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A Wee Trip Part 3 – Glen Nevis
The previous two posts covered the start of our Scottish camping holiday in Loch Lomond and Glencoe. The next stage took us up to Glen Nevis. Since it is only a short journey from Glencoe we stopped at Inchree on the way there, to checkout the waterfalls. However, pulling up to the car park we saw some red squirrels in the trees! There was a feeding station with a number of boxes of nuts and the squirrels were picking nuts out the boxes.
Red Squirrel!
There was short walk to some very impressive waterfalls.
Fall
From Inchree we made the short trip to Fort William for some supplies (a new airbed and some pastries for breakfast) and then on to Glen Nevis campsite.
Stob Ban
While the original plan was to climb Ben Nevis we decided (again) to take the more interesting route. We would leave Ben Nevis for another day and instead tackle Stob Ban and Mullach nan Coirean.
We parked at the Lower Falls car park at Achriabhach. The road crosses two streams. Between the two a path follows the stream and another heads up towards Stob Ban, following Allt Coire a Mhusgain. We followed the path as it climbed up the valley, keeping level with the stream. Soon the valley narrowed and the sides got steeper. The main path zig zags higher up the slopes but we stuck closer to the stream and some interesting scrambling up a steep step. The path soon faded out and we headed up hill to rejoin the main path, which we were able to follow to the Bealach.
A right turn and we were soon scrambling up the rocky steps that lead to the summit of Stob Ban. The mist had closed in while we were still low in the valley so we only had fleeting views on the way up.
A quick check of the map, confirmed by a compass bearing, and we headed north off the summit. We descended slightly and then headed down the obvious path before contouring round, across the boulder field, rathe than following the ridge all the way to the end, which may have been the easier route on reflection.
We followed the ridge round to Mullach nan Coirean, the second Munro summit of the day.
The route back to the car followed the North East ridge, a rocky descent with a few scree sections before reaching a more gentle, and boggy, grassy slope. Across a ladder stile into an old forest, with a new path, and then into a felled section of forest to reach the forestry track and then a path through the wood, alongside a stream with more waterfalls.
And so back to the car.
All the photos are here.
Rest day – Sgurr Choinich Beag
After a fairly epic day up Stob Ban D wanted a bit of a break, because her achilles tendon was sore, but I was keen to tackle another mountain,so we decided to go our separate ways. D headed up Cow Hill behind the camp site, while I decided to attempt another Munro Sgurr Choinich Beag. This time I drove to the car park at the head of Glen Nevis.
From here there is a stunning walk through some woods as you follow the stream up through a narrow gorge, to emerge in a stunning meadow, with Steall falls pouring down the hill side. However, my path took me onwards, along the meadow to the bridge by Steall ruins. I noticed with interest that the bridge had been built by the RE Troop of Oxford UOTC in 19?? – the last two numbers having worn away. Given that I was in the signals troop from 1987 to 1991 I may have known some of those that had build the bridge. In many respects a solitary touching moment as I stood on the bridge and wondered where they were now, and what they had been doing since they had been here to build the bridge.
My destination took me onward, further up the water of Glen Nevis, past the foot of Sgurr a Bhuic and on towards Sgurr Choinnic Beach. My objective was Sgurr Choinich Beag, but first I had to get to the top of Sgurr Choinnich Beach.
Coming through the woods from the car park the weather had looked really promising. There was even some blue sky and sunshine. However, since getting to the meadow by Steall falls the weather had started to close in, and as I followed the stream upwards the mist came down again. I left the stream behind and the ground got steadily steeper. My Mountain Equipment Arrow soft shell had been performing well, but with strong winds blowing the rain sideways I decided to get out the waterproof.
I used the break to take stock of my situation. I was on a steep hillside, by myself, in pouring rain, strong wind and low cloud. Although D knew my route it would be some time before I was missed. We had agreed that I would be back by 7pm at the latest. Some questions formed in my mind:
“Can I get to the top of this hill and the summit of Sgurr Choinnich Mor?” – Yes, probably
“Do I want to battle on through wind and rain?” – No
“Am I enjoying myself at the moment?” – No
“What do I want to do?” – Get out of this rain and cloud so I can see where I am going
So, I decided my best and preferred option was to abandon the attempt and retrace my steps.
It was wet and slippery making my way back down through the heather but I made it back to the path and was back to the car park approximately 5 and a quarter hours after leaving it.
QMDs – 1 (hopefully). Munros – 0
At least I made it back to the camp site in time for a shower and dinner.
The photies (such that they are) are here.
Epic day on the Aonachs
We had originally planned to leave Glen Nevis today and head in land slightly to tackle Ben Lawers or Schiehallion on our way to Dundee. However, with the weather forecast for the next couple of days looking bleak and this day looking like the best of a bad bunch we decided to stay in Glen Nevis.
Having decided against doing Ben Nevis we wanted a decent walk to do. The ring of Steall was out since it seemed too far for us to do in a day and I don’t think either of us were that keen to cross the wire bridge. So we decided on the Aonachs. The plan was simple; from the upper car park walk up to the ruins at Steall then follow Allt Coire Nan Laogh to the South West ridge of Aonach Beag down to the Bealach and up to Aonach Mor, back down to the bealach at 820m then back down Coire Giubhsachan to Steall ruins.
The plan went well until we reached Steall ruins. We could not find a spot where D felt comfortable crossing the right hand tributary of Allt Coire Nan Laogh. So we followed this and headed for Sgurr a Bhuic instead. Maybe we should have gone straight up the ridge but we followed a path instead. The path started to contour round to the East but then petered out, leaving us on a steep heather clad hill side. We had two options really. We could continue to contour round to where the slope looked like it got easier, or we could go straight up to a small gully next to some rocks. The latter option would be a steeper ascent, but we decided it would be easier than continuing to contour around the mountain.
It may well have been the easier option but it was still jolly hard work. I would set myself a goal, some twenty or thirty meters up, scramble up as quickly as I could, digging my fingers into the heather and often digging small steps with my boots. When I reached my objective I would stop, rest, take in the scenery for a short while before beginning again.
In this manner we eventually made it to the relatively flat ground at the base of Sgurr a Bhuic. Again we were at cloudbase so as we ventured up the rocky ridge the mist closed in around us and visibility gradually dropped. Luckily there was a path of sorts but it got pretty close to the edge of the sheer drop for me at times.
Eventually we made it the top, a summit marked by a small cairn with sheer drops around most of it and a steep rocky path descending to the North.
We took this path and soon came to a bealach, from where we ascended again, once more following close to the edge until we reached the summit of Stob Coire Bhealaich. Around this area the path was very narrow. There was a vertical drop to our right hand side and the ground to our left dropped off quite steeply as well. However, it was around here that we encountered two french lads having a break for lunch, sheltering from the wind in their little pop up festival tent.
Having checked they were OK we left them to their lunch and we pressed on. Again maybe we should have followed our noses and continued up the ridge, straight to the summit of Aonach Beag. Instead we continued to follow the path and contoured round to the west, before picking up the west ridge and following that to the summit.
From the summit of Aonach Beag the path led down a fairly short but steep rocky section before the path picked up again and led us straight to the summit cairn of Aonach Mor. By this time the wind had picked up a fair bit, the rain was coming down and the cloud made visibility very limited – no more than 25meters in some places. We used the GPS to plot our position on the way to the summit and I correctly calculated that we were 150meters away.
