Hill Walking and the Next Guidebook, "Car Park's of North Wales"

June 2016

Mag Basset at the top of
Moel Hiraddug at 861 ft

John, Rambler's hike leader
crossing a quaint bridge on a
footpath that crosses Nantclwyd 
Hall property.

People in the UK love walking and I must say, that one of the highlights so far, has been hill walking and discovering the countryside on foot. There are more than 140,000 miles of public footpaths in England and Wales.  It's a mix of age-old routes and newer more recent trails. Some of it has right of way across now private land. Some is well maintained while other parts are in a slow decay. The Ramblers, a UK walking club is dedicated to preserving footpath access in England and Wales schedules regular walks on these footpaths. I've had the pleasure of going on a few of these Rambler walks. On one walk, we trekked through the ramparts of an ancient hillfort, dating back to the bronze age, topping out at 869 feet above sea level.  On our way, we had a rousing discussion about the Brexit Leave/Remain campaign. The one thing everyone could agree on were the stunning views from the summit of yellow flowers and views of the Irish Sea in one direction and the mountains in Snowdonia in the other. Another was a brisk 10 mile walk through the grounds of Nantclwyd Hall, a 17th century mansion near the village of Llanelidan, Denbighshire. Another time, we took in the stunning views of Conwy Castle while topping out on Prenol Peak. All were beautiful walks, exploring the Welsh countryside, with a unique opportunity to meet real people!

Cromlech, a prehistoric megalithic
monument (believed to be a tomb)
encountered on the Prenol Peak walk

Hiking Wales would not be complete without a few trips to Snowdonia National Park, in northwest Wales. It is the largest concentration of mountains and glaciers and home to the highest Mountain in Wales and England, Mount Snowdon at 3,560 feet.

I've managed to find two good friends, Chris Whiteside and Sarah Woodhouse who love hiking, especially in Snowdonia. Chris is training for the Munros, mountains over 3,000' in Scotland. They were named after Sir Hugh Munro, a Scottish Mountaineer who produced the first list of these hills, know as the Munro Tables in 1891.

Sarah & Chris at the top of
Mount Snowdon

Chris typically plans the hikes and leads the way while Sarah and I try to keep a respectable pace behind her. Sarah, a naturalist, points out interesting flora and fauna as we walk. We've seen wonderful things such as the Welsh Ponys, buzzards, and even a Red Kite flying overhead. One of the more intriguing plants she pointed out was Sundew, a sticky tentacled carnivorous plant similar to the Venus Fly Trap that grows in bogs, of which there are many!

Though the mountains aren't tall compared to the Rockies, these walks are not to be taken lightly. People here, rarely just hike one mountain but rather link several together to make a marathon day of it. In fact, I would say, using this strategy of linking these hills/mountains together, they manage to get in the same or more altitude gain/loss as we do in the Rockies hiking just one mountain!

Train at the top of Mount Snowdon

By now, we've done a couple hikes in the Carneddeu (pronunciation - carnethi) area of Snowdonia. One was a 12 mile circuit of three peaks, Pen Llithrig Y Wrach at 2,611, Pen yr Helgi Du at 2,733 and finally Carnedd Llewelyn at 3,491 which is the 2nd highest peak by relative height in Wales and 49th in the British Isles. Another walk took us through the town of Abergwyngregyn (the longest place name in Welsh of which I can't quite pronounce yet) to the Foel Ganol Ridge at the north east end of Snowdonia. This was a circuit of six or so hills including Foel-fras, the 11th highest peak at 3,091.

View from the top of Mount Snowdon

Of course no trip to Snodownia would be complete without a trek up Mount Snowdon.  The day we did Mount Snowdon was very hot but also very clear. Again it was a marathon day starting with Moel Elio in Llanberis and finishing up on top of Snowdon. At the top of Snowdon, we were treated to unusually clear 365 degree views. As a result of the narrow gauge train that takes tourists up Snowdon a nice coffee and gift shop is established at the top. How civilized to be able to have a coffee, tea or even ice cream at the top before heading down!

Michael, loathe to sit at home alone, accompanies the hiking contingent of the day then sits in the car park reading, calling friends on his cell phone, and listening to the news of Brexit unfolding, while we hike. His next guide book is, "Car Parks of North Wales." Do you suppose a publisher can be found for this one?