Day 1: 28th June 2014 - Y Garn and Devil's Kitchen
A forum meet based at the stunning location of the Ogwen Valley. Surrounded by mountains, the Yr Hafod "hut" - our base for the weekend - was perfectly placed for the main walk. For most of the group that was a full mountain day out circuit of The Glyderau. For me and a couple of others, it was a shorter version up Y Garn and down Devil's Kitchen. A walk totaling only 5.5 miles but every single one of those miles was on tough, gnarly mountain rock paths with steep gradients.
Some pictures:
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| Ready for the off! |
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| View down the valley |
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| The start of the climb |
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| That's not the top! |
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| Having a breather (the top is in the mist behind) |
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| Looking down towards Llyn Ogwen and Llyn Idwal |
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| Into the mist we go |
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| Visibility is getting worse |
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| Y Garn summit! |
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| The group on the summit |
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| Meeeeeee! on the summit |
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| Llyn Cwn |
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| The start of the descent down Devil's Kitchen |
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| Llyn Idwal under the mist |
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| Devil's Kitchen (our path is out of shot to the left of this pic) |
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| Out of the cloud and heading along the headwall |
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| Not that you can tell but this is a vertical stream |
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The headwall from the shores of Llyn Idwal
(we've just been up there in the clouds) |
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| Llyn Idwal |
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| Cute gate near Idwal Cottage (youth hostel) |
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The final walk back to our accommodation
(building in the centre of the pic) |
A VERY tough day's walking for me. I struggled, even with the shorter route. It was exhilarating though - getting up an over 3,000ft Welsh mountain (Y Garn). Shame there was no views from the top as I'm assured it is absolutely stunning in good visibility!! Typical!!!!
Day 2: 29th June 2014 - Llyn Crafnant
Much better weather today! This walk was more my "thing" and I really enjoyed the scenery. The rest of the group raced on a little too fast for me, and my Achilles tendon started to really play me up as a result, which was a shame as this spoiled what was otherwise a fantastic walk and one I'd do again sometime. I believe it was about 8 miles in total.
Some pictures:
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Looking back towards the Snowdon "Horseshoe"
from the start in Capel Curig |
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| Nice, easy woodland paths |
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| Heading up towards Crimpiau |
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| Lovely |
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| View of Llyn Crafnant from the top |
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| It would be wrong not to! |
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| Enjoying a cuppa in the sunshine |
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| Fabulous mossy hillsides |
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| Old quarry |
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| An even better view of Llyn Crafnant later in the afternoon |
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| Enjoying the views |
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On the final path back to Capel Curing
(with the Snowdon Horseshoe in the background) |
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| ... and back into Capel Curig we head |
After this walk we all went our separate ways home, but not before a stop-off in Betws-y-Coed for fish and chips...
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| Lovely waterfalls on Afon Coed |
And finally, a few random pictures from our accommodation for the weekend:
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| The group plotting routes |
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| Lovely sunset |
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| Pen-y-Ole-Wen |
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| The "local" pub (about 5 miles away!) |
All in all, a great weekend in a stunning and remote location. With hindsight, even the shorter walk that I did was too much for me and I felt a lot of pressure to "keep up" with the rest of the group who are evidently a lot more used to mountain terrain than I am.
