The Welsh Fab Four: Rhinog Fawr and the Rhinogs from Graigddu-Isaf

April 8, 2026 Trip reports britain, hill walking, rhinog fach, rhinog fawr, rhinogs, snowdonia, wales 0 Comment

The Rhinogs are not the most lofty peaks in Britain, but what they lack in height, they make up for in toughness. Paths are faint, steep and rough, and the peaks feel wild and remote. They had me staggering in exhaustion on my only previous trip fifteen years ago. It was time for a return visit.

An ascent of Aran Fawddwy, the highest point in Merionethshire

March 11, 2026 Trip reports aran benllyn, aran fawddwy, aran hills, britain, county tops, hill walking, peak bagging, snowdonia, wales 0 Comment

The Aran Hills form a north-south ridge extending 14km from the shores of Bala Lake to the sleepy village of Dinas Mawddwy, nestling between hills at a confluence of the River Dovey in southern Snowdonia. The central part of the ridge remains above 800m for more than 2km and reaches up to 905m on Aran Fawddwy, one of the more interesting County Tops.

All 14 Welsh 3,000ers for the Queen’s jubilee

June 15, 2022 Trip reports britain, hill walking, peak bagging, snowdon, snowdonia, wales, welsh 3000ers 5 Comments

Our beloved monarch Queen Elizabeth II has now been sitting on the throne for 70 years. To celebrate this event, and because the people of Britain had been granted an extra day of public holiday to mark it, I decided to do something special.

Snowdonia’s Nantlle Ridge the hard way

May 11, 2022 Trip reports britain, cicerone guides, hill walking, moel hebog, nantlle ridge, snowdon, snowdonia, wales 1 Comment

The Nantlle Ridge in Snowdonia National Park, North Wales, is one of those classic mountain scrambles that has been lurking on my list for many years. Its 9km contained the right sort of terrain: narrow ridge walking interspersed with some short easy scrambles.

Cadair Idris by the Minffordd Path

August 15, 2018 Trip reports britain, cadair idris, edita, hill walking, snowdonia, wales 2 Comments

Cadair Idris is the last peak in Snowdonia before the high mountains give way to the soft rolling landscape of mid-Wales. The Minffordd Path on its south side is one of the best horseshoe ridge walks in Wales. A couple of weeks ago I took Edita there.

The Snowdon Horseshoe: Britain’s classic hill walk

October 7, 2015 Trip reports britain, crib goch, edita, hill walking, moel siabod, pen-y-gwryd hotel, search and rescue, snowdon, snowdon horseshoe, snowdon mountain railway, snowdonia, wales, y lliwedd 14 Comments

There are many great routes up Snowdon, but for hill walkers the Snowdon Horseshoe is the very best, crossing three of the Welsh 3000ers in three ridge scrambles of varying difficulty. Our circuit of it last month included a little bit of drama.

Walking the Aran Ridge, another Snowdonia secret

July 8, 2015 Trip reports aran fawddwy, aran hills, backpacking, bear grylls, britain, cadair idris, glasgwm, hill walking, rhinogs, snowdonia, wales, wild camping 11 Comments

There aren’t many hill walks close to civilisation in the UK where you can spend two days and only see one other human. The Aran Ridge is just four or five hours’ drive from London, and last week I went there for a couple of days’ backpacking.

Snowdon via the Snowdon Ranger Path

November 14, 2012 Trip reports britain, hill walking, snowdon, snowdon marathon, snowdon mountain railway, snowdon ranger path, snowdonia, wales 4 Comments

My latest trip up Snowdon was something of a flying visit, and has the distinction of being one of the rare ascents of England and Wales’s highest mountain on a day trip from London. A few weekends ago I ascended

Snowdon via the Watkin Path

October 31, 2012 Trip reports britain, camping, hill walking, snowdon, snowdonia, wales, watkin path, y lliwedd, yr aran 2 Comments

It’s not often you get great weather on Snowdon, but there was a good weather forecast the other day so I decided to head up there. Many people describe the highest peak in England and Wales as hill walking’s equivalent

The Rhinogs: Snowdonia’s best kept secret

June 14, 2011 Trip reports backpacking, ben nevis, boulder hopping, britain, camping, crib goch, diffwys, hill walking, irish sea, off piste walking, rhinog fach, rhinog fawr, rhinogs, snowdon, snowdonia, wales, water purification, y llethr 15 Comments

There are some hillwalking routes in the UK that everybody knows about, and in good weather are certain to be jam-packed with walkers, while others very close seem to remain known to connoisseurs only. I remember once being all alone