Height - 3560 ft
Time - 6 hrs (with detour)
Distance - 10 (ish) miles
Conditions - Morning shower, turning fair to sunny
Walking with -The BM
My first foray into the Welsh mountains and I bag the
biggest of them all – Snowdon. What a result! Yr Aran was the intended target of the day but fate stepped in and put us on the path to Snowdon and with weather like this there was no choice really.
This is the lower section of the Watkin Path and is a popular route for
Snowdon but we would only be using that route part way today, instead we had
an alternative route in mind and yet another route that would emerge as
we started our walk.
The old mine track climbs steadily through a forested area with the views unfolding before our eyes. Spectacular! We walked up by the waters of Afon Cwm with is beautiful waterfalls trundling down the hillside and this is where we encountered our morning shower (as predicted by the BBC weather report), shrouding everything in mist and we even had a snow flurry or two.
Further on we entered the dramatic and stunning Cwm Llan with the flanks
of Snowdon ahead to whet our appetite further. The rain shower was
brief and the sky soon cleared to the bluest of blues, perfect!
Its here we veered from the noted route and headed out over the pasture towards Yr Aran on some barely visible paths.
We followed the stream up the side of the mountain through some boggy
and rocky terrain and met another path heading right to take us up to
the first bit of rocky scramble of the day.
This section took us up and over Bwlch Cwm Llan to meet with the beginnings of the southern ridge of Snowdon. It's here we see the arrival of some real mountain scenery and the steepening of the path as we headed up to the right, due North on the long ridge to Bwlch Main.
What a spectacular route and with the sky clear the views opening up were unbelievable. The first section is straight up on stone steps which are a bit of a shock to the system but at least its getting us higher.
The going was a little scrambly in places with the most difficult section being encountered after we crossed the ladder stile.
At this point we could clearly see we were level with Moel Hebog and
quite a bit higher than Yr Aran (great to be towering over peaks that
had been above you all morning!) and a good spot to stop for lunch
before the final push over the last ridge to the summit.
One of the trickier sections to navigate round, thankfully on a day like today it was exciting rather than scary, there is the semblance of a path there somewhere, isn't there?
We parked in the car park at Bethania on the Beddgelert to Capel Curig
road and crossed the main road to start the walk up the Watkin Path.
The old mine track climbs steadily through a forested area with the views unfolding before our eyes. Spectacular! We walked up by the waters of Afon Cwm with is beautiful waterfalls trundling down the hillside and this is where we encountered our morning shower (as predicted by the BBC weather report), shrouding everything in mist and we even had a snow flurry or two.
Its here we veered from the noted route and headed out over the pasture towards Yr Aran on some barely visible paths.
This section took us up and over Bwlch Cwm Llan to meet with the beginnings of the southern ridge of Snowdon. It's here we see the arrival of some real mountain scenery and the steepening of the path as we headed up to the right, due North on the long ridge to Bwlch Main.
What a spectacular route and with the sky clear the views opening up were unbelievable. The first section is straight up on stone steps which are a bit of a shock to the system but at least its getting us higher.
The route forward showing all the ridges before reaching the summit in the distance.
The final section of the climb at Bwlch Main
meets the Rhyd Ddu path feeding in from the left and passes over a short
knife edge arrete which, although not as airy as Crib Goch, provides a
taster of the "daddy" of the genre.
A spectacular view of the ridges and the summit ahead.
One of the trickier sections to navigate round, thankfully on a day like today it was exciting rather than scary, there is the semblance of a path there somewhere, isn't there?
This sums the South Ridge up perfectly!
The South Ridge path usually elicits a blank expression on most walkers
when you mention routes up Snowdon. Those in the know however, realise
that this is an absolute gem of a route that stands modestly in the
shadows, shunning the limelight. In comparison, the PYG, Miners and
Watkin are cheap, talentless reality TV z-listers desperately seeking
endless attention. The South Ridge knows it’s good, and is happy to
stand back a little until you realise just how good it is. It’s in no
rush.
Far below the Watkin path could be seen
winding up from the valley.
Reaching the last section of the ridge the view opened up to the eastern side of the range over Y Lliwedd to Moel Siabod, its familiar shape marking the end of the high summits in that direction and a summit to be tackled on an other day perhaps?
Reaching the last section of the ridge the view opened up to the eastern side of the range over Y Lliwedd to Moel Siabod, its familiar shape marking the end of the high summits in that direction and a summit to be tackled on an other day perhaps?
At last, nearly there and an inelegant final scramble up some rocks brought the summit
cafe into view with its throngs of tourists and people ascending from
different directions.
The summit marker stone to our right signified that we were indeed
approaching the summit and it was a quick wander up some stone steps to
the side of the cafe and there before us was the trig. Well it would
have been before us had there not been about a zillion people huddled
round it.
Tourists having come up on the train and walkers having come from
different routes all wanted their moment at the trig. We didn't hang
around on the summit long. Just enough time to take some summit
pictures and then it was back down to the ridge to start the descent.
The route going down over the Bwlch Main Ridge was as good as coming up and with the sky still as clear as a bell the views going back were as stunning as they had been previously in the day.
A reasonable descent down the south ridge gradually steepened to become
an uncomfortable loose rattle down a well used but precarious path. The track provided us with more scrambling
opportunities till the gradient eventually eased as we approached the
junction of the paths at Bwlch Cwm Llan signifying the end of the ridge
walk.
A sharp right turn took us back down through Cwm Llan where
we could look back and see most of the ridge that we'd walked today.
A quick wander through Cwn Llans boggy meadow with Yr Aran on our right,
we picked up the Watkin path again which led us down along the banks of
Afon Cwm towards the car park.
Not the planned route up Snowdon and not even a plan to go up Snowdon
but when the conditions are right then you just can't say no...........
