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09.04.18 Tryfan (North Ridge)
A short break in Snowdonia, the first time I've been this way in several years. The weather wasn't looking too promising but it looked like we could squeeze in a quick traverse of the North Ridge on Tryfan. I've done this several times now but it always feels like a fresh challenge. This was the first proper scramble for Catherine and I was excited to see what she thought of it.
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15.03.14 Snowdon via Watkin Path
Today we split into two groups again. 9 of us chose to take the Watkin Path and the other 6 chose Crib Goch from Pen-y-Pass. This was the first time I had ascended Snowdon this way since way back when I was a teenager doing the Three Peaks Challenge. |
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14.03.14 Tryfan (North Ridge)
As part of my Stag Do we decided to do the North Ridge of Tryfan. Several of the guys hadn't done it before and didn't know what to expect either. Pretty much from the start I had to pack away my nice camera and resort to the camera phone as the weather was pretty grim.
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23.09.13 Moel Siabod
The last day in Wales. My knees ached like they had been smashed with a hammer, I had drank too much beer, eaten too many Super Noodles and barely slept. It had been well worth it though. So i didn't get to go to the Isle of Skye! This trip had been brilliant!! Great hiking, Great Weather and Great company. |
22.09.13 Tryfan (North Ridge)
Not a lot of photos today as climbing the North Ridge requires the use of both hands for most of it. Mark took a day off to rest his newfound hiking legs and Alan gave himself a heart murmur doing the Adam & Eve leap. |
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21.09.13 Mount Snowdon
A crap night's sleep in the tent and a few too many beers last night left me feeling cream crackered this morning. A coffee and a baon roll at Pen-y-Pass gave me some much needed energy to today's clamber up Mount Snowdon. |
20.09.13 Cadair Idris
Sleep in the bothy last night was limited so it was lucky we only had a 15 mile drive to the car park near Tal-y-Llyn. This was to be Mark's first hike up a mountain. |
19.09.13 Penrhos Isaf Bothy
When Mark and Alan reached my house on the morning of our long awaited trip, a tough decision was made to scrap our plans for the Isle of Skye and instead head for Wales. Five days or rain in Skye or 5 days of sunshine in Wales? It made sense! |
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08.12.10 Moel Siabod
It was only a 2 mile drive to the start of our hike from the accomodation in Betws-y-Coed. We parked up at Pont-Cyfyng and followed the sign posted path towards Moel Siabod. The ground conditions were very very icey and we had to retreat to the side of the path for most of the walk. Our plan was to ascend via the Daear Ddu ridge to the summit but before we reached the base of the mountain we had some fun on the frozen tarns and a disused quarry. The quarry pit was very impressive as its water was completely frozen over. Throwing the odd rock in an attempt to break the ice gave off fantastic acoustics that must have echoed for some distance. Once we reached the start of the ridge it was clear that the sharp side view had hidden it's true width. We were able to easily navigate our way up to the summit without too much exposure although the collected drifts of snow around the boulders made it all the more entertaining. Minus 4 degrees on the summit meant we didn't hang around for long before following the main ridge of the mountain and down the easy grass sided north face back to the icey path to the cars. |
07.12.10 Y Garn
Well the weather today was certainly milder than reported. It was looking potentially white-out conditions from the A5 but the sky cleared for us and visibility improved throughout the day. Geordie had fun testing out the ice on Llyn Idwal. It was pretty much solid which seemed to attract the attention of a bbc camera man. We made our way up Devil's Kitchen. It was very icey underfoot here but fortunately with the use of my crampons I was able to ascend without any difficulty. Unfortunately though, someone had chosen to leave a sample of their bowel contents directly on one of the scramble sections of the path which was particulary difficult to pass once at head height. Thanks for that! The saddle section leading to the top of Y Garn was a bit of a slog due to the snow depth which in places wasn't far from our knees (especially little Geordie's) but with a few snowballs flung around it wasn't long before we were standing on the summit. I think the summit of Y Garn offers one of the best views in Snowdonia and descending it as the sun began to set was very special. I hope you enjoy the photos. |
06.11.10 Cnicht and Moelwyn Mawr
It was either going to be the Lake District or Snowdonia depending on the weather reports. I made the right choice! I had read from a few sources that Cnicht is only a small mountain but when it comes to views it packs one hell of a punch. Well pretty much right from the start the views were fantastic. The ascent of Cnicht was steep, the track to the summit wasn't always obvious and the panorama became more and more stunning. I was having a fantastic time! Shortly after Cnicht we made our way across very boggy and rough terrain to the disused Rhosydd slate quarry where we stopped for some lunch. After a while of admiring the building remains we continued on up Moelwyn Mawr. Great views again from the summit and as we descended we enjoyed the sun setting over the Porhtmadog estuary. A great area to explore away from the busier parts of Snowdonia and some of the best scenery I've seen in Wales. |
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02.06.10 Carneddau - 6 x 3000'ers
With the car parked at the foot of Tryfan we set off our first summit of the day, Pen yr Ole Wen. It was a very sunny and warm morning. We followed the Afon Lloer up to Bryn Mawr and took the light scramble up the ridge to the left and onto the top of Pen yr Ole Wen. From here we contined on the obvious ridge track to the cloud covered summit Carnedd Dafydd and then the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn. After a stop for lunch we then descended to the summits of Foel Grach, Garnedd Uchaf and then a slight rise to the top of Foel-fras. There really wasn't any choice but to do a big back-track to Carnedd Llewelyn where we then took a southeastern turn down to the Ffynnon Llugwy Reservoir then straight down to the A5 and back to the car. It must be said that both Geordie and myself had sore feet. A well earned trip to McDonalds, we thought. |
