Ok so I'm late at writing this. After getting back from Scotland I spent a couple of days observing an SPA training course. It was great fun. 

Unfortunately the person that I had planed to spend Thursday with cancelled, however at the last minuet I managed to tag along with a friend Jane, who was taking her elderly father and an inexperienced friend up Crib Goch. I jumped at the opportunity to get up a hill. 

We agreed on an early start. With no idea how long it would take to inch our way along the notoriously exposed and narrow ridge, it seamed best to give ourself a fighting chance to make the most of the daylight. 

The day started badly as I managed to pour the best part of a pint of coffee over my bed and kit bag. The day got better from then on. I met Jane outside Nita's B&B and was introduced to Phill (Jane's Dad) and Wayne (Jane's friend) oh and Nita, we then jumped in the car and headed up to the Pen y Pass. 

After a bit of faffing we headed off up the Pyg track towards the Crib Goch turning. The mountain was shrouded with cloud and it looked rather brooding and daunting. Yet undeterred our intrepid crew carried on towards the promise of exciting scrambling.

We turned up crib Goch and the interesting scrambling began. Wayne and Phill got stuck in without any fuss and the day got better from then on. The scrambling is engaging from the outset. Its technical enough that you need to use your hands a lot of the time and need to keep making interesting route choices. All of which distracts you from the steadily growing drop beneath you. 

We popped up the East Ridge onto Crib Goch, then made our way along the ridge, then down to Bwlch Coch then up Crib Y Ddysgl onto Garnedd Ugain. This route links a series of separate scrambles that is often collectively referred to as "the Crib Goch ridge onto Snowdon". Anyway we encountered a super Brochen Specter, before reaching the finger stone and returning to the Pen y Pass via the Pyg Track. 

After returning to the Pass we nipped in to the new YHA Cafe. It was rather good if I'm honest. Wayne and Phill had a really good day out, at least thats what they said, and Jane and I enjoyed showing off a spectacular mountain route. Wayne was making noises about completing the whole horseshoe in the summer. 

I must confess that I'm not much in a writing mood tonight. I'm somewhat shattered. But here is a brief account of my final day in Scotland with Sue.

After the stunning wether and the successes of Saturday Sue and I headed off to Geal Charn with gusto.

We parked up near a building site, it being a Sunday the security guard decides that it would be ok for us to leave our vans tucked away by the enterance.

We were somewhat dubious about this route as according to the guide book to begin the walk we had to attempt a dodgy traverse of a metal strainer in the river, or get wet boots fording the river. Fortunately we were spared this inconvenience as the construction work has build a mega bridge across the river. Success. No wet boots.

After a long and unrelenting slog up path-less heather slopes, climbing two fences and skirting a deep cleft in the mountain. We found ourselves on the summit of the mountain before our Munro.

We were just below the cloud. It felt like you could reach up and touch it. We layered up and headed off towards our summit.

Sue wanted to practice some navigation, and the weather was playing ball. We had accended into the clouds and visibility was poor to say the least. We found the summit due to some exceptional navigation and a little bit of following our mountain noses, as a mutual friend might say.

From the summit down we decided to navigate propperly. This was very successful if not uneventful. That is, until, SUE FELL INTO THE BOG! It was hilarious. I must confess that I laughed. And laughed a lot. She went into just below her knees. Sorry Sue. Upsettingly I was too busy laughing to get the camera out in time to snap a photo. Giving Sue her due I have never seen someone get jump out of a bog quite so quickly.

Any way the rest of the walk was quite unremarkable. Apart from walking off in the dark for a second day. It another quality day out.

Saturday morning and it's cold again. I wake up in a layby just off the A9, slightly South of Inverness, and waste no time in starting my drive towards Glen Strathfarrah. This gated Glen is supposed to be one of the most beautiful glens in the Highlands. It is.

Sue and I heads off down the Glen, we had got the code to the gate and all the relevant permissions to be there. A large walking party was setting off at the same time as us, as was a solitary chap on a bycical.

The Glen was full of mist but as we headed up the slips it turned out to be an incredible sea of our inversion.

The round of 4 Munros was superb. A gloriously high and airy ridge line, that was wide enough not to cause any discomfort. We had stunning views across the whole of the highlands. So here are some photos. Make up your own minds.

I took so many photos I'm not sure which ones to post up. Oh well. The day was spectacular. We walked off the mountains into the setting sun and it was full dark, and a thick mist filled he Glen by the time we got back to the valley road.

