On the roof of Cymru

After the exhilarating exposed ridge climb of Crib Goch we paused to admire wall to wall scenery from the white trig pillar of Garnedd Ugain. From here a quick descent finds you on the Llanberis path (probably with hordes of other people!). From here the path turns left past the impressive Finger Stone on Bwlch Glas which marks the top of the Pyg and Miners’ Tracks. From here there are captivating views down into the gaping chasm of Cwm Uchaf with its mysterious lake, Llyn Glas, and the sight of umpteen people red cheeked and panting their way up to the top of the path. The incongruous sight of a steam train puffing its way up the mountain towards the Hafod Eryri Summit Shelter to disgorge scores of day-trippers makes the experience of Snowdon all the more memorable! A made pathway leads to the crowded summit pillar with its ornate brass plaque behind the shelter. Standing on the roof of Wales watching the ravens and the seagulls whirl on the thermals and staring into what seemed like infinity was truly remarkable. We enjoyed a very leisurely lunch celebrating bagging Wales' highest peak at the cleverly designed and award winning Hafod Eryri Summit Shelter with a cool Snowdon beer (what else?) and a rather dubiously named Welsh pitman’s ‘oggy’. Sadly, the pastry really stuck in my gullet (not because our Welsh cousins have ripped off our Cornish pasty) but because we had been charged a whopping £22 for beer, oggies and 2 small bottles of water!! Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/B1963/comment/15204/

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Snowdon horse shoe via Crib Goch North Ridge

The snowdon horse shoe , classic walk/scramble can be sometimes very crowded. To change things up a little and give it some isolation we went via the north ridge of Crib Goch, great walk as listed in "Scrambles and easy climbs in Snowdonia" Jon Sparks, Tom Hutton, Jerry Rawson. Grade one scramble so nothing too hairy involved, however depentant of course on the weather. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/B1963/comment/14829/

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Top of Wales..

Hiked up Snowdon along the Llanberis pass tourist route in summer '09 with what seemed like half the population of GB. Had a feeling it would be busy but this was high street!. Between walkers and the cog train which also goes to the summit, the combined total of people on the mountain that day must have been in the thousands.

It is a fine mountain aesthetically and has far more interesting routes than the one we chose. A weekday off season would be the time to climb this hill and on an alternative passage such as mentioned by brian_M below. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/B1963/comment/14904/

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Snowdon View from Ireland.

This was a picture taken from the Cherrywood area of Dublin showing Snowdon, 1085m and to its left Garnedd Ugain. The ridge to the right of it lead to the slight peak of Clawdd Coch (931m).

The view appeared in cold weather around 1 Celsius in Ireland, with light winds and was taken at an altitude of only around 75m on 12th Jan 2021 around 14:30. Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/B1963/comment/22081/

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Romance and Reality

Peter O'Brien was an Irish lawyer and judge who served as Lord Chief Justice of Ireland between 1889 and 1913. In his lifetime he was universally known as Peter the Packer, due to the skill he had shown as Attorney-General in securing "packed" juries. No one on this site gives a flying fiddler's reproductive act about legal achievements. But O'Brien's memoirs reveal that he was no stranger to the mountains.
“I was in Wales for a short holiday, and one day was going by train to Llanberis with the view of ascending Snowdon. A young man — a barrister as I thought — was travelling in my compartment. We discussed legal topics, and I gave him some advice which I deemed might be beneficial to a young barrister. As we found each other's society congenial, we arranged to ascend Snowdon together, and when we reached the summit, my young friend grew pensive and heaved a sigh, whereupon I chaffed him on the possession of a romantic temperament. The beauty of the scene may have moved him to give me his confidence, for before many minutes had elapsed he was asking my advice concerning his love affairs, which were causing him great perplexity. It was a case of " How happy could I be with either, were t'other dear charmer away !" for there were two ladies, and he could not make up his mind to which to propose. One was extremely pretty and well endowed ; the other dowerless, and, to quote my young friend, " an angel," having nursed an invalid and querulous father through a long illness, denying herself all amusement to take her place by his pillow. I advised him to marry the dowerless young lady, saying that, inasmuch as she had proved such an excellent daughter, she would be likely to prove an equally excellent wife, and stand by her husband as she had done by her parents. I told him that under such circumstances, even without money, he would probably succeed at the Bar, as most men who had risen to fame had had to work hard in the beginning. My young friend seemed im- pressed by my advice, and when I had finished speaking, suddenly exclaimed, as he pointed to a lady who appeared on the scene: " Why, there's the pretty girl I was telling you of." Very pretty she certainly was. She had ascended Snowdon with some friend, and was delighted to meet the young barrister. She was very gracious and charming to me, and I felt rather a traitor in her presence, owing to the advice I had just given. The episode was soon almost forgotten by me, and my thoughts might never have reverted to it, had I not many years after received a letter from the barrister, in which he recalled himself to my memory and thanked me for my advice, which he had followed, with the result that he was " happy in his marriage beyond his expectation," and was making a large income at the Bar. My success as a matchmaker much gratified my vanity, but I was content to retire on my laurels, knowing that I could never again hope for a like success, inasmuch as " angels " are rarely to be met with.” Linkback: mountainviews.ie/summit/B1963/comment/18851/

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