Hiking in Wales under storm Ellen's rains

Our plan was to hike the northern part of the Cambrian Way, the hiking trail that goes from Cardiff in South Wales to Conwy on its north shore through national parks, beautiful valleys, and, of course, mountain Snowdon. The trail’s designer Tony Drake dubbed it “the mountain connoisseurs’ walk”, and for a reason. The views from the path are outstanding. That is, if you got a chance to see them through the rain clouds.

When we saw the weather forecast before heading off to Wales, we were ready to get quite wet, because our weather apps looked like this: 🌧🌦🌧⛈🌩🌦🌧 (translation: you are going to hike inside a cloud most of the time). But we shrugged the bad premonition off. Who doesn’t know the mountain weather, which changes every five minutes, when you are showered in a storm one moment, and then sunburned another one? It can’t be worse than Navarino, when our sleeping bags soaked the moisture from the damp air and declined to warm us during a stormy night. Right?

So we arrived to Barmouth full of beans and were looking forward to hiking. The first couple of hours were really amazing, with outstanding views right from the start, and a nice hidden place to pitch a tent without being noticed. To be honest, we haven’t seen a soul on the trail, so we didn’t have to bother about being noticed, but that’s just a habit we can’t overcome.

The next morning, however, gloomy clouds lay low on the mountain tops. After soaking in rain and fog for a couple of hours, we decided that the weather is bad enough to take the bad-weather alternative route, which instead of climbing up the mountains goes down trough a valley by Taith Ardudwy Way, entertaining walk at the lower level with easier terrain. When we got lower, the rain changed to sun and then rain again, but it wasn’t bad, so we still entertained the idea of hiking Cambrian way when we join it the next day.

But the next day showed us who’s the boss in the mountains. It’s always the weather. We had to walk 22 km under such a heavy downpour, that even my waterproof camera case didn’t help and now one of the screens talks to me in an alien code. The rain ceased towards the end of the day, but only to start with new force during night. We woke up to witness increased waterfalls, flooded rivers, and complete absence of will to ascent the mountains in the centre of cyclone. So we took a taxi to our next planned stop in Beddgelert, and stayed in that lovely village doing circuit hikes for the next few days.

That’s how we failed to hike the Cambrian way, but discovered the beauty of Snowdonia and had fun lightweight hikes with guaranteed hearty dinner in Beddgelert. In the hindsight, I always blame the weather and the hiking level for my faults in planning. Like, who ever can manage in one day 22 km with 1300 m ascent and same descent with 13-kilo backpacks — even when the weather is good? Let me know if you exist, because it’s definitely not me. The views were very promising though, so I plan to return and hike lightweight next time (and hopefully not during cyclone, too). More pictures from Beddgelert area and the North cost will follow.