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INTRODUCTION

For ease of description I have divided the mountains into 21 groups arranged alphabetically in two volumes. Each is the subject of a separate chapter, starting with a list of the 2000ft peaks and mountain lakes in its area. Rather than invent yet another definition of what constitutes a 2000ft peak, I have relied on existing lists (between which there are, in any case, only minor variations).

In doing this I have included every peak that a hillwalker would recognise as a genuine 2000-footer in its own right. Also included are a few peaks that just miss the magical 2000ft barrier but which are obviously real mountains and fun to climb. On the other hand I have sometimes omitted mere tops that might qualify technically by the quirk of some contour line, but which on the ground clearly lack the presence one expects from a separate mountain. When all is said and done I do not think my lists will cause many surprises. (I use the terms ‘peak’ and ‘top’ more or less interchangeably and without any technical significance.)

Looking north from Dduallt's E flank to Moel y Llyfnant and Arenig Fawr (AG23)

The lakes present a more difficult problem. What exactly is a mountain lake? Clearly there is no simple answer. Some of the prettiest tarns and lakes are too small for inclusion on the map; others come and go with the weather, or even with successive revisions of the OS maps! I have therefore had to rely heavily on judgement in my treatment of lakes, and have in any event restricted myself to those in the immediate vicinity of each mountain group that have an altitude of at least 1000ft. It would be pedantic in these circumstances to aim for consistency, but I hope that any anomalies which may have crept in are not serious.

Cribin from Pen y Fan (BB10) (photo Marion Teal)

The Main Routes

I begin with an overview of each group before getting to the heart of the matter with descriptions of all the routes up each peak that are likely to be of interest to hillwalkers. An interesting route in this context can mean several things: it may be a route with fine views or good scrambling; one that is useful as a link in planning a longer multi-peak expedition; or simply one that gives a quick way home at the end of a long day.

Most of the routes I describe are direct ones which do not cross any other summit en route to the top. Non-direct routes – such as those along connecting ridges – are usually included as part of the high-level walks. However, there are a few cases where the lie of the land would make it artificial to follow this guideline exclusively. Most routes are described as ascents, but as every hillwalker knows there are some routes which intuitively seem more natural as a way down. Where this is so they are described as descents.

Once the routes for individual peaks have been given, the way is clear to introduce more varied expeditions. First come high-level walks, by which I normally mean routes taking in more than one of the 2000ft peaks. Many of these are ridge walks of the sort that give the very best days in the hills. Sometimes, however, the high ground is too broad for the term ‘ridge’ to be appropriate; in other cases there may be a pass to be crossed. To keep this section within reasonable bounds my suggestions are restricted to combinations falling wholly within one of my defined mountain groups. Thus I do not cover more ambitious walks such as expeditions stretching over both the Berwyns and Arans, or straddling the four south Wales groups, or serious challenges like climbing all 14 of the Welsh 3000-footers in a single day.

Lower-Level Walks and Easier Days

Next come the lower-level walks, which are generally easier than the high-level walks. However, a few of them are quite exacting as my definition of ‘lower level’ is simply any walk that does not cross one of the recognised 2000-footers! This still leaves some pretty stiff – but at the same time excellent – expeditions, especially in the foothills surrounding the main ranges.

Not even the hardiest walkers always feel like tramping the tops, so I also give some suggestions for easier days. (In many chapters, where it is difficult to draw a distinction, the lower-level and easier day sections are combined.) These generally keep to lower ground and are suitable for days when the weather causes a late start or when the height of ambition is for a lazy day lying in the heather or picnicking by a mountain stream. They may also appeal to the more elderly hillwalker. Shortened versions of some of the other walks can, of course, also be used to give easier days.

