Snowdon and Other Welsh Hills

If I were to attempt to compleat (sic) the Nuttalls list of English and Welsh mountains with a 15 metre prominence – I would have had 9 Welsh hills to do and one English hill – the English Hill being Pillar Rock, a summit that it seems I am unlikely to get to the top of.

Five of the Welsh Hills were well spread-out around North Wales. Note the past tense.

So, me and Dawn and LTD went to North Wales – quite near the village of Llanbedr and, in hot weather, we bagged Craig Eigiau – now there were four. Craig Eigiau is on the East side of the Carneddau and has a rocky and ever-so-slightly scrambly summit. We completed a short six-mile round by visiting Mellyn Llyn and Dulyn, both of which tarns are also reservoirs; Dulyn having the dubious honour of having the wreckage of a US air-force transport plane which crashed on the crags above the tarn in 1944 in bad weather. Sadly, all of the four aircrew were killed. A propellor in the water by the shore is the main piece of extant wreckage.

Then it rained for a day, so we were confined to camp – although me and LTD ventured out into the misty drizzle to bag the local Tump, Foel Ddu and it were a right Foul Ddu (yes, I know that the pronunciation is wrong for a pun like this..dhuhh)

Then it was hot again and we went to the beach as opposed to bagging anything but finally, on a drippy morning we parked expensively in Llanberis and set off up the path towards Snowdon. We got quite wet. Other peeps, in shorts and t-shirts, and, in one case, sandals, got even wetter. At the halfway station, me and lTD marched off up the slope, off the main path to acheive the ridge leading to Llechog – Nuttal number two. Llechog is remarkably similar to Craig Eigiau in semi-scramblyness but that the view of Llanberis Pass below is stupendous. As we were doing this, Dawn was doing her own thing.

We returned to the tourist path and plodded off with the crowds to the summit of Snowdon. The train and the Miners Track route added extra bodies to the crowd on top of the hill, and, in addition, there was the sound of a swarm of wasps, which turned out to be a small drone.

It could be argued that attending a hill with such a large crowd of humanity and their dogs is not a “propah” hillwalking experience and that its much better to be alone with one’s meditational thoughts instead. I don’t mind, though, in fact, I quite enjoy the busy paths. If I wanted to be alone I wouldn’t climb Snowdon but would opt for Bink Moss….   Many of those peeps up there were clearly in the midst of some personal challenge, just getting up there being a major victory. They weren’t hillwalkers at all, they were your jolly Uncle Joe, your sister’s boyfriend or even your Mum and her poodle Samba. I find this quite uplifting in it’s own way.

The day turned out hot and mainly sunny too, so all those pairs of sweaty shorts would be drying out. Me and LTD went off to bag Crib-y-Ddysgl, a subsidiary 3000-foot top on the way back, and we had the place to ourselves.

Then, with an easy descent on grass we rejoined the tourist path back to Llanberis, meeting Dawn who was soaking up the rays near Clogwyn Station before finishing the descent to the station cafe for chips and tea.

Next day we went home – so only two more Nuttals bagged, leaving three to do. Quite good fun, though, and I got a nice tan.

The question is, who will drag a panicky old bloke on the blunt end of a Very Tight Rope up the Slab and Notch route on Pillar Rock. And, more to the point, get me back to terra firma without too much screaming in terror or, more importantly, short flights with sudden ends?