A Redeye View: Snowdon via the South Ridge & Watkins Path 13-3-2018

Back in Snowdonia taking advantage of the fine weather forecast between some wet and wild days on offer. There had been some very snowy, cold and icy conditions for a week or so that the more experienced winter mountaineers had been taking advantage of as we had the so called "Beast from the East" sending the UK into a winter meltdown!! Nothing too serious for the colder countries of Eastern Europe but if you take any notice of the UK news, it was more like Armageddon had come to these shores. Yes, there was some pretty bad snow falls of up to 8 inches in parts of the UK, high winds whipping the snow around and causing some big snowdrifts, temperatures as low as -10, lakes, rivers and waterfalls freezing over and that's in the low lying areas, while in the mountains, it was just a good old fashioned winter of days gone by :-) Anyway, there had been a gradual thaw and the forecast was for a settled few days with Tuesday looking the best day with a chance of hill fog clearing to leave a good dry day. So a quick recheck of mountain forecasts and conditions told me that Snowdon would be a good chance to have a good dry fine day and with it being midweek, a little on the quiet side, perfect :-) I had decided on a route that I haven't done fully but have been up and down the paths on separate occasions over the years so thought this would be a good opportunity to tie the two in. This is also a good way of getting the most of this area and also away from any crowds. The WATKIN PATH, my part ascent & my full descent route, is a fairly popular route up as it is a good picturesque way as it passes through a wood, passes waterfalls, through an old quarry and various other points of interest that I'll mention later. It is also the longest and steepest way up Snowdon and comes out around the 1,015 metres (3330ft) one way. The South Ridge ascent is my favourite way up to Snowdon, apart from Crib Goch, as it has some of the best views on offer.
As daylight is now stretching out abit with sundown going past 6pm I don't have to get up in the middle of the night to be off the mountains before 4.30pm so a later start and finish is now the order of the days, one great advantage as spring/summer come into view. I was parked up and set off walking up the Watkins Path around 10.30am in good clear conditions with Snowdon in full view, not what was in the forecast so I was hoping it was to continue like that. As I said earlier, this is a good varied way up as you ascend through the woods of Hafod y Llan and then follow the Afon Llan and the waterfalls until you reach the Weir at the head of Cwm Llan where it gathers water for National Trust's small hydro-electric scheme.

My route for the day

Looking up to a distant Snowdon from the car park

Start of the Watkin Path

Through the woods

Bridge over the Afon Gorsey

Waterfalls of Afon Llan

Old quarry tramway incline

Afon Llan waterfalls

Afon Llan Weir with the South Ridge in the background

Afon Llan Weir

From here, I took the path to the left that heads up to the old tramway before heading off up into Cwm Llan in a fairly straight line heading for a wall and old slate heaps the bring you out at the bottom of the steps and the start of the Allt Maenderyn, South Ridge path.

On the old tramway path

Straight ahead towards the old slate heap

Looking down on the disused quarry with a clear Snowdon in the background

Following the part laid out path

On the approach to the slate heaps and into the blue :-)

Up the old slate heaps

View back down in to Cwm Llan and my ascent path

The wall and path going up the South Ridge

From here it's straight up the stone steps before eventually turning into a more rough path snaking its way though rocks, boulders and rough ground passing rocky outcrops but staying away from the steep drops in to Cwm Llan. As it was quite warm with only a light breeze, a few stops were needed but as the views are good, that didn't really matter. This side of Snowdon, as well as being the more quiet side, does offer some fantastic views all round and was another day to take it all in. I reached the first major patches of snow just before I came to the ridge line above the Rhyd Ddu path, nothing too serious and easily passable using the foot marks of other walkers. Quite a few large patches but in the warming weather large parts of it was quite soft as a thaw had set in. There was still some consolidated patches but again, these were easily passable. I mentioned before that this side is usually the quietest side to ascend Snowdon, well the warm weather must of bought people out as just as I reached the ridge looking down on the Rhyd Ddu path, there was a party of a bout 30 making there way up and up to this point I only saw 4 other people coming the same way as me!. Oh well......

View up to Snowdon

South Ridge Path

View over to the Nantile Ridge & Mynydd Mawr

Snow patches on the South Ridge

A clear Snowdon from the South Ridge

Looking down on other walkers on the Rhyd Ddu path

Admiring the view from the South Ridge

View down into Cwm Clogwyn from the South Ridge

After a short rest on the South Ridge I decided to get ahead of the group coming from Ryhd Ddu as I didn't want to get held up on the path over Bwlch Main as it makes it's way through the rocks which has a bit of snow cover. It's a single track that isn't too difficult but with snow added to the mix, a bit more care is needed and I didn't fancy sharing it with 30 youngsters who looked like they were part of a school/club trip. I managed to get pass them and enjoyed a quiet way with some very light scrambling as you make your way through the rocks following a quite distinct path that leads up on to a wide area just below the summit cafe. Again, there was quite a large area of snow here that again posed no problems. Although I had my spikes with me, I didn't need them and saw no others wearing any as the snow was slowly thawing.

