Tryfan, Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr, Y Garn, Wales. Sat 10 Mar 2007

It has been a long time since I did any walking in Wales. Andy Taylor and some of his friends are having a weekend doing several of the 3,000s so I decided to join them for the Saturday part of their walk. I had a fairly clear and easy drove to the Youth Hostel at Idwal Cottage by Llyn Ogwen. Just as I arrived I was spotted by Andy and introduced to the rest of the team who had spent the night there. We set off along the A5 road following the lakeside until we reached the start of our climb up the first of the peaks.

Llyn Ogwen from Tryfan.

On Tryfan.

At the end of the lake is Tryfan, a whaleback of a mountain rising to 915m. I had walked along the eastern side many years ago but didn’t venture on to the mountain itself. Now we were heading straight up its northern side.

I’m glad I was with people who knew the mountain because I wouldn’t want to tackle it for the first time on my own. There was still cloud around and all the high summits were obscured, including Tryfan. The first part of the path was steep, well made and quite pedestrian; this was soon to change. Just before we reached the cloud base the path took a turn for the vertical. The climbs were steep but not particularly exposed and with plenty of big hand and footholds it was very enjoyable. The terrain continued like this all the way to the summit. At the top it was no place to hang around in the cold wind and mist.

The path now turns vertical.

The way up Glyder Fach.

A fairly steep descent followed and the group separated from time to time as we found our way through the maze of huge boulders and crevasses. We reached a wall and stile to regroup and decide the next phase of the rout. We were on the saddle at Bwlch Tryfan and now had the climb of Glyder Fach in front of us. I was my first visit to this part of the mountain and had no idea what to expect; I think the others did. Four of us pressed on up through the rocks and mist while the rest took another route which I think followed a path most of the way. We were soon looking up wet and misty vertical gulleys. The climbing was quite uncomfortable in places due to the wet and cold and I’m glad I was with experienced mountaineers who’d been this way before. This is certainly a way I wouldn’t tackle on my own in wet and misty weather.

Eventually we emerged onto a flattish area and a path with people about. I was surprised how many people were on the mountain in the misty conditions. We didn’t have a sound plan to regroup, other that use mobile phones to keep in touch. Unfortunately none of us could get a signal so we pressed on hoping the weather would clear or we’d come across them. The wind increased in ferocity so we found an excellent shaped rock feature which gave good shelter where we could stop for lunch. We navigated to Glyder Fawr by compass as the path was indistinct over the rough rocks. A very steep descent followed over lots of horrible loose scree, but at least we got a view of the valley below. At the bottom was the very windswept lake of Llyn y Cwn. We had hoped to see the others here but there was no sign. We pressed on back into the mist and up the steady path to the summit of Y Garn. I had to leave the group here as they were continuing to Nant Peris but I had to get back to my car. I’d planned to follow the ridge down just to the north but when we got there the descent path looked very rocky, exposed and uninviting in the mist. In the distance I could see a safer looking descent so stayed with the others until we came to the saddle before Foel-goch. We said goodbye and they set off towards Elidir Fawr while I started my descent on nice soft grass.

At the bottom of the steep bit I thought I’d be crossing boggy ground but it turned out to be drier than expected. The rest of the way down was an easy stroll and I reached the minor road by the hostel of Yr Hafod which had lots of cars parked outside. When I got back to my car there was a note under the wiper blade. It was from Andy who’d obviously got down OK and just left a message to say so.

Llyn Ogwen in the distance.