Category Archives: Uncategorized

Today’s walk was a walk along the moorland overlooking the north coast of Wales, with a mid day diversion away from the coastal hills to the Aber Falls. First we had to retrace our way to Bethesda, taking the bus back from Bangor to the place we left the route yesterday. Almost immediately after leavingContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 7”

From early morning- and continuing when we started today’s walk at about 9 am- it was bucketing it down: proper Welsh torrential rain. But luckily within half and hour or so of starting we only had short bursts of rain , generally when we entered low cloud, and were able to enjoy another superb dayContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 6”

The weather forecast was ominous- thunderstorms and weather warnings- and we had the longest day of the trip ahead of us. But plan for the worst and hope for the best, as they say, and as it turned out the weather wasn’t at all bad. Three or four spells of rain, of no more thanContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 5”

According to the Snowdonia Way guidebook, today and yesterday could be combined as one long day from Trawsfynydd to Beddgelert. I’m quite certain that would have been a struggle for us – both to finish by nightfall and without collapsing in a heap- so I’m glad we split it the way we did into yesterdayContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 4”

Today was a day of water. From the beauty of Llyn Trawsfynydd at the start of the day; a wander through a bog in the middle, where we somehow went wrong; to another reservoir, Llyn Tecwyn Uchal; and finally the Afon Dwyryd estuary at Penrhyndeudreath. We began by crossing the bridge at Lake Trawsfynydd, whereContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 3”

Today was a walk of variety, walking from Dolgellau to Trawsfynydd. More up and down than yesterday and a little shorter, we had still clocked up 15.8 miles by the time we finished, after about seven hours. Coming out of Dolgellau, we began with some narrow wooded paths along steep hillside with occasional views. ThereContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 2”

The Snowdonia Way is a new long distance walking route, 97 miles long, traversing the Snowdonia national park from Machynlleth in the south to Conwy in the north, devised by a guy called Alex Kendall, a mountain leader who lived in Snowdonia for over ten years. It’s actually two routes, a lower level route (whichContinue reading “Walking the Snowdonia Way: Day 1”

As with most things, this is a matter of opinion, but here are my thoughts based on 25 years of long distance walking. 1. Scenic highlights For many this will be the whole point of walking a trail. And long distance trails invariably have them, though you must also be prepared sometimes for duller partsContinue reading “What makes a good long-distance walking trail?”

It’s been a long and hard winter. We’ve been luckier than many, staying healthy, working at home and having our daughter (and her dog) with us for three months, rather than at university. But nevertheless getting vaccinated and being able to get out for more than a very local walk, along with a burst ofContinue reading “Free at last?”

The truth is not as much as you think. The reality is that most of us will walk many thousands of miles in our lives. So it’s not really a question of how far, but how fast. Last week I clocked up 1,000 miles walked outside this year, so far. But not really in theContinue reading “What’s a thousand miles?”