The way forward over Bwlch Main

Looking back towards the South Ridge

My way forward over Bwlch Main

Looking back

The Snowdon summit cafe

Looking back from the cafe

The entrance to the cafe showing how much snow has fallen up here

As luck would have it, the first wave of the group I got in front of, caught me up just as I reached the summit so I had to quickly get to the summit trig before it became more like summer than winter up there. As it happened, over the course of the next twenty minutes, there must of been about 50 youngsters altogether as another party ascended from the Llanberis path so it got pretty busy with them taking over the trig area. I stayed on the summit for about half an hour and if it wasn't for the kids it would of been quite quiet as there was only about 20 others milling around. Hardly any wind, the sun shining and the air clear made for some great views stretching all round for miles and miles. I've been rather lucky all the times I've been up here, as I've mostly had some great clear days and it does make it all worth while. An extra treat today was a Chinook Helicopter flying around and looked to be on a training exercise as it flew in and out of Cwm Clogwyn and also treated everyone on the summit to a fly past as it circled and the troops on board all gave us a wave, great to see :-)

Snowdon summit views

New kids on the block

Chinook flypast

Snowdon summit views

Summit seagull

Snowdon summit views

New kids on the block

Chinook in Cwm Clogwyn

Chinook with Anglesey in the background

Snowdon summit views

Snowdon summit from the Llanberis Path

Looking up to Snowdon from the Llanberis Path

Lots of snow at the summit train station

View back up to Snowdon on my way back down

I made my way down by the Watkins path but making a detour over the rocky outcrops of Bwlch y Saethau rather than sticking to the main path. I like this way as it gives you good views down on to Glaslyn and today was a bit special as there was a coast guard helicopter on a training exercise going over Glaslyn and Llyn Lydaw as it hovered close to the rim, flying in and out for a good twenty minutes. A great thing to see from above. You also get great views of the rock face of Y Lliwdd which is a good climbing area although I didn't see any climbers today. The top of the Watkins path was also the place where I encountered the worst of the lying snow as it is quite sheltered here and was quite solid. A lot of old deep footprints made it a bit easier but the main problem was the melt water was turning the soil quite muddy and slippery in places and there is quite a drop of. A bit of care and attention got me passed without mishap but it does show it's not always the snow and ice that can cause problems.

Making my way back down

The finger post at the start of the Watkins path

Snow on the Watkins Path

Looking back on my ascent of the South Ridge

Glaslyn far below

Helicopter over Glaslyn

My route over Bwlch y Saethau with the main path below on the right

Helicopter over Llyn Llydaw

The twin peaks of Y Lliwedd

Watching the helicopter

Helicopter flying over Llyn Llydaw

After being entertained for a bit, it was time to rejoin the main Watkins Path as it headed down to the old disused quarries. The path is straight forward as its mainly paving stones and heads straight down. Since I left the summit and made my way down this way, there was only two other people I saw and they were always a few hundred yards in front of me making it a quiet and peaceful descent. The wind had virtually stopped making it very pleasant and good for another rest just above the quarries. It really had turned out to be a great early spring day.

Back on the main Watkins Path

Old quarry dwellings

Slate spoil heap with Snowdon in the background

Pano of the South Ridge, Snowdon and my descent route with Y Lliwedd on the right from above the quarry

Further down the route is where I passed the Gladstone Rock, which bears a plaque commemorating a speech given in 1892 by William Ewart Gladstone, the then 83-year-old Prime Minister, on the subject of Justice for Wales. The plaque reads ;

SEP 13TH 1892 — UPON THIS ROCK
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE W. E. GLADSTONE M.P.
WHEN PRIME MINISTER FOR THE FOURTH TIME AND 83 YEARS OLD
ADDRESSED THE PEOPLE OF ERYRI UPON
JUSTICE TO WALES
THE MULTITUDE SANG CYMRIC HYMNS
AND THE LAND OF MY FATHERS
PUBLICLY DEDICATED BY SIR EDWARD AND LADY WATKIN JUNE 1893

The Watkin Path, named after its creator Edward Watkin (a friend of Gladstone’s), was the first designated footpath in Britain. At the time of its construction, there was no path to the actual summit of Snowdon, only a path just over a quarter of the way up to a quarry. Over 2000 people gathered on the side of Snowdon in 1892 to witness Gladstone opening the Watkin Path. From on top of an impressive 12ft boulder, the Prime Minister delivered a speech on Justice for Wales, not to mention sung some ‘Cymric hymns’ himself. A plaque fitted to the front of the boulder commemorates what was sure to have been a memorable occasion, announcing that indeed William Gladstone had stood upon the rock.

Also on this stretch of the path I passed the old ruins of Plas Cwm Llan just above the major waterfalls. There are bullet holes on the side of this building as it had a function for commandos during WW2. The path by the waterfalls was also used in the film CARRY ON UP THE KHYBER back in 1968

Gladstone Rock

Plas Cwn Llan

Plas Cwm Llan

Back along the waterfalls and through the woods back to the car for around 5.30pm, made for a great 7 hours in fantastic weather in this most iconic of places. Another superb day

Afon Llan Waterfalls

View ahead from Moel Siabod far left to Cnicht far right

From leaving the car park, I made my way to Plas Y Brenin to get another photo of the Snowdon Horseshoe that is my favourite view, only this time with there being no wind, the twin lakes Llynnau Mymbyr were like a mirror as the reflections were superb. It's not often you get it like this and the last time I saw it this still was about eight years ago on a still April morning. The photo that I use as the main picture on the blog was taken that morning. A fantastic end to another fantastic day doing Snowdon :-)