Snowdon Day 5

Bethesda - Conwy, 22.1 miles

Today was a long day, furthest distance so far, but the weather was really good, warm and sunny, which was very welcome after two wet days. And although the route never went high, much of it was very pleasant, grassy country with fine sea views. A good day.

I had intended an early start but didn't wake until 6.30am and by the time I left, it was 8am. I set off steadily and was soon up on a grassy, sunny down, dotted with sheep.  Lovely to walk on springy turf for once, instead of gravel or tarmac. After a while the sea came into sight, with some impressive views out over Conwy Bay and the Irish Sea. All very enjoyable. 

Next came the Rhaeadr valley, including the impressive Aber Falls, allegedly 37m high. The vertical drop looked less to me, but it was still quite a sight.
Having gone round, down and started up the far side, I stopped at a farm to ask for some water.. I was able to inform them that a sheep and a hen had got out onto the road and were making their escape (eloping perhaps?! I doubt their if parents would approve of the relationship) so they got some reward for their kindness.
Then on over the moors of the northern Carneddau range, more nice springy turf interspersed with gorse and heather. Then finally Conwy came into view, with its truly immense wind farm beyond, and after a seemingly endless approach, finally I arrived in Conwy, to a cheerful welcome at the Bryn Guesthouse.

The Bryn is a substantial Victorian house with spacious rooms and high ceilings. It was immediately clear that I was going to like staying here - no detail overlooked, everything just so, and Alison could not have been nicer. I nipped out to a local pub for something to eat, then collapsed on the fine double bed in the knowledge that for the first time in a week, it didn't matter when I woke up. 

looking back on Bethesda. Looks better from a distance.. note the vast heaps of slate waste

pleasant downland, with the Glyder peaks in the distance.

Several groups of horses. Presumably intended for meat, but at least they have a nice life in the meantime (rain permitting!)

A big bird.. a buzzard I think, but a huge one.

can you see the two waterfalls? They are more than a mile away

The Aber Falls. Quite noisy and impressive up close, but hard to photograph.. the bottom half is missing!

haven't you always wanted to know what this phrase is, translated into Welsh?

Conwy Bay and wind farm. Conwy itself is visible in the dip right of centre

Snowdon Day 4

Nr Beddgelert - Bethesda 14.7 miles

Shortest day so far, but not the easiest as thanks to my second route alteration, I got up over 3,000 ft for the first time today. 

I had a yogurt and some bananas for breakfast, transported from Penrhin, and set off, once again in the rain. Before leaving I had a disaster - my lovely new Samsung galaxy s8+ fell out of a pocket of my rucksack onto the only concrete floor for miles around, and the screen is cracked. Everything still works ok, but I was not a happy bunny. 

I headed off up the valley, and after a mile or two I passed another campsite, much bigger than the one I had used. Not only did it have a shop, but also a stall selling cooked breakfasts! One bacon and egg sandwich later I felt better, and carried on up the Glaslyn valley. At the top is a famous hotel, the Pen-y-Gwryd, frequented over the years by mountaineers such as Hillary and Bonington, with the photos to prove it. I got out of the rain for a bit (coffee, it was only 10am) and was able to phone home as there was a little bit of signal. 

Then off up towards Glyder Fach, 994m (3,261ft) and the sixth highest mountain in Wales.
It was a steady climb and I felt quite comfortable, more concerned with avoiding the bogs and not losing the path than with the exertion. Strange to think that Sir Edmund Hillary might have trodden in that very same bog...

Conditions were not ideal - it rained regularly and visibility was hopeless, just grey cloud wherever you looked. Still I felt very happy to be back up in the real mountains again.
And not on my own, either. Every now again a group of bedraggled,  depressed looking teenagers with huge rucksacks would loom up out of the mist. Or harassed looking guides, asking if I had seen this or that group? By the time I went off the far side of the mountain, I must have seen 60 people. Makes me wonder what Snowdon will be like.
So I put in quite a lot of effort, to no great reward and no views at all. But I still thought the day worthwhile, I felt at home out in the mountains and it was nice to do the climb without strain. 