24.01.10 Snowdon
Leaving flat and boring Cambridgeshire just before midnight on a saturday night we drove for 4 hours to Snowdonia. We pulled up at Pen-Y-Pass and attempted to have an hours snooze. This was nearly impossible due to Alan's snoring as he lay stretched out on the back seat. We set off in the dark with head torches along the Pyg Track. It was pitch black and also foggy but the silence was wonderful. About half way along the Pyg track the occaional patches of snow from before was now constant and very slippery. Towards the end of the track we were preparing ourselves for the steep zig zagging path which would take us to the top. Due to all the snow though this path was completely buried and what was in front of us in the dark was a steep snow slope. We could see very faint footsteps that we chose to follow but also repeatedly checked the gps. This was not a place to slip over. The snow was very icey and slippery without crampons. We eventually made it to the top in a pretty dense blizzard with no views and a very hold wind. We didn't hang around for long before descending back down the Pyg track. |
04.10.09 - Tryfan (North Ridge)
This morning we woke to a cloudy and cold Wales. We ditched the car at the side of Llyn Ogwen and started our way up the North Ridge scramble route. It wasn't long til we had to deal with very slippery smooth rock faces. At one point a leg up was required whilst precariously bunched together on a narrow ledge. As we continued on it started to rain and then hail stones. Things were slippery enough as it was so we really had to double check every step and every hand hold. We had a brief stop for photos at Canon Rock but I then had to put my camera away not only to protect it but also because I needed both hands to climb. We reached the top in thick cloud and after a quick breather made our way down below the Far South Peak. We then turned right and followed the path down past Llyn Bochlwyd, Nant Bochlwyd and back to the car at Llyn Ogwen. |
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03.10.09 - Y Garn
When we pulled up at around 13.30 at Llyn Ogwen the cloud was almost to the floor, the wind was rocking the car from side to side and rain was beating down hard. It looked like we weren't getting out today. After sitting in the car for a while we re-evaluated the conditions. The clouds had lifted slightly, the rain had stopped and the wind was bearable. 3pm we set off with a plan of a swift climb up to Y Garn and back before it got dark. As we made our way past Llyn Idwal and up Devil's Kitchen the weather conditions continued to improve and actually became sunny and mild. We got to the top of Y Garn with the sun slowly descending behind us. The views were fantastic and the setting sun illuminated the distant peaks. We made our way down the Y Garn ridge back to Llyn Idwal and we made it back to the car just as daylight ended. |
04.04.09 Aran Fawddwy
Things all started out nice and mild at the start of the morning down in Cywarch. We followed the footpath behind the farm through Creigiau Camddwr. We then went right and took a breather before ascending the steep side of Gwaun y Llwyni. Visibility from here became very poor as the clouds closed around us. We walked along the shear sided ridge to the memorial cairn and stopped for a quick bite to eat. The contents of a peppered steak pasty I was eating had a strong resemblance to cat vomit and had to be disposed of. This was the first of 2 stone features that Geordie insisted should be our summit for the day. We headed north to the first real rocky section and climbed up and over and then continued to the trig point. As we started to turn back it began to rain quite heavily and I was forced to stow my camera away for the rest of the day. We made our way back to the memorial cairn, turned left and went down and around the side of the Hengwm Valley and back to the car. |
03.04.09 Cadair Idris
Me and Lee arrived in Minffordd at 11.30am. We waited for Geordie for over 2hrs because the fool was driving around the wrong Minffordd 42km away by the sea. We followed the path through the woods up to Llyn Cau and then rejoined the Minffordd path along the ridge around Craig Cau to the Cadair Idris summit. After a brief rest we continued east to the storm shelter at Mynydd Moel and then descended back down through to the woods and back to the Car. We pitched our tents in Dinas Mawddwy and at 9pm we had an amazing lasagne at the Buckley Pines Hotel. The weather was great. A bit cloudy but warm with no wind. Didn't sleep very well in the tent. Pitching beside stables wasn't the best idea. |
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21.10.08 Glyders
I left Geordie to plan this route as he had been on the Glyders before. We started at Gwern Gof Uchaf farm at the bottom of Tryfan. We left the car there and followed the A5 beside Llyn Ogwen to the start of our ascent near the Outdoor Pursuits Centre. We joined the track that took us up past Llyn Idwal to Devil's Kitchen. We followed the steps up Devil's Kitchen and then up the steep scree slope to the summit of Glyder Fawr. We then continued to Glyder Fach taking the scrambling options as we went. We descended the steep scree slope down to Cwm Tryfan and followed the path back to the farm. The weather was mild with occasional gusts. Power snacked on a chicken wrap and Jelly Beans. |
10.05.08 Snowdon and Crib Goch from Pen-y-Pass
This hike we decided would be done in the dark. After 5 hours of driving we arrived at Pen-y-Pass and set off at 2am. We took the Pyg Track and reached the summit of Snowdon at 5am. After a 30 minute rest we ascended Crid-y-Ddysgl, trapezed across the Crib Goch ridge, onto Crib Goch and then scrambled down and back onto the Pyg track for our return to the car park. It was a cloudy Morning and very muggy. We power snacked on Haribo, Jelly Beans and a cheeky beer on Crib Goch. Breakfast was from McDonalds on the way home. |
31.03.08 Tryfan
Today's walk started early. I drove to Geordies house for 6am (he had slept in) And then we drove for the next 4 hours. Geordie had found a scramble route in Trail magazine that would take us up Little Gully to the summit. This was to be my first ever scramble. The weather was mild and clear but a fair amount of snow in the gully presented some risks. We power snacked on Jaffa Cake Bars and afterwards visited old reliable McDonalds before the long tiring journey home. |