Cader Idris from Tal-y-llyn (CI7)

My suggestions for lower-level walks and easier days are little more than the tip of the iceberg. They are almost incidental to my main purpose of covering the high ground as fully as possible, and to have gone further would have meant extending the scope and size of these volumes beyond all reasonable bounds. In any case the reader will have no difficulty (and hopefully a lot of fun) in constructing many other walks from the ‘building bricks’ provided by my suggested routes, which between them include visits to the shores of all the lakes or, in a few instances, to nearby vantage points.

Practicalities

As few walkers are likely to have a chauffeur, paid or otherwise, most of the walks return to the starting point. However a few point-to-point traverses are classics and too good to be missed, and so they are included, transportation difficulties notwithstanding. All the walks are intended for completion in a day, although clearly this will depend on the dedication and fitness of the party.

To avoid repetition, common sections of different routes are usually only described once and then cross-referenced to one other. This is particularly the case with the high-level walks as these are often based on combinations of routes up the different peaks. I realise that it can be frustrating when reading a description to have to refer elsewhere but, with the way routes in mountains tend to interleave, anything else would soon lead to tiresome repetition. Nevertheless I have tried to strike a balance between extremes.

I have tried to avoid too much of the ‘follow the hedge, take the second gate R, cross a field, turn L at the stile’ sort of description. This soon becomes confusing and ambiguous, however careful the instructions. I have therefore tended to quote directions (N, SW and so on), map references and the occasional grid bearing (do not forget to allow for the magnetic variation when setting your compass!). Bearings should only be regarded as approximate. Mountain paths usually twist and turn and so it is not always possible to give more than a broad indication, and you should always check directly with the map. (Note that where I use [say] N this is an abbreviation for any of north, northern or northerly, according to context.)

Maps and Start Points

My descriptions are not meant to be complete in themselves but should be read in conjunction with, and as a supplement to, careful study of the map. No one should venture on serious hillwalking unless he/she is fully adept at map reading and the use of a compass. In this respect the 1:25,000 series of OS maps, on which I have relied heavily for the areas for which it exists, is much preferred to the older 1:50,000 series.

As I am primarily concerned with the uplands I have generally started my routes from a convenient point on the nearest road on which a family car can sensibly be driven and parked. Parking may not always be easy, and late risers may sometimes have a slightly longer walk, but with this proviso parking is usually possible near the suggested starting points. Obviously this leaves open a multiplicity of approaches in the lower reaches; these I leave to readers' own ingenuity.

Access in Wales

The public has access to the countryside in Wales on public rights of way and various other paths. In addition, the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000) established the Right to Roam on mountains, moorland, downlands and heath in Wales. It doesn't give walkers the right to walk over any countryside – only mapped access land. You can undertake activities on foot on access land, such as walking, running and climbing, but you are not permitted to go camping, cycling, horse riding or driving on the land. Farmers and landowners are permitted to temporarily close access land.

Access land may be signed on the ground with the access symbol and is shown on Ordnance Survey maps as these are updated. (See www.countrysideaccess.gov.uk for information and the most up-to-date open access maps.) Details of any local restrictions are available from local authorities and information centres.

Safety and Timing

All the walks are within the competence of a normally fit and active person (provided the weather is kind). However, in wintry conditions it is a different story and serious problems may arise. Walks that are simple enough in summer may turn out to be surprisingly hazardous when snow or ice is about. No one should venture out on the high ground in winter without being properly equipped and knowing how to handle the extreme conditions that may arise.

No climbing technique is called for. When I refer to ‘scrambling’ it only means the occasional use of hands to steady oneself on loose boulders or, very rarely, getting into a sitting position to ease oneself over a particularly awkward rock. Rather than being anything to worry about, elementary scrambling of this kind can often add zest to a day's outing. Having said that, most of my routes could be undertaken with hands in pockets all the way!

I have not given timing estimates. In my experience these depend on so many factors – weather, fitness, experience, size of party, morale, footwear, route-finding ability, use of camera and so on – that they are virtually meaningless when quoted in isolation. Most people soon learn from their own practical experience what they are comfortable with and how to judge a walk from the map. The only point I would make is the obvious one: until you know what you are capable of always err on the side of caution; hillwalking is more exacting than it seems.

