Snowdon by the western tops

Saturday 14th August 2010 

I always go up Snowdon at least once a year, so since I had not been up yet this year I was desperate for a chance to climb that great mountain. The weather forecast for the weekend looked good on the Wednesday before so I quickly arranged to go but once Saturday came along the good weather failed to materialise until the following day leaving me with a wet, windy and cloudy day to walk in. Despite this I drove to North Wales Friday evening and stayed at the wonderful Bryn Gwynant hostel overnight before going over Pen y Pass to Llanberis in the morning. Starting from this tourist-filled village I walked up a steep, narrow road over Bwlch-y-groes and branched off at the highest point onto the heather-clad moor. Slowly I walked up the path to the top of Moel Eilio over the shoulder of Bryn Mawr, plunging into clouds half way up. Since the weather was poor I had decided that it would be a good idea to retrace the route that I had taken on my first ever walk up Snowdon back in 2003. Instead of taking one of the six rights-of-way up Snowdon I had approached via the little visited western tops, of which Moel Eilio is the highest. My reason for taking this route at that time was because I had wanted to go up every hill above two thousand feet in Wales, including these satellites of Snowdon. Fortunately I have since abandoned such bagging nonsense. 

From the summit of Moel Eilio I walked against a strong side wind along the undulating ridge, where I had wonderfully steep cliffs to my left, until I reached Foel Goch. On the other side of this hill is Moel Cynghorion, which I went up last time despite the great effort required because I thought every hill had to be bagged; fortunately on this occasion I didn’t bother. Instead I crossed the southern slopes of Moel Cynghorion until I reached the Snowdon Ranger Path. From there I followed this great path all the way up to the summit of Snowdon. I was last on this path eighteen months ago in descent and I was struck then, as now, by how thrilling the zigzags are that take the path from the shore of Llyn Ffynnon-y-gwas onto the ridge of Clogwyn Du’r Arddu. They are a really great, rugged, rocky climb, even if it’s exhausting. At the point where I reached the top of the ridge I stopped to have my lunch so I could admire the views before plunging into the clouds that were billowing through the gap of Bwlch Cwm Brwynog. 

Restarting the walk after eating I felt very tired as if stopping had allowed my body to go to sleep and now it was complaining at having to start climbing the ridge again. Slowly I struggled up the mountain until I reached railway tracks and the great mass of people at the top of the Pyg Track. There had been a few people on the Snowdon Ranger Path, but this was a mere handful compared with the crowds that were coming up the Pyg Track onto the Llanberis Path. Suddenly I was surrounded by an enormous number of people that grew as I nearered the summit. Despite the zero visibility, spotty rain and wind, the top of Snowdon was teaming with people. I go up mountains to get away from people but the summit of Snowdon that day was worse than High Cross Shopping Centre on a Saturday afternoon. In the past I have considered the summit of Snowdon as an old friend, even saying hello to it when I get there (!), but on this occasion I couldn’t get away from it quick enough. 

Before I left the summit there was somewhere I wanted to visit first. Ever since the new summit building was completed a year or two ago I have been itching to see inside but every time I’d been up Snowdon the weather has been bad, and the centre was annoyingly shut. This time however the trains were running and the centre was open. Unfortunately the bad weather had driven everyone else into the building and the place was packed, and really hot and stifling. It may be nice in there but I could barely move let alone see anything. Eventually I managed to manoeuvre my way through the building and out of the back entrance, and having had enough of the crowds at the summit I circled back round the building and returned down the busy path to the top of the Pyg Track.

In 2003, on my first visit to Snowdon, I had returned to Llanberis on the eponymous path. This time I headed down the Pyg Track on the steeply zigzagging, heavily manufactured path, skipping past the much slower tourists who were carefully making their way across the damp rocks. There was something curiously satisfying about being much more confident of my footing than the people around me as I casually walked down the mountain. It’s probably childish of me but I enjoyed it. When the Miner’s Track turned off I continued along the wonderful Pyg Track, relishing every step on what is easily the best path up Snowdon, despite the poor state of the manufactured path. When I reached Bwlch y Moch I turned off the Pyg Track and climbed the Horns which I’d previously visited last August. I had thoroughly enjoyed these last year in bad weather and they were just as good this year now that I had a view from the top of this chain of small hills. At the end of the Horns I strolled down the grassy hill to the small car park at Pen-y-pass where a bus took me back to Llanberis. Any walk up Snowdon is a great walk and this time I had taken an interesting, little-travelled route, but it’s disappointing that I had bad weather again.