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Hewitts: Tryfan, Glyder Fach, Glyder Fawr, Y Garn.
Date: 15/08/2019.
Distance: 12 km.
Ascent: 1260m.
Time: 7 hours, 30 minutes.
Weather: Overcast turning to sunshine.
Today was supposed to begin in Dolgam campsite at Capel Curig, but we had accidentally stopped off at my mate Gordon's place on the way down to Wales, and forgotten to leave again! An hour's drive had us at the foot of Tryfan and ready to start walking. Jackie's only previous experience of Snowdonia was Snowdon via the railway path in the rain when she was a kid, so I thought we'd just go straight for the good stuff as an introduction, rather than messing around on more obscure hills.
There's no walk-in on this route, unless you count the 100m or so of boulders that don't actually need to be crossed to get to the foot of the North Ridge. I took us that way anyway of course
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Not the most auspicious start for Jackie We didn't mess around too much lower down on Tryfan - there is more scrambling in this circuit than you can shake a stick at if you want it, and we had foolishly agreed to meet my parents for a meal out at 6:30pm. The consequence was that we almost missed the Cannon - caught it just before we went past though. Jackie disappointed me by not balancing on the end of it - she's supposed to be more hardcore than this!
Llyn Ogwen 
Pen yr Ole Wen 
Pen yr Helgi Du 
Summit of Tryfan looming 
Not so hardcore now, eh? As we approached the most exposed bit of scrambling, the wind rose and a few spits of rain fell. Jackie manged to pull on a bit of rock that moved which freaked her out (given she'd ended up fracturing her ribs last time that happened), so we decided to skirt around the top of the East Face rather than go directly over the north summit. This isn't really any easier but it feels less exposed. It is also a great little tour of the gullies and ridges of Tryfan.
Idwal Cottage 
On the traverse 
Looking back A couple in front of us made a few of the moves look more difficult than required, but we had no problems. Admittedly I probably took a slightly more direct route up the last few meters to Adam and Eve, which made things quite interesting!
Skirting the North Summit 
Looking back to the North Summit 
'Is this really the way to the top?' 
Almost there The cloud was brushing the summit, but it cleared and the sun came out a bit, which was great. I was disappointed that Jackie didn't jump Adam and Eve (not that I ever have either) - maybe next time, eh?
Adam and Eve 
Glyder Fach 
Summit photo 
Llyn Bochlwyd and Y Garn Plenty of clattering around over boulders got us down to Bwlch Tryfan, after which I decided that Bristly Ridge would probably be better left for a day with more confidence and time. We crashed up the scree to the east of it, which is a bit of a cop-out, but actually nowhere near as bad an ascent as I remember....then somehow I forgot to visit the cantilever
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Looking back to the summit 
Nant Ffrancon 
Far South peak 
Back to Tryfan 
Y Foel Goch 
Down Nant Ffrancon 
'What's all this crap?' Plenty more boulders on the summit of Glyder Fach - Jackie was simultaneously impressed and annoyed as she almost fell down the various chasms and gaps about half-a-dozen times
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Nant Gwynant 
On the summit of Glyder Fach 
Castell y Gwynt After this, the going was much faster, and although we were pushed for time, we knew we could mange Glyder Fawr as well. But what about Y Garn?
Glyder Fach 
Cwm Bochlwyd and Tryfan 
Llyn Padarn 
Summit of Glyder Fawr 
Llyn y Cwn and Y Garn We made a fairly rapid descent of the scree above Llyn y Cwn and decided that we just about had time for Y Garn as well. It was a shame we had a deadline for our meal in the Ty'n y Coed as the weather was constantly improving, and a nice evening out in Cwm Idwal would have been lovely.
Pen yr Ole Wen 
Across the ridges to Tryfan and Glyder Fach 
Top of the Upper Cliff 
Crib Goch and Snowdon 
Llyn Ogwen and Llyn Idwal 
Tryfan from Y Garn Tryfan from Y Garn 
Yr Eifl 
NE ridge of Y Garn 
Descending the NE Ridge To speed things up a bit, I legged it about halfway down Y Garn and took a shortcut back to the car. By the time I had driven round to Ogwen, Jackie was just arriving, which was perfect timing.
Ogwen 
Cwm Idwal 
Ogwen 
Cwm Idwal 
Pen yr Ole Wen from Cwm Idwal Then we headed to Capel Curig to put the tent up and meet join my family for dinner. There were no concerns about being up early the next day as the weather was forecast to be diabolical.
