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.

Walk Report: The Glyderau

I wasn't sure which walk I would do today, it was a toss up between the Glyderau or Snowdon. The deciding factor was the weather but as it turned out I got the weather rather wrong. It was raining as I left Bangor so decided I didn't want to do Crib Goch in this sort of weather (Ha! You just wait!) so I drove down the A5 to Llyn Ogwen parking up at the layby midway between the Idwal Cottage car park and Tryfan. As I prepared to move off the weather cleared up and the sun came out, good for that morning's walk, pity about the next days walk over Crib Goch. I set off down the A5 till I beneath Milestone Buttress and started the climb beside the stone wall and then across the north face of Tryfan. So began the ascent of the North Face of Tryfan, one of the best scrambles in Wales. The weather on this sunny Sunday morning was perfect but I could trouble brewing on the higher hills. The Gylders spent most of the morning in the clouds and the after passing over the glyders I could see the clouds blowing very quickly past me. It was going to be very windy on the tops.

The trick to climbing Tryfan by it's northern face is simply to take it one step at a time, I just put my head down and tackled it one rocky ledge at a time until I was surprised to discover that I was on the top, unmistakable by the sight of the two large blocks of stone, known by the names, Adam and Eve. The highest point of Tryfan is at the top of one or both of these rocks and since the height of Tryfan is 3002 feet you have not been over three thousand feet until you have managed to climb onto one of the pillars. So feeling that I had an obligation I scrambled up onto the northerly of the two rocks (whichever one that is!). Now it is said that you earn yourself the freedom of Tryfan if you step from one pillar to the other, bearing in mind they are over 2 metres above the rocky summit of Tryfan which itself is 2000 feet above the valley floor. This is not a step for the timid or vertigous. Two years I climbed up onto the top of Tryfan but daren't go onto either rock let alone step from one to the other. This step I was determined to do it and the fact that it was blowing a gale was not going to deter me, much.

Crouching on the edge of the northerly stone I waited for the right moment when the wind died down momentarily long enough for me to gather the nerve to step from Adam to Eve (or Eve to Adam). Eventually I made my step but it was more a leap from a crouching position on one rock across to the other. It's not quite a step but it's close enough, isn't it? Anyway, feeling happy with myself I began my descent of Tyfan, a potentially more difficult undertaking than the ascent. Spuring the main route down I tried to stay on the top of the ridge all the way down ensuring I passed over the subsidiary peaks on my way down. As I descended I came to a difficult section that requried that I swung around into the rock wall. I swung around too quickly and bashed my left knee into the wall. Not only was it very painful but even now, as I am writing this 1½ weeks later I knee still hurts. I recieved several bruises over this weekend but most have not been very painful, my knee still complains whenever I go up or down stairs or when I immobile in a chair for long periods. I feel like an old man, I only hope my knee will heel completely or I'll become like all those people I hear who complain about their knees while walking.

Undetered by such problems I reached Bwlch Tryfan and turning left followed the miner's track around the top of Cwm Tryfan to reach the col between Glyder Fach and Y Foel Goch. The latter was hill I had never been onto so crossing the boggy col I walked up onto the top of Y Foel Goch and then turned around passing across the col again and beginning the ascent of Glyder Fach. The sun had now gone in and would never be seen again, with the wind as strong as ever and the clouds descending the pattern for the rest of the day began to establish itself. The summit of Glyder Fach, though in the clouds, was well populated with a dozen or two on or around the summit rocks. After my morning's scrambling practice on tryfan I found it very easy walking or leaping over the rocks onto highest point, bypassing the people who were nervously making their own way from rock to rock onto the top.

As I made my way between Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr I started to make the series of mistakes that wouldn't stop until I was the other side of Glyder Fawr. This will become something of an infamous hill for me as I tried to go up it in total cloud cover and no compass. I realised I'd left my compass in my car during the morning but thought I'd never need it, some hope. I believe my mistake was at Bwlch y Ddwy-Glyder where I turned south and walked below Waun Gron. If I'd had my compass my mistake would have been obvious immediately but as it was when I finally realised my mistake it was almost too late to turn back. Eventually I decided that I would try and get to the summit by any means whatsoever, so with a stubborn face I off up the hill trying to find the summit or at the least a path. Somehow with a lot of luck in the worsening weather I managed to drag myself onto the summit and found a lump of rock with a cairn on top and people milling around.

