The mountains of North Wales
December 17, 2007 RJH
Snowdonia is a region that tends to suck in all of the moisture from the Irish Sea and drop it back down in buckets. That’s been my experience clambering over these glacier-cracked crags over the last twenty years. Luckily, that old Welsh wizard Merlin was feeling generous at the weekend and gave us sunshine despite the cold (he lies asleep with Arthur under Mt. Snowdon). Here are some pics from a hike up and around Moel Siabod near Capel Curig:
Nice scramble up the Daiar Ddu ridge.
The view over the Glyders with Tryfan — Wales’ most interesting peak — in the middle.
The Snowdon massif. You can just about make out the Crib Goch ridge. Unfortunately, I only had my crappy phone camera to hand.
December 17th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Where are all the trees?
December 17th, 2007 at 12:43 pm
The treeline is typically very low in the British mountain ranges. There’s a nifty ecological reason for this (sharp temperature dips with altitude which mean that Britain’s uplands do not share the temperate climate of the lowlands).
December 17th, 2007 at 4:32 pm
That’s fascinating. I didn’t know that about the British isles.
December 17th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
Been up Snowdon three times. Absolutely stunning area, and along with New Zealand the only places in the world where you can see sheep camping. At least all I ever saw around those tents was sheep - never a person.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
If I am not mistaken there is some mighty fine mountain biking in them thar hills.
January 24th, 2008 at 10:09 pm
Interesting pictures. My family originated in the Llyn Pennisula so I have a lot of interest in the area. Wonderful in the summer, my cousins took me out and around the area to see some of the sites.
Lovely country.
April 11th, 2008 at 4:13 pm
As a missionary I spent a year in North Wales and hiked the Crib Goch ridge about a dozen times, mostly on days that were misty, and a couple of times with buckets of rain coming down on me. Only once did I have a day as beautiful as this appears to have been.