Tryfan & Glyder Fach via Bristly Ridge
Saturday 27th July
Back into Snowdonia for the Bank Holiday weekend I wanted to practice my scrambling skills in preparation for my trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks, so what better places than the north face of Tryfan and Bristly ridge. I set off early but due to my incompetence and the traffic on the A55 (I don't think I'll use that road again) I didn't reach the foot of Tryfan until almost noon. I was not a happy bunny even before I started my walk, and finding that I'd left the inner soles for my boots at home also failed to lighten my mood. Setting off through Gwern Gof Uchaf I headed up to the start of the north side of Tryfan. Now I've done this before only a couple of months ago and it was just as much fun scrambling up as it was before, especially towards the end as the scrambling became more technical and I was able to sail past the other people walking up.
The summit was packed with people many of them attempting the leap from Adam to Eve (or visa versa). I joined them and found it ridiculously easy, much easier than it had been a couple of months ago in high winds. After lunch I descended to Bwlch Tryfan, curiously finding the descent as fun as the ascent had been. Once as the col I began the sole reason for doing this walk: the Bristly ridge. Ascending steeply I slowly made my way straight to Glyder Fach over the high, narrow, razor edged ridge with scrambling that wasn't too difficult so long as you picked your route correctly, often my problem. Several times I would begin a climb and think better of it, or I would achieve a very difficult climb only to find a much easier ascent on the other side. The Biggest problems were large dips in the course of the ridge requiring a tricky descent before a steep climb. It was a tricky, challenging ascent, but thoroughly satisfying as a result. It was with a great sense of achievement when I gained the summit of Glyder Fach.
Once at the top I was a little deflated; maybe it was the anti-climax after all that effort. I'd been up here recently, admittedly not in as good weather, but the summit held no interest for me. So I began the descent to Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder where last time I made a major navigational error in the mist. In good weather I can see how easy that it was to do, indeed the couple ahead of me made the same error but due to the clear conditions they quickly realised their error and corrected themselves. I ascended to the top of Y Gribin and began the descent of this ridge that I'd never walked along before. Eschewing the footpath over the screes I kept to the top of the ridge scrambling over the rocks before joining the footpath down to Llyn Bochlwyd. I don't think I was able to enjoy the descent or the stunning views of Nant Ffrancon as much as I would have normally because of the strange mood I was in after the mornings madness (I also didn't help that I was desperate to use a toilet!). It is amazing how such little things can cloud your enjoyment of what should have been a fantastically enjoyable walk. I had originally planned on climbing Pen yr Ole Wen when I reached Idwal Cottage, but with the advancing clock (and the fact that I couldn't be bothered) I decided to drop down to the A5 and walk back to the car. It was a good challenging walk, albeit short, but I wish I had been in a better mood for it.
Back into Snowdonia for the Bank Holiday weekend I wanted to practice my scrambling skills in preparation for my trip to Ireland in a couple of weeks, so what better places than the north face of Tryfan and Bristly ridge. I set off early but due to my incompetence and the traffic on the A55 (I don't think I'll use that road again) I didn't reach the foot of Tryfan until almost noon. I was not a happy bunny even before I started my walk, and finding that I'd left the inner soles for my boots at home also failed to lighten my mood. Setting off through Gwern Gof Uchaf I headed up to the start of the north side of Tryfan. Now I've done this before only a couple of months ago and it was just as much fun scrambling up as it was before, especially towards the end as the scrambling became more technical and I was able to sail past the other people walking up.
The summit was packed with people many of them attempting the leap from Adam to Eve (or visa versa). I joined them and found it ridiculously easy, much easier than it had been a couple of months ago in high winds. After lunch I descended to Bwlch Tryfan, curiously finding the descent as fun as the ascent had been. Once as the col I began the sole reason for doing this walk: the Bristly ridge. Ascending steeply I slowly made my way straight to Glyder Fach over the high, narrow, razor edged ridge with scrambling that wasn't too difficult so long as you picked your route correctly, often my problem. Several times I would begin a climb and think better of it, or I would achieve a very difficult climb only to find a much easier ascent on the other side. The Biggest problems were large dips in the course of the ridge requiring a tricky descent before a steep climb. It was a tricky, challenging ascent, but thoroughly satisfying as a result. It was with a great sense of achievement when I gained the summit of Glyder Fach.
Once at the top I was a little deflated; maybe it was the anti-climax after all that effort. I'd been up here recently, admittedly not in as good weather, but the summit held no interest for me. So I began the descent to Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder where last time I made a major navigational error in the mist. In good weather I can see how easy that it was to do, indeed the couple ahead of me made the same error but due to the clear conditions they quickly realised their error and corrected themselves. I ascended to the top of Y Gribin and began the descent of this ridge that I'd never walked along before. Eschewing the footpath over the screes I kept to the top of the ridge scrambling over the rocks before joining the footpath down to Llyn Bochlwyd. I don't think I was able to enjoy the descent or the stunning views of Nant Ffrancon as much as I would have normally because of the strange mood I was in after the mornings madness (I also didn't help that I was desperate to use a toilet!). It is amazing how such little things can cloud your enjoyment of what should have been a fantastically enjoyable walk. I had originally planned on climbing Pen yr Ole Wen when I reached Idwal Cottage, but with the advancing clock (and the fact that I couldn't be bothered) I decided to drop down to the A5 and walk back to the car. It was a good challenging walk, albeit short, but I wish I had been in a better mood for it.
posted by David Keates at 3:33 pm
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