A short while into what could have been a long walk back to the van, Steve Fallon, the walking grous guide came along in his Land Rover and offered us a lift back to the van, where his clients were waiting. Needless to say we agreed and saved ourselves a long walk.

Well last Wednesday early evening I found myself pulling into the car park if the Clachaig Inn. The warm pub lights marked the end of a 10h drive to Glen Coe. I made my way in to find a mildly disgruntled Lizzy waiting for me. We got down to the business of the evening, planning a mountain day for the morning. Lizzy soon mellowed and we had a pleasant evening enjoying the hospitality of that famous climbing Inn. The plan for the morning wa a Sgorr Dhonuill, the other Munro on the Balachulish horseshoe.

We woke early. Painfully early. It was cold. Forthunately it being cold ment that I could justify not getting out of bed till the kettle had boiled, the hob acts as a heater.

Anyway that's by the by. We drove round to south Balachulish and set off up the path towards the distant Munro. I must confess that the long drive and a broken nights sleep left me feeling very rough. I didn't enjoy the walk up the mountain and Lizzy was going at a fair pace.

We stuck our heads over the bealach and were hit by a tremendous wind. We made our way to the summit and spent some time admiring the view. Then we left the summit heading east, to find a way down and back to the van.

The walk down was much better than the slog up. I started enjoying myself. We had an interesting time picking our way down a very loose scree filled gully and were back at the vehicle by 1:45pm. Plenty of time to find coffee in Fort William. Thanks Lizzy for a fun day out. Sorry about the lack of photos guys.

After the successes of Crib Goch in the snow, Sarah, Toby and I were in a bit of a dilemma with what to do today. Given the bad weather forecast, both, Toby and Sarah having knee problems we decided on a short day out. 

The guide book (North Wales Scrambles, Garry Smith) gave us the idea to have a punt at Pinnacle ridge on Pen Yr Ole Wen, a mere 20min walk from the car park in Owen. The photos in the guide book convinced us that this was worth a look. It proved to be interesting in the wet. 

Well we found the ridge with no great difficulty and I fought my way up the first rock step. It was tricky but went well in stiff boots designed to hold on to little edges of rock. Sarah went to follow me. Then the difficulty arose. The step was slippery enough to pose a problem to her. She and Toby backed off. Which left me with the slightly awkward task of retracing my steps and down climbing the awkward movements. They were much more awkward in reverse. I ended up using some thin rope round a spike of rock as a handle and lowering myself off it. 

We decided to head up the mountain and a few meters further up came across a grassy terrace that led round on to the main scramble. We used this to neatly bypass the awkward step below and got stuck in to the main scramble. 

This consisted of two pinnacles, short-lived but exposed scrambling. Im ashamed to say that we didn't end up taking any truly awesome shots. 

With the scrambling over and the rain setting in properly now, Toby navigated us to the top of the mountain before traversing round the summit and heading off down another ridge line and back down into the Ogwen Valley. 

An enlightening day out. Fun, but not a route I'm in a massive hurry to repeat. 

So Sarah, Rachel, Toby and I found ourselves in the Moel Siabod planning a mountain day for today.
The plan: The Snowdon Horseshoe. Quite a long day by any estimation. 

I woke up cold in the van. It had been a very cold night and the cold had not vanished this morning. Putting the kettle on I opened the van doors and had a look towards the summit of Snowdon. I was greeted by an awesome sight. 

From the van I could see the highest slopes of snowdon iced in a fresh snow fall. I knocked on Sarah's van and she popped out to have a look. We decided that Crib Goch (a knife edge ridge) was probably off the cards for the day. 

We met up with the others and left the Pen y Pass carpark with no intention of braving the ridge that is Crib Goch, we trudged of up the Pyg track, resigned to a long plod up an uninteresting path.

Well as we slogged round the Pyg Track our resolve to a dull walk crumbled and looking up at the intricacies of the ridge line we gave in to the desire to walk on its lofty edge. We changed direction.

It was worth it. Probably the fist proper winter day of the year, probably the best day so far. 

We climbed up to the lofty traverse with fresh snow crunching under our boots. Today was not a day to be teetering along without using our hands. We scrambled the length of the ridge enjoying the complexity of the scramble and admiring the big drops on either side. 

Along the ridge somewhere on route to the summit of Snowdon we built a snowman and had a high level snowball fight, couldn't resist really. It was a truly spectacular day out. Worth it to see Sarah's hair stand on end during a snow storm! Walking out along the Miners path the sun was catching the mountains in a glorious way.

