The ideal location for a Walking Women holiday - glorious views of the Nantlle Ridge, Snowdon looming in the background and the lake glistening at the foot of the gardens...

Trigonos Centre was alive with the vibrant colours of a veritable selection of Rhodendrons. A haven of peace and tranquillity.

The hosts are charming and happy to accommodate all. We shared the first day with a group of poets who had come to find the muse.

Tea was available at all times and today we were presented with a sumptuous mocha cake. Dinner was a convivial occasion in the dining room overlooking the lake.

To wake up in North Wales and it not to be raining is a real blessing. Yet the forecast for today was not good at all, with gale force winds and even snow on the top of the highest peaks!

However the Nantlle ridge was below the cloud base and looked clear. Maybe we wouldn't get soaked after all.

Many of the women had booked this holiday specifically to do this route, we were anxious it should be a good day.

We ate a hearty breakfast, once we had mastered how to use the toaster without producing too much carbon and made our sandwiches.

The taxi driver who dropped us off was quite impressed with out intended route for the day and imparted nuggets of wisdom about how to tackle it.

We started our ascent, of what is recognised as one of the finest ridge walks in North Wales, from Rhyd-Ddu.

Y Garn is the first peak and is gained by quite a steep pull almost straight from the road.

From here we had fine views over the closer peaks and the skies towards the sea were clear, however, behind us Snowdon was covered in cloud.

Once the first summit is gained the ridge continues for just over three miles, only dropping below 2000ft once.

It soon became one of those days when you felt like you could walk for ever.

The second summit is reached via a short, but invigorating, scramble and we were soon on it.

An obelisk built to celebrate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee crowns the top of the third summit, which was gained by an easy walk.

We descended to the col that separates the third and fourth peak and felt duly impressed by the towering bulk of Craig Cwm Silyn above us.

The pull up this proved to be the toughest challenge of the day with tired legs having to find some extra reserves to make the 750ft of re-ascent.

Still the views when we reached the top made it all worth while. From here we could see our final peak of the day ahead, and the long descent back to the car.

At this point we experienced our only cloud of the day and this soon disappeared as we made our way down the mountain side.

We had left a car at the end of the route so some women who had been challenged enough by then could miss out the four miles home on the road.

The rest of us used this last hour or so to stretch out our tired, but satisfied, muscles and soak in the views.

The sun was shining again when we woke up in this oasis of tranquillity.

We couldn't believe our luck when we set off with Hew in his taxi again.

This time our destination was Beddgelert and the Moel Hebog Ridge.

Due to the extension of the Welsh Mountain Railway from Rydd-Dhu to Porthmadog we had a rather interesting start to the day with the main path being diverted, but we were soon on our way up the steep climb to the summit.

The ascent was pretty unrelenting but we took our time and made the most of the sunshine and great views on the way.

We could see the Snowdon massive, the Glyders, the Carneddau, Moel Saibod. Cnict, Cadair Idris, the Rhinogs, the Berwyns and even the Isle of Man in the far distance.

We also had fantastic views of the whole of the Nantlle Ridge. The wind was behind us so helped us reach the summit in just over two hours.

However we were able to shelter behind the wall and tuck into our sandwiches before descending to Bwlch Meillionen (the clover pass) which separates Meol Hebog from Meol Yr Ogof.

There followed an interesting ascent through a rocky cleft before the summit was reached and we were rewarded with views of the Moel Hebog, which looked quite impressive from this view.

The last of today's three peaks is quickly reached needing only a further 200ft of re-ascent to be climbed.

It was an interesting rocky peak and provided another little resting spot in the sun before we started the long descent down to the forest.

Our route home passed through The Prince of Wales Quarry with many of the old buildings still standing.

It is an impressive site and leaves one wondering what it must have been like at the height of its productive period when over 200 men worked there.

We then walked up to Bwlch-y-Ddwy-elor along an ancient coffin route and returned to Rydd-Ddu via the beautiful Beddgelert forest. It was a fantastic day in glorious weather with unadulterated views.

Having seen fantastic views of Snowdon for the last two days, this was the day to climb it.

The weather was looking promising, although the summit was still in cloud as we set off.

The route we had chosen to do was up via the Snowdon Ranger path and down to Rydd-Ddu. This is always the quieter side of the mountain and again it proved so to be.

As the days are long at this time of year and there was no-one to hurry us we set of at an unhurried pace and took our time to get to the top.

We stopped to re-group and re-fuel where the track meets the Llanberis and PYG track and realised just how busy the summit was going to be.

We made the final hundred meters or so of ascent together and stopped at the top to admire the fantastic 360 degree views and the work being put into the new café.

(How do the workers get up here every day??)

The summit itself was quite busy, although quieter than it could be as the trains are no longer going all the way to the summit while the work is going on, so we dropped off the top to find somewhere to have lunch and take in the views in relative peace.

Although it wasn't raining it was still quite cold, probably only just above freezing, so we didn't sit around long.

We made our way back down the Rydd-Ddu path enjoying the peace and quiet.

When the sun came out we did make the most of it and sunbathed.

The tiny hamlet of Rydd-Ddu does avail itself to walkingwomen groups, with half of us enjoying tea and cake and half a pint of real ale, before returning to Trigonos in the knowledge of another day completed successfully.

All too soon it was the last day. We thought we had had the best of the weather and we were right.

We were all very reluctant to move after breakfast knowing the holiday had been fantastic and that it was last day.

Still another day, another mountain. The elephant shaped Mynydd Mawr beckoned.

As we walked through the forest towards the summit path we could feel the wind pick up. As we rose higher and higher above Llyn Cwellyn the wind got stronger and stronger.

At the top of the forest we did stop for a slight break but even the trees were not providing much shelter by then.

The route up Mynydd Mawr consists of steep sections punctuated by gentler rises.

Very soon we were skirting around the head of the cwm and on the summit, in cloud. We stopped in the shelter for a quick bite to eat but didn't wait around long. We then made a record descent in an hour in the driving rain and strong winds.

Well we can't have WalkingWomen thinking that North Wales is all about sunshine and ice cream can we………??!!