Taking a holiday from the Pennines

For the first time since 2004 all my walking this year has been done entirely in the Pennines and Cheviots (a 1½ mile ramble above the Sutton Bank White Horse notwithstanding). I have also not had a full week off work this year.

In more ways than one then next week in Wales will be a holiday for me. Firstly, it will be a chance to spend some quality time away with my family in an environment that is fantastic for Rhiannon. Secondly, I will hopefully get the chance to do a couple of walks. I say hopefully because last year when we also went to Hafan-y-Mor the weather was dreary and grey almost the entire week.

Last year I was also handicapped by the problems I was having with the cartilage in my left knee. The combination of poor weather and dodgy knee meant I had to forego the planned excursions into the mountains of Snowdonia to settle instead for exploring the hills of the Lleyn Peninsula. Fortunately for me Lleyn has some quite excellent walks to offer. Carn Fadryn is a good little climb and is also the site of an ancient hill fort. Even more impressive is the extensive remains of the hill fort on Tre'r Ceiri which I visited as part of a super walk including Yr Eifl, the highest point on the peninsula. Another, much shorter, walk involved an exploration of the colorful headland of Mynydd-Tir-y-cwmwd.

While this year I may well do another walk in Lleyn itself I'm itching to get into Snowdonia and fingers crossed I want to sample the delights of the Moelwynion and Rhinogydd ranges. As much as I love the Pennines I have to say I'm quite excited about getting into more mountainous terrain again. I'll report on my success (or otherwise) on my next blog. In the meantime here are some pics from my Lleyn adventures last year.