Snowdon via the Watkin Path

A fairly hectic schedule at work recently has made it a bit tricky to get away on a Friday night for a full weekend in the mountains. We have therefore devised an alternative strategy. We spend the time in the evenings, during the week, preparing all the kit and then, on Saturday morning, we are up at the crack of dawn (5am) to get away from Oxford by around 6pm. And so it was last weekend that after an early morning start we arrived in Snowdonia at around 10:00am, after an easy and stress free run up motorways that were free from the masses of motorist that would have clogged the lanes on a Friday night.

I just missed the first entrance to the Nantgwynant car park that is conveniently situated at the start of the Watkin Path on the A498 (SH628506), so ended up going in the wrong way. After a bit of faffing to get the car facing the right way I finally reversed into spot next to a camper van and got out to be greeted by the smell of freshly frying bacon. While I was momentarily tempted to linger and enjoy the smell of a cooked breakfast I knew there was little chance of us getting any and, besides, we had a mountain to climb. So, we retrieved the packs from the boot of the car, donned the walking boots and then were faced by our usual dilemma: what to wear at the start of the walk?

It was the beginning of March, we were in the mountains of North Wales, so it was bound to be cold and windy wasn’t it? And therefore we should don waterproofs from the start shouldn’t we? Or at least a softshell? Well no, actually. There was a gently breeze but it certainly wasn’t cold and I seemed to remember that climbing a mountain was quite hard work and we normally worked up quite a sweat (it must have been all of a couple of weeks since we were last in the area). There was also that sage piece of advice to always start off a bit cold. So, while most of the other parties around us were setting off in fleeces, soft shells and waterproofs we had only our merino base layers on under our rucksacks.

After five minutes I was absolutely convinced that we had made the correct decision. Crossing the road from the car park we followed the signs for the Watkin path into the wood and out of the wind. We strolled easily and comfortably along the obvious path and soon overtook one of the groups from the car park, as they stopped to take off a layer of clothing. A stream ran gently down the hillside, trickling over rocks. A scene of peaceful tranquility, except for the flattened vegetation around the stream that showed the massive power of the huge amount of water that must have cascaded over these rocks a few weeks previously when the area suffered a torrential amount of rain over a weekend.

Continuing on through the wood we passed the first of many signs of the changing use that man has made of the mountains. The shell of an old stone built hut stood next to a pile of more modern bricks and debris. We soon left the wood and the path began its winding progress up the valley, following the Afon Cwm Llan for most of its length. As the path climbed up the valley we could see more signs of mans attempts to tame the mountain, in the form of various old mine and quarry workings. On the left hand side of the valley as one ascends the path, on the lower slopes of Yr Arran and below Bwlch Cwm Llan there are some obvious trackways that have been built into the side of the mountain. These must have taken an enormous amount of effort and manpower to move rocks into position and build up the track ways.

Up to the last of the quarry buildings the gradient had been relatively easy, but as the path turned slightly eastwards, towards the head of the valley, the ground steepened significantly and we were soon heading towards Bwlch Chiliau the mountain pass between Snowdon and Y Lliwedd. As we neared the col between the two peaks the cloud started to descend and the wind started to pick up. So we stopped for a quick break and to gladly don waterproofs, hats and gloves before continuing onto the ridge.

On a clear day there are absolutely fantastic views from here across to the surrounding peaks. Unfortunately this was not a clear day and even Glaslyn was not visible through the mists. The path was still relatively easy going at this point, passing a little to the south of ridge itself, although there were ample opportunities to explore the rocks and peer over into the next valley, where the Pyg and Miner’s tracks are easily visible on a clear day.

There is almost a definitive point where the path changes from worn dirt track through the rocks on the edge of the ridge to the scree covered slopes of the upper section of the head of the valley. At some point it would be nice to explore this section on a clear day, to get a better appreciation of the layout of all the little paths. Unfortunately, both times I have been up there the top has been covered in cloud, making navigation difficult and confusing, and therefore potentially very dangerous. The map suggests that one should continue heading west, approximately following the same contour, until one hits the South Ridge, from where it is an easy ascent to the summit. However, with all the little paths worn through the scree slopes, and with other walkers, who are probably similarly lost, heading upwards, it is easy to try to continue up the scree slopes. This is what happened to us. And after we had stopped for a rest we found ourselves alone, out of sight and earshot of anyone else, clinging to the very steep side of a mountain, covered in cloud, with little idea of exactly where we were. That sounds bad for someone who is supposed to know what they are doing on the mountains. Fortunately for us another couple descended from above us and assured us that it was possible to reach the summit safely by continuing up and left slightly. Continuing straight up would have meant a very steep scree covered slope (which, it turned out came straight down from the summit itself) but by veering off to the left we were soon on grass that was split by rock and we were able to walk fairly easily onto the ridge path.