Coming off the summit we were looking for a ridge to the west of the summit path, that leads down to a bealach at 820m. The guide book has said “Careful navigation is required to find this path, especially in poor conditions”. Well they couldn’t have been much poorer. I used the compass romer to estimate that we needed to come 600m down from the summit. So we both paced 600 meters, for the first time I used the toggles attached to my compass string to count off the hundreds of meters. A check with the GPS showed that we still needed to come down another 100m. So we paced out another 100m before checking with the GPS again. Having confirmed our position the map suggested that the ridge we were looking for was 200m away on a bearing. So I set off across the hillside following the bearing. After about 150m a cairn became visible through the mist. Heading for the cairn we found that it marked the path down to the bealach – we had made it.
The path down was treacherous. Very steep, with loose soil and rocks it seemed to take forever, but eventually we were back on flat ground again, looking toward Allt Daim to our right and Allt Coire Ghiuthsachan to our left. Turning left we followed the stream across the hanging valley, crossing mud and bogs along the way, before dropping back down into the main Glen Nevis valley and down the steep heather slopes to the ruins at Steall.
From there it was an easy, but tiring walk back to the car.
A truly epic day (for us), 10 hours 45mins in the mountains. Definitely a QMD and two munros.
Photies here.
The rest of the holiday
Following our epic adventure on the Aonachs we had a rest day just chilling out around Glen Nevis.
The day after we drove across to Dundee. We passed through Glen Spean and Inverroy, from where we had a view of the ridges of Aonach Beag and Aonach Mor, a brief journey through the glorious Cairngorms national park and then on to Perth and finally Dundee.
We had a great day on Friday, meeting D’s friends, before heading home Saturday. The torrential rain and cloud around Edinburgh and Glasgow gradually giving way to drier finer conditions as we drove south.
A Wee Trip Part 2 – Glencoe
The previous post covered our first two mountains in Scotland, Ben Lomond and Beinn Narnain. After two days in Loch Lomond we moved on to..
Glencoe
I had been looking forward to Glencoe, and an opportunity to tackle classics such as Buachille Etive Mor and Bideam nam Bean. Unfortunately the weather forecast for the next couple of days was not very encouraging. Low cloud, rain and strong, gusting winds, especially on exposed ridges. So maybe those two classics will have to wait for another day.
Instead we decided on a “low” level walk up Beinn na Caillich, from Kinlochleven.
We parked in a layby by the side of the road just outside Kinlochleven, on the North side of the Loch. Walking along the road for about 200m we soon found a stalkers path that led us up through the woods to join the West Highland Way. We followed the West Highland Way for about 1km Westwards before descending into the valley to cross a stream.
Crossing the stream
Once across the bridge we then ascended the East ridge of Beinn na Caillich via a number of zig zags. I’m always amazed at the plant life that manages to cling to the wet and rocky surfaces, as well as surviving the impact of walkers’ boots. One of the most interesting type of plants are the carnivorous plants, such as the Butterwort and the Sundew.
Sun dew
We crossed a relatively flat plateau before the final steep set of zig zags and the final pull to the top. Simply crossing this plateau I was amazed at the plant life, including the various types of lichen:
Purple Lichen
- Rhizocarpon sp with fruiting bodies
- Cladonia sp
The summit was in cloud (seems to be a common theme for us), with very high winds on ridge. Descended West ridge to Bealach then into Fraoch Choire and headed North back to pick up the West Highland Way to retrace path to car.
As we walked to and fro along the West Highland Way we passed through a gate across the track. The gate was not locked so we were able to open it, walk through and close it after us. To one side of the gate was a normal stile. To the other was the structure shown below. We have no idea what it is for.
What is this?
Time: 6.25 hours, so another QMD but no Munro.
Back at the camp site the sun came out, providing some stunning views of the surrounding mountains.
View from the camp site
As usual, all the photos are on Flickr.
A Wee Trip to Bonnie Scotland
“You can’t consider yourself a true Mountain God unless you have done some Scottish mountains”. This, or something like it was the pronouncement from the main instructor of my ML course at Plas-y-Brenin last year. There was also the advice to ensure that the Quality Mountain Days (QMDs) that we gathered before the assessment were from a selection of mountain regions, not just North Wales.
With these two edicts in mind and with D wanting to catch up with some of her friends from Dundee we decided our two week holiday this year would be to Scotland. I had originally planned to go up mid week, but since I am such a keen and dedicated worker I moved my holiday so that the client I was working with got the most time from me. So the plan for our two weeks looked something like this:
| Saturday | Home prep and pack |
| Sunday | Drive up to Loch Lomond |
| Monday | Ben Lomond |
| Tuesday | Another mountain |
| Wednesday | Drive to Glencoe |
| Thursday | Mountain in Glencoe |
| Friday | Mountain in Glencoe |
| Saturday | Drive to Glen Nevis |
| Sunday | Ben Nevis |
| Monday | Ring of Steall |
| Tuesday | Flexible – Schiehallion? |
| Wednesday | Flexible – Ben Lawers? |
| Thursday | Drive to Dundee |
| Friday | Dundee |
| Saturday | Drive home |
| Sunday | Home in Oxford to unpack |
So, we joined the Camping and Caravan Club (to get good deals on a couple of campsites), booked campsites at Loch Lomond, Glencoe and Glen Nevis and booked into a hotel in Dundee. The Flexible days in between we decided to wait to see how things went.
Loch Lomond
The drive up on Sunday went well. Good weather and no traffic problems, so at around the predicted 6pm we found ourselves arriving at the Milarrochy Bay campsite on the eastern shores of Loch Lomond. We pitched our tent on a lovely spot overlooking the Loch and all was well with the world as we set up camp. We were even visited by a fox, who had a good peer into the tent and I am sure would have investigated further had I not been in the tent.
There was even a pub in Balmaha which we could reach by a footpath than ran along the shores of Loch Lomond from the campsite.
Ben Lomond
The next morning we drove up to the Forestry Commission car park at Rowaredennan and set off to tackle Ben Lomond.
We seem to have a knack for finding the more interesting / challenging routes up mountains. In this case we set off up the West Highland Way until we got to Tom Beithe, where we headed up the narrow path that led steeply up the hill side towards Ptarmigan.
From Ptarmigan we had a great view of Loch Lomond and the surrounding mountains, including our objective for the next day: Beinn Narnain.
We even got to see three Ptarmigan – on the top of Ptarmigan.
The View back down the Ptarmigan path
From the top of Ptarmigan it was an easy scramble to the summit of Ben Lomond, from where the views were amazing. We would have stayed longer but there were hordes of midges up there. Swarms of the little blighters. So it was a photo of me, a photo of D then we were looking for the way down.
The tourist path is easy to follow and a good route to take down. Taking it up would have been a monotonous slog though.
Anyway, we made it back OK. My first Scottish QMD and my second Munro (I did Ben Nevis the year before last as part of the 3 peaks challenge).
Another pleasant walk to dinner at Balmaha and early to bed.
All the pictures can be found on my Flickr site.
Beinn Narnain and The Cobbler
The next day dawned bright and sunny. After breakfast we packed our gear into the car and drove round to the other side of Loch Lomond and up to Tarbet, where we turned off the A82 and drove the couple of miles to Arrochar, parking in the car park at the head of Loch Long.
From the car park we picked up the forest track that zig zags up to the dam. In accordance with our knack to find the more interesting routes up mountains, we ignored the main path that headed up the valley, but took the faint path that contours to the North East and meets the path that ascends straight up from the road near the foot of Creag an Fhithich. From where the paths meet we climbed straight up through the heather to eventually pick up the track that runs along the ridge towards Cruach nam Miseag.
