Wednesday 4th June 2025
By this point my trek along the Cambrian Way had been going on for two and a half weeks and over the remaining three days I was faced with traverses over the highest mountains in Wales. I could say that after two and a half weeks of strenuous walking across Wales starting from Cardiff I didn’t have the energy left to climb those mountains but I could also say that I was now so fit from all that walking I could climb anything. The reality, of course, was in between with the weather being a key factor. In my second week on the Cambrian Way I had a lot of rain and strong winds that prevented me from keeping to the trail, but fortunately the weather on my third week was better, though not as good as on my first, and so now with the weather on my side I felt revitalised and able to set off towards Yr Wyddfa, better known as Snowdon. When I attempted to do the Cambrian Way last year the weather was so bad I rarely followed the trail during the second half of my trek, including on the day when I should have gone over Snowdon, but on this, the rerun, my second attempt, I was going to reach the highest point on the Cambrian Way, the highest point in Wales. The demands of accommodation meant that I started this walk a long way from the route of the Cambrian Way, so instead of being in, or near, Beddgelert, where this stage begins, I was actually in the village of Nantlle, almost eight miles away. After walking just over half that distance along the road to reach the village of Rhyd-Ddu, instead of turning south towards Beddgelert, I kept heading east to head straight up Snowdon along the Rhyd-Ddu Path.
Initially I was on a wide gravel path that brought me to a junction and a signpost that directed me to turn left along the Rhyd-Ddu Path while keeping to the wider path would have brought me to Bwlch Cwm Llan where I could have rejoined the Cambrian Way at the start of the ascent along the southern ridge of Snowdon that passes over Allt Manderyn. Instead I decided to keep to the Rhyd-Ddu Path, partly because it is more direct, but perhaps more because I had only once before been on the Rhyd-Ddu Path, back in 2009, when there was snow on the ground and so conditions were much worse. Now, my only problem was a large crowd of people standing around on the path that I had to negotiate around before reaching the point where the terrain steepens on a great path with awesome views behind me back towards Nantlle while a cold wind picked up. As I slowly climbed, the path became less distinct amongst the stones until I eventually reached the top of the ridge, Llechog, where I had views across Cwm Clogwyn and up towards the top of Snowdon, but I still had a lot of walking to go. When the path steepened again a fence guided me up the zigzags that meander across the slope before passing to the left of a sharp peak, which the Cambrian Way traverses and on the other side I was finally reunited with the trail for the exciting traverse of the narrow ridge of Bwlch Main.
My ascent continued as the ridge broadened until I eventually reached the visitor centre with the crowded summit just beyond. I was last on Snowdon in 2019 and before that in 2015, both occasions starting from Llanberis. At one time I was climbing Snowdon twice a year, but by 2012 I was fed up with the crowds so stopped, and so this was the first time since 2012 that I had climbed Snowdon from somewhere other than Llanberis. Although Snowdon is a great mountain, I don’t understand why so many people climb it, other than its superior height, but at least it leaves those discerning few to enjoy all of the other great mountains in Wales. After lunch I rushed down the busy path, mainly to get away from the strong, cold wind, past the tourists who were struggling to climb up, and down, the path, and to avoid the crowds I branched off onto the Snowdon Ranger Path which is a route I have often taken, mainly because it is relatively quiet. However, if my goal was to escape the cold wind then this was not the path to have taken. The Cambrian Way goes in the other direction to descend the Pyg Track which may have been more sheltered. This stage of the trail ends at Pen-y-Pass where there is a youth hostel, which I stayed at last year despite not going over Snowdon, but this time there was no accommodation available there so I once again had to divert off the Cambrian Way.
Gradually I descended along the ridge of Clogwyn Du’r Arddu before traversing steep rocky terrain on zigzags to reach a more sheltered, grassy landscape with views back towards Snowdon and the ridges that I had taken in ascent and descent. After crossing a fence I turned right to follow a good path up to Bwlch Maesgwm and down into the valley. This was the route I had taken off Snowdon in 2015 and I enjoyed the good, clear path that provided me with a relaxing route off the mountain and all the way into Llanberis. After buying some food I followed the route of the Snowdonia Slate Trail, and my own of last year, through the woodland up the slopes above Llyn Padarn until I reached Dinorwig where I stayed in an independent hostel. Despite the crowds, Snowdon is a great mountain so any walk over it is going to be amazing especially if the weather is kind, which it was on this occasion, despite a cold wind.
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