With a great relief I collapsed in a heap and had my lunch. Now I resolved to keep to the path and not lose it again as I set off. Of course I quickly lost the path and started veering to the north. If I'd even just consulted my map I'd have seen I needed to going more west but without a compass I didn't know where I was going. I was totally lost descending a rocky slope heading towards what would have been a sheer cliff face as I was heading towards the Upper Cliff of Glyder Fawr. As I got more and more lost I became more and more angry with myself, I was furious with myself for leaving my compass in my car. I was so adamant that I must never, ever, leave my compass behind again; if I could get safely down. After almost slipping to my death I started praying, something I should really have done earlier as I didn't have any other chance. Wainwright famously said that if you get lost in the list on Hay Stacks in the Lake District your only option is to drop to your knees and pray. On the upper cliffs of Glyder Fawr I did the same, and the clouds opened up to reveal a clear path a very long way below me. I wasn't sure what I was looking at, but had some nasty suspicions. Feeling more hopeful I asked the Lord to show me a better view and the clouds opened up even more to reveal a distinctly shaped lake, which a look at my map revealed was Llyn Idwal. I was going in completely the wrong direction and heading towards the top of a certain cliff wall. Turning around I headed back up the steep slope until I reached a point where I could cross the stream I had been following down. Going around the side of the hill from that point I soon found my way down to the top of the Devil's Kitchen. A very dangerous detour had been averted by the divinely inspired parting of the clouds that revealed my true position. In the future let's ensure we take our compass okay?

Once at Llyn y Cwm I put aside thoughts of returning straight to my car and headed off up the clear path to Y Garn. Returning to my intended walk I north towards a collection of hills that I had never been up but which would entail a considerable diversion in order to bag. Despite my 'delay' on Glyder Fawr I felt the effort would be justified, so finished my climb up onto the top of Y Garn and then down to the three hills I wanted to bag, first off, Foel-goch, then Mynydd Perfedd and then across the rock strewn plain to Carnedd y Filiast. After my exertions of earlier in the day I had little energy for these outlying hills but eventually reached the last hill before turning around and going all the way back to Y Garn. With all my energy completely depleted I struggled up the last steep climb onto Y Garn, the strong wind making each turn of the zig-zagged path either a blessing or a curse. With considerable relief I made it to the top again and began the descent down the eastern ridge of Y Garn around the top of Cwm Clyd. Despite the initial very steep descent across the scree slope the whole descent was relatively easy and I was able to relax and enjoy the walk down to Llyn Idwal where I joined the main footpath back to Toilets and shop near Idwal Cottage. A short walk along the A5 brought me back to me car, 9½ hourse after I'd left it, which makes this the longest walk I've ever done and almost the last. What a variable day! A fantastic ascent up Tryfan and an enjoyable walk over Glyder Fach is ofset by bashing my knee in and getting lost on Glyder Fawr. C'est la vie.

Walk Report: The Carneddau

Well, the election has come and gone and I didn't get round to saying anything about it. It was an excellent opportunity to bash the Conservatives but I didn't get around to it. Oh well, the Tories still lost and Michael Howard has gone for that long walk off a short pier, so everything is good in the world. Meanwhile, last weekend I went for a very strenuous walking holiday over the three thousand foot hills in north Wales. It was an extremely tiring weekend that has left me bruised and aching; I must be getting old!

The first of the three days walks, last Saturday in fact, was spent going over the Carneddau, the largest area of hilltop over 3000 feet in the whole of England and Wales (which isn't really saying much). After driving over to North Wales Saturday morning in the pouring rain I parked at Gwernydd (SH6332 6629), which is just off a side street outside Bethesda, and started off walking up the road on the left past Ciltwllan heading up the side of the hill. Once out into open country I followed the vague paths onto the top of the ridge up Y Garth to Gyrn Wigau and then across the grassy plain to cross the rocky Right-of-Way path up onto the top of Drosgl. The rain was still falling and now I was also into the clouds, but that seems to be the norm for this area. The last time I was around here I'd parked at Bont Newydd and accessed the hills by going past Aber Falls. That day it had been wet with low clouds as well and on that occasion I'd missed out Drosgl by staying on the right-of-way so today I righted the oversight and climbed through the boulder field to reach the large summit cairn on top of Drosgl.

