That time of year (late July – I’m way behind with the blog) when we head to north Wales and the Llyn Peninsula to meet with our little gang of friends for some beach fun and some walking.
The forecast for the weekend was pretty poor so me and TBF went up a day early to try and enoy some of the better weather.
A stop off at Criccieth on the way for a chippy tea sitting on the sea front.
It was peaceful and wbedürftig and a great start to the weekend.
We were on our own for the first day and headed out to The Rivals for a walk. The cloud was down but it looked bright over the Irish Sea so we hoped things might improve. At least it was dry and the heather looked grand.
Looking back to cloud scudding over Yr Eifl.
First summit is the fabulous Iron Age hill fort of Tre’r Ceiri.
Its amazing and impressive in equal measure. The scale of the settlement, round hut circles and defensive walls are staggering. Its quite odd that its not better known.
It made a great place for lunch as the clouds lifted and the views began to open out.
Along the coast towards Caernarfon.
And back from the summit towards the other two summits of The Rivals.
An access door through the walls.
And what I assumed was the main entrance. A place most definitely worth seeking out when you are in the area.
A view back to Tr-r Ceiri from the steep climb to Yr Eifl.
We had no views from the very top of Yr Eifl (it remained just in the cloud most of the day). Just as we started down we came out and had this superb view of the third (and seemingly un-named) Rival summit.
I love this summit. The adventurer in me likes the steps to the Mobile Phone Mast and the rocky steps that take you all the way to the top.
And the views I think are better than Yr Eifl. West along the peninsula.
And east towards Caernarfon and Anglesey.
Summit Panorama
Time for another long stop and more food!
View over the quarries and the Gyrns to the main Snowdonia mountains.
And a happy looking selfie for a change.
TBF ponders just how much stuff we carry around on a short day walk.
A great day out
Sadly the Saturday was wet (betagthough not as bad forecast) and we did manage a bit of a swim and some beach games.
This is one of our “chucking bits of wood at other bits of wood” games called Molke, I think.
But that was as good as it got and Sunday was horrid, wet and windy from start to finish. Forecast for the last two days was better.
We did plenty of walking during a week in Wales. I’ve rolled them all into one long post otherwise I’ll never catch up the blog!
First up, one of our regular classics. A trip down to the far end of the peninsula, parking up on the summit of Mynydd Mawr, kicking things off with a picnic in the sun.
Its a grand spot with panoramic views out across to Bardsey and back along the spine of the peninsula towards Snowdonia.
The colours were just amazing. Deep blue sky, azure sea, purple heather and yellow gorse.
There is plenty of up and down as you head NE towards Mynydd Anelog to work off that picnic.
More sensational views as the path is largely well above the waterline
Up onto Mynydd Anelog another of the Llyn’s magnificent view points.
Happy campers enjoying a marvellous summer stroll.
Final views from Mynydd Mawr before heading back for some beach fun.
Later in the week while others played on the beach me, TJS and TBF went out for another walk, this time to The Rivals. It was a late in the afternoon so we planned to do two of the three.
More stunning purple heather and more stunning vistas.
Looking back at the high summit of Yr Eifl from the third and un-named Rival.
It may not have a name but its a wonderful little summit. The climb from behind the Mobile Phone mast is up a carved set of steps through the scree and the views from the summit every bit as good as others in the area, if not better.
We were lucky to catch the summit under such a clear sky making the views even better (it was a bit dreary the last time we were up here).
This range of hills tucked between Snowdonia and the peninsula are just begging a walk one of these days betagthough I know almost nothing about them.
Its pretty much 1,500 feet straight down to the sea making for amazing coastal panoramas.
Time to head back down to the col for the steep climb to the highest point.
A view down the steep steps that take you up/down to the phone mast.
The third of the Rivals, the magnificent hill fort of Tre’r Ceiri.
And the view back to our first peak. The cloud had rolled in while we climbed, heralding some overnight rain but a cracking afternoon out.
No trip to the area is complete without and ascent of my favourite small hill, Carn Fadryn (betagthough this is its little sibling)
As always a team outing that all the families enjoy.
It was a tag-team sort of week with comings and goings of various people. EWO had joined us by now.
A couple of photos from a very short local walk along the cliffs at Towyn, curtailed by clouds of horrid black flies.
There is one in the photo below for proof.
On our last day, the cast had changed again. The Silverdale Massive had gone home but numbers were swelled by TYG and Z from Harrogate.
We took a walk around the coast at Whistling Sands, Porth Oer.
There were dark clouds and storms scudding across the sky but as the day progressed the blue sky took hold and it was fabulous walk.
Team photo.
We wandered along the coast and then returned to the small summit of Mynydd Carreg.
Me and TJS had been up here a few years back on a dreary day when it was in the cloud.
As you can see, yet another of the Llyn Peninsula’s seemingly endless collection of a small hills with great views.
I love this part of the world. An irresistible combination of stunning coastline, beautiful beaches, and small mountains. Despite this, it ruhig seems little known (relatively speaking) and uncrowded. A gem.
