The track up Moel Famau – a long way for little legs!
An annoying knee injury (now sorted out) kept me off the hills for much of August, but I’m an impatient patient and by the end of the month I was ready for a walk out. We had my grandson Lewis staying with us for almost a week, and a trip up one of our local hills looked like being an adventure for Lewis and a bit of exercise for me.
Grandson Lewis ready for an adventure
Moel Famau is the highest summit in the Clwydian Range at 554 metres altitude, and though these little hills can be surprisingly wild at times we generally regard them as good dog-walking territory. However, when you are not quite five years old, 554 metres can be a bit of an adventure!
Advice from Granny Chris ….
…. and a pit-stop along the way
The secret to walking with kids is not to hurry and to keep it fun, and Lewis was an absolute star. Chris had introduced the concept of the ‘emergency snack’, and a short pit-stop was a great distraction, especially for Border Collie ‘Mist’ who was on hand to catch any crumbs!
Getting near the top
At the summit with Grandad ….
…. and time for a hot chocolate
At the summit I produced my trusty Jet-Boil stove and while Lewis enjoyed his hot chocolate, Nain and Taid had coffee (I’m sure the non-welsh speakers out there will be able to work out who Nain and Taid are!)
Why take a boring way down when there’s deep heather?
And then it was time to head back. Of course, it’s far too simple walking down an easy path when you aren’t quite five, especially if there is deep heather to plough through. Even for the grandparents, the routine dog walk up Moel Famau became a little more magical.
Heading for home
Text and images © Paul Shorrock
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 
Glad to see another young hillwalker in training there! 😉
Carol.
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He can take me on the hills in ten years time 😀
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Fantastic! Kids love adventure and my grandsons love walking and hiking. Sadly no more for us until I get my knee replacement, but then there will be no stopping us. Love the heather, so vibrant!
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Lots for you to look forward to SP !
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How cute is Lewis!? ❤ Looks like loadsa fun was had with nain & taid and Mist, the hungriest dog on the planet 😉
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Lewis is the hungriest five year old I’ve ever come across!! Real cute kid 🙂
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Looks like a really lovely walk. It’s great to see kids getting a taste for the hills.
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Yep, start ’em young 🙂
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Love the heather covered fields. 😃
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Lovely isn’t it Plant Girl. We had similar vibrant colours last year as well.
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Lovely isn’t it Plant Girl. We had similar vibrant colours last year as well.
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I’ll be on Moel Famau tomorrow (Saturday) at some point, Paul. Doing the Offas Dyke 26 mile walk for Red Cross. I’ll probably have an emergency snack or two too 🙂
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I only picked up this comment on the day after your walk Mark – hope it went well 🙂
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It was a great day thanks, Paul. You live in lovely part of the world. I’m glossing over how much of a trudge parts of it were (but that’s the challenge aspect of course) : some pretty inclement weather to start and the later hills packed a punch for tired legs 🙂 The views and company made up for all of that though. I was with Lewis in his choice of hot chocolate and was wishing for one as I stood on rain-lashed Moel Famau 🙂
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It was a rough old day and those little hills can pack a punch alright!
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