The Brothers Rhinog

After my chill out day on Monday I was indeed aching to head into the hills again by Monday night. One thing I had learned on my first solo long distance hike back in 2013: It's not important to stick to the plan. If you don't feel it, don't do it. So despite the fantastic weather I had no regrets cancelling my plans of an overnight wild camp Monday night and instead basically did nothing.

After another lonely night in the bunkhouse I left as early as 8:30am driving to Graigddu-istaf - the same car park we had started day two of the navigation course. I had just fallen in love with the approach along the lengthy single track road over more or less flat ground with the Rhinogs looming in the distance. It is as epic as the drive from Carbost to Glenbrittle on Skye.

Approaching Graigddu-istaf NOT looking forward but out of the driver's window

Had come up with a route on Monday night, but there were certain gaps in it, where I had to find a path since there was none on the map. A bit like a hunt for Easter eggs. But after pretty much a whole day on pathless ground on Sunday, I wasn't too worried anymore since I knew I could just cross heather, moss and grass if need be.

The gravel road through the forest was easy and I took a small detour to avoid a boggy bit. Out of the trees the menacingly steep and rocky North face of Rhinog Fawr loomed directly ahead. Not very inviting, I heard it's doable, but I had a different plan.

I found my first Easter egg path straight away veering off the one leading to the Roman Steps and took it towards Llyn Du which greeted me after just a short climb. Had to have a short break as it was just too nice before I carried on along the North shore, first on a clear path which was soon lost in a huge stone slide.

How can you not stop here

Saw it again after climbing over the huge boulders and found another one of those holes hidden by grass and heather.  Foot went in almost to the knee, I lost my balance, fell back and landed straight on my arse, lucky enough well in time before my leg might have broken.
Got up again cursing the treacherous ground. Followed the vague path all the way around to Rhinog Fawr's West side, found the broader path heading up from the West and followed all the way to the top which came a bit as a sudden surprise.
So far so good I thought as I took in the wide views. Llyn, northern Snowdonia and Cardigan Bay. One of the rare sunny days, eh?

Looking North towards Llyn

And South with Rhinog Fach and Y Llethr

Four older guys reached the top shortly after me, I was a bit surprised to see anyone at all today. Bit of a chat before they headed over to Rhinog Fach. They had come pretty much the same way.... without avoiding the boggy bit in the forest, haha.

Rhinog Fach next for me as well and the trickiest bit of the whole walk: Find a way down and find a way up the next one. There was a path at first which wound down very steeply... very, very steeply. Silently cursing I made my very slow way down.

The way down. Well, down it is indeed.

Eventually I lost it... the path. Found a few sheep's tracks here and there but had to wing it basically. Heather, high grass, uneven rocky ground, more hidden holes. This is what you get when you're not on a path. After what seemed an eternity, but was about 90 minutes, I reached the path that winds its way between both mountains. Phew. Only took me as long as climbing the bugger. Wow, that was fun...not.

I wasn't really in the mood for tackling the next one, but with a weather as good as this, this was my best chance to bagging the top. On the way down I had looked out for a path and thought I'd seen one on one of the slopes/ So up I went on what felt like a sheep's track again. And so it was probably as it vanished pretty soon.
Again I fought my way through heather and bushes, over rock and slippery soil. Upwards was not too bad, but I already dreaded the way down. To prove my point I slipped once more and hurt the ankle I had sprained a few weeks ago in South Wales and which had been bothering me ever since. Boo,

Eventually I emerged on a nice little path. Wha...? It lead up, but also somewhat down northwards. Hm. A way down maybe? As I pondered the same old chaps came down the mountain. They had taken a route straight down Rhinog Fawr, which was every bit a pain my route had been only steeper. But they had found this path which goes all the way down Rhinog Fach to the Bwlch at the bottom. Yeah. So my downwards route was at least not half a fight through wilderness.

Walked up the last bit and made it to the top. Enjoyed the fantastic views again, shame I couldn't go on the Y Llethr ahead and Diffwys after, but I've had it anyway. At least the way down was clear.

On Rhinog Fach, what a fight

Way down took a while as the last bit was steep as hell, but it was a path and I wasn't complaining. More-so my knees and ankle, but I ignored them.

The uninviting wilderness of the Rhinogyyd. Love it and hate it at the same time.

Relief when I reached the path at the bottom again, leading to the wood and the car. Phew. Great day out, but it came with the price of a hurting body and a bit of a hurting ego as well, So far I haven't met a real challenge in terms of hillwaking. This certainly wasn't an easy ride. Took me an hour longer than expected, due to the slow progress downhill.

Still, it's a fantastic remote, rugged and demanding area. I can imagine how tricky it will get when visibility is low. The Rhinogydd is certainly a very special area in Britain. It captured me with its raw beauty and although it was very hard going here and there, I'm sure I will be back. A multi-day traverse comes to mind, with plenty of time to explore. We shall see.