So Monday dawned bright and breezy, I picked Toby up and we drove round to Ogwen to head up the Cneifion Arete, a grade 3 scramble. However as we drove over the Pen y Pass and past the Pen y Gwryd huge black clouds could be seen billowing up the valley behind us. so we drove hoping to out run the weather. Needless to say we failed at that. As we drove past Tryfan we came across Sarah and Rachel having breakfast and looking bemused at the weather, we pulled in for a chat. 

I expressed my hesitations about heading up the scramble in such awful weather. Sarah told me to man up and get on with it so Toby and I jumped back into the BBV and made our way to Ogwen Cottage. 

The walk up to the start of the Cneifion Arete takes in some beautiful scenery and our spirits lifted as some blue sky appeared above Idwal. We met a tribe of ferrel goats who posed politely for photos. Finally we arrived at the foot of the Arete. It was time for a quick bite to eat and to gear up. 

This was Toby's first time on a high graded scramble, the plan was to move together with me leading the route. As I tied into the rope the heavens opened and rain poured down. Joy. 

The first section of the route involves climbing a steep(ish) wall but on big holds. In summer its a joy to scamper up. In the rain, not so much. And boy did it rain! 

Over the course of the next 2 hours it rained, Sleeted, hailed and finally snowed. Oh and the wind was relentless. At points the winds were blowing strongly enough that I stuck my head over the ridge, to be battered by the wind and forced to beat a hasty retreat below the arete. We climbed relatively quickly although the cold and wet slowly sapped our energy. 

The climbing is truly spectacular and even in the bitter icy weather it was thoroughly enjoyable. Unfortunately the photos that I managed to snap during the climb, simply can't do it justice.
as the weather worsened moves that, in the summer, you wouldn't think twice about took on an altogether more daunting nature. 

I'm sorry to admit that when I finally topped out on the large grassy plateau, know as the football pitch, on Y Gribin Ridge I was slightly relieved. Toby climbed up to join me. He looked drained. Given the weather and the exhaustion we were feeling, we decided to head down to the van and then over to the Siabod Cafe for coffee and cake to recover. Thus abandoning our plans to meet Sarah and Rachel under the Cantilever stone on the summit of Glyder Fach, we turned towards warmth and cake. 

Much later once warm, caffeinated, and relaxed we cold both look back on the adventure with a sense of enjoyment. 

Not much to be said today. I took Toby out for a day of ML style navigation. Just an opportunity for him to take us to random, indistinct features on a 1:25000 OS map. He did remarkably well and hit every point. getting better as the day continued. This however is practically work and I don't like to blog about work. As we tramped down the road, somewhat soggy, a familiar yellow van sped past. We found Sarah parked up behind the BBV. We had a quick chat and agreed to meet in the pub later to plan the next few days.

Well Friday came and I found myself stuck in motorway traffic again, but at least I was headed to Snowdonia and this time I had company in the van. Toby and I were on the road, for what seemed like forever.

Eventually we arrived, unfortunately it was raining cats and dogs. Happy Halloween. Well the rain set the tone for the weekend. Wet.

Saturday morning dawned bright and hopefull. I collected Toby from Pete's Eats and we headed round towards Bethesda where we had arranged to meet Max (from uni). The plan was to have a go at the Crib Lem Spur onto Carnedd Dafydd.

Eventually we found somewhere to park and after joyful reunions, set off up the hill.

We slogged up towards the ridge that we planed to scramble up, an interesting grade 1 by all accounts, while suffering a constant bufferting by the wind.

After a brief bite to eat at the base of the spur we decided to brave the wind and try our luck on the ridge. It was blowing quite hard now.

We struggled our way up through the wind tactically hiding from the gusts behind large rock spikes. It became a game of wind, wait, still, move. In that way we made our way swiftly up the ridge. There was little incentive to hang around.

We topped out, predictably, into the teeth of the gale! It was brutal. Walking was difficult. We made it as fast as possible to the low wall shelters on the summit. We ducked in here to hide from the elements, oh by now it was properly raining and had been for a while, where we were joined very shortly by some woefully ill equipped walkers. One of them was in skinnie jeans. After chatting about the weather we departed the summit and headed back for the waiting cars.

The Carneddau really do try and throw your navigation off. Max felt it too so it's not just me, you want to walk the wrong way off the hills. Anyway we made our way back down to the cars, then off to a caffe to recover our strengths. All in all a very enjoyable day out!