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Day 30
With Moel Cynghorion already done the easy day planned to Llanberis was now definitely only half a day. It was hotter than yesterday. A heat haze lay over the mountains and the pull up to the ridge was quite a struggle with the heavy pack again. At the summit of Foel Gron a cool northerly breeze brought gentle relief. These hills are grassy and unexciting, a pastoral interlude between the twin dramas of Snowdon and the Glyders. The walking was pleasant enough though in the sunshine and the highest top, Moel Eilio, gave a new view over the Menai Straits towards Anglesey.
An easy descent amongst the sheep brought me down to Llanberis in time for lunch as expected. I ordered a salad and a pint of lager. Although I was in no hurry I became irritated at the delay in producing this simple meal, yet as I listened to the others in the room, speaking in English this time, I realised that they welcomed the slow pace of life in this place. They were old men for whom time was passing, but too slowly. I supplemented my food supplies so that I was carrying enough for two nights camping. My original plan had been to spend the night in Llanberis and walk to Capel Curig over the Glyders in one long hard day. With the early hour and the splendid weather it seemed more sensible to go up into the hills this afternoon. This would not only gain the distance covered today but would ensure a much earlier start tomorrow and a more relaxed day to enjoy these splendid mountains.
Unfortunately I could not avoid a couple of miles on the main road which was very unpleasant when the pavement ran out. After a few very hazardous bends it reappeared much to my relief. At the crossing of the Afon Dudodyn I made the painful decision to fill the water bottles. It was only 4.30pm so too early to camp and the map showed no water near the ridge until the col above Devil's Kitchen which was obviously further than I would get tonight. This extra weight made the long hard climb onto Elidir Fawr even more arduous although there is a path all the way.
I remembered the time that Martin and I tried to do all the Welsh three-thousanders in one day. This is where things went wrong. We did not know about this track which is not shown on the map and runs very much on the eastern slopes of the mountain. We tried to go down the ridge which is covered in awkward boulder fields and this delayed us so much that Snowdon never got done.
It was superbly beautiful at the summit, a classic evening view with the ridges of the hills south-westwards silhouetted one behind the other in ever paler shades of grey. Eastwards the ridge of the Glyders was still quite sharp and green, illuminated by the sinking sun. There was a strong and cold north wind and I realised that it might be quite difficult to find a satisfactory campsite but as I circled round the pleasantly narrow ridge I saw a wall on Carnedd y Filiast which I thought might offer shelter. The problem is that mountains create their own wind currents and after crossing this wall I was struck by a strong south wind. However within 100 yards of the rocky summit I found what seemed quite a sheltered and very beautiful spot where I erected the tent with magnificent views in every direction.
Gusts of wind soon shattered the illusion of a sheltered site and I fixed the extra guys on the tent which I had not used until now. These extra guys are quite complicated to fix since they use the same pegs as the tent and to add to my problems I now discovered that one of the metal rings had come untied and been lost, probably left as a clue to my presence at one of the secret sites which I had thought to leave totally unpolluted. I managed to bodge it up with knots and in fact all this effort was unnecessary for the wind soon dropped and I enjoyed a calm and comfortable night.
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