A Brill Chill

Okay, my headlines are not getting better, I know. Still, I had a very nice quiet day today. Initially my plan was a two day circular route through the Rhinogs with a wild camp in between. But I was so exhausted and weary last night, that I decided to just chill, visit Barmouth and Dolgellau instead.

Again the weather was superb and it was almost a shame I wasn't walking up Rhinog Fawr, while I was having a late lazy breakfast, frying some yummy Welsh sausages on my camping stove outside the bunkhouse.
Eventually, I walked up the very steep road from the bunkhouse for a bit to get a better view of the Cadair Idris range in the morning light which looked absolutely magical again. Realized I had forgotten to put my SD card in, walked down, got the card, walked up again. I say it was worth the sweat.

Walked down a footpath from the bunkhouse all the way right into Barmouth next. Walked around the place for a while, which has a very nice 19th century feel to it. Infact, coming down the hill I passed Dinas Oleu, the first property given to the National Trust in 1895.
With the Cardigan Bay, the Llyn Peninsula in the North, the Mawddach Estuary and Cadair Idris in the distance, Barmouth is literally surrounded by beautiful views.
Seeing Llyn again, even if it was just about visible on the horizon, immediately brought memories back from about a year and a half ago, when I had walked all around its coast. I had grown very fond of this less trodden peninsula and indulged in those memories for a while, sitting on a low wall by the see side.

Barmouth and Llyn (very faint on the horizon) from Dinas Oleu

The Mawddach Estuary with Cadair Idris

After a coffee I headed back up the hill for a cheeky nap at the bunkhouse before I drove over to Dolgellau. Another little town said to be very beautiful.
Again wandered around a bit and found it very similar to Bakewell in the Peak District. The most beautiful houses all made of large grey stone bricks, lots of little shops here and there and lots of elderly people shuffling around, hahaha.
I wasn't impressed much and left after I had some food, marvelling once more at the scenery in the early evening sun. I just can't have enough of it.

Same old, same old in Dolgellau

Mawddach Estuary at low tide

Evening light over Cadair Idris

Chilling in the kitchen/lounge area now. Just made my plan for a day in the Rhinogs tomorrow. A few "then I'll try to find that path" or "I'll find my way to this point" in my route but the weather is said to be fine again, so I hope it's all going to be fairly obvious in good visibility.

Navigation Gold Level

After doing the NNAS Silver course in March resulting in obtaining the award, it was just a matter of time until I did the Gold level course. So I found myself an instructor and booked it quite early on, taking place in southern Snowdonia, a place I hadn't been to yet. Perfect.

So this weekend was finally THE weekend. Drove up very early on Saturday morning to meet the instructor and the group 10am at the Ty-nant carpark near Dolgellau to spend a day on and around Cadair Idris, Infact, I made it with just 5 mins left. But I had to race it without getting into major trouble with the police.
Despite the very early start in Brizzle, I really loved driving around the countryside in the early hours. It was so quiet and peaceful and I would've stopped here and there just to have a look... but there was no time.

The group turned out to be just one other guy, which made for a nice intense two days. Thumbs up. Walked up Cadair Idris via the Fox's Path veering off the path time and again to navigate to features like little knolls or the corner of a fence. This way I got a first idea of what it's like to venture away from the paths in this area. Gnarly heather, high grass and the odd wet patch are in your way more often than not, which makes walking on a bearing while counting your steps quite a nice challenge.

The Cadair Idris ridge

Looking towards the Rhinogydd

Up on the plateau we did some more micro navigation for practice and to kill time until sun set. Spend about 30 mins in the shelter on top of Cadair Idris just to experience how cold it can get even when you're out of the wind. I had a normal baselayer, a thermal baselayer, a fleece and my rain jacket on and was still cold.
Since our instructor was also a Mountain Rescue volunteer we talked quite a bit about it, which is not just stories by the fireplace, but indeed valuable information for someone who's intending to lead a group at some point.

On Cadair Idris.

It was getting dark as we headed out again and we found ourselves soon doing the same exercises with only our torches as light sources. If you're in the middle of nowhere, away from any path on rough ground, this can be indeed a bit scary.
We still found our way back to the car park via the Pony Track and I drove over to Barmouth where I had booked a bunkbed at Bunkorama. After a day of walking more than 9 miles and staying sharp for about 10 hours, I was knackered! Put my home made chilli into the microwave and went to bed around 9pm straight after devouring it.

Sunday proved to be another fine mountain walking day. Cloudy but no rain, awesome! This time we started at a remote car park east of Rhinog Fawr. Doing mostly the same exercises but concentrating on contours as we headed up into the wilderness.
The going was laborious and tough most of the time as we fought our way up and down over at times steep ground, through heather and bushes of Bilberries. Most of the small bushes were carrying a good amount of the little fruit. Although those bushes are normally at knee height if at all, I could just lazily stretch my arm out in front of me and stuff my face... that's how steep it was in places.

