Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia. 40 classic routes exploring Snowdonia онлайн

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The 40 walks in this book are grouped into areas defined by valleys, starting from the Snowdon massif, and then rippling away southwards to the Tarrens north of Machynlleth – more a matter of convenience than geographical or geological significance.

Each route description starts with a box containing all the key information about your walk: the distance, height gain, time and grade, and details of suitable parking places. (Some of the parking suggestions are Pay and Display car parks; others are roadside or off-road parking areas where the key thing is to park without causing inconvenience to local people and businesses.) Also provided here are details of places for refreshment after the walk, where they conveniently exist.

ssss1 summarises all this route information at a glance.

THE LAND OF EAGLES

Welsh scholars tell us that from time immemorial this untamed, rugged region has been known as Eryri, the land of eagles, ‘eryri’ coming from ‘eryr’, meaning eagle. But it might equally be derived from ‘eira’, making it the land of snow. Some latter-day scholars prefer yet another, rather more prosaic, translation – simply ‘High Land’ or the ‘Land of Mountains‘ – a derivation from the Medieval Welsh for high place. The truth is, no one knows, so you can choose whichever suits you.