Cadair Idris Celebration 18-8-2012

Saturday August 18th saw me back in Snowdonia and a walk that was to be a bit of a celebration for a mate and fellow member of the Walking Forum, Robbo. I'd had this booked in the calender for a few months and was hoping to be camping over the weekend but work and 'things' got in the way of that for me.  The reason for the meet was that Robbo was celebrating his 60th and also ticking off his last Welsh Nuttall, Cyfrwy aka The Saddle, which is part of Cadair Idris. We all met in the car park at Ty-Nant around 9.15am on what was a damp morning with a bit of drizzle in the air. As well as myself and Robbo, there were 6 other members of the Walking Forum plus members of Robbo's family. We set off up the pony path about 9.30 hopeful that the weather would improve as the day went on. Although the weather wasn't the best it was still quite warm and spirits were high as we started off up the Pony Track

As we climbed higher we could see that the weather was steadily getting worse as the mist started to roll in over the surrounding hills down towards Barmouth and the Mawddach Estuary

just a little more height was gained before all views dissapeared as we hit the cloud base and also the drizzle decided to get a bit more persistent!

It stayed like this all the way to the summits and was also quite breezy but not enough to knock us off our feet. It may off been a bit on the wet side but spirits were high as we reached our first summit of the day and the one where we celebrated Robbo's completion of the Welsh Nuttalls with a glass of bubbly and a cake :-)

After the celebrations, we made our way down and over towards the highest summit of Cadair Idris, Penycadair, where the summit shelter came as welcome relief for half an hour as we had some lunch and also another glass of bubbly.

This is where I had a personal celebration as my daughter phoned me to say that her boyfriend had proposed to her while out walking around the Ingleton waterfalls in the Yorkshire dales :-) What would we do without mobile phones eh!! There was also a big pat on the back for another member of our party, Paul, who had made it to the summit and was feeling very proud himself. All in all we had quite a few celebrations between us :-)
We made our way over to the next summit of Mynydd Moel with the mist still swirling around. Thankfully at this point the rain had stopped and we were hoping that the promise of better weather during the afternoon would soon arrive

As we got to the the fence line and style just before the summit of Mynydd Moel there was a glimpse of brightness in the sky, but unfortunately it didn't last long

We decided that we would make a full day of it out on the mountain so we headed straight off the back of Mynydd Moel and down towards the small summit of Gau Graig. It's quite a steep path down with lots of loose scree and care should be taken. Fortunately for us this is where the sun decided to finally break free of all the cloud and the views started to open up

Looking back towards Mynyn Moel with the summit becoming clear of cloud as blue skies begin to take over

As the sun was now begining to take over from the damp conditions of before, so the waterproofs and layers were coming off as it warmed up nicely. If only it had done this a couple of hours ago!! The views were also opening up all round as we continued our descent of the steep and winding path

After a quick stop for refreshment at Gau Graig and a check on the map and surroundings to make sure we took the right path, it was down towards to lower farmland and fields while taking in the views of the surrounding mountain ranges

And Mynyn Moel was looking great as a backdrop against the now clear and warm conditions

It was now just a matter of walking through the lower fields and woodland while passing plenty of old buildings that added an interesting end to the walk

  

 
We even came across this old car but didn't have a bucket and sponge at hand :-)

it was now just a case of walking the last few hundred metres down the lane and back to the car park where we then made our way to the Gwernan Hotel for a post walk drink and also to see Robbo get presented with a fantastic birthday cake

Well what can I say about the day. Started out misty and cool, then the drizzle came and tried to put a dampner on things and then the sun came out to play and warmed everything up a treat. With the conditions just about perfect and the hotel lake looking calm it was time to say bye and thanks to Robbo for organizing such a great day out in the Southern Snowdonia mountain range of Cadair Idris.
Cheers

Whilst on the summit of Cyfrwy I took this small video of the opening of the champagne