The brothers Rhinog: Rhinog Fach (l) and Rhinog Fawr (r)

Rhinogs in the haze

Navigated to some more contour features without much to handrail on. So we really had to read the scenery and align it to what we saw on the map. This is quite difficult in such wild and rugged terrain, where sometimes only a little kink in the ridge is the most prominent feature.
I gained a lot of valuable experience in reading the terrain, but need to do much more of it. Pacing and walking on bearings is quite accurate most of the time. So I know what to work on. Confidence comes with experience.

After all a fantastic and fun weekend although I was knackered physically as well as mentally after both days. It is indeed quite draining to stay sharp for hours upon hours.

I've seen now a lot of different mountainous areas of Britain and once more found a new one that is very different from all the others. Similar but different. Especially the Rhinogydd has it's own atmosphere and feel to it. Stuck between the much more popular Cadair Idris and the ranges of northern Snowdonia, the Rhinogs are remote, wild, challenging but beautiful. Like an uncut diamond, you need to have a closer look to discover its beauty.
They miss the grandeur of Britain's great mountain ranges. The Cuillins, the Glydderau or Lakeland to name a few. Their ruggedness seems almost menacing, but if you're willing to embrace their raw charme, you'll find yourself in one of the finest mountain ranges for the advanced hill walker.

How to Train for Mountaineering

Why

With the Scottish Winter Mountaineering courses in March looming ahead, I've just kicked off my five-month training-regime with my first Personal Trainer session ever. I've been a more or less regular gym goer for the last 15 years or so, but never considered taking a PT. I normally do high-intensity cardio interval training and coupled with a few cycle rides and hill walks during the year I'd consider myself reasonably fit. Kilimanjaro was easy for me fitness-wise and I can walk all day up and down mountains over like 16 miles without being shattered after.

However, climbing Scottish hills in winter with the same heavy backpack, but having to use ice axe and crampons to move upwards.... that's something else. And doing the same thing at an altitude of like 5000m-6000m where you only have half of the available oxygen compared to sea level... well, you get the idea.

What Kind of Training Then?

The best way to train is, to do exactly the same thing you're training for. If you want to cycle, you cycle. If you want to hill walk you hill walk. Now, I can't climb a high mountain every day, right? Even a proper hill walk takes hours and with a full-time job you can only do it once per week.

What about indoor cycling or the treadmill? Some cardio? Rubbish I say. Have a look at professional marathon runners. Skinny as they are, put a 25kg backpack on them, stick them in thick clothing and shoo them up the mountain. They may have the breath, but they lack the strength.

My Training

So... what am I doing then??? I need endurance and strength, I need well defined muscles for core, arms and legs. Sounds like I need everything. My answer is circuit training using my body weight and free weights. This way I always need to balance myself and train the respective muscles as well, as opposed to just stimulating a single muscle on a machine. I'm just back from that PT session and my legs are wobbly, my arms are shaking and I'm utterly shattered... after a 30 min workout. Sounds like I gotta lot of work to do.

Basically, I will work out three times a week alternating between two circuits and one boxing session.

Circuit 1 - 3 rounds
Plank: 30s/45s/60s
Plank with legs hanging in loops, pulling knees in: 8/10/15 repetitions
Crunches with dumb bell weight: 8/10/15 repetitions
Knee up "running" on the spot: 8/10/15 repetitions
Squat and slam-ball: 8/10/15 repetitions

Those three rounds getting harder with each round left me resonably exhausted already, muscles burning, sweating like a pig.... but on to circuit number 2!

Circuit 2 - 3 rounds
Biceps curl 6kg dumb bell: 8/10/15 repetitions
Hammer curl 6kg dumb bell: 8/10/15 repetitions
Sumo squat 12kg kettle bell: 8/10/15 repetitions
Plank with legs hanging in loops, mountain climber: 8/10/15 repetitions
Burpees: 8/10/15 repetitions

Needless to say I was shattered afterwards, gasping for air. Did some stretching and went home. I love the feeling of muscles refusing to work after a nice session and I know I'll be hurting tomorrow. But that's exactly what I wanted and I'm already looking forward to go again.
Can't wait for my first boxing session on Monday and hope I'll see some results soon.

My Goals

Weight: Couldn't care less. It's not about the weight at all.
Body Fat: Aha! Here we go. Burn fat, gain muscle. Starting at 29.9% I want to go down to 26% by March and then see where I go from there. Ideally I'm looking at 22-24%
Waist: Will shrink with losing body fat. Want to go from 97cm down to 95 by March and eventually aim for 90cm.


So here it goes. I'm done playing around. No more cheating my diet, no more laziness regarding the gym. I'll be lean, strong and as fit as a fiddle. BOO-YAH!!!