Day 4 Thursday 11th May 2023:
RAF Hercules through the Mach Loop
We were getting ready to leave for the day especially as by now we were still wet and getting colder. The guy below shouted that FlightRadar had an RAF Hercules coming close to the Loop.
A quick unpack and there she was coming towards us.
This would be my last RAF Hercules due to their pending retirement.
After the Hercules we made our way back down to the layby. All the streams that were full on the way up were now raging. In places we were fascinated as we could hear running water at the side of us or even underneath us as underground streams carried water of the hills down in to the valley below. In one place underground streams came to the surface and joined the surface streams making it impossible to pass without going through boot topping water!
Back at the Red Lion we enjoyed the company of the fellow spotter off the Bwlch. The pub had no spare rooms but he’d had permission to sleep in his car in the car park after enjoying dinner in the pub.
My boots were in the fireplace to begin drying out as we ate dinner.
This evening I had the special curry – delicious.
Day 5 Friday 12th May 2023
This was the day that I moved on for my Snowdonia in Spring (Photographic) Tour. My next hotel was in the centre of Dolgellau. After packing the car I left my boots in the sunshine – still soaked.
To start the day we had a late full Welsh breakfast. Frustratingly as we ate a Hercules flew over us on its way to the Bwlch…
After breakfast I left the Red Lion. The weather forecast was now excellent and despite lots of advice I decided to head straight to the new hotel.
On the way I stopped at the petrol station by Starbucks for the cheapest diesel that I had seen in months.
My morning was spent exploring Dolgellau and hearing the USAF F-15s and F-35s going around the Mach Loop – I should have taken the advice and gone there first!
The Snowdonia in Spring tour began at 1pm with an introductory briefing.