The Glyderau

Sunday 30th April 2006

The weather for this walk was not so good as the day before with low cloud obscuring the views almost all day. With this in mind my plan of walking up all of the 3000 footers in the Glyders was less appealing, though it was always going to be unlikely in the time as large diversions would have been required to bag both Elidir Fawr and Tryfan in the same day and still end up at Pen-y-Pass. In the end I decided that I just couldn’t be bothered to go to the effort of going up Tryfan, which I had been up twice the year before. I decided I would let time decide and as will be seen there wasn’t the time to go up Tryfan once I reached Glyder Fach, but only because I hadn’t rushed during the day.

I started by walking through the cleft in the rocks near Idwal Cottage, which I’d seen before but never been through. Proceeding from there I ascended the ridge up to Y Garn, beginning with a very steep rocky path and then after a level respite up an increasingly steep scree slope. Eventually the summit was reached and I descended north down another scree slope and on to a fun path that skirts the steep slopes of Foel Goch. Coming around the head of the valley I started the ascent of Elidir Fawr, but soon I noticed a path that continued on the level instead of climbing up to the top of the ridge. Curiosity got the better of me and I followed this path that became fainter though never disappeared even as it negotiated the crags and screes south of Elidir Fawr.

Eventually the path vanished in a mass of loose scree and I decided I would have to climb up to find the proper path. With difficulty I climbed up the loose slates and scree until I reached grass and then on all fours I dragged myself up the hillside until I saw a group of people walking up the path above me. With an effort I climbed onto the path and followed the group to the summit where I’d been only once before, three years before. From the summit I followed the top of the ridge, having tremendous fun on the rocks and perilous drops until I reached the col where I dropped down to my outward path. Following this excellent path I returned to the bottom of Y Garn, but instead of climbing it again I found my way around the western grassy slopes of the mountain to Twll Du, the Devil’s Kitchen. This is a fabulous place where rock is king and the views into Cwm Idwal are stunning. I hung around for ages, hopping from one outcrop to another taking pictures. I didn’t want to leave, but eventually I had my lunch and left Twll Du climbing up the depressing scree filled slopes of Glyder Fawr to the desolate, forsaken summit. The top is a grim, barren place in good weather, but in thick cloud it is gloomy and depressing. I quickly left and made my way to Glyder Fach, which although is also full of rocks and thick fog is for some reason a much more fun place to be. I had a clamber around the rocks on the summit and a look at the cantilever before deciding it was time to head off to Pen-y-Pass. Returning to the col I struck off onto a path that descends across the southern slopes of Glyder Fawr. I took this path by mistake the year before and had to climb steeply away from it onto the summit. This time I deliberately took the path heading south-west across the lower slopes of Glyder Fawr towards the path that descends from the summit to Pen-y-Pass.

This was a terrific walk with the path soon becoming too faint to be seen so I made my own way across the fascinating landscape around a lake (Llyn Cwmffynnon) to Pen-y-Pass. The clouds quickly cleared as I descended, which afforded me with great views all around. It’s astonishing that with masses of people on the main paths there are still stunning places to walk far from anyone else but only a stones throw from the crowds. This was a fantastic end to the walk.