The Road to Skye Pt 1

The road to Skye is definitely a long one! Spent almost 7 hours driving yesterday, arg. Left work quite on time and since I had packed my car in the morning I just filled up with petrol and set off shortly after 4pm.
My gps sent my East first and then up north near Swindon to meet the M6. From then on it was just one queue after another. I was so glad I had just fitted my new car stereo a few days before.

Had to have a short break before Manchester and like magic queues had vanished when I hit the M6 again. Arrived in Carlisle at my hotel close to 11pm. What a ride. And this is not even halfway up. I have good hopes though that traffic will not be as mental again as last night.

My hotel was okay but surely not a recommendation. Heading into the centre now before I take on the second part of my road to Skye around mid day.

I'll be probably dark until Sunday night when I have wifi again so don't worry.

Scotland on my mind

In less than three weeks I'm packing my car again to drive all the way from Bristol to Scotland! Moving to the West Country and my Welsh adventure kept me distracted but now as I'm in the final stages of my preparations I can't wait to go back home.

I had booked the week on Skye from August 23rd on and the following week at Loch Tay earlier in the year and had left it at that for a few months only knowing that I'd drive up in my car since I can pack more stuff and public transport to and from Skye is a bit complicated.
So I thought of going as far as Glasgow on Friday 22 right after work but now booked a nice hotel room in Carlisle instead. Had never had it on my list but it seems to be a town well worth visiting.

This will not only cut an 11 hr drive in two it will also give me a few hours to explore Carlisle on Friday night.

 
Driving then all the way to Carbost on Saturday to start my attempt of bagging all 14 munros on Skye in as little as 5 days from Sunday on. As a member of a small group we'll be led by a seasoned guide. I'm particularly looking forward to some more scrambling which I enjoyed so much on the Glyders and which is mandatory for all but two of Skye's munros as far as I know.

I decided against staying at Glenbrittle campsite and will now have a bed in a hostel in Carbost. Still good budget accommodation but with better facilities for cooking and drying clothes (!!!). 

The following Friday I'll leave just after the last hike for Glencoe and cycle around Loch Leven the next day or tackle one of the fine ridges around should the weather be really good. Drive over to Loch Tay in the afternoon to spend the next week munro bagging there with another one of those lovely wandern-schottland.de groups.

Can't wait to get going although driving up and down will be awfully exhausting. But I'll get 10-20 munros under my belt plus see two areas that are high up on my list: Skye and Glencoe.
On top of that there is a good deal of scrambling experience to be gained and not to forget some good physical training!

I'll keep you posted. Will have wifi and post some pictures and tales of my adventures.

Finish Line

My original plan was to walk all the way to Conwy on the Carneddau ridge. The fully booked Conwy YHA shortened that route a bit as I booked my bed in Rowen instead. The weather this morning made me change my plans altogether. The clouds over the peaks stayed all day so I chose not to do the ridge. I could've done it, I had compass, map and gps, but being all alone and still too unexperienced with poor visibility I rather chose a route along Llyn Ogwen first.
Struggled to find my way over a couple of farms after heading over to Llyn Cowlyd reservoir as the bridleway that was on the map vanished time and again. I was sure about the general direction yes,  but just a couple of meters off the mark and I was on treacherous boggy ground. Arg. I was soon in a foul mood and just wanted to get this over with.
The walk along the reservoir wasn't as nice as it looked on the map which didn't really help my mood. It was already 4pm when I finally reached the dam at its end. What now? Find my way over countless public footpaths to Rowen? That would take me ages!
Instead I decided to walk a small road for 5km to Trefriw and hoped to hop on a bus to Rowen there since the village/town looked rather big. Counting steps again I soon reached the top of a small hill and wide views over the Conwy valley ahead, my destination just down there and a few hills to the south openend up. That was actually worth it!
So I really enjoyed my walk down into Trefriw and came onto the B something road leading to Conwy with a bus stop and a pub and it was just shortly after 5pm. I had made pretty good speed.
Had a steak and two ciders before I got the bus at 6:45 that was one of the very few that actually stopped in Rowen. Lucky me. Unfortunately the hostel is a good mile away from the village proper. I walked that mile cursing on a 25% ascending road next to a small stream with bushes and trees... midges country. So stopping or even slowing down ment I was dinner for hundreds of them. Why did I actually book Rowen?
Reached the YHA eventually, drenched in sweat. The woman at the reception was very nice and friendly and after a much needed shower I felt a lot better. The view from up here is truly amazing. Too bad I cannot sit outside on the large front lawn overlooking the valley.  I would be eaten alive by midges within 15 mins.
There is no bus going from Rowen tomorrow so I have to walk to the next village. Maybe I can get a lift from two french girls who are staying in my dorm room.
Will pick up my car in the early afternoon,  hang out in Conwy until then and finally with a decent signal  I should be able to book some accomodation in York. Was a bit unsure what do to. Will visit friends in Sheffield on Friday so that leaves Thursday open. I always wanted to go to York and this is a very good opportunity as it is very unlikely that I drive all that way up just to spend a weekend in York.

