Snowdonia on Business *continued*

Sunday, Walk No.2 - Bontddu to Barmouth
Hadn't slept well at all and was still pretty knackered when we got up. A quiet chilled day in Dolgellau would've been nice, but we had walk number 2 to do. So after breakfast we drove the 15 minutes or so to Coed Cadw car park, which was much better than leaving the car in a layby in Bontddu as originally planned.

Looking at a poster we found the 14k Cwm Mynach trail starting from the same car park, but we would only do the first bit of it, still I put it on my list of walks to check out.

Sunday's walk from right to left

We headed uphill through the wood on a road first, then hopped onto a path next to it to head further uphill. Despite being overcast, it was really really warm today and soon we were in shorts with a proper sweat on.

I was battling a bit with fatigue and a faint headache, Rich was quite tired today as well, but the beautiful wild woodland made us forget that we were just not feeling it today. Some confusion as we reached a beautiful cottage and wondered where the path was. Heading steeply up on a grassy field only found us at a dead end. Coming back down a young lad had come out the front door of the cottage along with a handful of other kids. He told us to just open the gate and walk through the courtyard, so we did and indeed we found the path continuing just after the cottage.

Getting a sweat on

Love those gnarly trees

Some more uphill walking on a broad grassy path, through another gate and a quick break to catch our breath. With nice views all around we walked easily up and down until the broad path vanished into high grass and watery bog underneath. The joy of British hillwalking! Would be boring otherwise. We splashed around for a bit and eventually found a way through and our path wonderously reappeared once through the worst bit.

Downhill and around a few farms with more nice views, then uphill along a wood and down again through more farmland. Had a wee break, lost the path again and rerouted to walk along a minor road for a bit. Back on track again we enjoyed walking on a bridleway for a bit with the first proper views of Fairborne and the mouth of the estuary.
Lunchbreak with freshly brewed tea and more great views. We could've stayed there for hours, just chilling on our picnic blanket enjoying a fantastiv day.

Eventually, we got back up, walked some more tarmac and headed back onto a grassy path again soon after. Passed the signal post which is a popular destination for walkers coming up from Barmouth. Down over more grass all the way into Barmouth for us, with views getting more and more dramatic!

Looking towards Fairbourne

Barmouth

Mawddach Estuary and Cadair Idris

Arrived in Barmouth 3:30pm. It was bustling and busy, every space in the huge car park taken. Had a well earned and needed coffee and some gorgeous ice cream after. Just finished before we got onto the T3 bus service, which is free on weekends thanks to Welsh government. Sweeeet!

Hopped off in Bontddu and walked the 15 minutes or so back to the car. We were both knackered but happy after a great walk. I was especially happy to have found such a varied walk without any tricky bits other then the short bit of bog which I now know to navigate across. This walk definitely made it onto the list for my group.

Back in Dolgellau we had a well needed shower and then dinner at the hotel. I had roast chicken and Rich Steak & Kidney pie. Both were okay, but rather average compared to what we were used to. Bit of a disappointment, but after two mediorce breakfasts not really a surprise. Based on that we skipped pudding and Rich got some beers from the Spar around the corner. We chilled in our hotel room, watching expensive cars crashing and downhill mountain bike videos on YouTube.


Monday, Walk No.3 - Rhoslefain circular
Last day in Snowdonia today. In terms of walks suited for groups I had a 50:50 success rate so far, but today's walk was the one that counted. The original walk was no longer possible due to path closure and I was here to find an alternative.

Breakfast, packing, checkout, 10am we loaded the car and drove off towards Rhoslefain near Tywyn. Overcast again with slight rain forecast for mid day, we didn't hang around. Parked up in a layby, slipped into walking boots and off we went.

The walk was only a half day one at roughly 7k. This was the one that had to work out, with nice scenery and no too tricky bits. It's always a bit of a surprise when plotting a route, what you're actually getting on the ground in the end.

