[Leica] Hiking Cwm Idwal

[lrzeitlin at aol.com (lrzeitlin at aol.com)]

 Here are the pictures that I promised related to our hike up Cwn Idwal. 
First a couple of disclaimers. The hike was 14 years ago when we lived in 
Menai Bridge, Wales. While not exactly fit, my wife and I were in better 
shape then than we are now. Second, it was not a photographic expedition. My 
only camera was a beat up Rollei 35 that had lived at the bottom of my 
gadget bag for years.


We followed a gentle path that promised an easy ramble around a classically 
formed glacial bowl named Cwm Idwal.?


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Larry+at+start+of+hike.jpg.html


My wife, Maggie climbing over a stile.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Maggie+on+stile.jpg.html


At the center of the Cwm a small lake, Llyn Iwal, sat in a valley carved out 
by the retreating ice. The only settlement near by is Idwal Cottage, a 
hamlet so small it isn't even on the map.? Here is a general view of the 
area.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Hiking+Snowdonia.jpg.html


Another and more picturesque view.I did not take this picture (although I 
wish I did) but cribbed it from a tourist brochure.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Llyn+Idwal+and+Idwal+Slab.jpg.html


The path became just a series of rocks that had to be stepped on precisely 
to avoid the muddy plots between them. The upward slope turned into a rocky 
staircase. In about half an hour of hard breathing we were up to the base of 
the Idwal Slab.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Idwal+Slab.jpg.html


The Slab was a sheer rock wall about 1000 feet high. At the base a bevy of 
climbers were laying out rope, checking equipment and organizing all of the 
esoterica necessary for flouting the laws of gravity. A couple of young men 
came over to us armed with a video camera. They were gathering material to 
promote the joys of climbing in the Welsh Alps. I guess they decided if 
geezers such as we could make it this far then anyone could. Where does the 
trail go from here? The cameramen pointed up the rock face but then took 
pity on us and suggested a more gradually sloping route to the top. Ahead 
was the jointed cleft of Twill Du which splits the peak into two points. In 
Welsh this means Devil's Kitchen.


The route turned into a series of rock scrambles that took us above the tree 
line. The warming weather was melting the snow which soaked the rocks and 
ran into the channel between the twin peaks. We found ourselves fording 
shallow streams of melt water. These eventually combined into a narrow but 
very high waterfall breaking the trail into two parts. The gap was too far 
to jump although there is a local tradition that says jumping the gap brings 
good luck. That must be the case since missing the jump certainly brings bad 
luck. After a series of wet, slippery stumbling attempts we crossed the gap 
a few hundred yards upstream then found our way back to the minimal trail.


http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Larry+Z/Twill+du.jpg.html


A steep climb later we stood below the peak. As promised, the view was 
magnificent. Llyn Idwal, a long way below, reflected the gray cliffs but 
ripples in the water suggested that a wind was rising and it might be 
prudent to descend.


The downhill trek was physically harder than the uphill part. We nodded to 
other hikers coming up the path secure in the knowledge that we had 
completed, albeit inadvertently, one of the more demanding passages in 
Snowdonia. By the time we reached the car we decided it was time for a cuppa 
tea.?


Larry Z