Alittlebitoutoffocus

Alittlebitoutoffocus

Arenig Fawr Walk, Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, North Wales

Ever since we moved to north Wales, we have driven along the A4212 between Trawsfynydd and Bala, either to see Jude’s family or, more recently, to get to the beach and golf course in Harlech. The road is a joy to drive as it passes the Llyn Celyn reservoir and has wide open views of the hills and mountains either side. Quite a number of times, especially on bright sunny days, we’ve looked up at a big lump called Arenig Fawr (that’s Welsh for Great High Ground, so you get the picture) and we’ve said to ourselves “we should go up there”!

So it was, last Tuesday, when the weather was set fair, that I decided to take my faithful companion, Tomos, up to the top. I’d checked out the OS map suggestions and found a 10.5 mile (17km) circular route, which also took in Moel Llyfnant. The descent between the two peaks didn’t look that big (on my laptop) but on the ground it looked huge. So I cut my losses and returned on a good track down the valley between the two peaks, making it only 8.5 miles (or 13km).

I was pleased that I had the wind behind on the way up (as well as Tomos to pull me along of course) but when we got to within only about 50 yards of the summit, the wind was incredible. (See angle of the leash in pic 12). I’ve never known wind so strong. There must be some sort of vortex created by the terrain but, boy was I glad to get behind the drystone shelter at the top. Tomos and I were nearly blown off our feet! I was leaning so far into the wind that when I did get behind the calm of the shelter I nearly fell over to the side!

It was all worth it though for the 360 degree views from the top. I could see Harlech beach as well as Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon) and the Glyders (about 17 miles or 27km away). See panorama pic 15.

However, it was sad to see a placque, attached to the leeward side of the shelter, in memory of 8 US airmen whose Flying Fortress crashed on the mountain in August 1943. (See pic 13). I’m sure it will be there for many, many years to come and those poor souls will never be forgotten.

21 responses

  1. slowtriptonepal Avatar
    slowtriptonepal

    Ooh.. that looks like a good day out. Arenig Fawr is on my to-do list so thanks for sharing the route. Glad you both got down in one piece!

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      It wasn’t all plain sailing on the way down… I spotted a very wet, boggy bit, on a slope and as I was just saying to myself “I’d better be careful here” Tomos pulled on the lead as my foot hit the ground and I slipped and banged my elbow, not to mention getting very wet and boggy mud down one side. That was another reason I decided not to tackle Moel Llyfnant. The descents were much trickier with Tomos than the ascents!

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  2. blhphotoblog Avatar
    blhphotoblog

    Amazing dog! Looks like he loved every minute.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      It was a walk in the park for him. (If only it had been that easy for me!) He was even asking me to throw him some fir cones in the garden when we got home. He’s got energy to spare.

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  3. Anita Avatar
    Anita

    Such an enjoyable post, Mike! Dramatic weather, beautiful views, and a moving detail at the top. Quite a walk.
    Tomos looks like the perfect companion up there, and your landscape shots are fantastic.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Thank you Anita, you’re too kind! Tomos could have gone up and down again I’m sure. He was still bouncing around when we got home. 🐶👍😊

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  4. Bay Photos By Donna Avatar
    Bay Photos By Donna

    Wonderful set of images, Mike, and I love seeing Tomas again!

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Thanks Donna. I keep wondering whether I should post more of my walks with Tomos (note the Welsh selling), but they tend to be around the same woods and tracks. So not very interesting. It’s only when I do a ‘big’ walk that I think of taking my camera. That said, I hope to get out and do more different walks with him this summer, so we will see… 🤞🤞😊

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  5. Jim Earlam Avatar
    Jim Earlam

    Enjoyable read Mike, the memorial reminded me of a similar one on Great Carrs, another WWII crash

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Thanks Jim. It was a great day to be out in the hills, which made a change for me (and Tomos). There must be quite a few plane crash sites around the UK. I seem to recall walking near another one with my wife up in Scotland… (I just checked Google and…) It was a Lancaster bomber which crashed into Beinn Eighe in 1951 during a night navigation training exercise.

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      1. Jim Earlam Avatar
        Jim Earlam

        Yes, hills and low cloud (or darkness) are probably not the best combination, I’m sure somebody must have compiled a list, would make for an interesting pastime if you liked walking and aviation history!