Recce for part 2 of a walk with my group

We started off walking over some grassy farm land with very very boggy patches around each field's gates. Nothing that couldn't be done. Walked through a small wood, crossed the A road and walked slightly uphill over more farm land. Despite a fair bit of haze, views back towards the sea and over towards Bird Rock were awesome!
Crossed a small stream, headed over a church yard and walked some more along the same stream before crossing it again via a small bridge. Loved it so far. Very varied, lots of wild flowers and the feeling of walking on a somewhat secret path that only we knew existed.

A wilder walk then anticipated

Hazy view towards Bird Rock

Crops and wild flowers

A ruin marked the turn off for the highest point of our walk: Pant-gwyn. Freelanced uphill over more grass and sat down on the remnants of a wall on the top munching an apple, enjoying the fab views all the way to Llyn.

Llyn on the horizon

On the Wales Coast Path

We took a sharp left turn once off the top of Pant-gwyn onto a gravel road turning back onto ourselves. Walked on tarmac for a bit soon after and finally turned onto the very boggy Wales Coast Path. Crossed the A road again staying on the Wales Coast Path heading over a couple of fields before we were back at the road we started on and only needed to walk down to the layby we had parked the car at.
The sun had come out from behind grey clouds and the promised rain was more than unlikely. Fine by us.

Loved the walk and was relieved and glad it turned out to be a keeper. Not too difficult for the group and a lot of different scnenery. I'm now all prepared for my second week of guiding mid September. Yay.

Had a pleasant drive all the way home, stopping in Builth Wells for coffee and cake. Overall, a great weekend with three very nice walks, two of those will make it onto the list for my walking groups, which is a nice turnout.
Whilst towns and villages tend to be busy in the area, the mountain/hill walks are a solitary affair. We met only a few people here and there, but had the scenery to ourselves most of the time. It might not be as spectacular as the Northern part of Snowdonia, but it certainly makes for very fine walking!

Snowdonia on Business

Well, sort of. Been to Dolgellau for some recce as my first Wales tour as a guide is fast approaching. So we made good use of the summer bank holiday to drive all the way up to Dolgellau and recce some new walks.

Friday bank holiday traffic was not too bad and we got to Dolgellau in just 4 hours driving along some stunning A roads towards Welshpool. Rich was a bit sad, he wasn't on a motorbike and vowed to come back one day and ride those lovely twisties.

Checked in at the Royal Ship Inn hotel and got a small flask with fresh milk for our tea in the morning. No yucky UHT milk. Nice touch. Room was pleasant and spacious. Hungry we headed straight back out on the hunt for some grub. Only thing open or not fully booked as the local kebab shop. Funny how even an achingly pretty and small place like this has its Kebab shop. Doesn't quite fit in with the arts and crafts shops all around.
Went for a 12' pizza each and stuffed our faces sitting on the bridge nearby. Realised we had overestimated our hunger when we had half a pizza left each, but still managed to eat the whole thing. Bellies full to bursting we wobbled back to the hotel, got some beers and managed to fit those into the few gaps left in our stomachs.
Off to bed we went after a long day setting the alarm for 7:30am, so I could pop over to the pay and display car park to pop some coins into the meter to last us to 10am.

Saturday, Walk No. 1 - Maesglase
I had high hopes for this one. Plenty and free parking in a village with public toilets and a pub. Circular mountain walk, not too long and with possibly great views.

Did my car park run at 8am and had some eggs benedict for brekkie at the hotel which were a bit underwhelming. Still, full from last night's pizza gluttony we were now full to bursting again. At least we were about to walk it off.

Parked up in Dinas Mawddwy and were greeted by our friend Rosie who we had arranged to meet and walk with us today since she lived fairly close by. Good to see her again after pretty much a whole year. With her was Dinky the dog who was eager to sniff around some new territory.

Just about to leave we were chat-ambushed by an old lady who came out of her house to say hello and just wouldn't stop talking. Bless her, she was living all alone and probably just needed someone to talk. We did just that for a bit and could eventually get away and finally start our walk.

Maesglase circuar

Headed down the road and then through some forestry trying to find a way across as we neared the A road. The second path was a success and it even continued just across the road. Result.

