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To Snowdon and beyond

To Snowdon and beyond


Postby foggieclimber » Sat Oct 22, 2011 11:50 pm

Hewitts included on this walk: Crib y Ddysgl, Foel Gron, Moel Cynghorion, Moel Eilio, Snowdon - Yr Wyddfa

Date walked: 22/10/2011

Time taken: 6.25

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I set out this morning hoping to undertake the Snowdon Horseshoe, however, given the MWIS forecast was advising of 60mph gusts, my intention was to ascend the Pyg track as far as the junction leading to Crib Goch and make a decision there based on the actual wind level.

I caught the 08:50 Snowdon Sherpa from Swallow Falls to Pen-y-Pass – a fantastic bus service operating at a fixed fare of only £1.

The car park at Pen-y-Pass costs a massive £10 for the day - despite the car park being quite large, it was full this morning by 09:00.

Pen-y-pass (Crib Goch in background):
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Once off the bus, I set off along the Pyg track. My pace today must have been quite fast as I passed countless tourists during the ascent and wasn't overtaken.

Pyg track information:
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View along Pass of Llanberis:
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It didn't take long for me to come to the conclusion that Snowdon is a fantastic mountain. The Pyg track has far superior views to the Ben Nevis tourist path.

Following the Pyg track:
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Crib Goch (zoomed):
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On reaching the junction leading off to Crib Goch, I almost instantly decided to abandon the Snowdon Horseshoe today, as the wind was gale force. I could see a handful of people on Crib Goch – couragious or a bit radio rental?

Instead I opted to continue to the summit of Snowdon via the Pyg track and then continue along the ridge towards Llanberis.

There are several nice llyns (lakes) passed during the ascent

Llyn Llydaw:
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Looking back from Pyg track:
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Snowdon and Glaslyn:
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Glaslyn and Snowdon:
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Y Lliwedd forms part of the Snowdon Horseshoe.

Looking across to Y Lliwedd:
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Looking back from high-up the Pyg track:
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Approaching the ridge to Snowdon:
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I was a bit surprised to find the Snowdon Mountain Railway line only a few feet away from the path leading to the summit.

Obelisk marking start/end of Pyg track:
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Path leading to Snowdon summit, alongside the Snowdon Mountain Railway:
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Crib y Ddysgl and Crib Goch ridge:
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Approaching the summit of Snowdon:
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Was nice to reach the summit but a bit unfortunate that it was in cloud - it was very windy standing at the topograph.
Snowdon is a Hewitt, Marilyn and HuMP. At 1085m, it is the equivalent of a Scottish Munro (a Furth).

Summit topograph:
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After visiting the topograph, I had a quick look in the restaurant before heading for the next hill.

Inside the summit restaurant:
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From the restaurant, I continued back to the top of the Pyg track. From there, Carnedd Ugain looked really close so I opted to ascend it too before heading along the Snowdon Ranger Path towards Llanberis.

Ascending Carnedd Ugain:
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Carnedd Ugain is a Hewitt. At 1065m, Carnedd Ugain is the equivalent of a Scottish Munro (a Furth).

Trig point on Carnedd Ugain:
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From Carnedd Ugain, I returned almost as far as the start of the Pyg track before taking the Snowdon Ranger Path.

Snowdon Mountain train (zoomed):
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I continued along the Snowdon Ranger path for a couple of kilometres.

Descending the Snowdon Ranger Path:
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At the col, below Moel Cynghorion, I left the Snowdon Ranger path and then followed a faint path, up grassy slopes, towards the summit of Moel Cynghorion. After walking on hard track all the way up and half the way down Snowdon, it was nice to start walking on grass.

Ascent of Moel Cynghorion:
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Looking back towards Llyn Ffynnon-y-gwas:
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It didn't take long to reach the summit of Moel Cynghorion. Moel Eilio still looked a long way off with a few ups and downs to get to it.
Moel Cynghorion is a Hewitt, Marilyn and HuMP. At 674m, it is the equivalent of a Scottish Graham.

Looking towards Moel Eilio from the summit of Moel Cynghorion:
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Llanberis (zoomed):
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The descent was also pleasant, as was the whole traverse out to Moel Eilio and beyond.

