Tryfan is a mountain in Snowdonia. At just over 3,000 feet, it
qualifies as one of the ‘Welsh 3,000 ers’.
You can read up on it here; http://www.summitpost.org/tryfan/150335
It never even crossed my mind to ‘do’ it, until I asked Sue if
she fancied a drive through the mountains. It was our first day off for two
weeks, and to be honest, we hadn't done as much walking as we’d like over the
summer holidays, as we were so busy at work. “A drive – why can’t we go up one
then? You haven’t climbed Tryfan, let’s do that?” was Sue’s reply. So, at around
7:00AM we set of for Snowdonia.
When we arrived about 10:AM, there was a bit of rain hitting
the screen as we drove along, plus the mountains were enveloped in a wispy mist.
NOT good!
Then, as we approached the base of Tryfan (that’s it on the
left), it miraculously started to clear! Even blue sky started to peep through.
GREAT!
Looking up Tryfan, I saw that I thought were a couple of people on the top. Sue
explained this was Adam and Eve, a rock formation I was to get a LOT more
intimate with later on. If you blow this picture up, you’ll see what I mean, and
how I thought it was people.
All around us, the mist was uickly clearing from the tops - GREAT!
We parked up at the plentiful free parking at the side of Llyn
Ogwen. This is a place dear to my heart, as my Mum and Dad used to take us to
Anglesey for our holidays from when I was about 9 years old. They always
insisted on stopping around here, and my brother Colin and I would take an empty
bottle to a mountain stream and fill it with cool, clear water.
See what greeted us by clicking on this link;
The view down Ogwen, to the Nant Ffrancon valley.
We got booted up, and set off in the vastly improving conditions, even feeling
the sun on us now.
Yes – the path goes UP! Sue had (for some reason) chosen the hardest way up. The
North face of Tryfan is not what most people would call a walk, as you have four
points of contact most of the time, making it more of a scramble. We both love
this sort of thing though, but was it wise after so long a lay off?
The view down Llyn Ogwen and the Nant Ffrancon valley.
The heather was blooming - but this is where the midges hide in wait for us!
This is more indicative of what you get up to on the North face.
Of course, there are LOTS of dramatic points too, with it being so
steep.
This is the famous ‘Cannon stone’, with views to die for
(literally, if you slipped)
See the view from the stone by clicking on this link;
Sue and I had lunch here, a dramatic and memorable spot.
This is Anna. She and her dad were also doing Tryfan that day, and it was the LAST ONE in the 3,000ers for them. HUGE congratulations to them both.
Sue was determined to have a go too, but was a bit more ‘respectful’ of the
stone.
We saw one or two other mountain goats on our way up.
This photo goes a little way to showing how steep the way up is.
One last pic, before we press on up.
The cloud was REALLY clearing now to the West, but over our
shoulder to the South, it would linger all day. More of that later, but for now
we got this stunning view of Llyn Idwal, & Llyn Bochlwyd, (left) as we
gained height at a phenomenal rate.
See a sweep of the valley (complete with commentary by me) by
clicking on this link;
Llyn Ogwen was looking very blue and beautiful in the strong sunshine now.
Looking up, this gully looked the most serious part so far. there were people
ahead, so we just pressed on – slowly!
NOW it was getting good – Sue and I were being paid back in plenty
for our hard climbing with views like this.
Clear views are good, but I must admit, I DO love an ethereal cloud
or two in the shot.
We reached the top of the third gully, and looked through to Y Garn across the
valley. It was at this point, or nearby, that we disturbed about 2 million
midges, and we were bitten quite a lot. All I ended up with were red spots, but
poor Sue had a bad reaction to them, and was a week itching and uncomfortable.
It got REALLY WOW! as we got to the top. This cloud was
‘waterfalling’ from the ridge of Glyder Fawr, into the Nant Ffrancon valley
below us.
You can see a short video of this by clicking on this link;
We were surprised by just how many people there were when we got to
the top, about twenty, in all. We all just sat around, admiring the terrific
views and weather conditions.
Then, I noticed the two stones I had seen from the valley – ‘Adam
and Eve’.
Time to get ‘better acquainted’.
First Eve........
.....then Adam.......
To gain 'The Freedom of Tryfan', it's customary (necessary) to leap the gap between the two stones.......
So - here goes.........
My photographer - relieved that I'd done it OK.
You can see the jump in moving form here;
We got a guy to take our picture in the warm sunshine on the top
of Tryfan.
Mum and Dad – if you’re watching, I TOLD you I‘d climb it one day!
Then, it was time to start down.
One last glance back at Adam and Eve.
The cloud to the west over the Glyders Fawr and Fach never fully
cleared all the time we were there. It was awesome to watch it moving and
rolling though.
It cleared momentarily though, to give us a 'peek of the peak' of Glyder Fawr.
Sue, carefully picking her way down.
The short, and less dramatic, rocky path down the west side of
Tryfan soon eased to a grassy path.
A smiling Sue gratefully walks on it
The approaching evening light softened the ridges and cyms of the mountains.
We curved round with the contours, and reached the car again. Pen-yr-ole-Wen
still had wisps of mist on it.
We reflected on an incredible day, feeling SO lucky to have got
these conditions on our precious day off.
We sat in the lay-bye, all smiles and contentment, before heading
off home.
If you'd like to see a full screen movie of the trip, please click here;
http://youtu.be/MjTjlc0mfhY