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        1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
          Alittlebitoutoffocus

          Indeed, there is, at least for Scotland. This is where I confirmed my information: https://www.edwardboyle.com/drupal/airwrecks
          Though all Scottish Aviation crash sites can be found here: https://www.scottishaviation.org.uk/crash-sites (with map of locations).
          I dare say there is an English and/or Welsh equivalent.

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        2. Jim Earlam Avatar
          Jim Earlam

          Thanks Mike, I’ll have a look at those links 👍

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  6. Laura Newhampshire Avatar
    Laura Newhampshire

    Took me a while to get here, Mike. I decided I wanted to look at your photos with David, so that took a little bit of time. WE thoroughly enjoyed them.Starting here in Wales, I had a great time trying to pronounce place names. David corrected me but I have my doubts as to how accurate he is. 🙂 Better than me, though. My last name IS Welsh (it’s my ex’s), with a ton of double-L’s, and when in Ireland we had a Welsh guy who was visiting the same B&B explain the cat-throwing-up-a-hairball pronunciation of “LL.” 🙂 The photos were gorgeous, where you were hiking in Wales is so very different from the lowlands down by Blenheim. You could HEAR the wind roaring in your photos. Your canine buddy is adorable.

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Yes, I’m afraid the Welsh language is a tough one to crack! And it’s hard to replicated the LL sound in words but I should at least give people a clue with a phonetic version. So here are some pointers…
      LL the nearest ‘easy’ way is to think of it is as ‘thl’, but said at the back sides of the mouth and tongue
      W is pronounced ‘oo’ as in food
      DD is equivalent to ‘th’
      F is a ‘v’
      U is an ‘i’ sound
      Y in the middle of a word is a ‘u’ as in but
      Y at the end of a word is like a ‘y’
      Hence Cymru (Wales) is pronounced ‘Cumree’ (except when the C mutates to a G, when you will often see Gymru or ‘Gumree’)
      and Trawsfynydd is ‘Tra-oo-sv-un-ith’
      Fawr is ‘Va-oo-r’ and Llyfnant is ‘Thl-uv-nant’.
      I told you it wasn’t easy!
      Anyway I’m glad you both enjoyed the virtual tour. It was a lovely walk. I plan to do Arenig Fach (Vak, meaning small )
      Tomos is even more adorable in real life of course. Very energetic but relaxed around people and other dogs (though not pheasants unfortunately!)

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      1. Laura Newhampshire Avatar
        Laura Newhampshire

        Those pronunciation hints seem to be what David was trying to tell me. 1) I suck at languages. All languages (except American English, and that’s debatable). 2) I think I’ll hold off on trying to tackle Welsh names until I have a better handle on Scottish names. 3) And ffs, have you seen English-English place names??? (Rhetorical, because of course you have.) I’ll have my work cut out for me in just that sort of thing for about a decade! 🙂

        I would like to visit Wales, though, for sure. Mangling the language or not.

        And yes, it is obvious Tomos is an absolute Good Boy, pheasants to the contrary.

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        1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
          Alittlebitoutoffocus

          Yes indeed, English place names are often just as tricky. We’re currently on holiday in Northumberland and just down the road there’s one of the main towns, Alnwick, pronounced Annick *with a short “a”) and further up the coast, Berwick, pronounce Berrick. There are a lot of places ending in “wick”, (thanks to those Norse invaders) where the w is mostly ignored. There are no doubt some exceptions. You have so much learning to look forward to! 👍👍😀

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        2. Laura Newhampshire Avatar
          Laura Newhampshire

          I’ve actually been to Berwick-upon-Tweed! The name still makes me giggle because the xxx-upon-yyy format is soooooooo English. We only spent a few hours in “Berrick” and I hope to go back. I wasn’t able to walk well at the time. Yes, so much to see and learn. Have fun in Northumbria. 🙂

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        3. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
          Alittlebitoutoffocus

          Not sure if you saw my posts of my walk with Pete from Berwick down the Northumberland coastal path. If not, here is Day 1 which may bring back some memories…

          Northumberland Coast Path (Day 1 of 4)

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  7. Mélodie Avatar
    Mélodie

    Stunning views.b

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    1. Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
      Alittlebitoutoffocus

      Yes, it was worth all the effort to get those 360 degree views. 👍👍😀

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