When I saw during a week that the weather for the coming Saturday looking good, I wanted to spend that day in the mountains again. And I quite like tacking on a night. So on the Friday, I quickly packed my bag. I was going to see Jenny in Bangor, so I decided to drive there, and then drive straight into the mountains afterwards. I had chucked a can of soup and a head of lettuce in the my bag and that would serve as dinner! And I had decided on Cwm Glas Mawr; a side valley from Nant Peris. I had explored it to a limited extent before, but I can't find the report on my blog. But that previous time it had been quite foggy, so I hadn't seen much. This time things would be better!
My clever plan was: park up near Pont Cromlech, follow the stream up to the nearest point where you can comfortably pitch a tent, and then have dinner there. The next morning I would pack it all up, go back to the car, exchange my big bag for a smaller one, and then do a proper explore of the valley. And so it happened!
I know the valley is quite steep and good spots for a tent are scarce, but I had faith. I also had to negotiate my way past two people who were playing in a part of the stream with a weir in it. Probably for reasons of hydropower. I was surprised; this was the only ugly bit of the entire stream. But later I thought that maybe this was the famous infinity pool (and it is). I honestly don't see the appeal!
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| The main road is right behind that wall! It's already this beautiful 1m away from it. |
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| Where I was heading |
I found a little spot right by the stream and settled there. I was pretty hungry by then! That soup quickly vanished. My dinner was festooned by lovely evening sun on the mountains on the other side of the valley. This is the sort of thing for which you do this!
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| Beautiful evening light |
After dinner I had a lovely bath in the stream. I also did bit of newspaper reading, and just staring at the landscape, until it was bedtime. And I slept well.
The next morning I made a big porridge breakfast, and then packed up. I was down quite quickly. This time, there were even more people in the infinity pool! And the layby I was parked on was still quiet.
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| My camping spot |
Some 50 minutes after I had left my camping spot I was back there with my much lighter bag. And then the proper explore could continue! It was very beautiful. Soon I found myself in Cwm Glas Mawr sensu stricto, with its big split rock. There was a small group ahead of me, but nobody else seemed to be in the valley. I decided to stay close to the northernmost stream, when they chose a more southern route. I got to the scrambly bit I remembered from the previous time, and not much later I was standing in Cwm Glas. And this time without fog! I could admire Llyn Bach, and the impressive cliffs behind it. I also spotted a strange lithologic boundary. It looked like rhyolites lying on top of mafic volcanic rock.
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| Behind me is the path out of Cwm Glas Mawr |
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| Strange lithological boundary |
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| Weird breccia |
I wanted to explore the whole width of the side valley, so I proceeded to Cwm Uchaf. When I approached it I could hear voices. And these voices wouldn't stop. The valley is just underneath Crib Goch! And on a Saturday in summer with reasonable weather like this one, it would be fairly busy up there. And it struck me just how red the ridge is, when seen from this angle. I had always found Crib Goch, or the Red Arete, a bit of an exaggeration. But not anymore!
I had coffee and cake underneath the ridge, and then I leisurely made my way down. It is a beautiful valley with beautiful lithology! And when I got quite close to the road without having got hungry yet, I just sat in a beautiful spot and sent some messages I needed to send. I thought it would be a pity to not have lunch in this beautiful area! And I got sufficiently peckish just in time. But when I had eaten my sandwiches I went back to my car. By then the layby was absolutely crammed!
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Looking at Llyn Glas
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It took me a bit longer to go home than expected; because my nose was pointing in the direction of Pen-y-Pass I decided to travel that way. But when I approached Llyn Ogwen, my car indicated the motor was overheating. I quickly pulled over! The dashboard hadn't been kidding. I am glad I have a box with useful fluids in the back of my car. I threw all the coolant I still had with me in the reservoir! And gave the car half an hour to cool down. Then I made my way home without further issue.
It had been beautiful! The landscape had been fully mountainous. And I had had a lovely night in my tent. I know I won't keep doing this; at some point nights will be so long and cold it isn't much fun. But for now I am still very much enjoying my mini adventures, which take barely any preparation, and don't take me away from the cat for too long. I hope I will be back soon!
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