Hywel Mallett

A walk up Tryfan

The idea of this walk was more to have a nice day out, and get some decent photos rather than to scale hills at all costs. The day got off to a relaxed start, arriving the layby by Llyn Ogwen around midday. We walked up the path from the layby up over Bochlwyd Buttress, alongside Nant Bochlwyd.

Nant Bochlwyd is crossed where it flows from Llyn Bochlwyd. The rocks were a little slippy, and the dog was unsure at first, but then shot across, making me look extrememly nervous!

We followed the path up to Bwlch Tryfan, a gentle, easy climb. Looking back there were fine views of Nant Ffrancon.

We climbed over the stile at the top of Bwlch Tryfan, and sat on a large stone to eat some lunch. While we were eating, a helicopter which had been flying around for quite some time winched someone in a stretcher off Bristly Ridge. After eating, we decided to have a look at the possibility of climbing Tryfan. However, it appeared that it would be too difficult for the dog to get up, so instead I thought it would be good to walk along Heather Terrace. The weather was great, and there was a clear view for quite some distance.

On the map, it appears that Heather Terrace has a kink in it, but at this point the path became indistinct, as it was all over rocks, so we scrambled down to the bottom of Bwlch Tryfan. Photo hint – a polarizer can really make the sky stand out!

We walked along the path to Tryfan Bach, so we could at least say we'd done one summit, even if it was only a little one! We scrambled down the west side of Tryfan bach, to walk down the path, and found a group of climbers on the slab af rock at the base of Tryfan Bach. The ground then became all boggy, and we joined the A5. It was then a mile-long walk back to the car.

A walk up Muncaster Fell

This was to be a relatively relaxing day's walk, based on a a walk in "Walks from Ratty" by Alfred Wainwright. Ratty is the nickname for the Ravenglass and Eskdale Railway. We started the day by parking in the car park at Muncaster Castle, (which is itself a nice day out). From the car park we walked along Fell Lane, past Muncaster Tarn, and onto Muncaster Fell. The path marked on the map passes 40 metres below the summit, but we felt it was compulsory to visit it! This detour involved walking through bracken, and past a rotting sheep. From the summit, there was a good view all round – up Eskdale, out to sea, and over Sellafield (which also makes for an interesting day out).

From the summit we returned to the path, which is well defined, along to Ross's Camp. This is actually a stone table, which was apparently set up by the Victorians. The date on it would certainly bear this out!

We continued along the (boggy and peaty) path to Rabbit How. the plan at this point had been to walk down to Muncaster Head, and along the path below Muncaster Fell, but this seemed a little boring, and we had plenty of time, so we carried on to Eskdale green station. We looked at the timetable for the train, and saw that we had just missed one, and there was a fair wait until the next one. For some reason we decided to walk along the road to Irton Road station, but this did mean we got to go past a Post Office which handily sold ice creams! We ate our lunch and decided what to do while we waited for the train. Having read about Dalegarth Force in several books, we decided we'd have enough time for a visit, so we took the train to Dalegarth Station. The path though the woods is unmissable, but it is narrow and slippy in places.

On the way back to the station, I thought it would be better to go back a different way, over the stepping stones marked on the map. When we arrived at them however, the water was about 6 inches over the top of them, so we had to double back, and follow our original route to the station. This gave us enough time for a drink and a snack, before the last train of the day departed to take us to Muncaster Mill. On this particular journey, we were in an open carriage at the front of the train, which meant that we got some sun, but we also got some wind and soot!

From Muncaster Mill the path rose and passed over the end of Muncaster Fell, leading us back to the car.

A walk up Scafell

We (my girlfriend and I) started walking from the car park at Brotherikeld at 8:00am. Anyone who knows me understands how unusual it is for me to be up that early! The weather was not too good, overcast, with the cloud fairly low. We decided to press on nontheless. From Brotherikeld we walked along the East coast of the River Esk, through fields and below Heron Crag,until we arrived at Lingcove Bridge. By this time it had started raining lightly, enough to justify waterproof trousers. At Lingcove Bridge we crossed Lingcove Beck, and continued upstream and uphill towards Scar Lathing, following the bank of the Esk. The plan had been to cross the Esk here, ascend Little Narrowcove, then Scafell Pike, then cross to Scafell, then down over Slight Side to Cat Crag. However, by this point we were faced with very soggy, boggy ground in Great Moss, rain, crossing the Esk, the unknown of the route between Scafell Pike and Scafell, and worst of all, low cloud. The cloud was around the 500 metre mark, which meant that we could see the bottom of the Scafells, but they simply dissappeared into the cloud. The feeling of isolation in Great Moss was quite exciting, it felt miles from anywhere. We decided at this point that rather than risk life and limb for a view of the cloud, we would call it a day at this point. We crossed the river below Cam Spout Crag, passed Sampson's Stones, and headed along the path towards Scale Gill.

The path was indistinct in places, but it did make a relatively relaxing stroll. The descent into Scale Gill meant our feet were lulled into a sense of being near the end. We stopped for a minute to look at the falls from Scale Bridge, and continued through the fields to Taw House. From there, a footbridge crosses the Esk to take you back to Brotherikeld, and the last 50 metres along the road were steep uphill and felt like agony! We had walked over 10km, for several hours, and hadn't seen another person all day.

A walk up Rhinog Fawr

This walk was inspired by a route featured in Trail Walker magazine (November 1991 issue). My girlfriend and I had attempted this walk in about 1996 or 1997, however, due to fog and indistinct paths, we didn't get far. Thankfully, this time the weather was much better, and while the temperature wasn't high (hey, it's February in Wales!) it was a clear day. Magazine articles usually refer to the Rhinogs as rocky and boggy, with indistinct paths. I would say they're right!