It was mid afternoon by the time I got down to Llyn Ogwen reservoir. Although the excitement was over, I still had a six mile walk along the Ogwen valley to get to Bethesda.
First impressions of Bethesda were not promising. The main drag is along a busy main road, the A5, it is dirty and with the usual quota of empty shops etc. I went into the first pub I came to, the Bull, and asked if they were serving food. "Oh no, we don't do food." I asked if there was another pub that did? "Oh no, no food in the village on a Tuesday night." So I left and carried on down the road. Next pub was the Victoria, they had a sign saying "Luxury bunkhouse," whatever that means. But they didn't do food. The nice barmaid said "You want the Llangollen, next door." So off I went and by golly she was right! They describe themselves as a gastro pub, usually a worrying boast but I had a really excellent meal, for not very much. Then I went back next door to enquire further about the bunkhouse luxury, as a result of which I found that I had the entire 20 bed place to myself. I had a fine double bed, a superb and spacious kitchen, and a choice of five showers etc., not to mention two large tvs, all for £25. So despite an unprepossessing appearance and an obviously lying landlord of the Bull, I ended up very happy with Bethesda and highly recommend both the Victoria luxury bunkhouse and the Llangollen gastro pub. But avoid the Bull like the plague!

I will be back in Bethesda in a few days and hope to do just that.
Not many photos again today, difficult to take them in the rain and mist.

A distant view of Glyder Fawr and Glyder Fach

Just for a moment, Tryfan was visible. A minute later it disappeared again

coming down to the Ogwen reservoir

The Ogwen valley, Bethesda is out of sight at the far end

palatial bunkhouse, the Victoria

my personal kitchen

Snowdon Day 3

Trawsfynidd - nr Beddgelert, 21.0 miles

Woke up about 6am, to find that apparently midges never sleep. It had been raining overnight, but I was able to mop up and pack the tent in the dry. 

I set off about 7.30 am and walked up the road beside the big reservoir. The footbridge still clearly visible - Derek the friendly campsite owner told me the footbridge was built when the reservoir was, to appease the villagers. The chapel was dismantled and moved to near the other end of the bridge, from a location subsequently flooded. 

It was very cloudy and overcast.  After a few minutes it began to rain, and it carried on raining for most of the day, on and off. I put put on my full waterproof gear and ploughed steadily on through woods and along the shore of another reservoir, llyn Tecwyn Uchaf. Soon there were glimpses of the sea in the distance and the path dropped down towards Penrhyndeudraeth ("Penrhyn"). It lies on the estuary of the Afon Dwyryd and is nearly though not quite a seaside town. It is also a bit of a dump, sadly.  Or to be a bit more charitable, it has fallen on hard times. Lots of empty shops and a rather seedy appearance.  I walked into town, found a pub and walked in, only to be told it was shut until 4pm. I asked about other pubs and were told there are two - both shut, permanently. So I ended up in the "Busy Bees Caffi." It was ok, in a slightly twee way, and the lady behind the counter was dour, but the boef bourgignon and chips was fine. 

When I transferred the route from the guidebook onto my digital maps, a couple of weeks beforehand, it all looked a little bland and unexciting (and it has been, really) so I fiddled with the route a little to include some higher ground. Thus I set off from Penrhin heading not on the official route to Beddgelert but to Rhyd, Croesor and then over the moors to the Glaslyn valley, South of Snowdon. After two days of tramping along roads and gravel paths, it was good to get up into the heather and peat bogs and I had a fine time, although it made for a longish day. I reached the National Trust campsite at Hafod-y-llan about 7pm, tired and wet through but happy to have seen some of the proper Snowdonia. 

It's a pleasant, scenic site, but no food or drink to be had.  and no mobile signal, so could not phone home or check the weather forecast. And the midges are out in force again..

Not many photos taken today, because of the rain. 

llyn Trawsfynidd

heading down towards Penrhyndeudraeth 

A pointy bit. This one is called Cnicht, and I go up it on the return route.

coming down into the Glaslyn valley. That is Snowdon dead ahead, though I never got to see the summit, seemingly in a cloud permanently

Snowdon Day 2

Dolgellau - Trawsfynidd, 17 miles

As might be expected, the pub was a lively place on a Saturday night. I was tired though and with a little help from my earplugs, I got to sleep with no problems at all.  
Cloudy this morning, though not cold. It has rained in the night apparently and the streets are quite wet.
The breakfast staff are just as cheerful as the bar staff and breakfast was fine. I like the Torrent Walk and would recommend it. It is not a boutique hotel, but it is cheerful, friendly and perhaps a little bit seedy, but in a nice sort of way..
I set off about 9am and walked steadily... most of the day was spent on tracks in the woods, a bit tedious but breaking out now and then onto higher ground with a view. It was a bit damp most of the morning, just cloud really, but as the day went on the weather improved steadily and now I am sitting outside my tent in the sunshine, gearing up to do a little cooking.
I got to Trawsfynidd about 5pm, it has a pub but it is otherwise a dour little place. The pub was open but not serving food.  Quick pinot grigio and then onwards, over a truly remarkable footbridge more than 1/4 mile long across the Trawsfynidd reservoir. I thought it would be easy to find somewhere to pitch the tent and I was right.. after a mile or two I came across the idyllic Cae Adda campsite.. lovely location, showers, a kitchen of sorts.. and beer. Sold!

