter chocolate brownie in hand, the driving rain beats against the windows as the bird feeders sway side to side. Webcams and weather forecasts are painstakingly cross referenced, the big decision awaits. "Holyhead or Tremadog? What do you reckon?" The prospect of being rained on whilst on a sea cliff, or indeed being rained off with the long walk out from Holyhead mountain makes Tremadog the obvious safe choice. The real subtext of the question though was plainly RSPB or Eric's all along....
Hurrying back to the car. Cursing the weather. Trying not to slip over in the mud. A glance back over your shoulder, then a glimmer of a smirk as you spot multiple teams beating somewhat slower retreats than yours. Eric's is quickly filling up. "Shall we have some proper food?" The connoisseur shudders. "Hmmm, perhaps a quick snack and check out Carreg Hylldrem? Could do the girdle if it's raining there too?"....
An ironic ice cream in Eric's later, you don't even bother leaving the car now you're parked below Carreg Hylldrem. "It's not far enough from Tremadog to get different weather really, is it? Still, the girdle will be dry I guess." Of course this was part of the connoisseur's sly plan all along though. "Nah, I've done the girdle too recently. Let's head to Caffi Gwynant for some proper food mate"....
Smashed avocado on toast smashed, the connoisseur is carefully considering whether following with a slice of coffee cake would be a touch excessive. "What about this one? Lockwood's Chimney? Says it can be climbed in pretty much anything." "Tradition does state it should be done in the rain. But also at night and with a large party. And it's not sporting if you're sober." The realization sets in that no crag in North Wales has escaped the monsoon and the connoisseur isn't too keen for climbing in the wet. "Beacon?"....
Chatting to the petite, smiling, ever ebullient beauty behind the café counter, the connoisseur is recounting a heroic adventure in an attempt to impress whilst a queue steadily builds behind. Now sat, nursing a coffee and sore arms, the connoisseur soon steers the conversation in a gastronomic direction. Only one choice really. "Pizza and a Pint?"....