The drive up to the farm at the head of Cwm Bychan is an adventure in itself. After about 5 miles of a very narrow road, with few passing places, you come across a gate across the road, not at the farm itself, which seems a bit odd. The farmer provides a field for cars to park on, and asks that you put £2.00 in a box at the gate – a fair price I feel. From the car, the dog and I worked our way up to Bwlch Tyddiau and the Roman steps. The path here is obvious, and as we walked up it, we caught up with a family going the same way.

From the Roman steps, there is more than one path to Llyn Du. At least it would appear that way, for while I followed the path marked on the map, the family came from a different direction. This was as far as my girlfriend and I got when we came, and even in broad daylight it is difficult to see where the path goes. The paths up to top of Rhinog Fawr seem non-existant on the ground, so I went for the easy option, and followed the family, who seemed to have a much better idea of where they were going. Due to the cold temperatures over the previous week, there was some ice on the ground, and the dog had a bit of difficulty on some of the steeper sections. Eventually however, we reached the summit, where I stopped for my lunch, while the dog stopped for her own lunch, and as much of my lunch as she could get.

From the summit, we continued South-East.


The plan was to continue to Rhinog Fach, however, trying to descend to Bwlch Drws-Ardudwy proved much more difficult than I had planned, and we wasted a lot of time around SH663284. In the end I decided it would be easier to head back uphill, and try and come down to a point higher up the Bwlch (Near where the cairn is marked on the map). By this time it was around 14:30, and as sunset was at 17:44 (according to the GPS) it was too late to attempt Rhinog Fach (and probably get lost). Eventually we managed to get back to the path next to the cairn, where a stone wall crosses the path, and we could then begin the walk down to Cwm Nantcol.

This is the point where it becomes apparent that the description of the boggy paths is correct. The long walk down the Bwlch is quite relaxing, and at times the path crosses the stream, sometimes with the help of stepping stones, sometimes not. I was quite surprised to see frogspawn here, half way up a mountain.



Looking back up at Rhinog Fach, I was glad I decided against going up it, even though I did want to go and see Llyn Hywel! As we got close to Cwm Nantcol we caught up with a gentleman we had met on the summit, and we spent 5 minutes talking, where he pointed out the quicker and easier way down! He asked if I was carrying on down Cwm Nantcol, to which I replied that we going back over to Cwm Bychan. His words were, "It's a long, damp slog". Indeed, the first mile or two is very damp indeed, and I was tired and a bit demoralised by this point, especially when I was overtaken by two other walkers. When we reached the point where we heading back downhill, I couldn't see any path, so we crashed through the heather, heading down by the stream which flows into the lake. When we came across a path which had footprints in it made me feel a lot better. More boggy ground by the side of the lake was covered, then we came back across the path, which we followed across a wall, then after a hundred metres or so, we came across a much wider path, which looked familiar. Then I realised that it was the path up to Roman steps. The walk back to the car was trivial, and we arrived at the car precisely at sunset.

I found that the car had been molested by sheep licking the dirt off.

On the way home, I received a phone call from my girlfriend asking if I was OK with the snow. As the weather had been fine all day, I was surprised, only for it to then start snowing quite heavily.

A walk up Cadair Idris

The day got off to a bad, but typical (for me) start – It was late. I arrived at the Car Park at the base of the Minffordd path at 11:30am. My plan was a simple ascent of the Minffordd path, then retrace my steps back to the start. On the drive there, I noticed that some of the hills had quite a bit of snow on them. This was something I had forgotten to think about. This was also the first walk I was to do in a new pair of Scarpa Manta M4 boots.
The climb up the Minffordd path starts climbing up through the forest, with plenty of man-made steps, crossing over a stream.

However, after only 750 metres I could feel that the heels on the new boots were starting to rub. This was despite having worn the boots around the house for several days in an effort to break them in. As you emerge from the forest, the path levels off, and you arrive at the point where you can continue on to Llyn Cau, or you can break left and climb upward further onto the ridge which curves round to Cadair Idris. By this time my heels were really starting to hurt, but I decided to continue upwards anyway. Ascending the steps to the first 690 metre peak we met one of the locals.

It was very slow going, every upward step causing me severe pain. At the 500 metre height, we encountered the first snow. It was not very deep, only an inch or two, but the dog loved it.

The snow would have made it difficult to spot the path had it been fresh snow, but luckily there were plenty of tracks in it for me to follow. Just before reaching the stile at 791 metres, I started walking into cloud, and visibility was down to around 50 metres. As I still had about 1500 metres horizontal distance and 170 metres of ascent to go, I decided that there was little point in continuing any further. It was about 2:00pm by this time (told you it was slow going), and as sunset was at 4:50pm, I would have had little leeway for getting back to the car. Besides, I hadn't had my lunch yet, and I didn't want to eat it sat in cloud. I made my way back down the Minffordd path at a much better rate, as it didn't hurt so much going downhill.

We made our way to the shore of Llyn Cau, and I ate my lunch while the dog looked wistfully at it. The descent back to the car was not too bad, I managed about the same speed I normally manage uphill! The cloud didn't lift from the 700 metre point though, so I didn't feel too bad at not having reached the summit.
On the way down, we paused at the falls in the forest for a photo.

I had also noticed that my heels had felt sort of squelchy. Back at the car, I unlaced my boots, ready for the sight, and was greeted with blood soaked socks, and also the lining of the boots was pretty filthy. I drove home in my socks, knowing that when I got into the bath the blisters would hurt like hell.