We followed the obvious path, scrambling up the steep rocky slopes of “The Spearhead” to reach the summit of Bein Narnain. The weather had been deteriorating and as we reached the summit it started to rain. On the summit we met a couple of lads, one of whom was celebrating his 30th birthday.
We followed the summit ridge and then descended to the North West before turning South West towards the Lochan a Chlaidheimh.
From the Lochan it was a relatively simple ascent up a decent set of steps towards the summit of Ben Arthur (the Cobbler). In order to actually stand on the summit some precarious scrambling is needed as you “thread the needle”. I wasn’t sure I was up to the task on a good day. When we got there and the mist closed in, reducing visibility to a few yards, the rain came down and the wind picked up I knew I definitely wasn’t going to attempt it.
Me, close to the summit of the Cobbler. Just to remind you of the date: June 26 2012.
So, we retraced our steps to the Lochan and followed the long valley path back to the zig zags through the forest and ultimately back to the car. Total time: 7.5 hours.
Another Scottish QMD and another Munro.
All photos are on my Flickr site.
At this rate I think I better create additional posts for the rest of the holiday.
Dartmoor Contd – Sunday
It seemed like we were doing things the right way round this weekend. We had started with a relatively short walk to Lydford Gorge on Friday and then done a slightly longer walk to Sourton Tor and Great Links Tor on the Saturday, now we were all set to do a long walk. For this walk we managed to get up at a slightly earlier time than Saturday and once we had had breakfast we headed down the road towards Tavistock before turning east along the B3357 towards Princetown.
We parked the car just to the east of Merrivale in a pretty little car park surrounded with low walls and trees. Leaving the car park we crossed the road and headed up the track almost directly opposite. The track leads to Little Mis Tor and from there an obvious path leads to Great Mis Tor.
Me on Great Mis Tor
From Great Mis Tor we descended west into the valley and crossed the River Walkham at the ford. There are stepping stones but even so the crossing was still a bit tricky and it was a good thing that we both had poles with us. Having crossed the stream we then started to head up hill and crossed a track and then a leat. This could be more tricky than crossing the stream as there are no obvious crossing points, no obvious stepping stones and the banks are vertical in a lot of areas.
Having made it across all those obstacles we were faced with a herd of young bulls and cows, with some calves as it turned out. We decided to give them a wide berth and skirted round them keeping fairly low down the hill side before climbing up to Roos Tor.
Me on Roos Tor. If I look a bit unsteady thats because I was. It was very windy and the rock at the top was not very wide.
From Roos Tor we followed the ridge south, via Great Staple Tor to Middle Staple Tor, before cutting back and west again to Cox Tor. The latter is surrounded by some very strange ground. Any explanation of these odd mounds would be appreciated:
From Cox Tor looking east to Great Staple Tor. Middle Staple Tor is to the right. What are those strange mounds in the foreground?
From Cox Tor we descended to the road, the car park, a horder of people and an Ice Cream van. How terribly British. Its blowing a gale, its quite chilly but we will still stop for a mint choc chip ice cream.
We ate the ice creams as we headed south east from the car park across Barn Hill to the cross and the stream. A leat flows away from the stream, fed by the Bullseye stone.
The Bullseye stone – thats the sort of water feature I want.
Then it was up to Feather Tor and across towards Heckwood Tor. We didn’t actually make it to the top of Heckwood Tor as it was occupied by a number of ewes and lambs, and we didn’t want to disturb them. From there is was south west to Pew Tor, an almost circular arrangement of rock that provided good shelter and great views.
Looking down into Pew Tor
Me on the top of Pew Tor
From Pew Tor we left the moor behind us as we descended towards Sampford Spiney and narrow country lanes and walled fields.
We crossed the River Walkham again at Ward Bridge and started up hill towards the moor again. After passing onto the moor by the gate that leads to Crepitor we climbed to the summit of Ingra Tor.
From Ingra Tor we descended north to pick up the track of the disused railway line that we followed east and around the head of the valley. We went under an old stone bridge and then started up towards Swell Tor. Apparently it is no longer officially a Tor as it has all be quarried away, apparently to build London Bridge.
Looking down into the old quarry on Swell Tor:
The top of Swell Tor is like an extinct volcano:
From Swell Tor it is an easy walk north-west to Kings Tor, which although not the highest Tor on the walk, seems to have the best views. It was possible to track our entire journey from the top of this Tor.
Me on the top of King’s Tor
The car park is the group of trees in the middle of the photo below. In the background is Great Mis Tor.
From the summit of King’s Tor it was an easy descent to a stream and then a gentle climb back to the car park.
Total distance about 11 miles. Time – 7 hours, so another QMD hopefully.
All my pictures of this walk are on Flickr. As are D’s photos of the entire weekend.
Dartmoor Weekend
Thinking that we may attend the Mountain Bike Improvers course at Plas-y-Brenin I had booked the Friday off before the first May bank holiday. We decided not to do the bike course (we both need to consolidate what we learnt on the beginners course) but with the Friday off before a bank holiday it seemed like a good opportunity to go away somewhere for the weekend. Although I am planning to head up to Snowdonia to recce some of the routes I have in mind for August we decided to head somewhere different and plumped for Dartmoor. Not being the most organised pair we had left it until the previous weekend to find somewhere to stay and had expected all the campsites to be full. However, we called the Fox and Hounds at Shortacombe and they seemed very relaxed about the whole affair and said we would be able to just turn up without booking, so we decided to chance it.
Friday
We travelled down Friday morning and made it to the pub at around 14:00. We put the tent up and got ourselves sorted by about 15:00 before deciding what to do next. It was very tempting to spend the rest of the afternoon in the pub. However, D pointed out the Lydford was just down the road and that Lydford Gorge was supposed to be worth seeing. Lydford Gorge is a National Trust property and since we are National Trust members we would get in free. So, even though it was now getting on for 20 past three we decided to give it a go.
Leaving the campsite we crossed the A386 and headed down the tree lined road towards Bridestowe.
At the bottom of the hill the road is crossed by the Granite Way. We turned left onto the way – at this point a disused railway line and followed that. Spring was definitely springing as we walked along the track. I seem to have had my outlook reawakened within the last few years and am continually amazed by the patterns in nature, such as the bracken unfurling:
And the wild Strawberry we saw:
Then there was the Forget Me Not:
And the Germander Speedwell (Veronica chamaedrys).
Both of these were growing out of a wall in the village of Lydford.
We walked through Lydford, pausing briefly to examine the 12th Century Lydford Castle before walking down the steep path to the river Lyd and the entrance to the Gorge. We flashed our National Trust membership cards and the chap on the desk gave us an overview of the path, including where we would be walking and what we would see. We had caught most of what he said when he was talking to a couple in front of us, and the chap coming in behind us heard it all when we were at the desk and sounded like he was going to get it all over again.
We headed into the gorge and started following the path.
There was a huge variety of plant life:
Ramsons – allium ursinum
Wood Sorrel
The first section of the path led us along the valley, keeping well up the valley side, away from the river, which we could hear as it tumbled down various rapids and it appeared through the trees from time to time glistening in the sun. There had been considerable rainfall over the course of the previous week and water was still filtering its way down the hillside towards the stream.
At the end of the upper section of the path we were faced with a choice of how to descend to the valley floor. One route was described as long and slow, while the other was fast but steep. Since we were descending we opted for the latter and soon found ourselves next to the stream, in the valley and at the foot of the waterfall:
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We crossed the stream and started heading back up the valley, this time with the stream right at our side.
