A Very Quiet Eastern Carneddau

I had been hoping to get out over the recent bank holiday as the weather was at last looking favourable. After working most Saturdays for the last few weeks and the weather still being stuck in late winter, it was good to get out again. Monday May 6th was the best day weather wise plus I was off, so a bit of forward planning and research led me to an area of Snowdonia that I hadn't been to. I have passed it, looked across to it and viewed it from across the surrounding mountains but not actually set foot on the area that offers splendid views of the surrounding mountains. The Eastern Carneddau, which include the summits of Crimpiau, Craig Wen & Creigiau Gleision, was to be the chosen area of the day and as it turned out, it was one of the quietest bank holiday Monday's I think I have had as I only saw three other people all day after I started walking!
The drive down was also very quiet and I got parked up in the car park behind Joe Browns Cafe at Capel Curig with the sun shining and only the summits of Moel Siabod and the Snowdon massif shrouded in cloud

The path I was following was straight forward with only a slight incline that took me behind a good and quiet looking campsite near to the Capel Curig Youth Hostel, one for the future I think. It also had a great view of my favourite Mountain, Moel Siabod

In fact, Moel Siabod was to remain a focal point throughout most of the days walking. The path snaked it's way round and through the edge of the valley with Crimpiau providing the backdrop to the left of me

It was warming up nicely & hat and sunglasses were to remain firmly on protecting me from the sun. I didn't fancy another spot of sunburn on me head like the last time I was in Snowdonia!
The path brought me to the top end of the National Nature Reserve with my first view of Llyn Crafnant Reservoir far below with the summits of Creigiau Gleision looming large on the left flank

I had my first rest of the day here just looking down the valley and wondering what it must be like to live in the house in such a remote place. Heaven springs to mind along with "must be hard in the depths of Winter".
After about twenty minutes I made my way up the to summit of Crimpiau and had my first views of the entire Ogwyn Valley laid out in front of me. A WOW moment if there ever was one! In fact I could see Moel Siabod, Snowdon Horseshoe, Tryfan, The Glyderau, Y Garn & the Carneddau all laid out in front of me as clear as a bell. Well, Snowdon was the only one with cloud around the edges

I also had a great view back down the valley to Llyn Crafnant

I decided that another rest was in order just to take in the splendid views that were on offer today. It was a bit windy up here but at least it was a warm wind and not the biting wind of the past weeks.
it was just a great place for a rest

I made my way off Crimpiau and made my way over and around to the west side of Craig Wen, keeping the views down the Ogwen Valley very firmly in sight

And although it was a warm sunny day, Adam & Eve looked quiet :-)

From Graig Wen, it was up and over a couple of nice little scrambles that took me over Moel Ddefaid

 and Craiglwyn

 From here there are some great clear views of my route so far

Down the Ogwen valley

And my way forward to the highest summit of the day @ 678 m (2,224 ft) and also where I bumped into the first other people of the day coming from the opposite direction on to  Creigiau Gleision

Dotted around the plateau between the two summits were one or two colourful ponds that had quite a bit of frogspawn in, but looked pretty lifeless after the recent cold spell. There is quite a walk between the two summits (3 really but one isn't marked on the map) of about half a mile with an easy to follow path.

There was also a great panoramic view Northwards to the coast of Conway Bay, Llandudno, Colwyn Bay and all land in between. A fantastic clear day
I made my way down to the second and smaller summit and started the descent down to the dam and looking back to the various summits of the days walk so far. This is where i bumped into my third and final person of the day, also coming from the opposite direction as me.

I picked up the path that took me to the dam at Llyn Cowlyd, the deepest lake in North wales, where the wind was whipping straight down the valley. Not a cold wind, more of a cooling one as it was quite warm with the sun beating down.

I hung around here for a bout half an hour just taking in the atmosphere of the place and the solitude. I was debating wether to go up and along Pen Llithrig y Wrach but my legs decided otherwise and opted for the more gentle two mile walk back along the shoreline under Pen Llithrig y Wrach. A good decision as I can always come back another day.

