Next week I am on holiday at shell island and decided to take the plunge and walk snowdon

However I am in two minds if I should take Kez, my parents live close by and have offered to have him for the day the reason I am concerned is because of live stock around.

Has anyone walked snowdon with thier dogs and if so how did you find it

Thanks Kirsty

xxx

Hi
If you go up the pig track or miners track I would say not a problem at all.....am assuming that Kez is fit and used to arduous walks.  I would not recommend walking the full horseshoe with a dog as it involves a fair degree of scrambling and Crib Goch gave me a heart attack without having to worry where my dog was! 

Kez is out for hours with me every afternoon but to be honest mostly on the flat Think he will have more fun with my folks for the day than me calling him every fives mins worrying about where he is

Thanks for the advise - really looking forward to it, my parents live in Harlech we visit once a month but never braved walking it

i haven't walked it with dogs but know the area well and there will be sheep ++++ !
Also lots of sheer drops etc
I think you'd have a more enjoyable day not having to worry about keeping the dog away from sheep and possible falls, especially as you have somewhere to leave him.
Have a lovely time--actually I'm going to visit my parents on the N. Wales coast this friday to monday so won't be far from you!

Have fun this weekend Kez is not bothered by the sheep ignores them but would not like to take the chance It is great having folks who live near the seaside

I'm off to Snowdonia on Sat for a week, staying in a cottage at the the foot of the Watkin Path. I don't think my knees would make it all the way up on any of the paths! :) Hamster, would you say the first part of the Pyg or Miners track are suitable to walk with the dogs? I had thought we might try perhaps part of the way up and had identified these two as possible routes. We have stayed  at Beddgelert and walked out to Lyn Dinas everyday,past the Sygun Copper Mine. It is a beautiful area. I don't think I would risk taking a dog to the summit as all the routes seem to have drops. We went up on the Mountain Railway last time, on a perfect, clear day and the views were fantastic.

Linda

I couldn't possibly let my dog loose near sheep after witnessing her very strange excitable behaviour when I brought home a sheepskin rug last year

OH went walking in the Yorkshire dales last week and he said there was an out of control Viszla chasing sheep.  I suppose it very much depends on the dog but I can imagine my dog chasing something straight over the edge.  When she chases birds she jumps up and looks like she is trying to take off after them :rolleyes: Daft dog

LOL about the sheep skin rug My mom has a field across from her house full of sheep, Kez looks at them looks at us - I am sure if he could talk he would say "my can I go play will all those GR in that field" knew he was blonde for a reason - however when we were walking dovedale in Jan we had to walk across a field full of live stock cows & sheep and he ignored them completely

our previous golden retriever was really wary of my son's sheepskin rug-had to step over it or walk round it for some reason!

Hi Linda
My husband's the walker so I'll ask him later and let you know. I've been visiting the area since birth as my father originates from Nantgwynant and my grand parents are buried in the Beddgelert old cemetary---what a beautiful place to end your days!

Thanks very much-I await his comments with interest :-)  Sheep are not an issue with us-  I live on Exmoor and my dogs are used to livestock and kept under close control amongst sheep. I am really concerned about the suitability of the terrain for the dogs (and my knees :)  !)

Linda

Starting to wonder if I will cope now Might just take the train up Hope you have a brill week away

Thanks,Kirsty. I am sure you will be fine! Just older knees could struggle! Thanks also for starting this thread,   I hadn't thought to ask CDer's about the paths :) I understand that the train isn't able to go to the Summit at the moment as they are building a £6m Visitor Centre. I think you can go as far as Clogwyn and walk/climb the rest. However you get there,enjoy!!

Linda

Hi Linda and Kirsty
Well I've picked OH's brains about various paths up Snowdon. Basically they are all ok to start with but the Pyg track and Miners track actually start half way up Snowdon (from the same place) and so get steep and dangerous much sooner than the others. The miners track is ok until the other side of the lakes.
He suggests that the Watkin path is a much gentler walk to go part way up (starts in Nantgwynant) It passes through nice woody areas and waterfalls etc. There is also the Snowdon Ranger path and the Rhyd Ddu path that start from the west side, which are not too bad at the beginning.
Linda if you are staying in the area have you been on the Cwm Bwchan walk? A bit hilly but nothing like as strenuous or craggy as Snowdon. Some fantastic views on a clear day. It starts from the car park that's just over the Aberglaslyn Bridge, just before Nantmor. There are boards there with the route. It takes you over the top of the mountain and down again to arrive the other side of Llyn Dinas from where you said you walk from Beddgelert. Well worth the 2 or 3 hrs I seem to remember it takes. Have lots of fun--- I may well be in the area on Sat or Sun but won't have a dog with me this time! I'll look out for you !!!!

