Heading for Skiddaw, with Little Man looming ahead
I’ve avoided Skiddaw (or ‘Skidda’ as the locals call it) for many years. My first brush with the mountain as a teenager ended in a dismal retreat in a rainstorm, and I didn’t go back for almost twenty years. On that second visit I was a mountain rescue dog handler on an early morning search for a missing walker, which ended sadly with the man’s body being found. My third visit was so unmemorable that I don’t even remember it!
Mam Tor from the Great Ridge
Living in North Wales, there really isn’t any need to go far for a good day out in the mountains, but sometimes it’s good to have a change. A Peak District trip was on the cards, and one walk I never tire of is the Great Ridge from Mam Tor (also known as The Shivering Mountain) – OK, so Mam Tor might not have the wildness of the Carneddau (see post #208) but the Great Ridge is said to be one of the best walks in the Peak, and who am I to disagree.
Yr Elen and Carnedd Dafydd under cloud – situation normal!
For all sorts of reasons I haven’t been getting out on the mountains of the Carneddau over the summer months as much as I would have liked, so a free day and a reasonable weather forecast was all it took to tempt me out. Border Collie ‘Mist’ is always up for a long mountain day, so rucksack packed it was game on!
Musselwick Sands near Marloes
The Pembrokeshire Coastal Path around St Ann’s Head (see post #206) had been a good day out, so good in fact that this mountain man was ready for another bit of coast the next day. Repeating the winning formula, we went for another circular route, made possible by leaving the path, then re-joining it for the return leg after visiting the local pub – it’s good to have a plan!
Westdale Bay, near St Ann’s Head, Pembrokeshire
There’s no question about it – first and foremost I am a mountain man! Still, sometimes a change of scene is a good move, which is why Chris and I, plus Border Collie ‘Mist’, were down by the seaside. The seaside in this case was the Pembrokeshire Coastal Path, part of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park.
Rhobell Fawr from the ridge of Dduallt (Distant hills – Cadair Idris left and the Rhinogs right)
The panorama coming down from Cadair Bronwen at the end of our Berwyn day (see post #204) had views of some old familiar hills from entirely new directions. The outline of the Rhinog Mountains was particularly easy to identify, but as I added the image to the blog post I noticed another couple of hills in the hazy light – I had an idea what was lurking there, but projected the view on the map to check. No doubt about it – Rhobell Fawr and Dduallt, two mountains I had never visited. Well, that was the next trip planned then!
Cadair Bronwen in the Berwyns
The Berwyn mountains are the Cinderella hills of North Wales. These rough and lonely hills feel like they should be part of the Snowdonia National Park, but on the day that the guy drew the Park boundary, he must have been having a bad day at the office, leaving the Berwyns in a ‘No Man’s Land’ between the Aran Ridge and the Arenigs on one side and the Limestone hills of the Clwydian and Llangollen hills on the other.
Storr Rocks – North Skye
Skye holds many great mountaineering memories for me, but I would be the first to admit that the island gets more than its fair share of bad weather, and when conditions eventually turn fine the curse of the Scottish midge can make life almost unbearable. Our May trip was proving to be far from typical though, and with blue skies and an absence of insect pests it was clear that our luck was holding.
North Skye, near the Quiraing
The mountain walking highlight of our Scottish trip in May was undoubtedly my trip up Quinag (see post #201), but I had also pre-planned a couple of shorter days out that Chris might enjoy, both of them on Skye. There is always something special about travelling to an island, and even though Skye is now joined to the mainland by a road bridge, there is still a certain magic about crossing the narrow straits between Kyle of Lochalsh and Kyleakin.
A nice day for a dog walk
Visitors from abroad probably look at our modest mountains in the UK and wonder what all the fuss is about. True, our mountains are lower in height than the peaks of Europe, North America, Africa and Asia, but our more northerly latitude often catches out visitors. In addition, we tend not to waymark our paths as they do in, say, the European Alps, which sometimes causes problems for visitors. It’s a fair generalisation though, that for a long mountain day in the UK you need to go to Scotland.
Paul offers guided hillwalking in the UK through Hillcraft Guided Walking. He is also a freelance outdoor writer.
Hillcraft Guided Walking Website
Paul Shorrock - One Man's Mountains AKA One Pillock's Hillocks 