After 5 days of low cloud, Thursday looked a bit more promising – so all 4 of us set off to Ogwen to see how the day would develop. We left the car near the Youth Hostel at 11.30am, and set off up the path towards Bwlch Tryfan, with the cloud still covering the tops. We climbed steadily up past Llyn Bochlwyd to reach the col – and the cloud base. The optimist (me) thought the cloud might still lift; the realists (A, M and R) thought it was crazy to continue up onto the Glyders. We ate some lunch while pondering the next move.
damp picnic on Bwlch Tryfan
Sense prevailed, and, reluctantly, I followed the others back down the path! Once a bit lower down, the drizzle stopped, and we decided to make a detour across the foot of the Gribin ridge and then steeply down towards Llyn Idwal – a beautiful spot.
by Llyn Idwal
Continuing round the lake, we were entertained by a mountain rescue helicopter on a training run. Couldn’t see if Prince William was at the controls, though!
helicopter manoeuvring above Llyn Idwal
And so, back to the car and Beddgelert. Still no summits, but at least we had been up to 730m and seen some real mountain scenery close at hand.
Perhaps Friday would be better!
Perhaps not! Friday was another grey day – cloud a bit higher, but still firmly covering the tops. Anne and I decided to head up the tourist route on Snowdon, and (again) see how far we could go.
We parked in Llanberis, and set off up the steep road beside the Mountain Railway.
Snowdon Mountain railway shed
Soon, the “tourist path” branched off from the road, and we continued up this for a kilometre or so. A guide book had recommended leaving the path, and taking a parallel route up the crest of the ridge, so we did so. A faint path followed the ridge over a series of small tops, with superb views down into the pass and across to the massive Dinorwic slate mine on the slopes of Eilidir Fawr.
looking down on Llyn Peris and the slate mine
near our high point on the ridge
We continued up the ridge to around 680m, where the railway makes a sweeping curve between Halfway station and Clogwyn station, then decided to return rather than continuing up into the mist higher up.
Descent was by the tourist track. The only disappointment was that all the trains we saw were diesel powered!
Mountain Railway train descending into Llanberis
So, no “furths” climbed – in fact, we hadn’t even seen the tops of any, with the clouds stubbornly down all week ….