We baby sat for our granddaughter yesterday leaving Sunday the available walking day. My plan was to visit Snowdonia to walk the Carneddau (Pen yr Ole Wen - Carnedd Dafydd - Carnedd Llewelyn) Three 3,000 footers starting from the Ogwen Valley the lowest summit being Pen yr Ole Wen which is equal in height to Scafell Pike so I knew I was in for a tough day. With good conditions forecast I'd been psyching myself up for the walk for the last 48 hours.

Rewind back to Saturday Teatime when our daughter called to say her best friends Dad had suddenly passed away that morning which rocked us all to the core. We had known Paul since the girls were young and to say this came to us as a shock would be a understatement. I still planned to walk the Carneddau and set off from home at 05.20am but I knew I was still coming to terms with Pauls death.

Conditions were perfect for such an undertaking but in my heart of hearts it just didn't feel right. My head was no longer in it and the closer I got to Snowdonia the more I talked myself out of it. I needed familiar territory and despite being just five minutes away from the Ogwen Valley I turned around on reaching Bethesda and set my sat-nav for Marchlyn.

Even though the sun had risen over half an hour ago it was still low in the sky leaving the valley feeling cold and largely in shadow. After a quick sweep of the boot I locked my car and began the hike towards Marchlyn Bach Reservoir whilst wondering how I can change todays walk from my last visit here back in November. I'd never climbed Elidir Fack previously always flanking it for the direct route onto Elidir Fawr from the Reservoir and fancied the change so on reaching Marchlyn Bach (the smaller of the two reservoirs) I began the steep ascent of Elidir Fach's north ridge.

I knew how to gain the north ridge after watching walkers descend it previously but was pretty unprepared for how steep the initial ascent was which seemed odd given how much conditioning I'd done in preparation for the Carneddau walk.

The ground was soft underfoot but not wet and I purposely held off the gas allowing time for the cloud to clear and for the sun to rise high enough to clear Elidir Fawr ahead.

The lads drove to Marchlyn, parked easily and decided to head up Elider Fawr instead. I explained that I was newish to Snowdonia which prompted one of the lads to ask "was I new to hiking" After explaining I'd been walking the Lakeland fells for some years the other lad asked me about Lord's Rake on Sca Fell and had I been up there "know it well along with the West Wall Traverse and Deep Gill too" I replied "keep to the right of the gully" I added but didn't bother to mention the website. Right at that time a woman appeared with two collies one of whom came over and well, you know me and dogs.

Summit time was short and before I started to make my descent I wanted to take in the view of the high Carneddau before I left. I've viewed the Carneddau many times before from the exact spot but never felt like those mountains were the ones that got away today. My heart had that sinking feeling, I knew I'd be back I knew I'd claim those summits and even knowing it was for the best, I left Carnedd y Filiast with a bloodied lip.

Under midday sunshine I began my descent not before de-layering my hat and gloves then taking long sips of Summer fruit from my bladder valve knowing I could gulp at will. The descent is loose and sometimes steep but I kept a constant speed and arrived at the col linking Carnedd y Filiast with Y Fronllwyd in good time. Pairs of walkers were passed as was a large group of teenagers corralled by two overly motivated mountain leaders. More walkers are passed by which time I'd collapsed my walking poles into the side pockets of my pack and even added a pair of sunglasses for the walk back to the car.

The sun was still beaming down with a whole afternoon ahead the walkers kept coming but not as I imagined, on a Snowdon scale. I took one last look back at Carnedd y Filiast and Y Fronllwyd both tops dappled in the sunlight as was Colywn Bay towards the west where she merged into the Menai Straight.