First Walk on the Glyders

One of my sons has started to express an interest in hill waking. I suspect that it has more to do with a fascination with winter mountaineering and the thought of spending a night in a snow hole but, when I offered to take him out into Snowdonia, he jumped at the chance. So, relieved to see the fine weather was still holding, we headed into North Wales and Ogwen Cottage for our assault on the Glyders.

A proud Alf at the top of Tryfan
A proud Alf at the top of Tryfan

As Alfie hasn’t done much serious hill walking before, it was difficult to predict exactly how well he would get on and, as a result, how far we should plan to go. However, by spending the day on the Glyders, we had a number of options for our descent that we could have used at any point.

From Ogwen Cottage, we made our way south east to the saddle between Tryfan and the Glyders. After a few few minutes to rest tired legs, Alfie was rejuvenated and almost bounced his way up the south ridge of Tryfan to the standing stones of ‘Adam’ and ‘Eve’ at the summit. Not surprisingly for a clear sunny day, we came across a number of people at the summit many waiting for their turn to have their picture taken. Many spoke about the tradition of jumping from the top of Adam to Eve, but no one seemed prepared to give it a go themselves. I never know which stone is which, but Alf made it look easy as he scrambled his way up for a photo.

With one peak achieved, Alf soon had visions of conquering as many as possible in the day. So it was with renewed confidence and determination that we picked our way back down the south ridge before making our way up onto the Glyders via the scree slope to the side of Bristly Ridge.

Alf on (sort of) the Cantilever!
Alf on the Cantilever (sort of!)

Alf’s eyes were instinctively drawn to the Cantilever stone, when he recognised it from pictures I’d shown him in the past. It didn’t take him long to make his way up ready for the second nostalgic photo of the day, following another Glyders tradition.

We soon picked our way across to the summit of Glyder Fach, where we took the opportunity to grab a bit of lunch in the sunshine, before making our way past the Castle of the Winds and on to Glyder Fawr.

It’s been a long time since I’ve walked the section between Glyder Fawr and the top of the Devil’s Kitchen, and it was steeper than my memory served. However, we picked our way down carefully past a few heavy breathing guys on their way up, and took a long look at the map. Dropping down the Devil’s Kitchen in Cwm Idwal was always in my mind as a possible route down, but Alfie was eager to carry on. With the grassy south eastern slope of Y Garn directly in front of us, it was too much for him to resist.

We cruised up the path, leaving another family in our wake, and were treated to some magnificent views towards Snowdon, the Carneddau and Anglesey. At this point, Alf tried to persuade me to go as far as Elidir Fawr as well, but it would have taken an additional 2 hours or so which, although we could probably have done, would have meant a late return home and the likelihood of some pretty sore legs tomorrow.

Cooling off in Llyn Idwal
Cooling off in Llyn Idwal

So we dropped down the north east ridge of Y Garn into Cwm Idwal. We were greeted by the impressive sight of the cwm with Idwal Slabs and the Devil’s Kitchen at the back, which were being enjoyed by the people using the northern sore of the lake as a beach. Not a bad site for a family picnic! Alf didn’t take much persuading to use the lake as a means of cooling off but, as his head entered the water, I don’t think he was expecting it to be quite so cold.

Today was a fantastic day. To spent such a beautiful day out in the sunshine, enjoying the mountains, and being able to share it all with Alf was a real treat. I can’t wait for our future trips into the hills together. I’m sure they won’t all be blessed with warm sunshine, but it would be nice!

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