The Glyders

Beef stew for breakfast and the backpack indeed felt lighter when I headed for Glyder Fawr at 9am. The path started just behind the hostel, how convenient.  The going was rather easy, up to a small Llyn, over a level boggy bit of grass (that is probably a real pain in normal weather) before the second half of the ascent went steeply over a long boulderstrewn slope and was as arduous as the last stretch of Snowdon yesterday but so much more fun since I was all alone and navigating over and around rocks of all sizes just spiced up the "walk".
The sky had been mostly covered in clouds when I started but it cleared up more and more. I had an almost clear blue sky when I finally reached the top of Glyder Fawr and a whole new world openend up. The ground was completely covered in rocks, some stacked by nature into the weirdest formations plus here and there a cluster of spikes. I was so amazed by this otherworldly scenery, that I almost forgot to enjoy the fantastic view from up here.
It wasn't possible to capture this on a photograph so I only took very few and instead dumped my pack and swiftly climbed the highest of those spiky boulder clusters not really knowing which one of them was the actual top. A group of three older ladies came up another path and found me sitting there, grinning and enjoying myself.
Had a nice chat, climbed down and headed over to Glyder Fach that could already be seen in the distance since it features a huge cairn with massive boulders.
Bloody hell, did I enjoy walking over there!!! The absolutely brilliant weather and jumping and scrambling (heavy pack made it necessary to use hands here and there) over that large boulderfield... I had the time of my life.
Reached that humongous cairn that none of my pictures do justice, dumped my pack again and decided to climb it. I had somehow found enormous fun in scrambling.  So far I have never had the opportunity to do it and it's definitely something I need to do more often!
There were a few tacky situations while making my way up but I wasn't in a hurry and since I was all alone, I didn't take any unnecessary risks. Took my time to find the easiest way up and eventually made it all the way to the top. Man, I was proud. Sitting there feet dangling I thought "Bloody hell, how am I gonna get down there again?"
I knew that you should never scramble up something that you know you can't go back down. So of course I knew getting back was possible without taking too much risk. Always used two hands, picturing the dodgy moves in my mind before I did them and  just slowly made my way down. So cool!
Walked/scrambled down over more boulders to a high grassy plateau where the Miners path crossed my path. Sat there in the sun behind a large rock hidden from the wind for almost an hour and just enjoyed that awesome day. This day and the one walking those lonely beaches were definitely the best ones so far. Finally a proper hillwalking day! Somehow Snowdon was too easy and way too busy.
Eventually got up again and walked down to Idwal with fantastic views all around. The path was quite steep almost all the way down. I reached the valley just shortly after 5pm had a cappuccino at a small caffee watching  military jets flying by every now and then coming in low over Llyn Ogwen and taking a turn just here into the valley leading to Bethesda.  Wow. Never seen one up so close. The noise was deafening but I could almost see the pilot, so close were they.
By now I finally felt that I had been out in the sun all day without protection. But seriously, the almost constant breeze makes you so unaware that it's actually summer, haha. Since I had "grown" a very nice dark tan over the last week it wasn't much of an issue. It's a reddish brown today and will be an even darker tan tomorrow. Wonder if people will still, recognise me when I'm back, haha.
Checked into a single room at the lovely YHA Idwal and made a booking at YHA Rowen for tomorrow since the one in Conwy is fully booked. Ewww. The plan was actually to take the long walk all the way back to Conwy since Rowen is a bit off the track. Well, this shortens tomorrow's stage a bit and since I have enough spare days I'm not so unhappy after all. That makes a very easy and relaxed walk back to Conwy on Wednesday.

Snowdon!

Had I looked with foreboding over to Snowdonia the last few days hoping the weather would stay,  I can only say, it was the right decision to skip the first stage and do Snowdon today. There are still two more days in the hills ahead and I'll spend them in fantastic weather if I'm lucky.
The sun drove me from my tent again in the morning heating it up like an oven. Was too lazy for scrambled eggs so packed,  munched a snickers and set off at 9:30 along Llyn Dinas to Nantgwynant where the less trodden Watkin Path up to Snowdons peak started.
Somehow I had grown two nice blisters yesterday each under one heel. Arg. Very bothering and too deep to just cut open. Taping didn't help so I wore two pairs of socks now, which at least helped maintaining the status quo. Still the impact of those two little buggers was quite immense and I understand why blisters can be a reason to abort a tour.
Reached the start of the path and climbed through a nice valley ever upwards meeting a few people on the the way but that was quite expected on such a fine Sunday.
Heaving my backpack up the highest mountain of Wales and England was arduous but fun and I had to take short breaks more to rest my feet but catch my breath.
The last very steep ascent up a path with scree strewn all over it was the only bit that really made me curse the weight on my back that felt like someone was grabbing your shoulders while you climb, pulling you back down.
Reached the summit that was buzzing with people. Yeah. Sunday. Good weather. Somehow expected but not to that extent. OMG. I hated it. You had to queue to actually get to the trig point cause it was just too busy. Just went up there for a minute and back down to sit somewhere more quiet and marvel at the nice view. It's just too easy to get to the top.
Had a steakpie at the cafe -I was starving! - and started my descent on the Pyg track now, the easiest and most popular. Still walking down to Pen-y-Pass took ages and I'm not a big fan of downhill walking.
Reached the YHA Pen-y-Pass some tine after 5pm. It's been recently refurbished and is as lovely as it is big. Good spend £20. They even have a restaurant/bar that serves food and has some drinks. So I had some chicken gaujons as a starter followed by a nice chili and a homemade mandarin cheesecake. Yeah. Will have my beef stew for breakfast then tomorrow to get rid of the can,  haha. Not going to carry it around another day.

