Llanferres loop

All training severely disrupted after a week in Armenia which saw a mild cough get considerably worse in the cold, dry climate. Despite this, the trip was superb with the highlight being a tour of Vayots Dzor along the border with Nakhichevan (an exclave of Azerbaijan) which is particularly spectacular at the high Tukh Manuk pass. This towers above the tiny de jure Azeri enclave of Karki/Tigraneshen, and is followed by the gorge of the Arpa and the superbly situated monastery of Novarank. At the highpoint of the trip in Jermuk, well above 2000m and just west of Nagorno Karabakh, the snow was almost head height, burying several buildings after a freak winter. Indeed, it snowed while we were there. Excellent wild Caucasian mountain scenery as we descended back to the Arpa valley. Views of the extraordinarily isolated peak of Mount Ararat became increasingly clear throughout the trip: a fantastic sight from Khor Virap, but still impressive from Yerevan and even up near Garni next day (another fine gorge). Ararat looks every inch of its 5137m when the weather is clear and would be nice to climb, though the logistics are apparently complex. By this morning, several days after returning home, I was feeling a little better after the trip, although I still struggled with the initial climb up Fenlli. The weather has been perfect in Wales for days, as it has by my reckoning since 2007 at this time of year. The warmth helped and, after coughing up a quantity of phlegm, I began to feel better as I descended from Fenlli. It was almost hot as I continued south along OD to the superb path west of Moel Gyw. Over the shoulder of this to Llanarmon, then a series of extended intervals back to Llanferres. Followed up with a bouldering session at Pot Hole, mindful of not having done any rock climbing in preparation for our forthcoming Provence cragging trip. Warmed down by cycling to work in glorious sunshine.