Walk Report: Snowdon over Crib Goch
For the last of my Walk Reports from my weekend in Snowdonia I will recount the walk I did on May Day. The weather was pretty awful as befits a Bank Holiday, but that didn't put me off as I parked up at Pen-y-Pass and paid my £4 fee for the pleasure. I set off along the Pyg track with the crowds of people heading up to Snowdon but went through the gate at Bwlch y Moch and headed up tp Crib Goch past all the warning signs. The weather now worsened as the clouds closed in and it started to rain, but I was resolved to go over Crib Goch under any circumstances so continued unabated. I soon encountered other people also heading up the rocky slope and started following two guys who were also picking their way up the steep, slippery surface. We soon started chatting and agreed that we would brave the weather conditions and head over Crib Goch together. I found the scramble up rather straight forward, if a little tricky in the difficult weather conditions but the top of the ridge was another matter. Once at the top I was in an mans land with clouds all about and the constant bufforting of strong winds, the rain slowly dieing off (for the moment). I don't mind saying I was petrified. Climbing up the rock wall was easy compared with shuffling along the top of this knife edge ridge with my right leg constantly kicking my left leg as I tried to get it past so I could move a little further along. In the strong wind I just had no confidence to make more than a short shuffle along each time, and at times when I had a short descent I was almost stuck trying to bring up the confidence to make even a simple step, and even that was easy compared with the occasional flat slab of stone that I could cross by any means other than walking across! They would take a few moments before I could summon the courage to get to the rocks on the other side.
Eventually the worst was over, with just one more tricky point where we couldn't find any way over a pinnacle on the ridge ahead necessitating a scramble down to go around the southern side of the structure. One of the two guys thought the path must head downhill at this point for no other seemed apparent but I was sure we had to stay on the top of the ridge so argued for us to find a way back up, which was eventually found. I'm sure in good weather this uncertainty would not be present, but in the bad weather the presecnce of a few cairns were a reasurrance that we were indeed going the right way and the top of the ridge was found again, leading us to Bwlch Coch. The remaining ridge up Crib y Ddysgl while still presenting some tricky moments were of a more straight-forward ridging walking leading us up the hill eventually reaching the Trig Point on Garnedd Ugain. The way was now simple to Snowdon down to Bwlch Glas, joining the Llanberis path and the railway, and then seeing the Pyg track join us from the left. The crowds now built up as we approached the summit, which as always, even in such poor weather was full of people. After all the excitement, thrills and nervousness on Crib Goch to see all these people was almost an annoyance. The deserted summit of Garnedd Ugain was much more to my liking.
After lunch surrounded by the dozens of people milling around the summit I said goodbye to my two walking companions who were descending by the Pyg track and headed off south-west from the summit until the start of the Watkin path presented itself. The rocky shelf below the summit of Snowdon where the Watkin Path descends to Bwlch Saethau is a maze of paths that can be very confusing in the clouds. When I did the Watking path two years this section was in the clouds and I found it the most difficult part of the route probably because I was straying off the easy path. Today was same as I found my route become steeper and more precarious eventually discovering that the proper path was below me. I'll have to do this section in clear weather sometime just so I can see where I should have been going all these years. As I descended the heavens opened and it started raining very heavily makin the descent even more awkward.
When I reached Bwlch Ciliau I had a desicion to make: Do I continue over Y Lliwedd as planned or do stay alive by following the Watkin path into the valley. The weather conditions were now very bad so I decided that the prudent move would be to go down the Watkin path in Cwm Llan as the heavy rain continued to fall. It was a pleasant walk in the rain but I had one problem: my waterproof trousers had split while going over Crib Goch and now my trousers were saturated making my socks and hence my feet soaked. Because I'd bought a cheap pair of waterproof trousers I would have to finish the walk with a wet left foot. C'est la vie. When I eventually reached Nantgwynant I discovered that I had just missed the bus, rather than wait an hour I decided that I would walk back to Pen-y-Pass up the valley. So walking on the northern bank of the Afon Glaslyn I walked over very muddy and often indistinct paths past Llyn Gwynant and the Hydro-electric power station at the head of the valley. I have walked from Pen-y-Pass to Nanygwynant before in better weather but even then I remember the path as being difficult and muddy, but compared with the top of Crib Goch it was a piece of cake and I saw soon walking up the hill beside the Afon Trawsnant to get back up to Pen-y-Pass.
