Marin Trail, Snowdonia

Length:   25km
Climb:    450m
Grade:    Red
Time:     2 -4 hrs
Rating:   4/5

A new year and time to get back on top of my blog...

In September I had the pleasure of completing the marin trail at Penmachno. It is one I have always wanted to do and I wasn't disappointed.

It feels very much a natural trail at heart and there are some very interesting sections, including a hike a bike part, which had my entire party confused temporarily. It also has the charm of a true classic with some wide open double track sections and plenty of km to cover.

The final descent is good and long. A thin ribbon, winding down the hillside but the middle descent is by far the best section. Rough, rock strewn; and every bit a challenge to maintain momentum through the whole section. Clearing it fast was a whole heap of fun.

As much as I enjoyed individual bits of the first half of the route, much of my time was spent stop/start constantly waiting for others in the group to catch up. As such, I was beginning to think the trail didn't flow particularly well but, feeling slightly fed up, I pushed on through the second half and felt far more comfortable with the trail.

The rise and fall isn't that much of a hardship if you're fit. The climb out of the car park is pretty long but never really that steep. It is mainly fire road and easy rolling, and is preceded by a nice little taster ribbon of singletrack countouring the hillside for about 1km. Perfect for getting those legs nice and warm before the treadmill turns skywards.

At the top, great views (although better to come) and a descent, naturally. Not long but great nonetheless. It offers a fast paced down-bit racing through the pine wooded hillside.  The trail is made up of hard packed earth with a generous dusting of loose slate gravel, a lighter dusting of needles and plenty of rocky outcrops.

The first descent is not a hugely technical challenge, nor is the final descent for that matter. Both are probably red grade but mainly due to the less manicured trail surface over any particular obstacles (jumps/drops etc do not feature highly throughout this trail). The faster you ride, however, the more technical the challenge.

The middle descent is really where it's at; I believe labelled 'Dragon's Tail' on the trail card. Rough and rock strewn but, rather than loose rock /gravel, this section traverses upturned strata buried deep in the ground, the ends exposed creating an unforgiving, jagged surface. It's roll-able, don't get me wrong, but still requires good concentration to maintain a good pace and clear well, and fast.  It's a good km or more in length and is a particular highlight.

The views that precede it though. Oh my. Beautiful... Undulating landscape more pronounced than the hills of Herefordshire, with mountains stretching towards the sky beyond; the foreground, a beautiful lake and plenty of woodland. The colours completing a full palette from the greens and blues of the lake and woodland and the bright orange of the odd dying tree.

Anyway, I digress. The trail continues, following a long fast double track for a short while, covering a km or so, followed by the hike-a-bike section where the trail scales an unrideable set of steps. It threw us for a while but the trail does continue, passing through denser woodland with more needle titter, emerging eventually alongside the lake we were overlooking at the top of the first climb much earlier.
 

Another climb follows (this trail does go up and down) that brings you back to the top of the hill ascended first, crossing the fireroad at the top of the hill before embarking on the final descent. This was great fun as the trail snakes its way down the hill, the noise of my colleagues rattling behind me spurning me on. Corners were, aside from two sharp switchbacks, open and gentle allowing speed to rise and the rocky surface offering quite good grip.

Halfway down there's a nice new section, offering the briefest of 'trail centre' style big berms and jumps were perhaps more accustomed too nowadays but the natural surface resumes to see you to the car park.

I arrived at the car par with a big grin on my face. I can't wait to come back and attack the trail from the beginning.