Warm Welcome on Cadair Idris

[johnkaysleftleg]

We were all eagerly anticipating our first visit to Wales. A good run down on the Saturday saw us have a chance to explore Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) before driving to our cottage which turned out to be fantastic.

With a forecast of very damp squibyness promised for the week ahead it was with cautious surprise to see that Sundays forecast was actually set fair. The idea of climbing Snowdon on a weekend in July didn’t appeal so we headed south to climb another of the iconic mountains of Wales, the mighty Cadair Idris.

This fine Mountain offers many possible routes but from looking at various walk reports I decided that an approach via the Minffordd path looked just the ticket for our first foray into the Welsh mountains.

our_route.gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

A broken ticket machine gave us the bonus of a free parking spot and we set off in high spirits though stunningly beautiful ancient woodland. Soon the fantastic sight of Llyn Cau with the tremendous precipice of Craig Cwm Amarch towering above came into view.

Stairway to heaven

Beautiful native woodland

Craig Cwm Amarch

Mountains tower above Llyn Cau

A short steep pull up onto the ridge revealed a whole new set of views to the south. It’s to the north that took the attention however with increasingly dramatic views down to Llyn Cau. The ridge was nice and easy before it steepened and became increasingly rocky. A stile was traversed then to take us to the surprisingly undistinguished top of Craig Cwm Amarch. It was a bit blowy on the top so I didn’t get too close to the thousand foot drop to Llyn Cau.

The Great precipice of Craig Cwm Amarch

Looking South

Gaining height

Looking down Cwm Amarch

Increasing rocky and steep towards the summit

Grace and Hughie on our first welsh Hewitt

Big drop to Llyn Cau

We dropped down to the col and found a sheltered spot for lunch before embarking on the steady pull up to Penygadair, the high point of Cadair Idis.

Craig Cwm Amarch from the ascent of Cadair Idris

Looking towards Cwfrwy

The view from the summit was simply amazing and we had the impression that we could see just about the whole of Wales from the top. We dropped down to the shelter (must be a welcome sight in poor weather) to take in more views before heading of along the ridge towards the final target of the day.

View to the North

Grace and Nicola at Cadair Idris summit

Looking East along the ridge

Snowdon with it's summit in cloud

It’s a lovely walk to Mynydd Moel along the northern edge of the ridge and well worth the minimal effort required. I made a bit of a navigational error at this point as we followed the path down the ridge of a while before I realised we needed to swing around to the South. (In hindsight retracing out steps to the fence and following it down would have been a better option).

Looking back to Cadair Idris

Looking East from Mynydd Moel

The path down by the fence is quite eroded in contrast to the rest of the walk which is good underfoot. It improves however and soon we were back to the beautiful native woodland and then the car.
Our first walk in Wales was wonderfully memorable and went straight into the all time favourites list. We drove back to the cottage with the sense being at the beginning of a great relationship with another part of our wonderful isles.

Looking towards Llyn Mwyngil

Unfortunately our new friend didn’t want to play on Monday as the heavens opened. We spent the day exploring Snowdonia by car driving up to Caernarfon via the Llanberis pass and back to Bala via the Ogwen valley. It was extremely wet as we passed Pen-y-pass and wondered just who would climb Snowdon on a day like this?

(see next instalment)

[mrssanta]

looks like Grace is growing up all of a sudden!

[ChrisW]

I've just finished reading the horrendous downpour (shower ) on Snowden and really felt for you JK, but this makes up for it I think, even though you got this first. What a beautiful hike with spectacular views along the way

[johnkaysleftleg]

looks like Grace is growing up all of a sudden!

Tell me about it. Even when you see them everyday you sometimes can't believe how quickly she's growing up.

I've just finished reading the horrendous downpour (shower ) on Snowden and really felt for you JK, but this makes up for it I think, even though you got this first. What a beautiful hike with spectacular views along the way

It's an amazingly scenic route, just no downsides at all.

[garyhortop]

Great Report JK, I did Cadair for the first time last year - it blew a hoolie and piddled down the whole trip! Nice to see some really good photo's pf what I was missing!!

[john923]

Always a classic route that and you've got some very nice pics. I remember doing this with some work colleagues one murky March Saturday many moons ago, taking along a student from Singapore for a taster of what British hills were like. Poor chap was a bit shocked to see the patches of white stuff still lying around - he'd never seen snow before!

[johnkaysleftleg]

Great Report JK, I did Cadair for the first time last year - it blew a hoolie and piddled down the whole trip! Nice to see some really good photo's pf what I was missing!!

Thanks Gary. At least it's got a nice summit shelter to give a rest from the conditions on a day like that.

Always a classic route that and you've got some very nice pics. I remember doing this with some work colleagues one murky March Saturday many moons ago, taking along a student from Singapore for a taster of what British hills were like. Poor chap was a bit shocked to see the patches of white stuff still lying around - he'd never seen snow before!

You probably scared the life out of him

[L-Hiking]

Nice stuff JK, I have not ventured to the area, but as so often on this site, reading reports and pictures does wet the taste buds.

Cheers