Hiking with Sheep

Sunday we went hiking with Yvonne, Euan, and Yvonne's mum in Hay-on-Wye. I say hiking, because it was for me, although I think Yvonne and Euan would call it a walk :) As you remember from one of my previous posts (and if you don't, go back and re-read, slackers), Hay is just over the border into Wales, next to the Black Mountains, so the sites are quite amazing.

We hiked/walked up the Hay Bluff, going up the "easy" side, and down the more "challenging" side. Going up wasn't too bad, besides the fact that it was uphill. And windy. I mean, REALLY windy. When you look at the pictures, you can't see that the wind is actually pushing us around. I was wearing Chris' windbreaker (because I under-dressed, as usual) and I sounded like a flag snapping in the wind. Luckily, we were walking, and stayed warm enough, although there was definitely a nip in the air when we first climbed out of the truck! Also, I should mention that the areas surrounding the bluff, as well as the rest of Wales, are all sheep pastures. So while the views were amazing, I only saw them in snippets, because most of my attention was on the ground, trying to avoid poo. :) We got to the top, but because we came up the backside and all the good stuff is near the front, we headed that direction...

IS THIS A PLATEAU?! geez louise, every time we'd get to the top of a rise I'd think, "Ok, this is it, it's going to be awesome just over this!" and then I'd see more walking to do. We did get to the edge on the side though, and that created some great pictures. We even saw a glider taking advantage of the high winds and soaring almost eye level with us!

On the way back down, we went a different and more challenging route. Straight down is challenging, right? :) It was worth it though, because near the bottom was a herd of horses. I have no idea if someone owns them or if they're just there, taking advantage of the grass, but there were some very new colts posing for us and lots of gorgeous horses to admire. Maybe I don't need a puppy. Maybe I need a horse...

After letting Yvonne and Euan walk ahead to get the car and leaving us "snails" behind (yes, Yvonne, I talked to your mum and heard what you said!) we ran into more sheep and saw more lovely sites. Then relief arrived in the form of SUV, and we tiredly climbed in. We certainly earned the tea and cheesecake we ate when we got home! After the bacon sandwiches... And the roast chicken, cheesy broccoli/cauliflower, Yorkshire pudding, and potatoes we had for supper. MMMMM! I kind of want Yvonne and Euan to come live with us and cook every day!

All in all, a tiring day but worth the effort, because as you'll see, the pictures are gorgeous!