Welsh Cakes

We haven’t been on enough adventures recently, so we planned one to North Wales. Friday night saw us test-driving the new Macpac tent in very gusty winds at the top of the Ogwen Valley – we’re happy to report that it coped fine with the wind, although it was a bit noisy at times. Saturday morning was spent visiting Rachel’s past in Bangor, followed by an orienteering event in the forest near Betws-y-Coed. Clearly the lack of sleep cost me as I ran all the way to the bottom of the hill before realising I needed to be at the top.

After cake and chips in Betws-y-Coed, we decided more adventure was needed, so headed up to Pen-y-pass and set off up Snowdon in the dark. After missing the Pyg track, we wandered along the Miners’ track past the lakes. The darkness added an air of mystery to the walk, especially to the old mine buildings, while the gusty winds occasionally brought us to a complete halt. Things were going fine until we hit thick cloud just after the junction of the Pyg track and the Miners’ track, so rather than spending the night wandering around the summit trying to find the path, we beat a retreat to the pass. By the time we got there, the cloud had cleared.

We headed back to Ogwen Valley to spend the night in a much more sheltered spot where we could enjoy the sound of the wind whistling through the trees without it moving the tent. The next morning we decided to run the Glyder ridge from Y Garn in the west to Y Foel Goch in the east. It was pretty cold to start, and we were soon in the cloud, but the summit of Glyder Fawr was fantastic with its huge piles of jumbled boulders, and as we came down Glyder Fach, the cloud cleared and the sun came out for a glorious finish to the day as we headed down via Bwlch Tryfan and Llyn Bochlwyd. More cake in
Betws-y-Coed was the perfect finish to the weekend.