Total ascent 985m (3231ft).
What a day's weather that was! Does that make sense? Well what I meant was the weather was unexpectedly fantastic, which was great until right at the end when I'd drunk all my water and started to wilt.
I'll keep this to the point as Jen and Liz are here and won't want to watch me tapping all evening. I started from the bwlch with mist lurking on the shoulder of Cadair Idris, at about 2200ft. After climbing about 100ft I met two brummies having a rest and a fag. They obviously weren't walking, and at a level area another 100ft up were at least 30 men and boys, most with cameras. Were they paparazzi? And if so who were they waiting for on a mountainside? It transpired that they were waiting for jets to fly through the bwlch so they could photograph them. Jet fighters are quite common in the Snowdonia valleys, but not timetabled, so they could only wait and hope. This was at 10am. By 4 there had been just one flyover, but sadly not (I think) where they were waiting.
As Jen had dropped me off and was meeting me at the end I was able to take a much lighter day sack today, so I hammered up the east slopes to the summit. The last time I'd been up Cadair Idris it had snowed heavily the night before and was misty on top, a white mist which blended into the white snow and convinced me that I'd died! Today the mist cleared as I climbed so the top was clear when I got there. I hadn't expected this to be honest as the mist had been quite low and I was hitting the summit early in the day. As it turned out the mist didn't just lift, the clouds completely disappeared, leaving a glorious blue sky.
Cadair Idris - a beastie!
It very quickly became hot, and on the way down from the summit I bumped into a man who was about my age, hugely overweight and wearing shorts and a t-shirt. But that was it. He had no pack at all and looked shattered. I asked him if he was ok and he said yes. Then he asked how far it was to the top. I said about 1000ft and asked if he wanted a drink. He then drank a substantial amount of one of my water bottles so I told him to go down. It seemed a bit odd giving someone my own age a teacherly command, and he said he'd see how he was in a few minutes. Thankfully a few minutes later he did indeed do as he was told.
Looking ahead to Barmouth.
Another highlight today after I had descended were the Cregennen Lakes. I was wondering why the route was bothering with them but they were stunning, with the Cadair Idris ridge as a backdrop. Shortly after I dropped down to the railway bridge across the estuary to Barmouth. It's ridiculously long, at least a mile, and in the heat felt like longer. When I reached Barmouth I was desperate for shade, which I found, a pint of milk, which I also found, an ice cream, which I easily found, and Jen and Liz, which proved trickier but it all ended happily.
Cregennen Lakes - note fertile island!
As a quick résumé - yesterday was my day off so we drove to Aberystwyth and took the steam train to Devil's Bridge to see the 3 famous bridges I'd missed on Saturday because of the rain. The hotel we are staying in is great. It's the George III and it's right next to the river on the Mawddach Estuary.
So the next 2 days across the Rhinogs are the big ones. Not in terms of height but in terms of difficulty and navigation. And tomorrow's forecast isn't great. Still, survive those and I'm home and possibly dry!
-- Posted from Kev's iPhone
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