Nice path at the start

Uphill we went on a minor road, found the way around a farm and soon the proper ascent started. We got a proper sweat on, it was overcast, but much warmer than it looked. Just as Rich zipped off his trouser legs, we started walking through high ferns, heather, grass and bracken. Good timing.
The mood was good despite the hard work and views got better with every meter we gained, Maesglase already looming on our left with its lofty 674m.

Dinky had a lot of fun

Rich and Rosie obviously, too

Maesglase

Reached a pass and a fence with no option to cross anywhere. So we went uphill alongside the fence on a slope that got steep enough for us to need our hands to cling on to fence posts and grass. We should've climbed over further down with a more favourable angle. I made a mental note of that.

Hitting a second fence, we used the stable corner to climb over, Dinky was simply lifted which she didn't like at all judging from the look she gave us. Had a wee break on the other side enjoying amazing views over the surrounding hills and made our way up to the top crossing another fence that had at least a half broken stile left to help us over (Not so much Dinky, who looked at us with a mixture of embarrasment and contempt.)

There wasn't much wind up here so we decided to have a nice lunch break. I laid out the picnic blanket and quickly we were munching salami, cheese, apples, nuts and brownies whilst enjoying a fine mountain day. Had my first go at brewing tea with my new Alpkit Jetboil copy. Great piece of kit. Boiled 750ml water in not much longer than a minute.

On we went along the ridge, often litereally next to it, until we reached a waterfall and very narrow outcrop. Time to clamber up and enjoy the sensation of having 100s of meters of thin air almost all around us. Oo-wee.

Crossed a small stream and freelanced uphill over steep grassy and stony ground until we found another path eventually leading further down. Narrow, wet, overgrown and very steep path led down to a pass and then along the steep flank of Foel Dinas. Still the path remained narrow but pretty much in line with the angle of the slope. Fun times trying to battle gravity and keeping balance whilst ankles were pointing downhill.

View were still nice and certainly helped, still we were relieved when the path became broader and flatter. Into a dark and almost spooky bit of wood we went steeply decending the last mile to back to the A road. Crossed the road again and walked along a small road back into the village.

Great varied walk today. Loved it, but unfortunately the second part is too difficult for a group. Have some ideas of amending it though, so might not be written off yet.

We found a table outside the pub in the sun and had a few drinks waiting for the kitchen to start serving at 6pm. Got some food then, said goodbye to Rosie and Dinky and headed back to Dolgellau.

Hej, Hej Kungsleden - Part 3/4

Saltoluokta - Kvikkjokk

Saturday, July 15: 6k after Saltoluokta to Start of Skierfe Path, 24km, 721m ascent

Fresh clothing day! Whoop, whoop! Woke up first again to clear blue skies and sunshine. Another epic morning after a spell of rain and a bit of misery.
Dressed in a fresh shirt and socks I peeled myself out of the tent and started laying out socks, boots and backpacks to dry in the warm rays of the sun. Views were stunning and I was full of energy for the second part of our trip.

Started walking around 10:30am, smelling a lot fresher and my dry boots felt soooo much better after two days of wetness around my feet. Long may it last!
Having had a look at the weather the day before, we had decided to not climb Lulep Gierkav and instead prioritise the ascent of Skierfe the next day. You can't really come here and not do Skierfe.

We walked through a wide valley again with the most stunning mountains to our right. The path was a bit boggy at first, but soon turned into a rocky path and was easy enough to walk. Had a couple of shorter breaks and a lunch break at a big boulder with some shelter from the fairly strong and steady icy wind that was blowing into our faces from the start. There's always something. If it's not rain then it's icy wind or mozzies.

Sjaksjo

Nice views

Last bit up to the pass.

Eventually we climbed a short steep bit up to a pass before we decended down to Sitojaure huts, arriving there 3pm. We had a quick break and then walked the 200m to the guy who was operating the boat. A sign had earlier promised that he was selling smoked fish and fresh bread. We thought bread would be awesome with our breakfast soups, but he didn't have any today. Boo!

The boat ride was lovely and once again we made our way uphill through birch wood on the other side of the lake. Seeing a steep ascent ahead with opted not to fill up with water as we crossed two streams and thought we'd rather do that later.

