Snowdon: A Walk in the Clouds

The literature of mountaineering is predominantly English, and much of it is about this mountain and especially its north face, the Black Cliff, Clogwyn dur Arduu, which has long been a training ground for British rock climbing. At 3,560 feet, it is just a day hike, but it is one of those classics one has to do. Besides, on a fine day, from Snowdon's summit you can see the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, the Isle of Man and the Isle of Wight. So they say.

The day, Thursday, started hopefully for me but then quickly deteriorated. Bigger mountains make their own weather, and, as soon as I climbed up onto the ridge from the valley, everything went gray. Fellow walkers at fifty paces were vague dark figures. It was cold and clammy for six hours, but it was still fun and a thrill. Snowdon!

Vicki stayed back at the carpark, slaving over a hot laptop. After I got back down, we camped at a lay-by down the road from Llanberis, overlooking a lake and the huge strip-mined former-mountain of slate beyond it. Wales, for many years, roofed the world.

The Victorian cog railway still plies the route; here it is in

the valley, the weather, hopeful...

A couple hours later, near the summit, in the clouds; BTW,

I, obviously, eschewed the train; that is to say, I

eschewed-schewed.

Just below Snowdon summit

Snowdon summit compass

The Irish Sea, and beyond, the Wicklow Mountains, and far

to the right, the Isle of Man...

Summit self-Portrait

Staircase into the Abyss...one of the alternative trails

Clogwyn dur Arduu...as I would like to have seen it