I had previously had my heart set on doing the Snowdon Horseshoe this weekend, but still in shock at the £18 parking charge for Pen-y-Pass, and the expectation that it would be very busy, I decided to give it a miss. I decided that arguably the next best scamble in Wales (and England) is Tryfan, so I opted to head to the Glyderau again.
As pdstsp had kindly informed me, Ogwen was also very busy at the weekend, so I decided I needed to head out early. I thus got to Ogwen just after 6am. Even at that time, the Ogwen Cottage car park was over half full, with more people arriving as I set out. As I walked along the edge of Llyn Ogwen, there were spaces in the lay-bys, but they were over half-full, particularly with vans and people sleeping in their cars. I later chatted to a chap on the hills, who said that he arrived at 6:45 and got the last spot in the car-park! Make no mistake, if you want to park in Ogwen at the weekend, you need to get there very early - as in before 7am!
Although the weather forcast was clear skies, there was a fair bit of light cloud as I approached Tryfan. In retrospect, this was probably a good thing, as it was warm and humid, even at 6 in the am.
Tryfan is unmistakeable - you can even make out the cannon from a distance.
I don't need to tell many on this forum, but Tryfan is without a doubt a scamblers paradise. In England and Wales, there's not really anything like it. It's like a "proper" mountain plonked in the middle of Ogwen Valley. It's mostly rock, and consists of crags of varying degrees of difiiculty.
I'd consider myself a scrambler of middling ability. I don't excessively fear heights, but I've got a healthy respect for the avoidance of falling. I also think that I've got reasonable route-finding abiities. I've only done the North Ridge once before, and I must confess that I had a bit of trouble route-finding, particularly on the lower sections. I guess it doesn't really matter, as there are many different potential ways up, but it is certainly possible to find yourself in slightly tricky spots.
The first section is unabiguous, as its a stone path which follows a rockfall.
The next section is more ambiguous. This time I kept to the left at the upper part of the rockfall, although if you go too far East, you'll end up on the Heather Terrace. As long as you don't do this, you seem to naturally converge on a flat area, with a fairly obvious route owards. This in turn takes you to one of the most famous spots in Snowdonia.
Going up from here now involves an intimidating face. When I was last here I saw a couple of guys going straight up from here. Obviously it possible, but I wouldn't try it unless I was with someone who could give me guidance. Instead, just to the left, there is a gully which takes you up without any exposure.
After a walking section, there's a similar face. Previously I had gone to the left here, but probably strayed off the route, as I then had to climb out of a gully. Taking the direct route seemed better, but it was quite exposed.
The final obstacle is the North Tower, but there are loads of footholds and handholds.
The summit feels like a "proper" mountain summit, and obviously Adam and Eve add to the drama.
My plan was to then carry on to Glyder Fach. I planned to try Bristley Ridge. Never done it before, but since Tryfan had gone without incident, I was feeling confident. From the path down the South Ridge of Tryfan, I had a good view of Bristley. My main concern was routefinding. Initialy I was aware that you need to take Sinister Gully, and that Dexter Gully was more difficult. Luckily, there is a style, with Sinister a few metres to the right.
You can see Bristley Ridge from here.
The view up Sinister Gully.
Also, there is a small section of dry-stone walling, so you know you're in the right gulley.
First thing I would say though it that Sinister Gully is not for the faint-hearted. It's quite steep, and quite wet. There's no exposure, but compared to eg Jack's Rake, it's much closer to vertical.
After SG, it then becomes quite a benign scramble, giving you fantastic views of Ogwen and Tryfan.
There are then two more sections that cause a little consternation. There is a small down-climb after one of the "bristles". I'm generally happy down-climbing (outward or inward facing), then there is the crux of the scamble - the Great Pinnacle. This is actually quite impressive to look at, tempered only by the thought of "how the hell am I going to get past that?".
Anyone who has done this will know that it's a mainly subjective obstacle. There's another down-climb, which if you are facing out, is looking out out to a large drop, then you are faced with large rock pinnacle looming above you. Once you pass behind the pinnacle, you realise there's a sheltered gulley leading up behind it, but you can defintely see that it could cause a "freak-out" moment for those who are out of their depth.
The rest of Bristley is pretty benign. On the whole, a great scamble, and probably trickier than many Grade 1's. There's not as much exposure as eg Crib Goch, but you have to be confident with your climbing abilities.
G Fach is always fantastic. The Cantilever, the summit cairn, and of course Castle of the Winds. It's quite a place.
The next obvious route would then have been to take Y Gribin back down, but it was such a nice day that I felt it would be remiss not to do the rest of the Glyder Circuit.
Onto G Fawr. The moonscape is always great.
I descended to Lynn y Cwn. Looking pretty.
Having some energy left, I took the final pull up to Y Garn. In retrospect, I was probably verging on overdoing it, as it was now getting quite hot. On the plus side, I always love the views from Y Garn.
The route down to Ogwen from Y Garn is a cracker. You can just see some people camped by the tarn in the first shot.
All in all, a great route. Very hard work. It was less that 8 miles, but took 5.5 hours. There was over 1200m of ascent/descent, so that partly explains. Also much of the ascent was hands and feet. For some reason my app didn't record full calorie and HR data, but i was pretty exhausted at the end. Though I hate to whinge, it was probably a bit too hot and humid. The summits were very pleasant, but in the shade, it was quite sticky.
