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Day 33
Creigau Gleision turned out to be an awkward hill. I would find a splendid track but then it would just peter out or turn in completely the wrong direction. Various knobbly tops, draped in trackless heather, lie between Capel Curig and the highest summit. However although it seemed a struggle it took only two hours instead of the three suggested by the book and it was a simple continuation to the north top.
I filled the water bottle on the way down to the dam and brewed up in the lee of the wall. The morning had started exceptionally clear which is often the sign of a break after a spell of good weather but it soon turned hazy again and the strong cold wind persisted, now from the north-east. I tuned in to the weather forecast and heard Michael Fish warn of an increasing risk of thunderstorms. Almost immediately there was a loud bang and a rumble but I concluded that it was only an aeroplane. Although the cold wind was unpleasant it seemed to be holding off the bad weather which was creeping up from the south.
I felt very reluctant to leave my suntrap by the dam and embark on the ascent of the slippery witch, Pen Llithwrig-y-wrâch, which I remembered as a hard slog from every direction. Despite yesterday's easy day I was accumulating exhaustion both mental and physical and had written in my log 'five weeks will be enough!'.
I did not linger on the summit of the witch. I was glad to be done with her and rushed on to a much nicer hill, Pen yr Helgi Du. I felt a fleeting moment of regret that I could not leave this mountain by its delectable south ridge, one of the most delightful descents imaginable, on beautiful, soft, easily graded grass with fantastic views of Tryfan and the Ogwen valley all the way down. Often I had finished a hard day in the Carneddau with the sharp little scramble onto this summit from the west, a tiny bit of extra effort for so great an extra reward. Today I continued gingerly down that scramble and it was no surprise that as I climbed up the other side of the col over the rocky ridge of Craig yr Ysfa, now on the most popular circuit in these hills, I started meeting crowds of people.
I skirted south of the highest summit to join the ridge to Pen yr Ole Wen via Carnedd Dafydd. When I had written this out and back route into my plan I had done so with none of the misgivings associated with some of the more obscure diversions. This justifiably popular ridge was one which was worth doing twice. I had not envisaged the fierce north- east wind which made it difficult to stand and threatened a dreadful struggle on the return journey. By keeping down on the south side of the ridge both the worst of the wind and the bouldery summit of Carnedd Dafydd were evaded. As I swept up to the flat summit plateau of Pen yr Ole Wen it was approaching 5pm and a feel of evening was already in the sky. Tryfan and the Glyders looked only a stroll away, quite clear now with their ridges sharply illuminated by the sinking sun. I did not walk over to the cairn on the southern edge of this plateau from which one can fully appreciate the 'end of the world' nature of this peak as the ridge steepens and falls to the shores of Llyn Ogwen making the crossing to the Glyders very far from a gentle stroll.
As the sun dropped so did the wind, at least sufficiently to make the return over Carnedd Dafydd exhilarating rather than agonising. Although this long ridge is nowhere narrow its high altitude and steep northern crags give it a pleasantly airy feel. Once again I skirted Carnedd Llewellyn, this time to the west, to take in Yr Elen. The ridge out to this little top is the narrowest in the Carneddau and the wind was still strong enough to make it awkward. The top itself is triangular and I was not sure which corner was the true summit so crawled up to each in turn poking just a head over the eastern cliffs for a glimpse of the tiny corrie lake Ffynnon Caseg. The gale sweeping up the crags beat into my face so that I could hardly open my eyes to enjoy this dramatic prospect.
As I returned along the ridge, trying to keep on the western side to avoid being blown off, I met several people in trainers and shorts and guessed that they were probably doing the three-thousanders from south to north. They must have had a hard day with this strong north-east wind so it was no surprise that they looked completely exhausted and merely grunted in response to my cheery greeting. The diversion to this outlier is a bit of a sting in the tail for those attempting the three-thousanders in a single day but for me, bagging the two-thousanders, it was a very minor added effort.
These hardy folk would no doubt continue and finish in the dusk but I was now thinking about camping. If I continued onto Carnedd Llewellyn and out towards Craig Eigau I would be heading unprotected straight into the easterly gale. It was obviously essential to set up camp in the lee of the highest summit but looking down the western slopes they swept unbroken to the valley 1500 feet below. As I had traversed towards Yr Elen I had found a tiny trickle of water, enough to slowly fill the bottles, but I had seen no flat spots below. There were little crags on the slopes higher up however so I decided to traverse back at higher level in the hope of finding a flattish tent-sized spot beside one of them.
I did find a site, a quite magnificent one, remarkably flat and comfortable. I fixed all the extra guys for although I was in the shelter of the summit cone of the second highest mountain in Wales it was by no means wind free. I gazed out of the door at the long ridge sweeping round to Carnedd Dafydd and to the sea far westwards over which I expected to enjoy a spectacular sunset However instead I saw something even more spectacular. Mist started to pour across the summit and it swept down above the tent and into the valley below. The sensation was like that of sitting behind a waterfall and watching the world through a veil of spray but here I was sitting behind a veil of cloud. Gradually the valley filled with mist and it rose until it lapped at my door and finally engulfed the tent completely.
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