Last month, My Partner (Will), Mum (Kath), Brother (Rich), and dog (Padfoot) headed to Snowdonia (Eryri), in North Wales for a week of adventuring!

We based ourselves in a gorgeous Airbnb in Llanberis so that we were right in the heart of the mountains.

The Nantlle Ridge was an awesome all-day hiking adventure, and it was a bit of a commitment!

Having two cars meant that we could do a shuttle and enjoy completing the whole ridge…without trying to loop back to the car.

We set off early, parking Mum’s car at Maen Llwd (the end of the route). Then, we all jumped in the trusty Fiat!!

We started the route at the train station car park at the bottom of the Rhyd-Ddu track up to Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa).

We had the small win of free parking as the parking machine was not working, and the HUGE win of being able to see the top of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa). For the most part of the day, the 1085 meter mountain wasn’t in cloud!

The Nantlle Ridge was 14.8km and has over 1079 meters of elevation gain.

This is a route that Mum had found in her Country Walking magazine that described the trail as “a friendly, welcoming ridge which is, in places, airy but never scary, and extends an invitation to all” (Nick Livesy, Country Walking Magazine) so she was keen to give it a go even though some guidebooks grade a section of the ridge as a Grade One Scramble. At the end of the day, we were pretty sure that Mum did NOT agree with Nick’s description, but more on that later…

The first summit along the ridge was Y Garn. This was a steep ascent with 442 meters climbed within the first 2km of the walk! But the views along this part of the walk were incredible. Like I said earlier, we could see the top of Snowdon (Yr Wydffa), we could see Beddgelert Forest, and the lakes Llyn Gadar and Llyn y Dywarchen, and we had 360 degrees of panoramic mountain views!

We met a chap on the way up who was admiring the views with awe. He told us that he tried this route earlier in the year and that everything was in the cloud. He said that he made it halfway up to Y Garn before turning around. It made us feel really lucky to have the visibility that we did!

From Y Garn, we headed up to Mynydd-Drws-y-coed which is where the adventurous bit began!

Now, you know I said previously that this route was described as “airy, but never scary”? This is where Mum very much disagreed.

With the moral support of Rich, Mum was able to conquer her fears and accomplish the hardest section of the Nantlle Ridge. It was a little exposed and rocky in places, requiring a few hand placements. I think she was very pleased with herself.

She had however, changed the description of the walk to “airy and very [enter expletive here] scary”.

… Always good to step out of your comfort zone

After a little rest and a bite to eat, we then followed the ridge along to Trum Y Ddysgl, before another stop at the obelisk on Mynydd Tal-y-Mignedd where Will tried having a nap.

We then headed down the hill and then back up to Bwlch Dros-Bern and then to Barnedd Goch.

Rich, Will, and Padfoot went even further to do the extra ‘there and back’ to Mynydd Graig Goch, whilst Mum and I headed straight down off the hills and towards the car.

Mum and I did have a little unexpected extra adventure, when the path took us to a different location to where the map said we should end up. So, as a result, we ended up navigating our way around country lanes as lots of the alternative public footpaths through farms were inaccessible.

But, we made it to the car! We were excited to take the weight off of our feet after being out hiking for over 8 hours.

We thoroughly enjoyed this route, and I would certainly recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure that takes in multiple summits and, in good weather, has fabulous views.

Four very happy hikers, and one happy but worn out dog.

Mum then kindly treated us all to a lovely dinner and pub a few miles down the road.

Next on the agenda was my long awaited Crib Goch adventure! See you next time.