Wildlife update: not a vast amount so far, plenty of sheep, horses, cattle, and today two lovely piggies, but not a lot more. Twice today though I have caught sight of two huge birds, over the reservoir .. not really able to see what they were, but Derek the campsite owner says he sees ospreys regularly so maybe that is what they were. Big, they were..

Looking back at Dolgellau from the bridge over the Afon Wnion

Quite dull & misty in the morning

Footbridge over the Trawsfynidd reservoir

There is a nuclear power station across the way, now decommissioned... not turned into a country park yet though!

and here I am at the campsite..a lovely spot, but with midges..

much of the day spent walking along paths like this.

Snowdon Day 1

Machynlleth to Dolgellau, 17.1 miles.

Yesterday I drove up from Kent to Machynlleth, a relatively trouble free trip though it took six hours instead of five because of roadworks, a closure and similar. M25 in particular was slow.

The b&b is fine,  only a single bed not the double I asked for but I am in walking mode now and didn't bother to mention it. No doubt I will have worse to put up with at some point.. incidentally, I will be reviewing the various accommodations on Tripadvisor in due course and will post links on the last Snowdon update blog, Thoughts on Completion..

Dolgeylen is a working farm, and in a very quiet, picturesque location. Elinor a typical farm wife, friendly & brisk. She is followed everywhere by an adoring cloud of half a dozen dogs.

After a respectable breakfast I set off in warm sunshine. The b&b is not very near the town so I had a walk of nearly two miles to get back to the Dyfi bridge. The Dyfi (Dovey) is a wide river here, not far from the sea, and not fordable without swimming. 

The walk to Dolgellau was pleasant, rural and uncrowded, undulating if not very mountainous. I went through several tiny villages, mostly built near slate quarries - and deserted even though it is a Saturday - and arrived in Dolgellau around 4.30pm. The plan was to eat here and then walk on a little to find a spot for the tent. But this is a very pleasant little town, and when I found the Torrent Walk hotel would do a double room for £35 inc. breakfast, I decided to stay there. It is a wee bit seedy but very welcoming, friendly staff and excellent value. 

Today I cannot find a way to give captions for the photos below! They are of my b&b in machynlleth, the view from there, the Dyfi bridge, a tiny village called Aberllefenni, the huge abandoned slate quarry there, that you walk through, And a first glimpse of the higher peaks I will come to later on, including Cader Idris to the left. 

Snowdon - preparation 2 (and 2 days to go!)

so.. on Friday morning I am driving up to Machynlleth, start walking on Saturday. I am busy finishing last-minute jobs like mowing the lawns etc.

Otherwise there is little to report, so this will be a short post. I will put a couple of photos below, just to prove to myself that I can do it from this phone. They may be a bit random, no Welsh ones one this phone yet!

One more thing to mention, is that my friend Erin Saver is just starting the hrp - she left Hendaye day before yesterday, 3 July 2017.  She is a demon walker, I am expecting her to eat it up.  She is a demon blogger too, Google "walking with wired " to find her blog. 

Here's a link to her blog

Sue and Florence at the top of the Preseli hills, Foel Cymcerwen, Pembroke

Good navigation is so important!

Snowdon - Preparation 1

The idea for walking the Snowdonia Way came from a random find in a bookshop of a new Cicerone guide with that title. The guide contains two routes, one a six day walk from Machynlleth to Conwy, the other a nine day walk called the mountain route, that goes up and down quite a lot and includes Snowdon, Cader Idris, the Glyders and other pointy bits in the Snowdonia national park. It seemed to me that it would be quite neat to walk one way on one route, then back on the other one.. and the mountain route has several days with more than 1,000m ascent, so would be good preparation for my projected trip to Andorra.

However in buying the printed book, I have made one mistake already! The thing weighs 220g, 1/2lb or so which might not sound much but it is the same as all my cooking kit .. and I am going to have to carry the thing all the way, because the digital version costs the same amount again and I am too tight-fisted to spend another £14.95 just for a digital copy of something that I already have... oh, well. You can buy both together for £22.95, should have done that perhaps

Getting ready involves the following steps:

- review the route
- book any necessary accommodations etc

- review necessary equipment
- trial pack, then pack and go!