Looking back to the lake

With a proper sweat on and out of breath we stopped briefly at the top once more stunned by the sublime views all around. Ahead was another high plateau with perfectly randomly strewn boulders all around. The light of the early evening sun dipped everything into a warm golden light, lakes and hills in the distance, it was one of the most memorable moments of our whole journey. Breathtakingly beautiful!

We kept going, looking out for the next stream to fill up on water. But none came. For once there was simply no water. The nearby hill didn't provide any snowmelt. Shit. Eventually, we arrived at the path that led to Skierfe. It was unlikely that we would find water following it, so all we could do was stay on our path and descent towards the next hut until we found water. Even if that meant going all the way down.

It was steep, it was rocky and we were knackered! We passed a group of young people that had pitched next to the path and were frying off some burgers. Oh my gosh, it smelled sooooo good! Pure tortue for two exhausted and hungry hikers.
Eventually we found a stream, filled up and made our way back up the steep path, passing by the burger eating youngsters again. Arg. We had learnt our lesson: fill up on water when you can. Period.
Near the crossroads we found a nice hidden spot for our tent, well away from the path, so we could leave it the next morning to make our way up to the top of Skierffe with only day sacks.
It was already 8:15pm and after all we had had another great day with the highlight being the golden plateau.

Sunday, July 16: Start of Skierfe Path to 2k after Aktse, 22km, 870m ascent

We left the tent 9:30am to make our way to the top of Skierfe to see the famous Rapadalen delta from the top of the mountain. With a height of 1179m/3868ft it is a proper mountain indeed.

Not as stunning as some of the other spots, but still really nice wild camp

We had packed some lunch, water and our waterproofs and started with overcast weather. Remembering the forecast, we had until lunch time before rain was likely, so we didn't hang around really without rushing it though. The first bit was very boggy and took some agility to avoid the worst of it, then the path became rocky again and much easier to walk on.

We could already see the Rapadalen delta but it took us another two hours to reach the top of the very distinguishable mountain. Once above the tree line an icy wind forced us to put some more layers on and the thick blanket of grey cloud threatened with rain. There was no time to lose really.

Amazing wildflowers on the way up

Skierfe on the right, Rapadalen delta middle-left

When I had proposed to do Kungsleden I had shown Rich photos of the view from Skierfe to sell the idea and for him this was the one thing he really wanted to see. That's why he had agreed to do this. So I had hoped that it was every bit as stunning as all those photos from the internet had promised.
Despite the gusty icy wind and the dark clouds, the view from the top was magnificent! Absolutely phenomenal! The photos really don't do it justice.

Rapadalen Delta from Skierfe

That was worth all the hard work and the long walk in. Simply WOW! We would've loved to stay here for hours and just sit at the edge taking it all in. But rain was now immenent so reluctantly we made our way down the slope to find a sheltered spot for a brief light lunch.
Once back at the foot of the final ascent, rain started properly hitting us horizontally with the help of those icy gusts of wind. Definitely type 2 fun.

Type 2 fun, but type 1 view on the way back down

Heads down we fought our way back to the tree line where wind and rain finally eased off. Unpitched the tent in a brief break from water from above and made our way down to Aktse hut just as the rain came back with a vengeance.
Bought tickets for the boat, some dark bread and spread in a tube and waited inside anciously watching the heavy downpour outside. It didn't relent at all when we made our way to the boat for 5pm. My feet were already getting wet again through my boots and the 3km boat ride was very very wet with people showing plain misery in their faces.

We made our way through a lovely primeval forrest on the other side, but didn't really enjoy it much. Shame. Heads down we ploughed on, avoiding deep and big puddles of water here and there until we saw a nice flat secluded spot a bit off the trail. I'd had enough and very well knowing that we were in mozzy country we decided to pitch and call it a day.

Now, in the UK we have midges. And midges don't like rain or wind. Swedish mozzies however give a shit about rain. There we were. Soaked, pitching in heavy rain with our mozzy hats on and a gazillion of the tiny buggers swarming around us. Marvellous!

