Every year for the past 5 years my father and myself with my brother recently have been walking up hills in Snowdonia. This year it was the Glyderau range. In April we made an attempt up through Devil's Kitchen, to Glyder Fawr then across to Glyder Fach, then across up to the Cantilever. (So many names!)
We started out with absolutely no idea what we were about to put ourselves through. Bad idea. To begin with it is a nice gentle walk up to the lake from Idwal Cottage. Then there is a gradual incline as you progress further around the lake, to which point it is unclear where the pathway is. The pathway is up. Yes, there are several points where we had to climb, which was particularly difficult for short people (me).
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| Lake at bottom of Devil's Kitchen |
Eventually we got up to the lake at the top of Devil's Kitchen, thinking there's not too far to go now, surely that was the worst part. But no, we turned left and saw what was to our journey ahead. It was scree. Lots of it. At a lovely angle where if you were to turn and look back it you'd regret that decision. Eventually, after a fair amount of sliding, we made it to Glyder Fawr. To which point there was beautiful view of the Snowdon mountain range and all across Snowdonia.
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View from Glyder Fawr
From here we progressed to Glyder Fach where it was particularly windy, however, the views made up for it! |
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| Views along the way to Glyder Fach |
So, from the summit of Glyder Fach it is a 'must do' to go on the Cantilever, which is a rock that is balanced out on top of many others. By goodness it was a triumph to even make it to the top where the Cantilever was, I'm pretty sure at one point my brother and myself were crawling around to find places to continue forwards! (One to add to the books hey).
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| My father on the Cantilever |
Now, usually after walking up to the top, you think 'ah yes, the way back down will be much nicer'. Then figure out what you've just walked up and realise it will probably be just as bad.... Yeah there were several occasions where we were simply walking down just hoping to find a route (with many holes and mud in the grass, lovely!). We made our way back round through the pass at the side of Tryfan (the neighbouring mountain), which was rather eventful considering I was lucky enough to fall on my backside coming down! Well, my father and brother seemed to enjoy it to say the least. 'Round the corner' as my father would say, we found a lake and the pathway back down (steps!) leading us back to Idwal Cottage, bliss!
So this day was very interesting, and if you're into walking I'd recommend taking a trip here.... it's a brilliant family day out!
Peace out!
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