Creigiau Gleision

A fried breakfast at the club’s hut in Llanberis set me up for another day of mopping up Nuttalls and as nobody else expressed any interest in my objectives for the day, the walk turned into another solo expedition.

Three of my fellow club members advantage of my drive over Pen y Pass, asking to be dropped off before their traverse over Snowdon and back down to the hut.  I parked behind Joe Brown’s in Capel Curig and set off on the bridleway leading to the day’s first summit, Crimpiau.  The cloud was obscuring the view but was slowly rising and snow on the ground was first seen at just below 450 metres.  The summit was well-defined, leaving no doubt that the highpoint had been reached.

As the cold and wind made themselves better known I reached into the top pocket of my rucksack for my hat and gloves but the first thing I found was a Christmas bauble, put there by a mischievous hut-dweller!  It could have been worse, I’ve heard stories of rocks being buried in the depths of rucksacks of the unsuspecting.

Tryfan

The drop to the col passed three Carneddau ponies; their dull-coloured coats camouflaging them well.  The final few metres to the top of Craig Wen offered some interesting scrambling with a choice of routes to the summit.  Another drop to a very boggy col was the prelude to the first Nuttall of the day, Craiglwyn.  The views had improved by now with the higher Glyderau tops and the Ogwen valley coming into view, as well as the high Carneddau sporting significant amounts of snow.

Carneddau Llewellyn, Pen yr Helgi Du & Pen Llithrig y Wrach

From Craiglwyn the next two summits could be clearly seen.  Creigiau Gleision was soon reached from where I saw a fellow solitary walker (possibly Steve Smith – see here) on the summit of Pen Llithrig y Wrach with the clear path allowing easy progress to Creigiau Gleision North Top, passing an interesting quartz outcrop.

Creigiau Gleision and North Top

Time had passed too quickly to descend to the dam of the Llyn Cowlyd reservoir and finish the walk in daylight, so I decided to retrace, at least partly, my steps.  I skirted Creigiau Gleision’s summit to the left – a mistake soon realised by the boulder field that I had to negotiate.  I bypassed Craiglwyn on the right through heather, although some sheep trods made like easier.  Then it was just a case of finding a way to the bridleway above Tal-y-waun – a task not too difficult until I encountered the unpassable gorge of Afon Llewesig and an equally unpassable area of gorse !  More retracing of steps, this time uphill, before the final half mile walk along the A5.