CAG on travel: Climbing in Snowdonia Wales

The love of the outdoors is something I can really get behind. Despite the fact that I've been living in the UK for so many years, there are still so many things in this country that continue to amaze me. Such a small place with so much to offer. Going to get my climb on in Snowdonia National Park Wales was such an interesting experience.

You can really tailor a trip to so many preferences, levels of ability, and types of accommodation. Snowdonia is huge, so picking an area to stay in was pretty key unless you really don't mind driving over 40km a day to get to where you want to climb. That doesn't sound like that long of a drive, but it's probably more key for thinking about post mountain summit.  Opting for the quaint country cottage in Dolgellau (largely for pub access reasons!), we settled into a nice, quiet, completely inundated by sheep weekend.

The first climb was Cader Idris, a smaller climb than Snowdon in the National Park, but a popular and pretty mountain. It was a pretty standard hike/ climb and because the weather was perfect it was quite easy, just a long walk. The views were amazing from the top of Cader Idris, and the barbecue after was so much more worth it.

The next day was a flatter, more foresty hike in the Coed y Brenin Forest Park. It was mostly mountain bike paths, but also provided a lot of beautiful scenery and waterfalls. It was a long walk as the park is huge, but again totally worth it.

The post walk treat was one of the top rated restaurants in Dolgellau called the Y Meirionnydd, partially situated in a medieval cellar. I still can barely pronounce any of the names in Wales- such a difficult language. The food really was amazing, mostly locally sourced, really nice staff, and the owner even offered to drive us home (just showing how nice people really are in Wales)!!

Wales is also known for its castles, so I'm putting photographs of this castle called Cymer Abbey up, but it was largely underwhelming. I'm sure the other castles in Wales are much more exciting.

CAG on travel: Western Scotland and climbing Ben Nevis

View from the train to Glasgow

My Scotland adventure started after work last Friday, with a lovely train journey up to Glasgow to start my Western Highland experience. Since I arrived pretty late, my lovely hostess with the mostess made dinner and we headed out to experience Glasgow nightlife. First stop was a proper old man-like pub serving ales and local attitude. Then we went on to a really amazing bar that used to be a church called Òran Mór.

The church bar Òran Mór

The former church is host to a lot of music and shows, and although the inside has been remodeled, it was a lot of fun having a drink in a church!

Loch Lomond

The next day was on to serious adventures across Western Scotland. There are many cute towns scattered around and Scotland is just so green, grey, and beautiful. Luckily, there has actually been a summer this year and people were out in full force enjoying the beautiful Scottish outdoors.

Rest and be Thankful

After you get past Loch Lomond and the Trussachs National Park, there is a reststop called Rest and be Thankful, which sits at the top of a rather steep incline, but is also just another excuse to take some time to look at the view.

Loch Fyne Restaurant was too close to pass up 

Because of my insane love of seafood, the fact that the original Loch Fyne Restaurant was so close certainly created a must-stop-by situtaion. I will never forget those delicious scallops or the best salmon fishcake of all time. Possibly also the healthiest meal I had in Scotland (ignore pool of butter), since the other meals consisted of full Scottish breakfasts and ‘fish suppers’… AKA fish and chips.

Cross in Kiells Chapel, a Late Medieval 13th century church

View from chapel near Tayvallich

To walk off lunch, the next stop was Tayvallich and a lovely little walk around the point, which was a mix of heather, sharp volcanic rock, and lots of wet wet soil. I did really enjoy the walk and even saw a seal, but I definitely underestimated my little visit to church in Glasgow the night before, and I was very ready to take a seat by the time I got back.

Oban

Oban was the next stop on the list, and it was a very picturesque town. If I were early enough next time I’d take a tour of the Oban whiskey distillery, but other than the local chippie and popular fish suppers I didn’t do much there.

After having an amazing and adventurous day in the Western Highlands, we finally reached Fort William. It seemed like most people there were also going walking or climbing since those were the majority of clothing stores, and everyone was dressed like they had been hiking all day.

An ominous start to the Ben Nevis climb

After such a perfect sunny day on the Saturday, on Sunday it rained and rained. Not terribly though, so climbing Ben Nevis was still a possiblity. Not exactly a clear visibility kind of day, I assumed that climbing 1,344m (4,409ft) would be pretty difficult and that halfway would probably be just fine.

Low visibility

 

Sun really trying to break through

Once you get to the halfway point of anything though, it’s kind of hard to turn back. You get addicted to the idea that the first part wasn’t that hard, so why not just keep going. In all honestly, had it been pouring down rain and less than 10 meters of visibility I probably wouldn’t have continued up the mountain, but those clouds kept lifting and fooling me into temporarily pushing on.

Half visible loch, the halfway point

And even though I made this unfortunate face…

Really wasn't that bad!

…I am really glad I made it to the top. It was a really good mountain for me to judge how much more training I really need for higher and more technical climbs, so I guess if I’m going to be serious about this hobby I really have something to go on now. Five hours up and back- boom!

Still an ice patch near the top at the end of July

Slightly easier to stand so close to the edge when you can't see to the bottom