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After four post-lockdown walks, I was really longing for a bit of scrambling, and my thoughts turned to the drama of Cwm Silyn, which I'd looked down into while walking on the Nantlle Ridge last May. Unfortunately Saturday seemed like the only day that would be rain-free, and from everything I've heard since the lockdown release, Snowdonia is a place to be avoided at the weekend at all costs! So I opted for a very early start, in the hope that if I got to Nantlle around 07.00 am, that would enable me to miss the worst of the potential crowding. In the event there was negligible traffic on the way there, and no-one at all about when I parked up on the grass verge just outside Nantlle.
My plan was simply: no plan! Just to walk up to the crags, and tackle something that looked reasonably doable in the context of my complete lack of climbing fitness. I'd thought about having a go at Outside Edge, but at least one part of it is V Diff - so right at the limit of what I'm comfortable soloing; and then reading the following bulletin on UKC made the decision for me (it being roughly August right now!!!
):-
Access Advice
Rockfall Warning August 2020
A significant rockfall occurred in 2014, affecting the final pitches of the classic routes Outside Edge. A more recent rockfall in early August 2020, following a torrential thunderstorm, has covered the lower pitches of Outside Edge route in a considerable amount of loose rock and debris. Climbing these routes now could be significantly more dangerous than they previously were, with huge loose blocks hanging over the upper parts of the route. The strong advice is to avoid this area and not to climb these routes in their curent state. Yep, definitely a miss for the moment
.
As notices on a number of the stiles inform one, the path up to the cwm is not a public footpath, but access has been negotiated with the landowner. I suppose this is why it isn't marked up on the OS, though on the ground there are plenty of post waymarkers. Sadly the route leads through a good deal of bog, and in spite of my best efforts, I ended up with wet feet pretty soon!
20200815_074843.
This view is looking back north towards Nantlle about half an hour into the walk in. It was interesting to see the considerable extent of disused slate quarry workings: I'd no idea prior to this visit that there had been slate workings in this valley. Mynydd Mawr (a Hewitt) is the lump on the RHS.
I plodded on up through the swampy ground, crossing from the east to the west side of the outfall stream using the stepping stones at the north end of the Llynnau Cwm Silyn. Shortly afterwards I heard some voices in the distance ahead of me, which turned out to be those of three ladies who, it transpired, had come up early for a wild swim in the llynnau.
20200815_090557. I paused for breakfast on a small hillock overlooking the southernmost of the two llynnau. Ahead Craig yr Ogof - which appears very different looking up from the bottom than look down from the top. I studied the Great Slab for a good while, but was unable to see the areas where there had been rockfalls, though it was clear that there's a steep and what turned out to be a rather unstable scree up to the bottom of the Great Slab. To my considerable surprise, there were no other climbers! With the combination of post-covid freedom and a weekend, I'd expected it to be thronging with folk. From what I read it's one of the finest climbing spots in Snowdonia, with some 56 recorded routes. However, all the better for me.
20200815_090903. As I painstakingly struggled up the scree after breakfast I heard voices again echoing from the southern llyn, and looking back I could see the three mermaids enjoying their wilds swim. I must say, the water did look very inviting indeed!
20200815_091407. Up in the cwm the views are stunning. This is looking at the crags on the west side....
20200815_093418. ...and this looking back north from approximately half way up the ascent to the base of the Great Slab towards the Cwm Silyn Llynnau.
Once at the base the Great Slab, I looked again in some detail at the lower part that I could see, and it certainly didn't look especially difficult, and had I not seen the UKC rockfall warning I probably would have had a go at it. However... I now needed to try something else.
There's a steep arete that runs parallel and immediately adjacent to the Great Slab, and next to the arete is another arete-cum-buttress (not sure of the right technical term for this type of feature), which looked like it would provide a decent hour or so of scrambling; so this is what I went for.
I don't know whether this is a recognised route, but if it is and anyone who reads this knows what it is, I'd be grateful if they'd let me know.
20200815_100122. Approximate route, viewed from close the start point.
In the event it was a bit trickier than it looked. There was a lot more vegetation than is apparent from the bottom, and getting a reasonably secure route involved several false starts and retreats, and necessitated a considerable amount of gardening!!!!
It doesn't look like that much of an ascent from the pic, but there's a good deal of foreshortening because of my having been close to the pitch when I took the photo - it certainly felt like it had been a long way by the time I got to the top!! A later pic gives a better idea of its extent.
20200815_103153. What is rather wonderful about this route is the variety of views it affords of the Great Slab.
20200815_110048.
20200815_112028. Fairly typical conditions on the way up, this near the end of the scramble. It's clear, I think, that for the most part one could take more straightforward, or more challenging routes depending on one's taste; so to that extent it's an ideal scrambling route - I'm sure that had I simply wanted to get up as quickly and easily as possible I could have done so in half the time. But that's not why we scramble....
20200815_112446. Immediately ahead a quite narrow and airy pinnacle that I dubbed "The Tooth".
20200815_112611. This pic is looking back at it. Quite narrow and exposed for a short distance.
20200815_115400. This is the approximate route I took again, this time viewed from the west, which gives a better idea of the scale and extent of it, especially if you compare the close-up of "The Tooth" above with the more distant view on this pic, which is taken from my lunch spot...
20200815_115432. What a stunning view looking north...
I'd walked round the edge of the cwm to get to a point from which I could enjoy the wider views, and the spectacle of the Great Slab as I chewed on my sandwiches, and quite fortuitously found the Snowdonia equivalent of Lord Berkeley's Seat....
20200815_125141.
20200815_115627. ...on which I sat for a Bob McBob moment... ...more like a Bob McBob hour actually! The sun had emerged, but the air temperature wasn't as high as it had been during the last week, and I just luxuriated in the quite perfect environment.
Only slightly disconcerted by the sudden sounds from the direction of the Great Slab of falling rock...
. Quite glad I didn't succumb to the temptation of giving it a try!
20200815_132318. Later I managed to bestir myself, and wandered backwards and forwards along the edge of the cwm looking for potential scrambles and climbs; and actually just enjoying the views.
20200815_132813. Again and again one's gaze is drawn back to the Great Slab: it's a hell of a sight!
20200815_133216. This looking back from my descent via the western shoulder of the cwm.
20200815_134201. ...and this also.
20200815_134459. Final zoomed view.
I was tired out by the time I got back to the car - ridiculously so given the brevity of the walk. But strangely I also felt greatly energised for having been on rock again (if one can be energised and shattered at the same time
). I just need to get myself back to some kind of fitness!
Since I'm shielding, I didn't feel able to inspect at close quarters any of the local establishments of cultural, historical and architectural distinction; but I'd brought a can of Brew Dog Nanny State with me (high mineral and salt content
) and sat for a while consuming it in the afternoon sun, before setting off on the drive back home.