The Route
The first thing to do is to review the route, and plot it onto my digital OS maps (courtesy of Anquet Maps). I have to do that first because I can't book any accommodation, until I know which day I am likely to be where. Actually I don't like to book accommodation at all if I can help it, but for the first night at least I will need somewhere to stay and since I am driving, I will need somewhere to leave the car.
So, I have gone through the book and transcribed the route onto the 1:25k high definition walking maps my phone will display. Mostly I have followed the official route, but I could not resist making a few changes here and there. For example, I saw no point in going to Beddgelert only to trail straight back out again the next morning. So I will keep going and put up the tent for the night somewhere suitable. This allows me to save a day as well, so I can get to Conwy in five days. Also, I could not resist changing the route on the fifth day of the ordinary route, to Bethesda, so that it goes directly over Glyder Fach and Tryfan. All those lovely contour lines!
It is sooo handy, having the route and very detailed maps available on the phone. What the phone will not do is to show you the bigger picture, which is why I plot them on the desktop which will display any scale you wish on a number of different map types.

Accommodation
As I say I will drive to Machyllneth, but it does have a railway station so you can get there that way too. I have booked a B&B just outside the town, Elinor sounds very nice.. I will post more, when I've actually arrived there! I have booked two nights, and she is happy for me to leave the car there meantime. This is rather a bet on how long the walk will take, I am hoping there might be a little wriggle room if I am too slow or too quick.. but I expect it will all work out. I have also booked two nights in Conwy, Alison sounds very nice too.. so the walk schedule looks like this:

Friday	07 July		drive to Machynlleth	booked	Elinor
Saturday	08 July		1 Machynlleth - Dolgellau
Sunday	09 July		2 Dolgellau - Trawsfynydd
Monday	10 July		3 Trawsfynydd - nr Beddgelert
Tuesday	11 July		4 nr Beddgelert - Bethesda
Wednesday	12 July		5 Bethesda - Conwy	booked Alison
Thursday	13 July		zero day	booked Alison
Friday	14 July		M1 Conwy - Bethesda
Saturday	15 July		M2 Bethesda - Capel Curig
Sunday	16 July		M3 Capel Curig - Pen-y-pass
Monday	17 July		M4 Pen-y-pass - nr Beddgeler
Tuesday	18 July		M5 Nr Beddgelert - Penrhyndeudraeth
Wednesday	19 July		M6 Penrhyndeudraeth - Trawsfynydd
Thursday	20 July		M7 Trawsfynydd - Dolgellau
Friday	21 July		M8 Dolgellau - Abergynolwyn
Saturday	22 July		M9 Abergynolwyn - Machynlleth	booked	Elinor
Sunday	23 July		drive home

I haven't booked anything else, but there are a fair number of YHA and similar facilities along the way as well as hotels and B&Bs, so I have noted down some phone numbers and will play it by ear and see how things go. The mountain routes M1-M9 are mostly looking fairly relaxed to me so I might finish a day or so early but we shall see. Having to spend an extra day wandering around Southern Snowdonia doesn't sound too bad.

Equipment
Having used most of my stuff on the recent North Downs Way walk I don't think there is anything new I need. I have all the clothing required, though I would like to do something soon about my wet weather gear.. the Berghaus Paclite kit has been good but is getting quite old and somewhat unreliable. It is rather harder to tell than one might think, because if you are climbing a mountain in the wet you will get wet regardless, no fabric is perfect when it comes to breathability. If I find something better I will buy it but top class waterproofs are extremely expensive... so all suggestions are welcomed. But absolute minimum weight, totally waterproof, highest possible breathability.. this is a challenging spec!
The other piece of new kit I have is my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone. It has an absolutely wonderful display and it makes the OS maps look brilliant. It is also very good for battery life, it will go two days where my S5 only went one, or less. However it does weigh more and I'm not yet sure how robust it will be. I am vacillating about whether to take the S5 too, as backup. I might not do, since I will have the paper guide book - if the phone stops working it will be a pain, but it will not be absolutely terminal, as it would be if I had no other maps or info (or compass!).

So at the moment everything looks to be on track .. I will do a brief update before I set off, using my phone to do it with. It was a problem on the north Downs Way to get it to upload, and I need to resolve that.

Roll on, 7 July!

A view of the Welsh coastline from the summit of Mt Snowdon