At times the stream and the path were nice and wide and the going was easy. Then the stream would narrow and the water would rush between the rocks, or the path would narrow and steepen, making foot placement tricky and vital. All the time is was absolutely stunning. Every 20m presented a new wonder. I tried to take photos but they don’t seem to do it justice.
Nearing the head of the valley it opened out to present a Pixie glade to one side and the gently flowing waters to the other side. But up ahead we could see the gorge narrowing and could hear the rumble of fast moving water. As we headed on the path crossed and recrossed the stream via a number of bridges and we had fantastic views of the water pouring through narrow clefts in the rock.
As the main path headed back towards the exit, another path headed towards the point where the gorge was crossed by Lydford Bridge. The gorge is so narrow hear that the path is only possible because it is carried on a walkway that is bolted to the rock. At one point one has to go through a small gate and descend five stone steps onto the next section of walkway. Although there is the gorge wall and handrail on one side, the other side of the steps is open to the rushing swirling water just below.
The stone steps can be seen in the bottom right of the photo above. And I am ascending the steps in the photo below.
Having experienced the turmoil of waters at the head of the gorge we headed back towards the exit and from there headed back to the campsite.
Wales – 2 weekends on the trot
PYB
At the beginning of April we were up at our favourite North Wales location, well mine anyway – Plas-y-Brenin. This time it was for a Discover Mountain Biking course. We had a great weekend, and although the main purpose was for D to become more confident off road, I have to admit that I learnt a lot as well, and had a great time.
All my photos from the weekend can be seen on my Flickr site here.
Putting it into Practice
Keen to put our new found mountain biking skills into practice we planned to head back to Wales the following weekend – Easter. The original plan was to travel up on the Thursday night to give us Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday in Wales. However, even with me working from home on the Thursday it was a big ask to get everything together. I therefore rang the campsite to let them know that we would still be going but would be there Friday instead. The campsite, Celyn Brithion , was appreciative but laid back.
Rather than travel up to the Snowdon area again, and face the hordes of tourists tramping along the motorway around the Snowdon summits, I wanted to explore some of the other areas of the National Park. So, I had looked to the South East and found Dinas Mawyddy, complete with a decent summit – Aran Fawddwy.
Friday
Having arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon we went for a short walk to stretch our legs.
The overiding memory of the walk must be: “Sheep”, or, more accurately, “Lambs”. They were everywhere, some of them were obviously very very young, as evidenced by the presence of afterbirth on the track and long remnants of umbilical cords hanging from the lambs.
This short circular route can be seen on Trailzilla.
While research the town of Minllyn we found reference to the Brigands Inn, about a mile down the road. We headed down there for a meal and were very disappointed. D had a burger that was fairly tasteless and there was so much dressing on the salad that the plate was swimming in it and the bun was soaking. I had steak, and despite talking to the waitress about how I wanted it cooked it came back overcooked. Basically the trouble seemed to be that the chef was trying to do too much and be too fancy.
Saturday
Saturday we decided to head out on the mountain bikes, to try to put into practice some of the skills we had learnt the previous weekend at Plas Y Brenin and to build on our new found confidence. I had pored over the maps to find bridleways for us to u se and come up with a circular route from a picnic spot up a side road from the small village of Corris.
We did not get off to a good start as the first part of the route headed off into an area that was closed due to logging. So we headed down the road into Corris and battled up an extraordinarily steep bridleway that left us both wondering if it was all worth it. After another push up a bridleway we made it to a junction of forest trails and it was downhill all the way after that. A mixture of forest trail, farmer’s track and steep twisting singletrack. Excellent fun.
Our route for Saturday can be seen here.
On our way out from the campsite we had spotted a pub just round the corner from the campsite – the Buckley Arms. We decided to give it a go for dinner and had a great time. The staff were all friendly and welcoming, the food was simple but excellent and they had decent beer. I can totally recommend the Buckley Arms.
Sunday
With Aran Fawddwy just up the road I had planned a fairly long mountain day. I had planned to park on the road, near the open access land in Cwm Cywarch. However, once there the opportunities were not as good as I had hoped. Luckily I spotted a sign post indicating that there was parking further up the valley. Amazingly, the farmer had developed a parking on a small piece of his land. Complete with all weather surface and a portaloo he had decided that this was better than tourists blocking his road, ruining his land and generally causing lots of problems by parking all over the road. By adding a collection box the farmer had managed to collect £1,300 over the last year, which was donated to the Welsh Air Ambulance.
Parking there a more obvious and slightly shorter route presented itself to us. We climbed up the stream, leaving the stunning views behind us and headed into the mist. It was soon raining hard with strong winds blowing from the side. Adding in the occasional snow drift and the going became quite hard work.
Our walking route can be seen on Trailzilla.
I’m sure that the views from here are truly stunning in clear weather, in the limited visibility we had in the clouds it looked fairly hairy, particulary on the crossing from Drws Bach to Drysgol.
We had planned to ascend Waun Goch and come down the steep sided valley of Cwm Terwyn. Unfortunately, D twisted her ankle coming down from Drysgol so we cut short our plans and headed down the gentle path, with stunning views back across the valley. The ridge we had walked across was hidden in the thick cloud.
When we got back to the camp site we got changed and headed out for dinner, back to the Buckley Arms Hotel again. It started raining just as we started dinner and continued to rain all evening. It carried on raining all night and by morning it was still raining and blowing a hoolie. Rather than head out to the hills we headed home in the rain, beating the bank holiday traffic.
Result, one day excellent mountain biking and one epic quality mountain day to add toward the ML assessment.
20110812 A wet and windy Cnicht
North Wales is wet. Even in the summer, such as it is this year, North Wales is wet. Wet conditions require kit and strategies to cope with the wetness, and the conditions that give rise to and are associated with the wetness.
What am I wittering on about, you may ask?
Well, with Denise heading off to the Fairport Convention festival at Cropredy this weekend, I had planned to head up to North Wales. Taking Friday off as holiday gave me some extra time to play with. So, I had planned to get up to Snowdonia early on Friday and head up into the hills Friday afternoon, giving me two nights of wild camping before heading back home on Sunday.
The forecast was mixed, low cloud and some showers of rain on Friday, with some rain showers overnight. Saturday would see the cloud lifting and the rain easing to leave a pleasant Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
As planned I made it up to Snowdonia for about 4.00pm on Friday, parked the van and set off. I had planned to try out my North Face trousers as walking trousers. However, in my enthusiasm to get going I left my lightweight Rohan Backpackers on and left the North Face trousers in the van. It was raining quite hard as I got ready in the back of the van, so as well as putting on my gaiters I put my waterproof trousers on as well as my waterproof jacket.
I skirted Llyn Gwynant before making it to the road, which I followed for about 500m, before heading up the footpath. By this stage it had stopped raining, so I took off the waterproof trousers before heading further up the path. And this is where it started to go wrong really. Heading towards the top of the path, the map clearly shows the footpath heading diagonally across the field to the left of the building. So why did I follow the track into the field and then head up through the tall rushes and grasses? By the time I realised that my trousers were wetting through it was too late. I was halfway across and had no option to keep going. By the time I made it to the ruins my trousers were completely soaked. They are quite thin and dry relatively quickly in a steady breeze, so I kept going hoping they would dry out.
