The forecast had been indifferent with only a 20% chance of cloud-free summits, though the best chance was north and west of Eryri. I drove out of Caernarfon under bright and cloudless skies – it looked as though my luck was in. The only other car in the layby was a bloke having a cig and he soon drove off.
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| Y Garn |
After a short walk along fields, the path titled upwards for a direct assault on Y Garn. Knowing it was a long day, I took it very steadily and reached the top feeling good. An hour to do 2km wasn’t going to setting any records. The wind didn’t feel too bad and there were great views, the early morning sun lighting up the peaks.
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| Climbing Y Garn |
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| Summit of Y Garn |
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| View from the ridge |
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| Mynydd Drws-y-coed scramble |
The next top, Mynydd Drws-y-coed involved a short but challenging scramble. The rocks were often wet and I didn’t trust my grip. A couple of times I backed out of a move that felt too exposed and risky on my own.
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| The start of the ridge with Yr Wyddfa behind |
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| Yr Wyddfa |
The next climb was easier, if steep, onto Trum y Ddysgl which offered excellent views back to the start over the ridge and out to the Yr Wyddfa massif where a little cloud was flirting with its ridges. After that effort it was nice to have an easy, grassy stroll to Mynydd Tal y Mignedd’s chunky obelisk. The views again were amazing, out to Angelsey, along to Lleyn, across to Moel Hebog.
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| Mynydd Tal y Mignedd |
Any complacency about the route was soon dispelled with a tricky scramble down to Bwlch Dros-bern, which necessitated the use of my fifth point of contact (derrière). The brutal nose of Craig Cwm Silyn loomed ahead, looking unclimbable, so I sat having a sandwich and gathering my strength. In the end, it wasn’t so bad as a path skirted round the rocks to the north before climbing steeply up onto the ridge again.
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| View back from Craig Cwm Silyn |
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| Sandpipers, I think, on a daytrip from the coast |
Being a trig-bagger, I crossed the bouldery summit and carried on easily to Garnedd Goch. The trig point was sadly just a stump but the cairn was a nice place to sit looking out to sea. The wind had dropped though that encouraged the midges out.
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| Garnedd Goch |
My return, where I saw the only other person out on the hill that day, took me contouring below Craig Cwm Silyn, following the odd sheep trod around boulders and crags, and dropping bit by bit onto the ridge east of Cwm Braich-y-ddinas and down-down-down into Cwm Pennant.
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| Cwm Penant |
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| Cwm Penant |
It actually felt windier in the valley than on the summit but the sun was still shining and it felt warm. It’s a grand place to be with mountains all around you. At the head of the valley I climbed up through old quarry works in Cwm Trwsgl, an atmospheric place to say the least. The path followed an incline and by the top I was blowing quite hard. After all the ridge walking, it was a big ascent and the top of the pass couldn’t come soon enough.
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| Cwm Trwsgl |
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| Cwm Trwsgl |
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| Looking back up to the ridge |
Just before dropping into the woods there was a view over to Yr Wyddfa which has its typical cap of cloud whereas the hills of Nantlle were still as clear as they had been first thing. A pleasant walk down took me to Rhyd Ddu and the Cwellyn Arms.
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| Cloudy on Yr Wyddfa |
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