The Snowdon Horse Shoe - The Horns, Grib Goch, Garned Ugain, Snowdon Yr Wyddfa, Y Lliwedd and back out on the Miners Track..
Excellent Weather Conditions - light breeze up on the mountains - starting at approx 10am - finishing around 6pm to enjoy a pint at Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel and talk about the days events under the signatures of the Sir John Hunt, Sir Edmond Hilary and Sherpa Tenzing.
We parked in our usual spot in a lay-bye on the A498 near Llyn Pen-y-Gwryd and walked up the footpath to Pen-y-pass (taking usually around 45 minutes). On entering the car-park at Pen-y-pass we head towards the south end of the car-park along the Miners Track. Approximately 200 -300 m along the Miners Track, there is a milestone that leads you to the The Horns (the start of the Horse Shoe), in the Summer months the pathway is a little easier to see, this is a grass trodden route, in the winter months and snow you make your own route to the stile before starting the Horns. The height gain is very quick from the Miners Track approx 185m to an altitude of 545m. Once you are walking along on The Horns you find yourself ascending and descending over a number of small inclines or horns!
From The Horns we descend to Bwlch y Moch to have a drink and take in the panoramic views of Y Lliwedd, Yr Wyddfa and the East point of Crib Goch.
We then take the path to Crib Goch from Bwlch y Moch to the start of Grib Goch arete. The ascent to the ridge can take 45 minutes to ascend depending upon the route taken up the face and how much scrambling you wish to undertake. On ascending, a couple ask me various questions about the best route up to the ridge and how to scramble certain sections which I am happy to assist and demonstrate, I also find out whether this is their first ascent of Grib Goch and how they feel about heights and exposure. They assure me that they are comfortable with heights and thank me for helping ascend a couple of sections of the Crib Goch approach. Whilst advising them on some important safety precautions on the ascent and crossing of Crib Goch I check their attire and happy to see they are wearing appropriate clothing. I advise the couple (boyfriend and girlfriend) that they take their time, where possible use 3 points of contact, make sure what ever they put their hands on they check before using as a hand hold or foot hold, do not rush any move and with Crib Goch being a busy ridge during Summer months do not rush because people are waiting for you - if they want to pass they will.
Reaching the Start of Crib Goch we can see how busy the ridge is and there is basically a line of people along the whole length of the ridge. We both carefully traversed the ridge, staying at a comfortable distance from the people in front of us who were making their first traverse. A number of times the people in front ask if we want to pass and we are happy to take our time and support those in front of us and behind. A summer traverse is very different to a winter crossing - mainly less people and a little more technical. Traversing Crib Goch takes a good 30 - 45 minutes with the number of people on the ridge.
We then continued on to enjoy the scramble of the 3 pinnacles, we then descend to a saddle known as Bwlch Coch leading to a great vertical rock face which I always love to scramble - pushing the limits on the scramble - and on to traverse Crib Ddysgl. Here we were to reach the summit of Garnedd Ugain trig point. where the trig point has deteriorated even further over the years, the top had fallen away.
From Crib Ddysgl trig point you descend to join the 3 paths of the Pyg Track, Snowdon Rangers and Llamberris Path leading to the summit of Snowdon yr Wyddfa at 1085m. This is an easy ascending walk to the summit. With the weather conditions being in top form 20+ degrees the Snowdon Summit Train is in full swing. This section of the pathway to the summit is very busy and you find yourself zig-zagging side to side to walk around other people on the mountain, we reach the summit & cafe to find the summit is unseeable with the 100s of people clambering to touch Snowdon Summit Trig Point - we take 5 minutes to pass this section and begin to descend the scree of the Watkin Path (we actually take a higher route from the summit rather than descend to the Watkin Path stone marker). I always favour a walking pole (only holding the grip without using the wrist strap) to help descend this very precarious section of the hike and much care is needed on this section so that no slips happen.
On descending the summit of Snowdon the crowds have diminished on this side of the mountain and the views are incredible. We descend to a another saddle above Y Gribin ridge (another scramble route that I have ascended in the past, but not today) leading to Y Lliwedd.
Y Lliwedd is soon ascended and before we know it we are descending a steep section to Llyn Llydaw reservoir, leading back on to the Miners Track.
We soon come to the end of our day's hiking and scrambling with a pint in Pen-y-Gwryd Hotel - a fantastic day, weather conditions were superb and the views were incredible.
Our nights camp was spent at Swallowfalls.
Area :
Snowdon Massif
Snowdon (Welsh: Yr Wyddfa, pronounced [?? 'w?ðva]) is the highest mountain in Wales, at an altitude of 1,085 metres (3,560 ft) above sea level, and the highest point in the British Isles outside Scotland. It is located in Snowdonia National Park (Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) in Gwynedd, and has been described as "probably the busiest mountain in Britain".[3] It is designated as a national nature reserve for its rare flora and fauna.
