July 8th / 12th - Wet 'n windy in Snowdonia

Off for a long weekend camping outside Bethgellert; coincidentaly I had a meeting in Warrington the day before I was meant to meet Gary, Allan and Rufus in Betws y Coed! After a brew we drove over the pass to Bethgelert and spent the afternoon walking in the Glaslyn Gorge before going back to the campsite, and pitching tents. Angela and D'Arcy let us know that they were going to be arriving late and so we nipped back to Llanberis and made the most of the evening in Pete's Eats.

It was wet and cool come morning, so we dossed about over breakfast then decided to go to the Ogwen Valley and up to the Slabs. Ange and Allan followed me up Hope (or Faith, or Charity??) while D'Arcy and Gary explored the top of the cwm / waited with the dogs, depending on your point of view! Getting off the crag, as ever, was the hardest bit, with Ange preferring the abseil to scrambling down the usual decent route. Being pretty damp and certainly not particularly warm, it was a unanimous deciscion that saw us back at Pete's for dinner!

Another overcast morning, so a few hours in Port Merion let the clouds blow over before getting the rock boots on for a few hours playing on the slabs of Tryfan Fach.

Finally, the weather was meant have cleared - but this is Snowdonia and it didn't. At least the rain stayed off until we arrived at the Pen y Pass car park; then it decided to do the shower / sunshine / shower thing that leaves everyone pondering what to wear! Up Snowdon by the Miner's path, down the Watkin (I'd dumped my car at the bottom of Cwm Llan) with good views low on the both the Miner's and Watkin tracks, but the summit, with its extensive building works, shrouded in thick clag.

First view into Cwm Llan from the Watkin path

That's that then; back to Bethgellert for a couple of beers and our last night before I had to head North and the rest of the team made their seperate ways south. A good weekend, not at all compromised by the weather.