#foel goch

[ayhama]

[ayhama]

Foel Goch

[ayhama]

[wwalab]

[smirnieoutdoors-blog]

Good Friday in Snowdonia. Snow Joke!

Six days earlier we had been out on the adjoining hills basking in warm sunshine and laughing at the forecast which had suggested snow was a possibility this Easter.  It was Good Friday and we headed to the Hirnantau for an afternoon walk up Foel y Geifr and on to Foel Goch.

There was in fact a dusting of snow on higher ground as we wend our way towards the reservoir.

My heart sank as I realised the road up towards our designated parking place was covered in snow with icy looking tyre tracks snaking up the hillside.  I remembered the drops on one side of the road. Memories of the last couple of icy and snowy road instances made me really anxious.  I've some how got it in my mind after years of driving without any issues that I can't manage on snow and ice.  All evidence to the contrary I made it, despite brown pants sweaty palms and palpitations.

The hills couldn't have looked more different, dressed in a wintry coat of snow, the sky a watery, wintry grey and clouds laden with more snow.

Clear blue skies, sunshine and sweeping views of the Arans a week earlier......

Good Friday snow cover - this is the view from the foot of Foel Goch looking towards Lake Vyrnwy.

There was less snow at the summit of Foel y Geifr than on the slopes, the wind had  caused quite a bit of drifting.

Drifting in evidence. Notoriously boggy, the ground wasn't frozen solid so once  your leg went through the snow it sank further in to ice cold bog with the result that my leg disappeared up to my bum on a couple of occasions.  Those sticks were extended to approximately 1.20 metres.

Looks innocuous enough but the ice cold bog and snow combo saw us blundering back down the hill giving Foel Goch a miss until another day.  Conditions definitely made for a very good work out though!

[wwalab]

[ealandscapes]

Hi all

Well, today wasn’t a particularly good day for photography, as it was/is raining, but I thought I’d take the camera along as I dropped my wife off at the top of Pen y Pass to guide a client up Snowdon. It was only upon driving down to see a friend of mine, Nick Livesey that I thought the damp, grey skies might be conducive to black and white photography. Anyway, I had a coffee whilst watching my friend restraining himself from any stresses from customers (hill walkers can sometimes be a pain in the rear); but he does a great job – I couldn’t do hat he does! Chwarae teg, Nick ;)

That means ‘fair play’ in Welsh, by the way.

As I sat listening to a large group of walkers, debating whether to do Snowdon due to the poor weather, I thumbed through a copy of Trail magazine and laughing at its references to parts of Snowdonia that they had incorrect. For example, you don’t reach the Devil’s Kitchen by heading to Glyder Fawr from Y Garn, you reach Llyn y Cwn. They are always getting stuff wrong to be honest, even going so far a few years ago as to provide the incorrect compass bearing to take off the summit of Ben Nevis! consequently, I stopped buying it at that point and I only read it as the usual Pro Cycling mags were not there. I prefer TGO :)

Anyway, the rain continued top pour as I finished my coffee off. I agreed with Nick that we should get out on the hill in the next couple of weeks, and made my way out to the car to drive home via the beautiful Ogwen Valley. I also picked up my mountain rescue team’s Annual Report, as it features one of my images on the cover:

The cover is actually colour, but I wanted to accent the team logo.

I figured I’d stop at a camp site I knew of and take some shots of Tryfan from there. So, here we go. All monochrome today folks (click all images for larger versions):

A closer shot of the east face of Tryfan; a little murky though sorry.

On the ‘old road’ next to the campsite, looking directly at Tryfan’s east face. It is a mountain rescue hotspot!

Shot of Far South Peak poking through the cloud.

Looking west over Llyn Ogwen to Y Garn and Foel Goch

Tryfan’s North ridge towers over the road, as a false summit disappears into the clag. A very popular climbing venue, Milestone Buttress is on the lower left and has climbers on it, but you may find them hard to make out.

Driving down Nant Ffrancon I decided to stop and shoot back up to the Glyders. Here, cloud skims the 1,001 metre top of Glyder Fawr as Idwal stream tumbles 400 metres down into Cwm Idwal, adjacent to Devil’s Kitchen. Idwal Slabs centre of shot.

So despite the fact I struggled to keep my lens clear of rain, I still managed to get a few done.

Not a total wash out :)

Thanks guys

Elton

Hi all Well, today wasn’t a particularly good day for photography, as it was/is raining, but… Hi all Well, today wasn't a particularly good day for photography, as it was/is raining, but I thought I'd take the camera along as I dropped my wife off at the top of…