So that was the end of a very eventful weekend in Snowdonia. It had many highlights but also many bad moments, not least seriously hurting my knee. I'm resting my knee at the moment but I'm planning on returning to the area at the end of the month to try and complete the traverse over Y Lliwedd. Let's hope for better weather at the next Bank Holiday weekend.
Eventually the worst was over, with just one more tricky point where we couldn't find any way over a pinnacle on the ridge ahead necessitating a scramble down to go around the southern side of the structure. One of the two guys thought the path must head downhill at this point for no other seemed apparent but I was sure we had to stay on the top of the ridge so argued for us to find a way back up, which was eventually found. I'm sure in good weather this uncertainty would not be present, but in the bad weather the presecnce of a few cairns were a reasurrance that we were indeed going the right way and the top of the ridge was found again, leading us to Bwlch Coch. The remaining ridge up Crib y Ddysgl while still presenting some tricky moments were of a more straight-forward ridging walking leading us up the hill eventually reaching the Trig Point on Garnedd Ugain. The way was now simple to Snowdon down to Bwlch Glas, joining the Llanberis path and the railway, and then seeing the Pyg track join us from the left. The crowds now built up as we approached the summit, which as always, even in such poor weather was full of people. After all the excitement, thrills and nervousness on Crib Goch to see all these people was almost an annoyance. The deserted summit of Garnedd Ugain was much more to my liking.
After lunch surrounded by the dozens of people milling around the summit I said goodbye to my two walking companions who were descending by the Pyg track and headed off south-west from the summit until the start of the Watkin path presented itself. The rocky shelf below the summit of Snowdon where the Watkin Path descends to Bwlch Saethau is a maze of paths that can be very confusing in the clouds. When I did the Watking path two years this section was in the clouds and I found it the most difficult part of the route probably because I was straying off the easy path. Today was same as I found my route become steeper and more precarious eventually discovering that the proper path was below me. I'll have to do this section in clear weather sometime just so I can see where I should have been going all these years. As I descended the heavens opened and it started raining very heavily makin the descent even more awkward.
When I reached Bwlch Ciliau I had a desicion to make: Do I continue over Y Lliwedd as planned or do stay alive by following the Watkin path into the valley. The weather conditions were now very bad so I decided that the prudent move would be to go down the Watkin path in Cwm Llan as the heavy rain continued to fall. It was a pleasant walk in the rain but I had one problem: my waterproof trousers had split while going over Crib Goch and now my trousers were saturated making my socks and hence my feet soaked. Because I'd bought a cheap pair of waterproof trousers I would have to finish the walk with a wet left foot. C'est la vie. When I eventually reached Nantgwynant I discovered that I had just missed the bus, rather than wait an hour I decided that I would walk back to Pen-y-Pass up the valley. So walking on the northern bank of the Afon Glaslyn I walked over very muddy and often indistinct paths past Llyn Gwynant and the Hydro-electric power station at the head of the valley. I have walked from Pen-y-Pass to Nanygwynant before in better weather but even then I remember the path as being difficult and muddy, but compared with the top of Crib Goch it was a piece of cake and I saw soon walking up the hill beside the Afon Trawsnant to get back up to Pen-y-Pass.
So that was the end of a very eventful weekend in Snowdonia. It had many highlights but also many bad moments, not least seriously hurting my knee. I'm resting my knee at the moment but I'm planning on returning to the area at the end of the month to try and complete the traverse over Y Lliwedd. Let's hope for better weather at the next Bank Holiday weekend.
posted by David Keates at 2:51 pm
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