My next target was Bera Mawr which is the northerly of two prominences north-west of Garnedd Uchaf. Bera Bach is the higher of the two at 807 m but since it's on the top of the main ridge it has virtually no drop. Bera Mawr, however, is somewhat to the north of the ridge and has a large enough drop to put it on some mountain lists. Despite this it was Bera Bach that I'd climbed two years ago so today I veered to the left of Bera Bach following a faint path at the foot of the rocky out-crop towards Bera Mawr. This is quite a fun lump of rock as a little scrambling is necessary to get onto the top of the out-crop; it was just a pity visibility was nil as I'm sure the views across the Aber Falls Nature Reserve and out across the Lavan Sands to Anglesey would have been tremendous.

Coming down off Bera Mawr I refrained from rejoining the top of the ridge and kept to the contours edging around the top of Cwm yr Afon Goch. I crossed the infant river below Garnedd Uchaf and then swung round towards the top of Llwytmor. This was another hill in the northern Carneddau that I'd never been to the top of and this completed the list of hills I had wanted to bag in this area. The last time I'd been here, two years ago my sights had been solely on the three-thousand-footers. This weekend I wanted to take in some of the other hills near the Munro-types as well as those great hills themselves. After lunch on Llwytmor I headed across the col to Foel-fras and was very surprised to discover significant amounts of snow in sheltered areas on the hill. Last month in the Lake District there had been no snow at all even on Helvellyn, but here in Snowdonia I saw a lot of snow on all the three-thousand-footers in the Carneddau. The snow wasn't icy and most of it showed signs of being in the advanced stages of a thaw, but it was still a surprise to see snow so late in the season.

Following the ridge south-west I headed along to Garnedd Uchaf, the summit of which was quite a hunt in the clouds, but I seem to recall a similar problem two years ago. Those GPS thingies may have come in handy to find the top but a map, a compass and a bit of luck is just as good as any technology. Heading south I approached Foel Grach passing the hut where two years ago I'd sheltered from a particularly violent rain shower. The shelter was not required today as the clouds began to lift and by the time I reached the summit of Foel Grach the clouds had lifted rewarding me with amazing views of the rocky edges of Yr Elen and the massive snow-marked bulk of Carnedd Llewelyn. As if by magic crowds of people also appeared on the hills and so after hours of having the hills all to myself I suddenly found things a little crowded. To avoid a large number of people coming towards me along the main path I veered off to the left staying on top of the ridge, which itself veers off to the left before coming to an end above the top of Cwm Eugiau. The outcrop has no name but someone has given it a cairn despite having no drop to speak of. It may be a hill that's not worth bagging (it's not really a hill at all, merely part of Foel Grach) but at least it kept me off the overpopulated main path.

Turning back towards the south-west I eventually rejoined the path and joined the literally dozens of people enjoying the tremendous views from the top of Carnedd Llewelyn. After the bad weather of the morning it was astonishing how brilliant the weather had now become and how quickly all these people had responded to the clearing weather. I can only surmise that the hills in the northern Carneddau where I'd been walking were the last to be the clear (not really too unsurprising since the bad weather had been moving northwards). Now in glorious sunshine with stunning views all around I headed down to Bwlch Cyfryw-drum and keeping to the very top of Cefn Ysgolion Duon I headed up to Carnedd Dafydd which was also heavily populated (although I suspect they were all part of the same large group).

I now had a decision to make, whether to walk across to Pen yr Ole Wen or miss it out. In the end I decided that since I'd been up there before, two years ago, similarly with Yr Elen, which I'd missed out today, I would begin my descent back to the car. So heading down the scree to the north of Carned Dafydd I passed over Foel Meirch descending enjoyably down along Mynydd Du eventually joining the footpath alongside the Afon Llafar. Following the footpath though the fields I reached the beginning of a road and walked the half-mile distance back to my car. It had been a very enjoyable walk in very changeable weather conditions that just got better and better.