The Hills Themselves

To many of their admirers the Welsh hills mean, if not just Snowdon, then at most Snowdonia (that popular area north of Porthmadoc and west of Betws-y-Coed). This is both natural and understandable, for therein lies all the very highest ground, including all 14 of the 3000-footers. Nowhere else in Wales is there such a concentration of raw rugged splendour, the feeling of latent power, as when one bestrides Snowdon itself, Tryfan, the Glyders, the broad rolling uplands of the Carneddau and their lower acolytes.

Yet there is much more in Wales: not another Snowdonia, not something better, not a lesser creation, but hills with their own unique charms. The Black Mountains with their expansive, whale-backed, grassy ridges; the precipitous escarpments of the Brecon Beacons; the strange uplands of the Cwmdeuddwr hills; Plynlimon and its unknown valleys; the heather-clad Berwyns.

Further north the hills start to shed some of their softness and assume the rockier profiles one associates with Snowdonia. The grassy tops of the Dovey and Tarren hills face the corries and cwms of Cader Idris; the east cliffs of the Arans yield nothing in severity to the Glyders. The Arenigs offer the walker the widest choice of all from the vast solitudes of the Migneint, through Arenig Fawr and the rolling moors of the Lliw Valley to the shapely top of Dduallt. Then there are the Rhinogs and the wildest land in Wales.

The point is not that these hills and the others in south and central Wales are in any sense ‘better’ than the mountains in the north, but that they are ‘there’, each with their own special attractions and each offering more grand days in the hills. It is for this reason and in the spirit of more worlds for the walker to ‘conquer’ that I cover these lesser-known hills as comprehensively as the better-known heights of Snowdonia.

How to use this Guide

To sum up, the structure of each of the chapters covering the 21 mountain groups is as follows:

 List of the peaks and lakes in the group

 Diagrammatic map

 General overview

 Main ways up each of the peaks

 High-level walks

 Lower-level walks

 Walks for easier days

All routes are numbered. Each number begins with a two-letter prefix to identify the mountain group concerned (eg RG stands for the Rhinogs). The main routes are then numbered sequentially (eg RG1, RG2, and so on). Localised variations within routes are distinguished by numeric suffixes (eg RG2,1). High-level and lower-level/easy day walks are given H and L designators respectively after the mountain group code (eg in the case of the Rhinogs high-level walks are numbered RG H1, RG H2 etc).

The maps are diagrammatic and should not be regarded as a substitute for the proper OS map. Their purpose is to show the relationships between the various routes in the simplest and most uncluttered way. Details of towns, roads, streams and so on are therefore only shown where needed to give a general sense of location, and are not necessarily consistent between one map and another. To avoid congestion only the main ways up each peak are shown. The other walks are not marked, nor are the local variations indicated by numeric suffixes to their route numbers.

Each peak is considered in turn (the order in which they are treated has been chosen to minimise cross-referencing and is neither alphabetic nor according to height). Brief introductory notes on the peak itself come first, followed by descriptions of the routes on that peak. It is advisable to gain at least a general impression of each group as a whole before concentrating on any particular peak or route.

Taken together the walks include visits to all the lakes. Except in a few cases, where it would mean a rather artificial expedition of little interest to the majority of ramblers, this means routes to the very shoreline; otherwise it is to a nearby vantage point from where the really dedicated can make their own way. A glance at my diagrammatic maps will usually show which sections of the text to read to obtain the routes to a given lake. However, please bear in mind that these maps neither include the high-level, lower-level and easier day walks, nor the suffixed variations. (Alternatively the index gives the page numbers where directions for each peak may be found.)

Finally, there is always a difficulty over the spelling of Welsh place names – even the OS is not fully consistent! I have therefore adopted spellings from the latest available OS maps at the time of writing and standardised on those. However, complete success in this would probably be too much to hope for, and I therefore apologise for any residual errors or inconsistencies.