Now try to get into the tent as quickly as possible with your dripping clothes on, trying to keep water and mozzies out as much as possible. Rich went first and did a pretty good job, literally diving in head first. He closed the zip asap, got out of his wet kit and killed all unwelcome visitors before he opened the zip for my dive. I had to say, I found the whole scene mildly amusing and we could somewhat laugh about it once we had put on our dry set of clothes.
Cooking was a bit of a challenge with hundreds of mozzies swarming in the porch, but we managed and eventually settled down on our mats sipping a bit of whiskey before falling asleep after another long and exhausting day.

Monday, July 17: 2k after Aktse to Parte, 18km, 462m ascent

Heavy rain persisited throughout the night and big drops were drumming continuously onto the tent. At some point I woke up thinking something was dripping onto my face as I slept. Hm. Touched the tent roof and indeed it was moist. Touched my side of the tent and it was a bit moist as well. I digged out my trek towel and started wiping. Thought that was it and went back to sleep only to be awoken again from water dripping onto my face. Woke up Rich and he suggested it might be condensation so we opened some netted vents, wiped some more and went back to sleep.
Not long after more water on my face and my sleeping bag was now wet as well. Shit. The tent roof was leaking. We could see drips slowly forming, so staying in was no good so we decided to pack up and go. Managing to pack everything with both of us inside was well rehearsed by now and we knew how to wrap around each other.
We slipped into fully water proof kit, jumped out of the tent one after another unpitched in the rain with again gazillions of mozzies around and I simply strapped the whole wet tent to my backpack.

It would've been a nice camp spot... anywhere but in Sweden.

Off we went around 8:30am ploughing through the rain again after an unsettled second part of the night and no food in our bellies. Joy! Uphill we dragged our feet through more wood and more bog. Water everywhere.
Eight kilometers uphill with a heavy tent that was dragging me down... Type 2 fun again. The rain stopped eventually only to set in again just as we thought we might get rid of our water proofs.

The shelter hut appeared out of nowhere and was a very welcome sight indeed! Inside we met two fellow hikers who had been on the boat the day before and planned to walk all the way to Kivkkjokk. That was another 30k from here. We wished them good luck on their way and now being all alone made good use of the available space to try and dry out a few things. Not that there was any chance of stuff actually getting dry, but it was better than not trying.

It was now early lunch time and after all that uphill walking on an empty stomach we were starving! Sat at the table with breakfast stuff spread out watching the stove heat up some water for tea and soup whilst we had some more of our bread and spread. So good! That spread in a tube is very popular in Sweden. We should find loads of it later in a supermarket. For once we could prep food and eat without our legs folded underneath us. Nice. Our mood improved as we eagerly dug into our meal.

Yay... mozzies...

Brunch

We didn't really want to leave the shelter hut, but eventually had to aiming for Parte hut today with the intend of staying over. We had a leaking tent and lots of wet stuff there really was no other sane choice.
Packed up, geared up and headed out again. Much to our liking the trees cleared very soon and gave way to very UK-like scenery again with hills, humps, some streams and grass and heather. Just like home. Rain stopped for good not long after and as the low clouds cleared views got better and better.

We really enjoyed this bit and were a bit sad as we dropped down into forrestry again. It was a wonderful wild primeval forrest again with lots of wild flowers and uprooted trees, but stopping for just 10 secs to enjoy it or take a photo meant we were being attacked by hundreds of... well, what other than mozzies. That really took a lot of the joy out of it. That and the undulating nature of the path mixed with lots of rocks, roots and bog. It was tough going up and down and just wouldn't end at all.

Nice views again

Four o'clock we finally arrived at Parte hut exhausted and weary. Once more we were greeted by a super friendly host. We settled into our half of the hut which we would have all to ourselves for the night. Hung up all the wet clothing and kit in the drying room and the tent outside in the wind, which dried it out very quickly.
I had a go at starting a fire in the woodburner and was successful straight away, smirking at Rich who had not been able to get one going in the last hut. Ha! Time for tea and biscuits and some beef jerky. We just chilled in the hut, leafed through some of the books that were stacked on shelves, played cards, had some dinner later and went to bed at our usual time 10pm.

