It's a Monday morning, I have a day off work and the Met Office forecast shows:-
WEATHER:
Dry with plenty of sunshine
VISIBILITY:
Good
HILL FOG:
Occasional patches confine to eastern facing upslopes at dawn above 600m.
MAXIMUM WINDS ABOVE 500M:
40mph
TEMPERATURE:
Valleys Plus 14 Celsius
900m Plus 6 Celsius.
What a contrast to last Monday! So I decided to head off to fulfil my aim and complete the Snowdon Horseshoe in DRY/CLOUDLESS weather.
Get to Pen-y Pass before 9:30am and you should get a space for parking. During holidays and fine weather I normally aim for 8am.
Crib Goch beckons, silently in the distance. This is one mountain I'll never tire of climbing no matter what the weather conditions are. You could make it as easy or as hard as you like to reach the summit of it, no two routes up has ever been the same for me.
Looking across I could see the two high peaks of Y Lliwedd (898m, 2946ft) and the route down for which I'll be taking later today.
I could see the summit from here and there is still plenty of scrambling to do to get there! This will be the first time up Crib Goch in clear weather for me.
Crib Goch (The Red Crest) is every inch mountain. Wholly rock, not much grass or much traces of flora.
Looking back down to Llyn Llydaw intersected by the miners track.
Scrambling for all ages!
I could just about see Pen-y-pass down in the distance.
From here on, all sections to the left and right are very steep with no distinct routes up!
Good weather also attracts a lot of people!
Nearly there, still no cloud in sight, fantastic!
Classic shot of the Crib Goch traverse.
Time to head across the narrow arete to the pinnacles. Up to Garnedd Ugain and then onwards to Snowdon.
Stay on one side, the left and the drop down is not too severe!
Looking back to see what I have climbed down.
Snowdon to the left with the Pyg track zig zagging up.
Another shot of me! Glaslyn behind.
Y Lliwedd from Crib Goch.
Another down climb section
Elidir Fawr in the distance.
I have found walking/scrambling on top of the ridge all the way to Garnedd Ugain was easier and more fun than hiking along the lower level.
Looking back to Crib Goch.
Summit of Garnedd Ugain (1065m, 3494ft). A windy place indeed!
A view of Snowdon from the summit of Garnedd Ugain.
The point where the Pyg track joins onto the Llanberis Path.
Summit station cafe with train!
Another summit cafe shot. It was still not open when I was there!
Snowdon Summit (1085m, 3560ft)
Lunch break for all! Hafod Eryri the summit station cafe will be officially opened on 12th June 2009. I will venture up there again to sample the cafe when it's open and take more pictures of the highest building in England and Wales.
Leaving the summit of Snowdon coming down the steep scree slope of the south side. I can't imagine doing this in poor visibility, it was pretty tricky in dry conditions!
My next climb, Y Lliwedd.
The quality of scrambling was on par with crib goch and even Tryfan. I'd kept to the left side for a sustained scramble up to the top, there were also paths to the right if you wanted to walk most of it.
I think I have only come across 3 people after descending Snowdon and getting to the top of Y Lliwedd, so it is a quiet route away from the usual crowds on popular mountains.
A view of Crib Goch from the opposite side of the horseshoe.
Snowdon, south side and Garnedd Ugain.
A view from East peak to the main peak. The east peak is marginally shorter at 893m, 5m shorter than the main peak.
My path down is in the distance.
After the loose scree section the path down is more smooth and distinct.
An obligatory shot after doing the Snowdon horseshoe.
After a long winding walk back on the miners track, we're back to pen-y-pass car park!
Duration: 6hours (with breaks)
Looking back down to Llyn Llydaw intersected by the miners track.
Scrambling for all ages!
I could just about see Pen-y-pass down in the distance.
From here on, all sections to the left and right are very steep with no distinct routes up!
Good weather also attracts a lot of people!
Nearly there, still no cloud in sight, fantastic!
Classic shot of the Crib Goch traverse.
Time to head across the narrow arete to the pinnacles. Up to Garnedd Ugain and then onwards to Snowdon.
Stay on one side, the left and the drop down is not too severe!
Looking back to see what I have climbed down.
Snowdon to the left with the Pyg track zig zagging up.
Another shot of me! Glaslyn behind.
Y Lliwedd from Crib Goch.
Another down climb section
Elidir Fawr in the distance.
I have found walking/scrambling on top of the ridge all the way to Garnedd Ugain was easier and more fun than hiking along the lower level.
Looking back to Crib Goch.
Summit of Garnedd Ugain (1065m, 3494ft). A windy place indeed!
A view of Snowdon from the summit of Garnedd Ugain.
Y Lliwedd from Garnedd Ugain, this is the route that I'll be taking to complete the 2nd half of the horseshoe walk after a lunch break on the summit of Snowdon!
The point where the Pyg track joins onto the Llanberis Path.
Summit station cafe with train!
Another summit cafe shot. It was still not open when I was there!
Snowdon Summit (1085m, 3560ft)
Lunch break for all! Hafod Eryri the summit station cafe will be officially opened on 12th June 2009. I will venture up there again to sample the cafe when it's open and take more pictures of the highest building in England and Wales.
Leaving the summit of Snowdon coming down the steep scree slope of the south side. I can't imagine doing this in poor visibility, it was pretty tricky in dry conditions!
My next climb, Y Lliwedd.
The quality of scrambling was on par with crib goch and even Tryfan. I'd kept to the left side for a sustained scramble up to the top, there were also paths to the right if you wanted to walk most of it.
I think I have only come across 3 people after descending Snowdon and getting to the top of Y Lliwedd, so it is a quiet route away from the usual crowds on popular mountains.
A view of Crib Goch from the opposite side of the horseshoe.
Snowdon, south side and Garnedd Ugain.
A view from East peak to the main peak. The east peak is marginally shorter at 893m, 5m shorter than the main peak.
My path down is in the distance.
After the loose scree section the path down is more smooth and distinct.
An obligatory shot after doing the Snowdon horseshoe.
After a long winding walk back on the miners track, we're back to pen-y-pass car park!
My legs are sore at this point!
Duration: 6hours (with breaks)
Time Points:- Start Pen y Pass Car Park : 09:27
Crib Goch East Summit : 10:47
Snowdon Summit : 12:15 (lunch)
Snowdon Descent : 12:45
Y Lliwedd Summit : 13:31
Pen y Pass Car Park : 15:12
Distance:- 7.5miles
Ascent:- 3800ft.
I would change occasional to unrelenting outbreaks of rain.