I made it through the woods without any real incident and emerged onto the board walks on the far side. My trousers were still very wet when it started to rain steadily. I didn’t have any real choice but to put my waterproof trousers on over the top of my damp trousers. It continued to rain as I left the board walks behind and walked across the field to emerge on the corner of the narrow road. I followed the road for about 500m until I reached the house where paths left the road to the west and the east. I followed the path to the east, down the hill, across the stream and up past the house at Llwynyrhwch. Up to this point the path had been easy to follow and the entrance to open access land was obviously marked. The path up and over the rock was easy to follow but then it all went a bit pear shaped. All the water coming off the hill filled the many stream beds and made all the flat ground marshy.
Looking at the map now it is obvious that the path follows the stream up the hill. However, on Friday evening, as the rain was falling and the cloud was pouring across the sky things were not so obvious. I knew I needed to follow the main stream up the hill and so battled my way through waist high ferns. The higher I got the thicker the cloud became and the lower the visibility.
I was having to micro nav my way through the mist and across the marshy fields until I found the main stream and followed it up to Llyn Llagi.Crossing the outlet from the Llyn was quite an effort as there was a huge amount of water pouring out. I followed the edge of the Llyn to pick up the wall on the southern edge, passing what looked like a rainfall collection station.
I used the wall as a handrail, looking for the footpath near Bwlch y Battel. I finally found a stile crossing the wall and decided that I must be at my destination, even though I could not see the path passing between two steep sided slopes. Even though I had planned to go further on the first day I decided to stop and camp for the night.
I managed to find a fairly flat spot that wasn’t likely to flood during the night. Although it was quite exposed I actually wanted the wind blowing through the tent, in an attempt to reduce condensation. I managed to get a reasonably good nights sleep, although I was woken by the wind a few times. I’m glad I packed my bivvi bag as I am sure that it helped keep my down bag dry, given all the moisture that was around, although in the morning the foot of the bag was mysteriously quite damp.
I had thought, and hoped, that the cloud would life in the morning but I got up to find that the cloud was as low as it had been the night before. I had a light breakfast and packed my tent away before taking heading off on a bearing that should take me along the desired path. It was only after I had been following this bearing for about 150m that I realised that where I had camped the night before had not been where I thought I was.
Lessons learned:
- Just because there is a stile does not mean there is a footpath.
- Take everything into account before deciding on location – dont make the map fit the ground or vice versa
Cnicht
I had planned an ascent via the North Western ridge. In good old ML training style I was looking for the ring contours. However, as I decided that I was where the ascent should start it was chucking it down with rain, blowing a hoolie and the cloud was so low that at time visibility was down to 50m. It seemed that the sensible thing to do would be to contour around and aim to pick up the main footpath up the Southern ridge. I worked my way around the hillside, stopping often to try and compare what I could see on the map with what I could see on the ground. Eventually I spotted a path running alongside a stream. After what had seemed ages going across country it was a joy to see a path that promised an easier rate of progress. However, the joy was tinged by the realisation that I was about 250 south west where I thought I was.
I followed the path down hill, looking for a way to head to my left and attain the main ridge. However, the farmer had been extra vigilant and all the walls were well made, topped with another 6′ of wire and topped with barbed wire. I had no choice but to follow the path I was on to the junction with the main ridge path, which was well signposted to Cnicht. The path is easy to follow with a grass slope, and a few rocky sections, that leads to a wall. Over the wall is an opposing face but once over the wall the obvious path leads to the left and around the obstacle to regain the ridge. More grass slopes and a bit of scramble leads to a level area, with a pinnacle on the left and low cairn in the middle.
Was this the summit?
Er, no!
Just beyond the cairn, a slightly darker grey than the surrounding mist, was the outline of the final leg, a dark grey equilateral triangle of a face. As I got closer it loomed larger, a seemingly insurmountable obstacle. I made a number of logical promises to myself; “I won’t climb up anything I can’t climb down”, “If I can’t get up here I will retreat and walk up the valley”.
As I got closer to the foot of the wall a path became apparent, and rather than leading straight up the wall it led around to the right and then back to the left in an easy to follow, steady ascent that probably wouldn’t event rank as Grade 1, and I soon emerged on to the cloud covered windswept summit ridge.
The Descent
Coming down seemed easy, just follow the county boundary until I hit the footpath. And indeed the path was easy to follow, even in the mist. However, again, without any visible clues beyond the 100m or so I could see it was impossible to tell if I was where I thought I was. At the first junction with what I thought was a track I decided to push on for a bit to be sure. And then, when I encountered what looked like another junction I thought that the only way to confirm it was to walk 150m on a bearing that should take be to the edge of the Llyn. Which it did, luckily, but straight across more bog.
The plan had been to continue east and then north to Ysgafell Wen, and I had hoped that by now (getting on for mid day Saturday) the cloud would have lifted somewhat. However, the cloud seemed to be as thick as ever, I couldn’t see more than 100m at most, my feet were wet, my legs were wet and the map showed a footpath back to Llwynyrhwch, from where I had ascended the day before.
So I bailed out and headed back. I tracked round the edge of the Llyn before taking a bearing to ensure I followed the path and not the outpouring from the Llyn. The path down was the path that I should have taken up the hill the day before. Going down it was much clearer than it had been on the way up but there were still places that I had to guess at.
I made it back to the van, got changed into some dry clothes and headed home.
My planned route is here, while my actual route is here.
The few photos I took can be found here.
Footnote
A while ago I read an article about people not using open access land. There is a reason why most people stick to the paths. Its because going cross country is hard work, especially when its boggy and there is poor visibility.
More experience and more practice needed but it should make one if not two more QMDs.
Lake District Holiday – June 2011
Writing this on the train in to London the last week already seems so long ago (and updating it almost a month later it seems ages ago). This time last Monday I was just waking up in our tent at Great Langdale camp site in the Lake District, and thinking about the forthcoming two day expedition to Scafell Pike.
We had travelled up to Great Langdale on Saturday. Arriving in the valley at about 3pm we found the campsite between the two Dungeon Ghyll hotels, hidden within a copse of trees. So well hidden is the campsite that it is virtually invisible from the road and remains well hidden even when up on the fells. We checked in arict reception, were given our pitch number and shown where to park the car. We set up our tent, avoiding the newly dug rabbit hole, and started to move our stuff into our home for the next week. Once we were all set up we walked down the road to the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel and sat under the brolley on the porch of the climber’s bar, sheltering from the rain – not the sun, while we ate cumberland sausage (what else) and chips.
Sunday – Pike O Blisco
Sunday morning dawned grey and overcast, with low cloud that swirled gently around the fellsides. We had planned for a gentle walk today to break us in gradually. So, once we had had breakfast and got our gear together, we headed out. From the campsite we took the valley road to the Old Dungeon Ghyll hotel and then the tarmac track to Stool End Farm. There were puddles on the track, evidence of recent precipitation, and the cloud hung low in the valley, menacing and yet enchanting as it rolled gently along the valley sides. Once through the farm yard and the gate on the far side we followed the path up Oxendale Beck to the first footbridge. Crossing the footbridge we began the steep climb up the valley side, to emerge into a side valley at Brown Howe. As we climbed up the valley side, so the cloud seemed to lift gently so that we could see all of this side valley in its full glory; a steep sided ravine, flowing down from Red Tarn.
We followed the edge of this valley up to the col between Pike O Blisco and the path up to Wrynose Fell, and then alongside Red Tarn to the far end, where we hoped to double back on ourselves and follow the publi right of way shown on the map, to the summit of Pike O Blisco. As is so often the way in the hills the path shown on the map was not on the ground and we had a very interesting scramble up a steep grassy slope, before we found the cairned path up to the summit. Along the way Denise disturbed a frog in the grass (?colour?).