Run to the Hills

Had a great night just lying on the couch watching tv somehow not really getting tired. It was just so comfy there! So after world cup I ended up watching Predator 2 until almost 1am. I had actually not seen it yet.  A shame. It's so bad that I had a great time laughing at the ridiculous dialogs, bad acting and cheap props. The best entertainment is the unintended one.
Couldn't really sleep. I guess I was just too excited to be hillwalking all alone soon with no waymarks. And I worried if I would really be ready for it.
Spent an hour over the outspread map with my gps and a guide of Snowdonia walks that covers some parts of my intended route. Still I didn't have the bit from Porthmadog to Beddgelert fully covered and only relying on my gps while climbing two hills? Hmmmm.
I started walking towards Porthmadog shortly before 10am on a very easy path, half of the way on a large beach again. It was so widespread that people actually drove their cars onto it and lay down onto the sand next to their vehicle. Errr... that is almost American,  isn't it? Haha.

Having another absolutely fantastic day I decided to skip the part uncovered by the map and take a bus to Beddgelert instead to do the three most difficult stages as long as the weather lasts. The numerous 3000ft hills I'm about to climb have their tops hidden in clouds for most of the year. Not climbing them right now would be stupid.
So it's Snowdon tomorrow. Then the Glyderau ridge tomorrow and Carnedd Llewlin and friends the day after tomorrow,  either staying in Dulyn bothy if I find a way down or pull through until Conwy if I can.
Reached Porthmadog after 3 hours of leisurely walking in the sun. Had a look around, a coffee some food and took the 15:20 bus to lovely Beddgelert. It's a typical small beautiful village neatly tucked in between hills that you take your family to for a Saturday/Sunday walk. Had a cider at a pub since the campsite was a bit of a walk and I didn't know if I really could be bothered to walk back.
Indeed I could. It was only 5:30 so I decided to walk back via the ridge of some lower hills on the south side of the valley as a bit of a warm up. Without the heavy backpack it felt really easy and I enjoyed the view from up there over to the Snowdon horseshoe and Yr Aran opposite. On the other side I could see as far as Porthmadog bay in the early evening light. At least I've been walking on higher ground a little bit today hehe.
Back at the pub watched the Germany match over a couple of ciders and walked back to the very lovely campsite where I had pitched just at the river under a tree with a nice view of the surrounding mountains.

Snowdonia on the Horizon

What a day!!! Blue sky and sun from the start to the end. More than worthy for the second longest day of the year. There's not many places in the world I'd rather be now.
Left that very lovely a B&B again at 10am (Seems to be my standard time of departure this time.) and just walked a very lovely public footpath down to the beach. Had my first glimpse at Snowdonia's peaks straight from the start and throughout most of the day. Walked along two very lonely and very nice beaches, hills ahead, blue sparkling sea to the right and the bright sun shining from a clear sky above. It just couldn't get any better than this!!! And this is Britain. Seemed like all my countless holidays with rain and mud were finally rewarded with a week of perfect weather. This was absolutely worth it. I'd go through all of it again just for another day like this.
Arrived at midday in Pwllheli with the option of staying here and just relaxing but a fine day like this cannot be spent wandering around a town so I kept on going.
The was a quite undulating stretch of walking along the A497 at the end which couldn't spoil my mood the least bit. Wanted to just have a quick look around Criccieth hoping to find a B&B but didn't want to walk around endlessly and instead push for Black Rock Sands Camping two miles out if I couldn't find one.
There wasmone just when I entered town but they were full, but the owner was very nice and advised to walk along the beach as there are numerous B&Bs just lined up there. The first one had a free room for me and what a room that was! Huge with a double and a single bed, a couch and tv and seaview! For unbelievable £40!
I only realized how lucky I'd been again, when I walked further along the beach to head for a pub and saw in all the other B&B windows a sign saying "no vacancies". Ha!!!
Steak and one of my favourite ciders "Somersby" at the pub,  now heading back watching some world cup by the window waiting for sunset to end a perfect day and thus part 1 of my journey.
Tomorrow will be a transition stage as I leave the peninsula and head into the hills of Snowdonia. Not much climbing yet as I stay in the valley and intend to get as far as Maentwrog campsite.