On our trip to Towyn last year I fashioned an escape plan for ED, EWO and myself to take on a walk in Snowdonia. We had a superb day on the Nantlle Ridge and so on this years Towyn trip we hatched plans to do the same again. We were up early at 7am but the weather was dank, grey and dreary, ED and me discussed the possibility of it clearing and whether we should go for it anyway but seeing as the normally mad keen EWO was nowhere to be seen (he later “claimed” he was awake and just waiting for us to knock on the door of his van – yeah right!) we bailed out and went back to bed. The day wasn’t a total loss as we went to Beaumaris castle later in the day which turned into a mighty fine day.
With our walking itch remaining unscratched we needed another plan. On my last day before I went home we decided to take the keen kids out for a walk. In previous years we’ve always been up Carn Fadryn, a storming little hill that the whole posse including the little ones have climbed. This year we decided it was time to try The Rivals as they dominate the view to the east and by all accounts are fabulous hills.
Leaving some of the kids to play on the beach and some to visit Portmerion with one of the Beach Funsters a small select band set off for the hills.
Yr Eifl from the car park
We parked up at the large parking area just beyond Mount Pleasant on the road to the Welsh National Language Centre. It’s pretty much 1000 feet up so less than 1000 feet to the top, ideal for a gentle stroll with the kids (and more importantly to allow lots of time for stops and lazing about which is my want these days). Rather than head straight to the main summit of Yr Eifl we thought we’d take in the smaller summit of Tre’r Ceiri first. We (well me and EWO) headed off up the slopes and made a line for this lower summit.
On the right path
Going wrong…
Well that’s what we told ourselves. Neglecting to bring a map we soon discovered we were in fact on a path to the main summit and what we originally thought was Tre’r Ceiri turned out to be the somewhat insignificant pimple of Caergribin. An easy mistake to make of course even if doesn’t posess a contour to call its own. ED was marshalling the kids at the back and as is his way took the pish mercilessly and grumbled herbly at the 1/4 mile of deep heather and bog we had to traverse to get to the path we should have been on in the first place.
Off piste
All part of life’s learning curve is my excuse and I’m sticking to it along with blaming EWO as he never reads my blog so he can’t argue ?
Once we were back on track we could see that Tre’r Ceiri is a significant presence with around 400 feet of ascent to the top and it looked mighty interesting.
Tre’r Ceiri
There was a good albeit steep path through the broken rocks and scree that smother these hills. I’d read it had and iron age hill fort on the top but what I hadn’t read was how magnificent it was. There is similar settlement on Carn Fadryn but all that remains are a few low remnants of walls. Here the walls were, in a word, massive, at least in girth being? a good couple of metres thick and nearly the same in height in places. The whole summit area is covered in numerous lines of old buildings and enclosures with the whole summit enclosed by the massive outer wall. The information boards said the wall was up to 4 metres high originally, betagthough how they know that is a mystery. Whatever, this is a truly breathtaking site and yet it seems pretty much obscure. I’ve paid hard cash to visit iron-age monuments a whole lot less impressive. Echoing the comments in EDs report of the day you really need to see this place so make sure you take it in on any walk in these hills and take time to explore, its awesome.
ED and A scrambling on the ramparts
Gyrn Ddu, Gryn Goch and Bwlch Mawr
We had an early lunch amongst the summit rocks before pressing on to the main summit. After exiting the walls through a hole which may or may not have been an original entry/exit way, we found a very thin path through the rocks.
Yr Eifl main summit
The main outer wall
It turned out to be an excellent path all the way to the summit of Yr Eifl threading its way through the rocks and boulders.
Looking back to Tre’r Ceiri
The weather had promised good things but it had been intermittently grey all morning with even a few spots of rain but at the summit some hazy sunshine appeared and the views were just magnificent.
Approaching the summit, Lleyn Peninsula behind
There is nothing to beat coastal mountains and Yr Eifl is spectacular in this regard. Perched immediately above the sea the views straight down to Trefor are magnificent and those out along the Lleyn Peninsula with both coasts and of course Carn Fadryn even better. The views extended across the whole of Snowdonia so we could play the timeless game of peak spotting/naming and across Cardigan Bay to the Pembrokeshire coast.
Across Cardigan Bay to the Rhinogs
The nearby hills of Gyrn Ddu, Gryn Goch and Bwlch Mawr looked intriguing for another walk in this neglected area. The small un-named peak next to Yr Eifl promises an even better coastal viewpoint but we decided to save that for another day (there is an excellent video on youtube here of a stroll over that one if you’re interested)
We had an extended lunch just down from the summit trig pillar intriguingly topped with a “4” not unlike those Channel 4 graphics, no idea what it was for.
The Trig Pillar “4”
ED enlivened and amused the event by sitting on an ant’s nest and getting several formic nips in his unmentionable regions for his trouble. I can sit on summits for hours with food and good company. Alas the kids get restless pretty quickly and wanted to be off down and back to the beach for more play.
The summit party
We strode back down to the car the walking itch scratched, even if EDs ant bites needed more. A super outing and one enjoyed by all the kids as well as the adults. Thank you for the days……
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
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