A great walk along the shore edge with a small incline at the end offered some great views back down the Reservoir where it seemed to just keep on going and with Creigiau Gleision looming over

A straight forward walk back through the moorland which was a bit boggy in places and \I was glad of the good dry spell we have had as this place can get very wet and very boggy. Some great views all round once again with Siabod in front and the Ogwen valley to my right making it very pleasant indeed

One last surprise I had was my first ever clear sighting of a Cuckoo. I had heard it for quite a bit during the day and I have caught a glimpse of one before but this time I managed to have a good look at one which just seemed to finish the day of perfectly :-)

So all in all another great day out in this great part of the UK. A good nine hours having a very leisurely walk, sitting, looking around and taking it all in. Perfect :-)

A short video of the views from the Summits of Creigiau Gleision and from Llyn Cowlyd

Edale Skyline 30-3-2013

Well this was a complete surprise today, a good six hours around the top edge of Edale. Jill is working all over Easter, late's, so we are like two ships passing at sea this weekend. 9.30am this morning, it was a case of go to the DIY store for a few things, do a bit of this and that, or as Jill told me, take myself off for a few hours! So Edale it was then as it's only 45 minutes away and the roads were well clear of the recent snow fall.
I got to the NT car park at the bottom of Mam Tor, as the road down to Edale was closed due to snow & ice

 And made my way up on to Rushop Edge for the start

There was still a lot of snow on the high ground but it was very patchy. Most of it seemed to be on the sides where the sun dosen't get at it and along the paths and against the walls where it had be blown there by the strong winds of last week.

The sun was a welcome change as well as it has been quite grey and cold. It certainly makes everything feel better with the blue sky and great views but there was still a chilly wind blowing. Not a bitter biting wind but just enough to keep hat and gloves firmly in place.
There was also some very deep snow drifts

I was making good progress and was soon passing Lords Seat with excellent views down Edale valley and my skyline route

Although the snow was piled up along the path it was quite easy going as it had hardened up in the cold weather. It was deep as you could see where other people had been when it was soft and it looked like hard work.

Making my way round and taking a short cut here and there by following the foot prints of other walkers I was soon on the approach to Brown Knoll. Normally this is a bog fest of a place but today was OK. It was a bit muddy in places but there was also plenty of snow and hard ground so it wasn't to bad at all

From here it was a straight forward walk to the top of Jacob's Ladder, again with excellent clear views down the valley and beyond

The path here is a mixture of well laid out slabs and peat bog to hard compact snow. It is also the point where you get to see all the sandstone sculptures the have been carved out over the years by the weather.

there was also some good panoramic views laid out in front of me

Once I had made my way through the Woolpacks, it was across the top of Crowden Clough

And across to make my way to Grindslow Knoll that was to be my way down. It had begun to snow a bit and it looked like there was one or two snow showers passing further down the valley. Nothing to be worried about as the sun was still breaking through the clouds

The way to Grindslow is again by a mixture of well laid out path and boggy ground but easy to follow

I got to the summit and there was a noticeable difference in the wind chill as it blow up from the valley. Not a place to hang around as this was quite bitter and a total surprise to the rest of the day. At least the distant snow showers stayed away

I was hoping to carry on around to Ringing Roger and make my ascent from there but time was running out as I wanted to be back at the car about 5 so I made my descent down Grindslow Knoll via deep snow, frozen peat and mud

My descent path also showed me my re-ascent route back up to Mam Tor. At least for now I was on fairly solid ground as I passed through green fields with a few sheep grazing in the pleasant spring sunshine

I was soon in Edale village where you can see the extent of the recent snow as it was piled up along the side of the road. There was also quite a lot as I made my way up the paths towards Mam Tor

There was also a great view of the route I had done today which was now bathed in sunshine

The final push through the last bit of snow before I made my way up to Mam Tor

I got to the Summit with great relief and a great sense of satisfaction as this had been quite a hard six hours. Deep snow, frozen peat bogs, wet slushy mud and quite a bit of ascent & descent, yep, this had been another great day out in great weather with great views :-) Beats DIY and the like anyday :-)

Cheers
Andy