Hi Hamster

Please thank your OH for the very helpful info.Will definately try the Watkin then,  and forget Pyg and Miners,especially as our cottage is about 300m from the start! No, I haven't done Cwm Bwchan, sounds interesting so I will probably try that as well. If you see two 'mature' ladies and an old guy  :) (husband of my friend !!), 2 F/C's and a Lab- that's us!! Thanks again.

Linda

Ive done Snowdon (dont know which path though but since i was 8 at teh time, it probably wasnt *that* difficult...)..

Its not actually one i particularly enjoyed (though im going back a fair way) although how much of that was the walk itself and how much was the fact it was christmas day and my britches had ripped from crotch to knee i dont know.... :rolleyes: :D

Two walks in that area i absolutely loved as a kid though were the Torrents walk and the Precipice walk...

http://www.garthyfog.co.uk/snowdonia_walks.htm#Precipice%20Walk

The precipice walk is not nearly as scary as it sounds and if your dog has a good recall and you dont mind keeping him on a lead for certain parts its ok for dogs (there will be sheep there but they are tough mountain sheep, not flighty lowland sheep, they are more likely to chase the dog than be chased!). In fact to give you an idea of how non scary that walk is, i know we have done it with a wheelchair user (although he was of the kind that isnt easily put off such things as styles and narrow paths...).

I think same friend did the torrents walk with us too, that one is particularly lovely and i know ive seen people with dogs on that one too. Both i think are nicer and better for pretty scenery than Snowdon itself.

This is getting very interesting :)   will now have to try Torrent and Precipice Walks, both look very attractive!

Linda

Linda you must be staying in Nantgwynant are you? my father was born in the little cottage called 'Islwyn' next to the chapel which has recently been turned into a cafe/visitor centre. He then moved to a beautiful little stone cottage over the road in the woods called 'Snowdon View' if you come across it. Infact his cousin still lives in the cottage next to the old chapel!

Yes, we will be in Nangwynant,the cottage is a Welsh longhouse and stands in a large garden, high up above the road. We haven't stayed there before, so not quite sure of it's exact position-looking on Ordnance survey I think I have pin-pointed it fairly well. It's called Celyn-have added the link-if it works :)
I shall look at the visitor centre with interest now! How lovely for you to have your connection with such a beautiful area-I shall see if I can see 'Snowdon View'. Funnily enough, there is a cottage in our village here called 'Snowdon'. I suppose whoever named it either loved Snowdon or had connections there. I am very interested in local history, both where I live and where I visit.

Linda

http://www.stayinwales.co.uk/detail.cfm?i=5617

It looks wonderful ! I don't know it but my father will -I'll ask him this W/E. He may know the history of the place and have a few tales to tell !!!
I was also brought up in N Wales with most of my formative years  spent in Pwllheli on the Lleyn Peninsula, another beautiful area if you fancy a day out---beautiful, almost deserted beaches with fabulous views over the mountains towards Harlech where Kirsty said her parents live !

It does look lovely and the great thing is, they have welcomed three large dogs! We visited the Lleyn beaches last time we stayed in Snowdonia and found them beautiful, also another one near Porthmadoc- Blacksands I think it was called. I hope you and Kirsty have a lovely week-end and that the weather is kind for us all.

Linda

Thank you so much Black rock sands is a great beach & harlech beach I am so excited now

We love pwllheli, We stayed not far from there last year, Kez had the whole beach to himself most days, I feel the luckiest person alive to have my parents living in Harlech, although it takes us three hours to get to them it is worth when I wake up on a saturday/sunday morning head for the beach about 7 and walk for miles - looking at the Lleyn Peninsula

totally agree with you wizaid, but then i'm definitely biased! I used to walk a lot along Abererch sands which was 15 mins walk from our house. Even in the summer the beach was almost empty and you could walk and walk on lovely sand.
We are doubly lucky as my OH's family all live in Malta so we get great holidays there too!!!! --but we have to leave the dog with her Mum (which she loves)

That was the one! Black Rock Sands-Black sands didn't sound quite right :-D

  If I don't keep off here for a bit I shall never get to Snowdonia- I haven't started packing yet and it takes me a while just getting all the dog's stuff ready. Hoping to leave crack of dawn Saturday- just checked the weather again and the week-end looks really promising!

Linda