Once on the cairned path it was easy to reach the mist covered summit. The only decision to me made was how to get down. Having lost all sense of direction a quick check of the map and compass was required to determine the direction of the path that would lead, eventually, to the Wrynose Pass. As we set off a fellow walker appeared to be headed in the same direction – heading away from the summit across the rocky slopes. The map appeared to show the path crossing the rocky northern face of the Pike, before levelling out for a short while and then descending down a valley to the road. The path across the rocks was easy to follow, the broken pebbles and shiny surfaces of rock polished by previous walkers showing the way. However, care was needed as we stepped down and around some outcrops. On a couple of occasions we down climbed some fairly tricky sections that required a great deal of care. All the time we were surrounded by mist and had very limited visibility, only 30 – 40 meters.
At last we emerged from the bottom of the cloud, just as the ground levelled out and we relaxed for a bit as strolled across the relatively flat ground. The path into the valley was obvious and easy to follow, although the path was very steep in places and care was needed on the wet sloping steps. The path ran alongside a ghyll, with bracken on either side, crossing the ghyll to emerge on the road. We followed the road for a short distance before heading back down hill and following the zig zags down the hillside into the campsite, passing a fallen tree with some very artistic looking root structure.
It may have been intended as a gentle first day, but it still took us over five hours to complete and had included some interesting moves on the rocky descent as well as some careful navigation in the mist.
Dinner on Sunday night saw the first of several trips to the Stickle Barn Tavern and the first of quite a few pints of local ale to be consumed over the week.
Monday / Tuesday – Scafell Pike
Following my Mountain Leader training in April I am trying to rack up as many Quality Mountain Days as possible. Some of these need to include wild camps. Despite several trips to the Lake District over the years, D had not managed to summit Scafell Pike. So we intended to address all these points with a two day expedition from Great Langdale to Scafell Pike and back via a wild camp.
As on the previous day we started out from the campsite by heading along the valley road to Stool End farm. However, rather than following Oxendale Beck we headed up The Band, a steady but fairly easy rise in height that took us to Three Tarns, at the foot of Bowfell and Crinkle Crags. Coming up from the valley the weather had been fine and clear, however as we reached the col the cloud started rolling in and soon obscured the summit. Despite the incoming cloud it was very easy to follow the well marked and cairned track from Three Tarns, up the scree slope, to the rocky summit of Bowfell. From the summit of Bowfell the path leading to Ore Gap and thus on to Esk Pike is clearly visible, although as Wainwright points out in Book Four of his guide to the Lakeland Fells “the way thereto across Bowfell’s stony top is less clearly marked”. As we were standing on the summit of Bowfell the cloud and mist rolled in with more enthusiasm than it had been doing and soon visibility was very poor. To the point that before we started to descend from the summit I had confirmed our required direction on the map and used the compass to point us in the right direction. Using timings or pacings to judge distance across the boulder strewn summit was out of the question but dead reckoning suggested that we had moved about 200m from the summit by the time we reached the edge of the boulders and we soon picked up the cairned path that led towards Ore Gap. The gap is well named as the final section of the steep path from Bowfell is a fantastic red indicating a high amount of haematite (iron ore).
From Ore Gap a short ascent took us to the summit of Esk Pike where again the views were hidden behind curtains of cloud, so we did not hesitate there long before descending again past some amazing rock formations to emerge at Esk Hause. However, at the time it was impossible to tell where we were as the mist had thickened considerably and was blowing in from our left at a fair old rate.
Another check of the map showed that the foot of Greet End should be approximate 350 meters in front of us and if followed the correct path then we should be heading in a specific direction. After 400 meters along the path from Esk Hause there was still no sign through the mist of the expected lower slopes of Great End. However, we were heading in the correct direction on the correct slope, so we pushed on. We passed through Calf Cove and over a small stream as is gurgled its way down the mountainside.
From here we started to ascend again as we headed up Ill Crag across a boulder field to reach the summit plateau of Ill Crag. The summit cairn was just visible through the mist about 200m straight on, but the cairned and worn track was leading us off to the right and the short downhill section that took us to the foot of Broad Crag. As we ascended Broad Crag we encountered another boulder field, worse than that on Ill Crag and according to Wainwright the most difficult summit in all Lakeland! Fortunately for us we could just make out the next cairn through the mist and were able to negotiate our way across the boulder field and skirting around the rocks that make up the actual summit of Broad Crag. Its generally wise to do some research before setting out on any sort of mountain adventure, and its not as if we are short on resources. As well as having internet access at home and at work we have all the Wainwright guides and a couple of years worth of Trail and Country Walking magazines. However, probably due to pressures at work and life in general we had not done as much preparation for this week as we might have done. If we had even read Wainwright’s views on Scafell Pike we would have learned that Ill Crag and Broad Crag are not considered tops in their own right, “merely”| being the lower two of the three pikes that make up Scafell Pike(s). We would also have read that “Broad Crag… is the roughest summit in Lakeland”.
On the far side of Broad Crag an obvious and fairly straightforward, if quite steep, path led down to a col. Standing at the edge of Broad Crag the South East nose of Scafell Pike appeared out of the mist, the details obscure but showing enough clues to hint at steep scree slopes either side of a central rocky nose that seemed to offer an easy scramble up to unknown heights.
We made it down to the col and after some discussion as to the best approach I started up the center of the ridge, scrambling easily up the rocks. All too soon the rocky scramble gave way to a short section of scree and then we were on the rock strewn slopes of the summit itself and within mere minutes we were at the top of the highest mountain in England and above the clouds that had enveloped us for the last few hours. Unfortunately the surrounding tops were not quite so lucky and remained shrouded in mist, only a couple (possibly Esk Pike and Bowfell) peeked their tops above the cloud. However, we were not disappointed as even the clouds offered a stunning view.
The question now was how to proceed from here. We had only encountered the one water source, at Calf Cove, and were not sure what water would be available if we took another route (perhaps the corridor route to Styhead) back towards Langdale. So we took the safe option and retraced our steps as far as Calf Cove. On the return trip the boulder fields on Broad Crag and Ill Crag, although still requiring some care, did not present the same obstacle as they had on the way up. Descending towards the stream at Calf Cove we started to look for somewhere to camp for the night. However, we decided to fill our water bladders and push on a little bit towards Esk Hause, with a thought to heading away from the path to some flat looking ground on the promontory to our right, about 600m from the path. Luckily we did not have to go that far, as by this time the cloud has rolled in again and even 50m from the path it was no longer visible. We settled on some fairly level ground (as level as tussocky ground can get) and pitched our tent. The new Terra Nova Superlite Quaser was up in moments and we were soon inside.
After getting ourselves sorted inside it was time to get some food on, so out came another new toy – the Jetboil Flash. Up until now I had used dehydrated food and boiled water in a kettle. However, after some poor experiences with stuff that tasted more like wallpaper paste and a great experience on ML with boil in the bag food (from “Look what we found”) I had decided that it it worth carrying the extra weight for the better culinary experience. The Jetboil had a cup of water boiling in less than a minute and 7 minutes later Denise had her hot dinner ready. Another 8 minutes later mine was done. and they were both absolutely fantastic, hot, yummy and not at all like wallpaper paste. Another 2 minutes and we both had a cup of coffee to go with the chocolate for dessert. Despite it only being about 8pm we were soon dozing in our sleeping bags, listening to the rain fall against the tent. Luckily it didn’t last long and we fell asleep as the mist wrapped itself around our tent and the sheep munched the grass (apparently right outside the door).
