Yesterday, John Marchant showed me where to park near Cym Idwal and then pointed near vertically up to a ladder stile. ‘That’s where the footpath goes.’ The footpath, as any civilised person recognises the term, ended while we were still in the carpark. After that it was all hands to the rough rugged volcanic rocks of Tryfan. Within a hundred metres ascent, I was puffed and in danger of my pulse exceeding the speed limit, so halted to remove my coat. John easily scrambled up the rocks inventing new routes and offering advice. I worried when with his long arms and legs, he called that he was stretched to the limit over ‘that one’. This meant I had to either find another way or grow six inches in as many seconds.
Halfway up we stopped to appropriately consume half our rations. The two photos are from our picnic spot.
The one with my boot looks down to the road and our starting point. Below the basin-shaped mountain of Y Garn is Cwm Idwal. It’s a favourite geography field trip spot for many teachers and their students. I must have wandered around there telling students about how Charles Darwin speculated about glaciation there. Also telling them about me arriving just after a man died sliding down Idwal Slabs and his clothes on fire from the friction. I very much enjoyed a walk to Cwm Idwal through Devils Kitchen from Llanberis with Robert, my son a few years ago. it is a magical place.
