North Wales Hike: Port Surprise and the Rhinog Trek

A demanding hike in North Wales began with a strict pack inspection. Brian was allowed limited emergency rations and nothing beyond bare requirements. Yet after the first camp was set and dinner eaten, he reached into the tent and brandished a bottle of port. The bottle had somehow evaded inspection and was happily polished off that evening. The following day crossed the Rhinogs’ swampy plain. Guidebooks had warned against attempting the trek because of rough terrain and the absence of defined paths. Rain fell over a landscape of large tufts of grass interspersed with pools of water. Navigation required repeated compass readings, with hardly any defining features in the unforgiving terrain. The crossing was exhausting and unrelenting, but the route eventually reached more hospitable ground.

Rhinogydd / Rhinog Mountains, Eryri National Park, Gwynedd, Wales