Hi everyone - I may have got some names wrong here so feel free to correct me!
I've been mainly walking in the Lakes recently - got a bit obsessed with Wainwrights! However we had a family gathering last night in Conway valley so I decided to do a walk which I have set out to do twice before the Nantlle Ridge. On both previous occasions the weather was grim, and, as I wanted to really appreciate this walk, I had changed plans and walked up Snowdon instead. However, yesterday the weather was fabulous, so the 5.20 a.m. start from Liverpool was well worth it.
I parked at Rhyd Ddu, and set off - first stop Y Garn
The views on the way up are generally off to the side or behind you, but they do take your mind off this fairly steep first ascent;
Lly y Drywarchen with, I think, Moel Elio the high point behind;
and looking across to Moel Hebog and friends;
As the summit plateau of Y Garn is reached the next target unveils itself - Mynydd Drws-y-Coed - what a sight it is - quite formidable.
This picture also shows the full way ahead with Craig Cwm Silyn poking up in the distance.
There was little chance for a summit shot on Y Garn due to some wild campers having a lie in in their tents right next to the summit cairn.
I'm not the world's most renowned scrambler, but I had read that this was relatively simple stuff, so I went for it - following the only people I saw all morning, three young guys who descended after Trum y Ddysgl - you can just see one in ble at the bottom of the scramble;
Well - it went better than expected -some great rock formations on the way up and a sense of height due to the vertical drop on the right, but the rocks were dry and there are no difficult moves, even for me with limited suppleness due to the number of things I've broken or ruptured over the years!
From there I continued round to Trum-y-Ddysgl, partly on path and partly on the ridge - again there is a real feeling of height, but the going was easy, sun was shining and I was wearing sunglasses so what the hell!
View back from the summit of TyD[/size]
And a look forward to the next stop via a gentle, at first path, an then a steepish grassy descent and up to the obelisk on Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd, which is just visible mid right. The end of the TyD summit plateau would mark the start of my descent later on the way back from Craig cwm Silyn and I was getting a bit worried about how much climbing I had left to do - all the way out there and then back.
Approaching the obelisk;
After the summit the path follows the ridge for a few hundred metres gently descending before disappearing very steeply down to Bwlch Dros-bern. Oh how I was looking forward to climbing this later. At the bwlch I took the easier option of following a small path round the west side of Craig cwm Silyn before climbign more steeply to the summit. This brings you onto the ridge around the 590m mark with some fantastic views - this one is back the way I had come - the obelisk onn Myndd Tal y Mignedd is centre left, with Snodwon et al in the background;
Finally the high point of the day is reached;
I intended to continue to Garnedd Goch, but I was running a bit late and was suffering a bit of pain in my one good knee so called it a day at the top. This view is looking back to the summit cairn with Snowdon and various others as a rather spectacular backdrop.
Then came the hard part - descend to Bwlch Dros-bern, ascend to Mynydd Tal y mignedd, descend a bit more, climb up to near the peak ot Trum y Ddysgl before reaching the start of the descent proper - a long grassy descent towards Beddgelert forest;
I was glad to reach the forest and get some shade - by now I could fell the sun doing its work on my baby soft skin.
A final pleasure - new born lambs
Great great walk - every moment was a complete joy - I cooldn't stop grinning. My gps had 10 1/2 miles and around 1360 metres but it felt further!
Paul