I had to get up in the middle of the night to have a pee, and as I stood there in just my boots I could see that the clouds had gone and the sky was clear, which was great but it also meant that the temperature droppped quite a bit so that it was too cold in the tent not to snuggle into the sleeping bag, but snuggling down meant I was soon warm and clammy (nice!). We were woken by the morning light shining through our tent and emerged to a gloriously clear, if chilly morning. After breakfast of cereal and coffee we packed everything up and were ready to set off.
From Calf Cove we followed the path around the foot of Great End (now hugely obvious) to Esk Hause, the many paths meeting there now equally obvious unlike the day before. We descended towards Allen Crag and then headed down hill again towards Angle Tarn. We weren’t the only ones around at such an early hour. One couple had obviously made a very early start from somewhere as they had only day packs with them. However, as we approached Angle Tarn we passed another couple of wild campers heading in the opposite direction and two tents could be seen next to the Tarn itself.
Reaching the tarn we headed away from the main path and followed the trail across the slopes of Rossett Pike to Stake Pass, crossing a very boggy section before reaching the main Cumbria Way path, which we descended through Langdale Combe (a classic hanging valley) and then down a series of zig zags into the main Langdale Valley.
We came off the path at the Old Dungeon Ghyll Hotel and followed the road back to the campsite.
Wednesday – Ambleside
After the exertions of the previous two days and with the weather forecast for today suggesting thunder storms we decided on a day of rest and headed into Ambleside for a look round the gear shops. As it happened it was a glorious day, with no sign of the threatened storms. The only problem with going to gear shops is that I tend to buy gear, and so I am now the proud owner of some cool looking Bolle shades.
Back at the campsite I had a go at herding the many rabbits before we cooked dinner in the tent and had a relaxing evening.
Thursday – Stickle Ghyll and Pavey Ark
Some time ago I purchased three scrambling guides, from Cicerone Press, one for Snowdonia and two for the Lake District. although I had flicked through them at home I had not actually tried out any of the routes described. So we had decided that one of the days this week we would spend scrambling, probably on some of the many routes described above the New Dungeon Ghyll Hotel. So today we had our eyes on a scramble up Stickle Ghyll with the possibility of ascending Pavey Ark via Jack’s Rake.
Unlike on Sunday and Monday, when we had turned left out of the campsite, this morning we turned right and headed down the road. We went in to the National Trust and out the small gate onto the fells, where the main path to Stickle Tarn follows the left bank (looking up the slope) of Stickle Ghyll. Given the total length of the ghyll it is perhaps surprising that the guide book only takes two paragraphs to describe the whole ascent.
I’m not going to attempt a step by step account either. Essentially we followed the stream making the scrambling as hard or easy as we wanted. If there looked like being some interesting moves on the rocks then we went up the middle of the stream and over the rocks, or clung to the edge of the stream as we skirted a few inches above the water. However, if it all looked a bit hairy then we retreated to the easier ground on the left or right banks. Most of the ascent can be achieved through some easy scrambling.
There was only one really tricky section on the scramble up the Ghyll. A steep rock step about 25-30′ tall, there looked to be an obvious route up a dry section to the left of the waterfall. However, two thirds of the way up I couldn’t find a decent hand hold and had to start to explore the rock to the right. I found a reasonably decent hand hold, but now water was pouring over my legs and my feet were less than secure. More by luck and strength than skill and judgement I managed to pull myself up the final section and made it to the top of the falls. I think I found the limit of my climbing skill there.
Without any more major dramas we made it the top of the Ghyll and Stickle Tarn, behind which loomed the wall of Pavey Ark.
Running diagonally across the face of Pavey Ark, from bottom right to top left is Jack’s Rake, a grade 1 scramble that runs up a gulley for most of the length. On the whole it is reasonably easy going apart from a couple of quite tricky sections. The first is where a rock fall has blocked the gulley with a huge chunk of rock. It is possible, with a bit of work, to get around the rock on the right hand side. Alternatively, it is possible to climb out of the gulley (which is easy) and get around the rock on the left hand side. This is very straightforward, although there is significant exposure to the left.
About two thirds of the way up the gulley it narrows significantly and the whole thing angles to the left just as one is faced with big step. Although we could reach forward and find some hand holds we couldn’t find any decent foot holds. The only way to proceed was therefore to wedge ourselves between the two walls of the gulley and inch our way forwards, even though this meant that for a few moments we were leaning backwards over the gulley that we had just climbed.
Eventually though the gulley ends and you are faced with a steep wall of rock about 12-15′ tall. It is obvious that some people have gone up this and there are a few potential hand holds but it still looks quite a challenge. However, our guidebook suggests that “it is easiest to continue with a slight descent before the track climbs again to finish up slabs into a shallow depression with a large cairn on the top. This is just to the right of a prominent rock tower.” What the guidebook fails to mention is that in order to move from the track to the slabs there is a bit of a vertical climb followed by a move where you have to pull yourself out of the comfort of a chimney like enclosure on to the slab, a move that puts you at the bottom of the slab, very close to a huge amount of exposure. Lets just sayI hugged the rock very close until I was sure of my hand and foot purchase on the slab, from where it was an easy scramble up to the rocky summit.
Friday – Crinkle Crags
How could we visit Langdale without doing Crinkle Crags? So, on our final full day in the valley we set off to do what Wainwright describes as one of the finest ridge miles in all of Lakeland. For some reason I had got it in to my head that most people tend to tackle the ridge in a clockwise direction, that is ascending via Brown Howe, often summiting Pike O Blisco before heading across the ridge of Crinkle Crags and then descending via Three Tarn – normally down the Band. However, since we had already gone up Oxendale Beck to Red Tarn on Sunday for our easy introductory ascent of Pike of Blisco we were loathe to ascend that way again. That meant doing the Crags in an anti-clockwise direction. We do like to do things differently from the norm! Since we had gone up The Band at the beginning of our two day expedition on Monday we were ideally looking for another route up to Three Tarns. The path up Hell Gill immediately presented itself and so we settled on that route.
From Stool End farm we followed the North bank of Oxendale Beck but did not cross the footbridge as we had done on Sunday but stayed on the North side to follow the beck further up the valley. The early stages are very pleasant indeed, with great views of the surrounding mountains and the ever changing nature of the stream to keep us interested. The path crosses the stream a couple of times, first via some fairly straight forward stepping stones (although the penultimate one is rather large, sloping and somewhat intimidating) and then via a slight scramble up the side of a tributary. Once the head of the valley is reached the path climbs up to Three Tarns via a very steep stony path that gradually gives way to a grass covered slope. Wainwright describes this route as ” a pleasant change” for walkers who have already trodden The Band several times. While it is indeed a change, pleasant is perhaps not quite the word I would use for the long slog that is required to make it up to Three Tarns.
In bad weather, with poor visibility, the ridge of Crinkle Crags is probably an intimidating place as it could easily become a maze of boulder strewn ridges and depressions. However, on a fine day it is easy to follow the ridge, with plenty of opportunities to explore each crag as much or as little as one likes. There are a few cairns along the way but generally the path is easy to follow. The only obstacle to be aware of along the way is the Bad Step, on the south side of the fourth crinkle. If one was walking the ridge from South to North (clockwise) then this would be an easy scramble or easily avoided by using either of the two routes that are obvious from the fifth crinkle. However, walking from NOrth to South the path from the summit of the fourth crinkle the path leads, via some scree, directly to the Bad Step. Descent is possible with great care. Looking down the step, which is about ten feet high, I could see that there are some obvious footholds, if only I could get to them. By lying on the slab at the top of the step I was able to lower one foot to the first foot hold then had to trust to luck as I let myself slip backwards until my other foot found the next foothold – I know, not the best climbing technique in the world. When Denise descended I had to give lots of physical as well as verbal support to ensure that she found the required footholds and had the confidence to keep going.
