Photo Journal
12th January // Through the Clouds
Carnedd Llewelyn // N53.153 W-3.956
This past half year I have prioritised keeping a close eye on the forecast. Really landscape photography is about 35% taking photos and 65% watching the conditions and today was a prime example of this.
As I set off from the bottom of Ogwen valley after catching the bus from Bangor the sky was dark and filled with looming clouds. I wanted to trust the sunny mountain forecast for the summit of Carnedd Llewelyn which was my destination - but I couldn’t help but be doubtful with what I saw ahead.
I missed my first turn to head along the ridge towards Pen Yr Heigi Du, so instead I chanced it that other people would have followed the steep path directly to the ridge which joined Pen Yr Heigi Du and Yr Aryg. Yesterday’s hour of breaking trail was still fresh in my mind but I was pleasantly surprised to find many footprints to follow, and navigating proved to be much easier than anticipated.
Two hikers making their way through the mist
From the ridge, small gaps in the cloud formed, from which I was inside and I caught slight glimpses of Tryfan across the valley and the reservoir below. As I continued upwards along the ridge the clouds further cleared and the suns light was finally able to penetrate through, basking the mountainside of gold, if only briefly.
There was no time to waste on todays outing. Vehicle less and dependant on the busses, I had to be back down in Bethesda for 3:30, as the every-four-hour bus was not something I intended to miss. So there wasn’t much time to rest when I reached the top of Llewelyn, though I did appreciate the thick snow and wall of surrounding cloud which seemed to act as a blockade, creating an impenetrable wall of white over the Glyders and Tryfan. I was certainly pleased that I was on the only cloud free mountains.
The route for the descent was in fact more of the intention for my outing than summiting Llewelyn itself. As I have seem the Welsh Winter a few times now I have been searching for new ways to experience it, and this route in particular is one which was new to me. What a spectacular route it was, offering a unique vantage over the less popular Carneddau which when covered in snow come into their own, and in my opinion rival any of the other ranges in Eryri.
The final walk back down to Bethesda was especially pleasant and far more busy than the rest of the hike, it seemed like this was the preferred way up into the mountains for the residents of Bethesda as I passed many families carry sledges up the mountains.
As I continued along the prominent rocky pimples protruded above the snow marking each summit as I raced back below the snowline, in order to catch my bus home.