We decided to head back to Wales for our autumn holidays this year. The last couple of years have seen us in Scotland. But that rather wet and miserable couple of weeks in May this year was still rather fresh in our memories. So not wanting to tempt fate we thought a return to Snowdonia would be better. We always stay in a lovely cottage in the small hamlet of Nantmor at the end of the Aber Glaslyn Pass, close to Beddgelert. It's just far enough off the main roads to be nice and quiet, but still gives us easy access for walking etc. This trip was also going to be Badger's first holiday, and also Cleo's first trip to Wales. We weren't sure how Badger would react, but he took it all in his stride. As usual he travelled in the car without any problems, and he just loved been out walking in new places. He even managed a short section on one of the walks off his lead, which he thought was great fun. Cleo also managed to impress us during the week, as we came across a small group of sheep one day when she was off her lead. Surprisingly she was very calm and came straight back to us when called, rather than chasing the sheep. So all in all it turned out to be not too bad of a week, especially on the weather front, but you'll see that for yourselves as you look at the photos!

Sunday 6th November

Our usual walk on the first day at the cottage (think this would have been our 10 visit now) is to walk from the cottage up through Cwm Bychan. Then dropping down to the shores of Llyn Dinas, to follow the river downstream through the village of Beddgelert. From there it's an exciting path back through the Aber Glaslyn Pass. We didn't do that exact walk on this occasion, instead we explored the area around Mynydd Sygyn, which gave us some amazing views of the Snowdonia mountains .... full walk details and photos!

After we got back from exploring Mynydd Sygyn, I needed to go out and pick a few bits up from the Beddgelert. As it was getting fairly late into the afternoon I decided to put my camera gear in the car. My plan was to pop along to Llyn Dinas and see if I could get any nice shots as the sun was going down. In the end is was a good decision, as the lake was almost flat clam. The autumnal colours as the sun was going down just seemed to get better and better. However, on the downside, the temperature got colder and colder as the sun vanished behind the hill. I'd forgotten how cold it can get sitting there taking photos on autumn evenings. Hadn't bothered to bring a warm jacket or any gloves. So I was pretty chilly by the time I' got back to the car, several minutes with the heater on full just about thawed my fingers out by the time I arrived at the cottage. Click on the images below for the larger versions/slideshow.

The weather the following morning was just a good, with wall to wall blue skies and sunshine. There had even been a very heavy overnight frost, the first of the winter for us, so I had to scrape the ice of the car before we could go anywhere. We planned on going to the Ogwen valley to do some exploring. It's a place we'd never walked before, so thought today was as good as any. As started the drive from Beddgelert to Capel Curig, we soon realised that the views were just stunning. The lakes were flat calm with amazing reflections, and in places there was tiny swirls of mist rising from their surfaces. We just had to stop, at every one to grab some photos, it was too good an opportunity to miss. What should have been a 30 minute drives, turned into more like an hour and a half. But I think you'll agree from looking at the photos below it was well worth taking the extra time? Click on the images below for the larger versions/slideshow.

After we had finished taking photos at Capel Curig, we made the short drive round to the Ogwen valley. We wanted to visit Llyn Idwal, and then head up onto the Glyders from there. Unfortunately the weather took a turn for the worst, very quickly. By the time we walked up to the lake a huge bank on cloud had rolled in from the east. Check out how the day changed and how far we got .... full walk details and photos!

Well what a difference 24 hours makes! The blue skies and sunshine of the previous day had been replaced with grey skies, a cool breeze and even some drizzly rain. We decided to head back to Capel Curig and do a walk through the woods there. In the hope of finding some autumnal colours to brighten the day up .... full walk details and photos!

The weather forecast for Wednesday was even worse, with showers/spells of heavy rain. So we headed out to the coast to give Badger his first trip to the beach at Criccieth. He wasn't very sure at first, especially the waves, he definitely took a dislike to those. Cleo on the other hand is an old pro when it comes to the beach and couldn't wait to be off her lead and into the sea. She loves playing 'fetch' with stones I throw for her. Only problem is that she gets fixated waiting for me to throw them and forgets about the waves. A couple of times she was knocked over by a wave, but didn't seem to bother her, a quick shake and she was back out in the water wagging her tail for another stone to be thrown! Click on the images below for the larger versions/slideshow.

The weather for Thursday was a big bonus. The forecast said it would start bright, but with showers/rain moving in quickly through the morning. We headed over into the Beddgelert forest for a visit to Llyn Llwellyn, a small lake hidden away amongst the trees. The forecast cloud/rain never arrived, we ended up with lots of warm autumnal sunshine. It was perfect wandering along the forest tracks, we never met a sole all day. The views of the mountains, especially Snowdon were pretty good as well. full walk details and photos!

The weathermen were predicting rain and gloom again for today's weather. We didn't think our luck would hold out for a second day. So after a lazy breakfast we took Badger and Cleo for a walk around the environs of Nantmor village. There's lots of quite lanes and woods to explore if you want to, we even went down into the Aber Glaslyn Pass to have a stroll along part of the Fishermans Path. The autumn colours were lovely despite the gloomy weather, but at least the rain just about held off till we got back to the cottage. Click on the images below for the larger versions/slideshow.