Offa’s Dyke Path – Day 13

A bit of morning colour

Offa’s Dyke Path – Day 13 – Bodfari to Prestatyn

Our last day on the Offa’s Dyke Path and it was a beautiful day. Nice warm temperatures and sunshine were a sharp contrast to the mist and rain of the day before. We soon found our acorn marker and were on our way again.

An early morning mushroom

Another marker design

It wasn’t long before our path took us uphill on a path unsuitable for motor vehicles: a good indication that we were indeed on-our-way.
A sign for the day

Despite our enthusiastic start under bright blue skies, our final day on the Path turned out to be a psychologically tough day since the sea appeared early in the last day and reappeared from time to time but, each time that it appeared, we headed upward once again rather than down to the sea. The path headed along through the hills and vales parallel to the coast. Our initial thought was that this community was our goal, Prestatyn, but it was not. Prestatyn was further up the coast.

See the sea but not the end

Windmills offshore.
WIndmills offshore.

This day our path would often head downhill and toward the sea but only to raise false hope.
Heading downhill toward the sea but only raised false hope

I thought we were almost there, so chose this spot for a photo of the day. Boy, was I mistaken!
I thought we were almost there so chose this spot for a photo of the day.

It was aclear day so now we could see Snowdon Range off to the west.
Snowdon Range to the west.

Field of Wheat

Helpful directions Older than your average postbox

We saw this as good sign but soon were climbing up over another hill.
A Good Sign

This view interested me - a colour other than green

Oh no! Another hill! Saw the hill before the signpost. Should have known that we we need to climb it as soon as we saw it :-).
Oh no. - Another hill

Hillside view of the sea - getting closer.

Almost the last climb!
Almost the last climb

Traversing the hillside above Prestatyn. It wasn’t long after this point that we headed downhill through the gorse and arrived at our destination: Prestatyn.
Transversing the Prestatyn hillside

Prestatyn

Nothing spectacular about Prestatyn as far as I could notice.
Prestatyn

Postbox style - Prestatyn Litter Box

As we walked down the street, we passed our B&B but didn’t stop too long. Still had to follow the acorns and get to the sea!
Prestatyn B&B

Acorn on a pole - Prestatyn

Made it to the marker.
Fancy marker at the Prestatyn end of the Offa's Dyke Path

Made it to the sea! See the sea, feel the sea – Made it!
Rather melodramatic to walk out on the beach at the end of 13 days of walking over hill and dale from Chepstow to Prestatyn but I had looked forward to doing just that for the whole day.
See the sea, feel the sea - Made it!

Reflecting on my Offa's Dyke Path adventure

Reflection on the end of a long walk:
I had never tried to do a long distance linear walking/trekking/hiking trip before so it was a new experience. Might do it again some day but not sure when or where. Met many interesting people along the way. This photo is a reflection of the playground at Prestatyn beach. The reflecting surface is polished aluminum or steel on the side of an information center on the boardwalk. I was known along the trail as the Canadian with the big camera: the camera being my Nikon D200.

About Ron

Ron has long had an interest in photography and traveling and, in recent years, has had more time to devote to both activities. Long a Pentax user, Ron switched to Nikon gear when he went digital. The advent of the digital SLR camera, and the ease of the internet blogging process, has provided a venue for sharing his photography and travel experience at the local, national and international level. More about Ron
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