Photo Journal
16th November // A Day Above the Clouds
Garnedd Ugain // N53.075 W-4.0735
It's rare you get a perfect day up in the mountains, especially in November. In all my foolishness the week before, staring at the cloudy sky from my house I had missed an opportunity to witness a cloud inversion. I had been hearing talk about them, but I was in denial, and I hadn't checked the mountaintop forecasts. I had gotten a brief glimpse of a cloud inversion at the weekend, but had to hurry down the mountain back to work.
Today was going to be different. I had been studying the weather charts intently, plotting the best time and place to be, and with my plan set, I started my walk up the Llanberis path up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa. It has been a dream of mine to watch the sun rise from above the clouds at it’s summit, and after many failed (and far less prepared) attempts last year, this particular morning I was feeling optimistic.
As I paced under starlight, I couldn't help but be confused where the clouds actually were, and as I reached near the summit and looked over the ridge line eastwards I saw that the carpet of cloud was far off into the distance beyond Moel Siabod. A change of plan was needed. Instead I submitted Garnedd Ugain, the second tallest in Wales and perhaps the most overlooked mountain, it has spectacular views of Y Lliwedd and Llyn Llydaw.
Here sheltered from the wind I watched the sun come up from behind the clouds.
After some time I made my way up to the summit of Yr Wyddfa where I sat basking in the sun for a few hours whilst I read my Kindle making use of the rare warmth in Autumn. Not before long, the clouds began to approach as the wind turned eastward, and soon the summit was wrapped in cloud.
There would be momentary breaks in the clouds where individual summits in the Snowdon horseshoe would poke themselves out before being consumed by white. Feeling it was time, I made my way up Garnedd Ugain for the second time, as I had changed my plan to traverse Crib Goch in reverse. Another bucket list photo of mine was to capture the needle sharp ridge with clouds on either side.
I passed a few over hikers on my way over, walking across the top of the ridge, it was definitely a harder challenge in reverse, as the most recent times I’ve done the traverse have been from the North Ridge, which is arguably a much more dramatic and scenic alternate of the hike, but this meant that I had forgotten the intricacies of the main route, scrambling my way down on my hands, a feat much easier performed going up.
After a bus journey back to my van after such an incredible hike my thirst for adventure wasn't quite quenched, and after refueling I headed to Dinas Dinlle, my favorite most accessible beach on the North West coast of the mainland of Wales. The waves were calm and lapped against the shore as I waded out into the ocean. Seabirds were dancing in the fading light, creating patterns in the sky.
As the sun set obscured behind an imposing cloud, my view turned behind me, to the one day premature Beaver Moon which poked its head up from behind one of the dunes. On the top of the dunes was a photographer who I introduced myself to and as we chatted the sky above the mountains turned a pale pink. As darkness crept in, fog rose from the earth and the air become humid as a mist ascended.
What a perfect end to the day.