Photo Journal
21st November // Snow Capped Glyders
Castell Y Gwynt // N53.104 W-4.011
It’s always a magical feeling after hearing the first wintery forecast of the year and waking up to see the mountains covered in snow. I’m so lucky that the mountains are on my doorstep and after working most the week, with a day off, a sunrise hike was calling.
Despite having a minimal amount of winter gear including some hand-me-down crampons and ice axe, I wrapped myself up in plenty of layers and set off to the summit of Y Garn. I could dedicate a whole post to Y Garn, but I’ll save that for another time. For this adventure I made my way under moonlight with its glow and the orange on the horizon providing enough light to navigate.
As the first of days light touched my skin the cold I had been enduring no longer mattered. I watched the mountain tops turn from blue to yellow in the distance as everything around me slowly came into light.
What I had never really thought about before was how intensely blue the shadows were. The snow reflected the sky so vibrantly.
Soon I could see heavy storm clouds approaching from the North, and as they passed over I was in a snowstorm, perched on a rock trying to keep myself out of the worst of it. Unsure on whether to call it early or wait it out, I was assured by another hiker that the forecast said intermittent clear skies. Then just as he said, the sky cleared and I continued my loop up to Glyder Fawr.
As I ascended the wind picked up sending snow racing up the mountainside in mesmorising patterns. I had to keep reminding myself that I still had a long hike ahead of me, as I couldnt stop photographing the patterns of the wind.
The top of the Glyders in the snow never disappoints. It becomes a whole new world. From the plateau I could see the low lying clouds in the next valley slowly rising upwards like plumes of smoke and the sun shone through a thin layer of shifting cloud, casting a soft light across the snow capped mountainside.
Eventually another storm came so I moved onwards, summiting Glyder Fach in the clouds before heading back to the start, just in time for sundown.
