Photo Journal
11th January // Wales in White
Crimpiau // N53.109 W-3.882
Returning from the Christmas break back to North Wales, I found the mountains in a thick covering of snow. I had ventured out the Sunday after my arrival but with clouds and snow forecasted for most of the oncoming week, I was lacking the motivation to have a full mountain day out. I think mostly I was still reminiscing about the recent Scotland trip, which I doubt shall be matched for conditions for a long while.
As trivial as it sounds, it’s hard to not become accustomed to such beauty on my doorstep, and become complacent in not bothering to explore the same worn tracks that I have walked over. Even when I feel that I’ve seen everything there is to see, I am consistently reminded that there is always a new take, and this is the case especially when I am feeling reluctant to go out.
And so on this day out, with nothing but cloud forecasted I postponed my initial plans of a big mountain day out and instead opted to head to Capel Curig with a particular photo in mind. With a short bus journey I was ready to begin my outing.
In all honesty I started this walk in a bad mood. It was grey and I was so over the sight of snow. But it wasn’t long before the sun cast some rays through the clouds, illuminating the peaks of Yr Wyddfa and Y Lliwedd in the distance. This lightened my mood. Not wanting to miss the sun, I darted for a rocky crag where I set up my tripod and watching the light passing over the mountains, until I too was in the sunshine.
The rest of the days play was abruptly cut short when the tracks I had been following to Llyn Cowlyd via Creigiau Gleision stopped, and as I began to break trail I was soon up to my hips in snow. This was going to be tough, so I opted to make my life slightly simpler, and break trail parallel to the road, intersecting the path which was to be my way back to the bus stop on the A5.
This was still however an arduous task and I spent an hour in uneven knee-deep snow.
Eventually I reached the path and the first footsteps I’d seen since I left the previous trail, but knowing I had a big day out ahead of me tomorrow, I followed what I can only describe as a manmade river (built to catch the runoff water from the mountains and redirect it to Llyn Cowlyd) back down towards the road.
Here I encountered some of the infamous Carneddau Ponies as I hiked once more in the sun,
