For our final challenge some of our group were offered a scramble up Tryfan. This is the only mountain in the United Kingdom apart from the Cuillin of Skye, to require scrambling on the ascent. At 3,002 feet (915m) above sea level it is one of the highest mountains in Wales. We began our ascent in the Ogwen Valley at the camp site. The mountain ahead of us looked a real but exciting challenge.
To reach the Heather Terrace we had to follow a track up the south-eastern flank of Tryfan which took us through this cleft in the rock.
Turning sharp left we reached the start of the Terrace – narrow outcrop of sedimentary rock sandwiched between two types of volcanic rock. Although it had some width to begin with it soon became much narrower.
Eventually the Terrace peters out and it became a bit of a scrabble up to the bwlch between the summit and the south peak where we had our lunch break.
A hands on scramble was needed to reach Adam and Eve at the summit.
The views from the top were truly excellent and underpinned a sense of achievement in reaching this point.
The descent to Cwm Idwal was a little easier after the first 50 metres.
Again the views were quite spectacular – Nant Francon .
Dropping down to Llyn Idwal.
The Devil's Kitchen at Cwm Idwal with The Slabs on the left and deep cleft known as Twll Du to the right.
Finally, the group that I spent the week with.
