Cadair Idris horseshoe

[al78]

Day two in north Wales and the plan today was to scramble Tryfan's north face followed by Bristly Ridge. When I got to the Ogwen valley it was rammed full with no parking anywhere. That is what happens when you can't be bothered to get up early on a sunny Sunday. Change of plan needed so decided to go to Cadair Idris. I know it is another tourist summit but like Snowdon, it has some fine mountain architecture. A bit of a slog to get there, just over 40 miles each way but I passed some interesting looking rugged hills en-route which turned out to be the Rhinogs so that is an area to explore on another day.

I parked at the car park near the top of the road summit at the far eastern end of the Cadair Idris range and walked along the bridleway which parallels the main road bringing me to the beginning of the Minffordd path, the shortest and steepest route up the hill but it does include a visit to a lovely cwm with a tarn, an excellent example of glacial erosion.

Another lovely sunny day meant it was hot work heading up the steep slopes towards the cwm but I just took my time, it didn't take that long for the gradient to ease and get to a good viewpoint overlooking the tarn where I stopped for lunch. From there it was a less steep and shorter ascent to the beginning of the horseshoe, a really nice view once the ridge is gained and a reminder when turning back west that I had only climbed half of the remaining altitude. From here it was a simple walk around the top of the headwall with a nice view over the tarn and cwm. I have done this route to Cadair Idris summit before but not in clear weather, the conditions were superb with the cloudbase well above the summits and an unusual clarity in the air providing clear and distant views. It is rare to get such good views in the UK given that sunny conditions tend to be accompanied by significant haze, maybe it being Spring rather than summer helps.

From Cadair Idris summit I followed the wide ridge and admired the steep gouged out corries on the north side of the hill gradually losing altitude to the 682m Gau Graig at the eastern end of the ridge. From here it still looked a long way down to the road and so it proved with a hideously steep path down and around rocky outcrops. It is the best that can be done given the topography but I had to be very careful so it was very slow going. I was very glad to get to more gentle slopes from where it was a straightforward zig-zag descent to the car park. If you ignore the fact it is a tourist honeypot and there are likely to be a lot of people about on a weekend of good weather this hill has a lot to offer. Next time I would like to try its nearby slightly higher neighbour Aran Fawddwy which I would have done on Monday if I hadn't had to head home earlier than originally anticipated and the weather hadn't reverted back to default 2023/2024 spring standards.