As is traditional, the weekend before our January meet saw the Welsh hills covered in snow, but a turbo thaw soon put paid to that. But at least we had light winds, dry days, and even a bit of sunshine.
We were staying in the Cae'r Frân hut, a new one to the club, set high above Llanberis on the slopes of Snowdon. a 5 minute walk from the road. Plenty of space due to prior engagements and last minute cancellations, but there'd have been lots of room even if full.
On Saturday we walked up Snowdon, but obviously just going the quick way would be no fun at all, so I planned an extended route via Moel Eilio, descending to Rhyd Ddu, then ascending the rather fine south ridge. Return was via the Llanberis path, a total of about 17 miles and 1700m ascent. Tough going, my estimated 8 hours was out be almost 2!
The next day we fancied something easier, so I worked out a circuit of Llyn Padarn. We detoured to the summit of Cefn Du to take advantage of the sunny views, which promptly disappeared into the clag as we arrived.
The rest of the route should have been easy, but that reckoned without the vagaries of Welsh public footpaths, with several not there at all, others blocked by walls and bogs. Once we got to the lake shore though we entered the Padarn Country Park and lots of well waymarked routes. Dodging some orienteers, we paused to investigate Dolbadarn Castle before returning to the hut.
A really good hut, we'll definitely return.