As we ascended the fifth crinkle we could see that it is possible to avoid the bad step via a grassy slope to the west or some stony terraces to the east of the summit. All along the ridge, but particularly as we approached the southern end of the ridge, we had some fantastic views of the Duddon and Esk valley and the sea.
My First Leadership experience: the Snowdon Horseshoe
Having completed my Mountain Leader training back in April of this year I now have to rack up a number of Quality Mountain Days (QMDs) before I can think about going back to do my assessment. As well as working on improving a number of skills I also need to get some experience of actually leading groups of people (which may prove tricky since I am not a Mountain Leader yet, thats the whole point, but we shall see. And I digress).
A friend of mine, Caroline, recently attempted Crib Goch with the assistance of a guide that she had hired for the day. However, the weather was against them and they had to turn back. So, I posted on Caroline’s Facebook wall that if she wanted to try again then she should let me know. I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting a response a short while later suggesting the following weekend and asking if we could attempt the full Snowdon Horseshoe!
However, keen to not turn down any opportunity of another QMD and an opportunity to practice some of the stuff we covered on the ML course I accepted Caroline’s request. There followed a frantic week (mainly on Caroline’s part) to find accomodation and come up with a strategy. As the week progressed the weather forecast looked like Saturday might just offer a window of opportunity so we agreed to camp at the Swallow Falls hotel and drive up to Pen Y Pass bright and early Saturday morning.
We both made it up to Betws – y – Coed in pretty good time on Friday evening and after a swift drink in the bar retired to our respective tents. I woke the next morning just before my alarm went off at 5:30am. We got up, had a quick breakfast and cup of coffee before heading up to Pen Y Pass. By the time we had parked up, got a ticket and sorted out our kit it was probably around 7am by the time we set off, heading up the Pyg track on the start of our big adventure.
The morning had started with clear blue skies and bright sunshine. However, as we progressed along the Pyg track, so the cloud started to build so that by the time we left the Pyg at Bwlch y Moch the clouds were obscuring the summit of Snowdon and the top of Crib Goch. As we were about to start the first scramble it started to rain and by the time we were half way up the initial ascent it was hailing! Hailing, in June!!
By the time we reached the ridge the rain and hail had ceased but the ridge was still wreathed in cloud.
We managed to make our way along the ridge, only descending slightly to work our way around a gulley that almost cut the ridge in two. There must be a way over the top as the group behind us managed to overtake us somehow on this section.
We had made it along the Crib Goch ridge to Bwlch Goch, only to be faced with wall of Garnedd Ugain. The phrase that sprung to mind was “How on earth are we going to get up there?”
But, get up it we did. After an initial false start trying to find a route myself, we ended up following another group who had had more success at route finding than we had. Once at the top of the wall we found ourselves on another narrow ridge, which almost imperceptibly got easier and wider until the trig point at the summit appeared through the mist and we had made it to the summit of Garnedd Ugain.
Descending from the trig point it was almost as if we were strolling across open parkland – although there were rocks on the ground and we were still on the summit ridge I knew that the drop off to my right was about 100m away (because I had navigated to it on the ML course). A whole 100m!! That was huge when for the last two hours we had been working our way along a knife edge.
Before we knew where we were the Snowdon railway was on our right and the marker stone at the top of the Pyg track was on our left. We were on the final approach to the summit of Snowdon. By this time there were a few more people about and we were passed by the little steam engine working hard to push a single carriage of tourists towards the top of the mountain. It was very odd to look in at these people sipping their coffees as we slogged up the slope, the wind gusting around us. It was even odder when we finally made it to the summit to see some of these tourists in their designer label open toed sandals and casual outfits strolling around the summit.
Sixth time on the summit, sixth time with no view.
Although this was my sixth time at the summit, it was the first time I had been there when the visitor center was open. So, we popped in for a coffee. Such a bizarre experience, knowing that you are on the top of the highest mountain in England and Wales, and yet it was just like being in a fast food outlet in a town somewhere. I hope the people who work there get the train to work.
After the coffee we headed back out into the mist and started our descent, heading towards the South Ridge until we came across the marker stone at the head of the Watkin path, where we turned and headed down the scree slope.
This was a new experience for me on two accounts. It was the first time that I had descended via the Watkin path and it was the first time that I had seen the Watkin path in its entirity, without it being covered in mist. (Note to self – in future keep to the left on the ascent and aim for the marker stone rather than trying to ascend via the scree slopes).
Thanks to the clearing weather we were able to make it down the scree slopes relatively quickly and easily and made it safely to Bwlch y Saethau, from where we could see the route we had taken so far, the slope of Lliwedd looming in front of us and tremendous views of Glaslyn, Lln Llydaw and the Cribau ridge (which I had ascended on the ML course).
And now we were into the final leg. An easy scramble got us to the top of the West Peak of Lliwedd via some spots for a brief rest and a look back over the route we had travelled.
Once on the West peak there was a short down before another quick up to the summit of the East Peak. From there is was literally down hill all the way via Lliwedd Bach and the path down to the Miner’s track and then back to Pen Y Pass car park and another well earned cup of coffee in the cafe.
Total time, about 8 hours. During that time I managed to point out some interesting features and talk to Caroline about lichens, hexagonal columnar cooling, and various other topics.
A full set of my photos are available on my Flickr site here. And a map of the route is here.
ML (Summer) Training Day Two – Mountain Day
Day 2, Sunday, was to be a day in the mountains. An opportunity to practice the pacing and navigation that we did yesterday, but also to experience some steep ground – to realise what the limit of expectation is for the ML assessment. Our objective for the day was Y Lliwedd (“err clue-eth”). The minibus dropped of us off at Pen – y – Pass and we split into our two groups. Steve paired me up with Joe and got us to set the first objective of the day. We finally settled on a bend in the path where the map showed a wall coming in from our right and off we set.
I managed to count the correct number of paces to our first tick off feature – the path coming in from the right, which led down from the Horns. Unfortunately, at that point I realised that my stopwatch had not started so I had no idea how long we had been walking for, so there was no hope of timing 12.5 minutes to our objective. Luckily, more by luck than judgement, we made it to where we thought we were aiming for, even though there was no wall visible.
Another pair took over and led us to the fork in the path, just before the Miner’s path reaches Lyn Lydaw. From there another pair took us to the point where we to leave the path and really start to head up to the ridge.
A map can be seen here.
We had barely made it a third of the way up the ridge when we were passed by Stu’s party coming down the ridge.
We headed up from our lunch stop to scramble up the rock. Apparently its a grade 1 scramble, but with huge exposure on the left and the slope dropping off to the right it felt much worse. It certainly made me slow down and think about the approach as well as taking things more steadily. Maybe it was just my lack of experience as I don’t think any of the other guys had any trouble.
We worked hard from then on to get up on to the ridge and then pushed on towards the summit. I must admit to finding it hard going in the heat getting up the steep rocky slopes to the top of Y Lliwedd and felt bad for slowing the rest of the team up.
But then it really was down hill all the way back to the car park and we made it bang on time. Unfortunately the other team had been there for a while and had even found time for an ice cream.
Carl Sprake 