Turning right we were at the summit of Snowdon in a matter of moments and made the obligatory journey to the summit cairn, not that we could see further than the end of our noses.

 

After a quick break for some chocolate we turned around and headed into the mists, seeking out the South Ridge. With the low cloud still reducing visibility to only a few meters I thought that a quick check of the compass would help us set off in the right direction. And I was correct, with several paths leading away from the summit it would have been all too easy to set off down the wrong one. Even so, I stopped people coming the other way to check that they had come up the Watkin path and that we were heading in the right direction. Although we were planning to descend via the South Ridge the the Watkin Path ascends to the summit along the same path for the final 100m or so.  As seems usual when greeting fellow walkers who seem to be desperately seeking a sign that they are close to the summit I mentioned that they were nearly there and that it was only another five minutes or so of effort away. One chap replied through gritted teeth that he knew how close the summit was as they had been there only 45 minutes ago. I wondered momentarily if he and his party were on some mad fitness challenge, but no, it turned out that their leader had led them the wrong way off the summit! So I definately felt vindicated for checking the bearing.

I had been looking forward to the next stage of the walk with a bit a trepidation. I had never been up or down the South Ridge before today and therefore had no idea what to expect – other than guessing that it might get a bit breezy on the exposed sections. I knew from the map that it was going to be quite a ridge but I hadn’t really appreciated how sharp a ridge it is to start with. Nothing like Striding Edge but still quite an edge with a vertical drop just beyond the rocks into Bwlch Cwm Llan and Cwm Tregalan to the left and less sheer, but still significant drop to the right and the western flanks of Snowdon around Cwm Clogwyn.

The terrain of the South Ridge made me think of the landscape as a collection of bodies and body parts from monstrous creatures. Were those the edges of some rock strata showing through the dirt of the track ahead of me, or was it the skeletal remains of the talons of some giant monster? Perhaps the same Stegosaurus like creature that left the huge triangular shaped rock plates lined up along the path, which proved quite a challenge to scramble over, even though the edges did provide good grip, sticking up into the soles of our boots. Was that “simply” an impressive looking rock formation on the right, or was it the remains of an ancient fortification that our predecessors used to defend their soil and their sheep from the Trolls that now lie sleeping around us?

Finally, a steep stepped section led us off the slope at Bwlch Cwm Llan. Being the col between the South Ridge and Yr Aran the wind was definitely blowing over here, the wisps of cloud like jets of smoke in a wind tunnel, we didn’t linger here very long but began our descent across the hillside, toward the end of the trackway. After crossing a few boggy sections and one stream that was slightly wider than we had anticipated we reached the well made flat track way. We had debated on the way up whether the miners would have used carts or wagons that ran on rails. This track way seemed to clearly suggest that they would have used wagons on rails, as some of the sleepers were still in place and where the wood had long since rotted or been robbed away the marks on the ground were still clearly visible.

We followed the track way across the hill side for about 300m before taking a sharp left turn just before the protruding ridge of Clogwyn Brith, and descended steeply toward the Watkin track. Just before reaching the Watkin track the path passed a couple of old mine entrances (shown as Levels on the map), their entrances ringed in bright green moss and the sound of dripping water emanating from them with a tune that tried to draw in the adventurous little boy in me. Fortunately the sensible grown up in me maintained control and I satisfied myself with taking a photo of the entrance to one of the mines.

Reaching the Watkin path again we retraced our steps of much earlier in the day and made it back to the car park some six hours after setting out. We could probably have done it quicker and I probably could have done it quicker if I had been by myself, but it isn’t about how long it takes really, its about getting out there and seeing it – even if “it” is only cloud and rock a few inches in front of you at a time.