Descending Moel Cynghorion:
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Looking back to Moel Cynghorion from Foel Goch:
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Small pile of stones at summit of Foel Goch:
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Looking back towards a now distant Snowdon:
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Ascending Foel Gron:
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View South-West:
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The next summit I reached was Foel Gron – the summit is a grassy knoll next to the fence.
Foel Gron is a Hewitt.

I was glad not to lose much height coming off of Foel Gron.

Moel Eilio from summit of Foel Gron:
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Looking back towards Snowdon:
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Compared with the small cairns marking the summits of Moel Cynghorion and Foel Goch, Moel Eilio has a very large windshelter.

Moel Eilio is another landmark hill for me – my 700th Marilyn.

Large summit windshelter on Moel Eilio:
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Llanberis and Elidir Fawr:
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From the summit of Moel Eilio, I followed a good track heading towards Llanberis.

Descent towards Llanberis:
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By this point, my feet were telling me that I had undertaken a good walk. Seeing Snowdon now far in the distance also confirmed this.

Snowdon in the distance:
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Looking back to Moel Eilio:
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On reaching the track in the next photo, I followed it down into Llanberis.

Track leading to Llanberis:
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From Llanberis, I caught the Snowdon Sherpa back to the Swallow Falls.

A superb day out despite the wind.
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby poppiesrara » Sun Oct 23, 2011 10:49 am

That's a terrific route, Foggie (the Moel Eilio ridge deserves a lot more visitors), and some really good shots.

Unusual to see someone's first impressions of Snowdon too - it is a beautiful mountain, but Welsh regulars seem to tend to have a pretty jaded view of it....
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby malky_c » Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:31 pm

Nice one 8) . Shame you missed out on Crib Goch, but a couple of extra Marilyns instead, eh? I hadn't realised you'd gone down this way - thought you'd stuck with the others and dropped into Cwm Llan.

Congratulations on the 700th Marilyn. I was wondering how far you were off getting another 100. Good to meet you at the weekend. I meant to chat to you more, but taking the **** out of Monty was just too much to resist. It should be a national sport :wink:
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby malky_c » Sun Oct 23, 2011 3:32 pm

****** sweary filter :? :lol:
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby mountainstar » Sun Oct 23, 2011 4:09 pm

Nice to meet you over the weekend, no wonder you had an early night with that to do the next day.
Foggieclimber said
I could see a handful of people on Crib Goch – couragious or a bit radio rental?

Yes that was us later on too, too much beer the night before could be the reason, and it had not completely worn off, although I am a bit radio rental...that is I used to work for them at least :D
Actually it wasn't that bad on the ridge, although windy, it never got gusty enough to endanger us.
We were lucky with the cloud, by the time we reached the summit of Snowdon, it had lifted and we even had some sun :D
Some really nice pictures BTW

Malky, he never did it with us, he set early by bus.
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby Bod » Sun Oct 23, 2011 5:35 pm

Well done with your 700th, and a great walk......impressive too, considering there might have been some distraction in the bar on Friday night! :lol:
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby monty » Sun Oct 23, 2011 11:40 pm

Nice walk there Foggieclimber. Good set of photos. We were a bit luckier with the weather being slightly later. It was sunny on top. :D
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby SusieThePensioner » Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:46 pm

Really enjoyed your report and loved the photos :D
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby Jockstar » Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:54 pm

Cracking report bringing the best out of the Welsh countryside. To see this and to understand that I lived near to the welsh border for years and never got above sea level !!! :( Never mind, am determined to make up for it in Scotland. :D . 700 Marilyns is very impressive. :D
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby skuk007 » Mon Oct 24, 2011 6:15 pm

Great report and pictures foggie, that looks like a very nice route I might just have to bookmark for later.
Looks like you had a nice clear day too. :)
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby tomyboy73 » Thu Oct 27, 2011 9:44 pm

Excellent report. The scenery down there is absolutely stunning. i was down in Wales a few months ago and was dying to get up there....still am. fantastic photos and some achivement :thumbup:
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Re: To Snowdon and beyond

Postby pollyh33 » Thu Oct 27, 2011 11:33 pm

Wowsers!

I have got to get my carcass down to Wales, it looks amazing :D :D
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