Holiday - Northumberland and North Wales - Day 14 - Anglesey

Northumberland and North Wales Holiday

Wednesday 14th June 2017

Today we decided to have a rest day.  We headed to Anglesey to see if we could book ourselves in on a boat trip to Puffin Island. We arrived at Beaumaris and found out that the next available trip was at 13:30.  We had about an hour till the trip so we decided to have a look around the castle before having some lunch on the quay.

Shortly before or trip was due we made our way down to the harbour.  The trip lasted just over an hour, it took us up the coast, round Puffin Island and then back to Beaumaris.  We were able to see many different birds and some seals.

Back on dry land we made our way round Anglesey to Holyhead Island.  We parked up near the mountain and went for a little walk.

This evening we had arranged to meet Becky and Ali at the Anglesey Arms for dinner. We met them just before 6.  We had a lovely evening and catch up.  It was nice to meet Ali.  

Back at the cottage we had a look at what we could do tomorrow.  There is going to be low cloud around hopefully lifting through the afternoon.

Holiday - Northumberland and North Wales - Day 13 - Walk up Snowdon

Northumberland and North Wales Holiday

Tuesday 13th June 2017

Today we had decide that we were going to walk up Snowdon.  We had planned to go for the Watkins path but due to the weather we thought maybe Pyg track might be better as it starts from higher up.  We got to the car park and it was full so we drove on down to the Watkins car park and there were only 3 cars there!  We decided we would go for it from where we had planned and hope the clouds lift.

We parked, got our rucksacks on and set off.  The first section was through a bit of woodland and then on to track with nice views.  During the next section we passed some lovely waterfalls. A bit further up we passed an old quarry before the path became steeper and we entered the clouds!  From then on we had no view at all!  The top section was fairly steep and on scree slope till we joined the Clogwyn Du path and it was more sensible for the last part.  At the top we were still in the cloud but we had to do the obligatory trig point photo!  We had planned to come back down the Clogwyn Du path but due to the poor visibility we decided to come back down the Watkins path as we should recognise where we were going!  By the time we got down to the old quarry again we were back out of the clouds and they had lifted a bit so we could see the top of one of the peaks opposite.  Back at the waterfalls we took a diversion down onto a bridge to take some other photos.  By the time we got back to the car we were pleased that the top of Snowdon was still in the fog!!  I was glad we made it up there but we will have to have a return trip in the future so we can see the views!!

On the way back to the cottage we stopped in Betws-Y-Coed chip shop to get some dinner.  This evening we are both tired and I have very achey feet!!

Holday - Northumberland and North Wales - Day 12 - Climbing Clogwyn yr Oen

Northumberland and North Wales Holiday

Monday 12th June 2017

We had packed up our climbing kit last night so it was ready to go this morning.  Once we were ready to go this morning we gathered up or stuff and set off in the car for Clogwyn yr Oen (translated to Cliff of the Lamb!) in the Moelwyns.  

It took about 25 mins to get to the carpark.  It was not raining so we decided to go for it.  We loaded up and set off up the path.

By the time we got up the hill it had started raining and looked set in for the day.  We saw there were some other climbers a bit further along so hoped that it wasn't slippery if they were happy to climb.  We made our way to the bottom of the climb. And waited to see if the rain was going to dry up!  It didn't seem like it would but decided that we were wet anyway so we would go for it!  The route was called 'Slick' and is divided into four 20m pitches with suitable belaying ledges!  

The guide book describes as follows...
1) 20m. Climb up a wide crack to a ledge on the rib. Carry on up the rib past several small ledges to a big ledge and belay.
2) 20m. Move left and onto a flake then take the crack above, veering left into a scoop at its top. Climb a small groove to below a steepening then up the massive jugs on the right before teetering back left to a ledge. Belay off large gear and a root.
3) 20m. Follow the groove then move left onto a slab. At the top of a broken pillar, move right onto the slab and make thin and technical moves up this to another large ledge below a crack.
4) 20m. Ascend the short but difficult crack, and then swarm up the slab above to the top.

We started climbing around 11:30 by the time Tim had got to the top of the first pitch the rain had stopped.  It then stayed dry the rest of our ascent.  It took us about an hour per pitch, we reached the top about 15:30 and felt very pleased with our efforts.  It was the first ascent we had done that was that height and more than 2 pitches.  I was excited to have a go at a bigger climb but I must admit the thought of it did make me feel nervous but by the time we got to the foot of the climb it didn't feel so bad.  I don't think it helped that there is such big scenery so it looked daunting.  The route was fairly straight forward to follow.

Once we were both at to top we followed a well used path back down to the bottom of the crag.  We then walked back to the car and made our way back to the cottage.  We sorted out all our kit and the Tim somehow found the energy to cook a lovely roast dinner!  This evening we watched another film from the cottage cupboard!

Tomorrow we are hopefully going to walk up Snowdon!

Holiday - Northumberland and North Wales - Day 11 - Electric Mountain

Northumberland and North Wales Holiday

Sunday 11th June 2017

This morning it was cloudy, drizzly and very windy but the forecast had said it would only be showers today.  We were booked onto a 10:30 trip at Electric Mountain in Llanberis.  We set off around 09:15 and got there around 10:10.  

We booked ourselves in and had a look around the centre.  At 10:25 out trip was called and we were taken into a small cinema for a film about the mountain before being taken onto the bus to begin the tour.  During the tour we were taken deep into the mountain and shown each stage of the process.  It was an interesting tour and glad we visited.

We had looked at pubs in Betws-Y-Coed for a Sunday roast so we made our way to the Pont-y-Pair Inn.  The did a very nice roast and we even had a pudding! This afternoon we decided to have a look at the local climbing shops as Tim was after a new harness and I wanted to check out belay glasses.  After Tim being sure they climbing shops were in Betws-y-Coed and we didn't find them I checked online to find they were both back in Llanberis!!  We decided that as today was showery it was best to get the shopping bits done so we headed back to Llanberis!!  It was successful though as Tim managed to get himself a harness and some rope and I got some belay glasses.  

Also in one of the shops we were asking about suitable routes for some climbing, we got some good advice from them.  On the way back to the cottage we decided to go via one places we had talked about and check out where the routes are.  It was nice to have a walk even though we didn't have much of a view and was useful to check out the area.  We passed a nice waterfall too.

This evening we had some dinner and then watched the film 'Everest'.  Tomorrow we are planning to go climbing to the routes we checked out today.