Half of Parte hut just to us

The art of drying out wet stuff

As awful as the day had started, there were again good things to look back to. The nice shelter hut, the lovely views, the warm and dry hut. My mood instantly improves as soon as I get into dry clothes, haha. Definitely learned another lesson today. Not only reproof your boots before such a trip, but also reproof your stupid tent! (To be fair, we had reproofed the ground sheet which put on a solid performace for the whole of the trip.)

Last day on the trail tomorrow!!!

Tuesday, July 18: Parte to Kvikkjokk, 16km, 190m elevation gain

First part of the night hadn't gone too well for me. I had chosen the bunk above Rich's and although we had let the woodburner run out, it was noticeably warmer one level up. So my limbs were more out of the liner than under it, which meant the few mosquitos in the room surely found them and their stings actually woke me up every time. After half a dozen or so of what-the... moments I packed up and settled onto one of the lower bunks. Much cooler there, I could slip into my liner completely and finally wasn't bothered too much by those little buggers anymore. Bliss!

We got up at 8:30am, cooked breakfast and were glad we could do it on a stationary stove having lots of room to spread out our stuff as well. Left the hut just before 10am for our final day on the trail. Bring it on!

It is a strange feeling knowing that the end of the journey is near. Especially on longer trips like this it seems so far away when you start and you really just think from day to day. But the closer you get to the final destination the more eager you are to get it done. Like a sprint over the finish line at the end of a long distance run. No matter how much I've enjoyed my multi-day hikes, this feeling was always there.
And once you're done, you've reached your destination, after that first happiness, the big smiles, the winner photos, you sit down, take a deep breath, reflect on the time past and all your mini adventures along the way and you get the blues. You don't want it to end. You want to keep going.
But lets not get ahead of myself, we still had one more day on the trail and two more days to spend in the area.

It was nice to once more have dry feet after a few days of wetness, but the first 9k were hard work. Arduous walking over endless rocks, roots and circumventing boggy bits. There was hardly any flat bit to put your foot on and give your ankle a rest. On and on we ploughed, heads down, just keep going.
At least it stayed dry, although the dark grey sky was threatening with rain, all we got were a few spots here and there. Fine by us.

Wild and beautiful

Trees, trees, trees everywhere

Once more we walked through endless primeval woods with lots of flowers, uprooted trees, moss and mozzies. Wildly beautiful, but no chance of a longer rest or you get eaten alive. We had a few one minute breaks, just digging out some biscuits and resting shoulders and feet and one longer lunch break of maybe 15 mins fully covered with mozzie hats on. Joy!

6k before the finish line the path got broader and easier to walk on and we met more and more people walking the other way. 14:45 we finally arrived at Kvikkjokk Fjallstation! We made it! Almost two weeks of walking and wild camping. Done!

Made it!!!

We dumped our backpacks outside the main building and had a look inside. Reception was busy so we settled into the dining area and ordered coffees and lush Swedish apple cake with vanilla ice cream. Soooooo good!
Checked in afterwards and were able to move our booking around. We were a day early but could stay in tonight and would then camp for another two nights.

Settled into our 4-bed dorm room which was already occupied by two lads who had come up from Hemavan and were now halfway on their Kungsleden thru-hike. Had a brief chat with them and then grabbed our towels and soap to go have a shower.
SHOWER! The first one in 11 days. It was soooo good! Not the most fancy shower ever. But it was hot and had decent pressure. All fresh and clean we chilled for a bit, cooked our usual Adventure Food meal in the kitchen and spend the rest of the evening in the common room sipping super expensive beer and munching super expensive Pringles whilst playing cards.

That's the end of our Kungleden hike. Done, done, done and we had a great time. Navigating was easy, walking a bit more strenuous than we had expected. We had sublime views and walked through stunning scenery. We had good weather and bad, good moments and not so good ones.
Overall the good moments by far outweighed the not so good ones. It's always a good feeling to make it through a tough bit. you might be swearing and hating it at the time, but having made it despite all the hardship is such an elevating feeling.

Being two days early for our journey home, we had now some time to spend around Kvikkjokk for some day walks and then another two days to travel all the way back to Narvik. Nice way to ease ourselves back into the civilised life with hot showers, fresh food and duvet beds.

Watch out for part 4. Coming up: more stunning scenery and muscle cars!!!