Cadair Idris on Video #2

Here are the next three video clips.  Climbing/arriving/down the next day.  Unfortunately I could not get my camera to work early in the morning for the sunrise.  It got grumpy and said it too cold.  The first three clips of the climb can be found here.

Cadair Idris on Video #1

I posted pictures of my climb and descent at Cadair Idris here and here before I returned from Wales.  For the reason I wanted to do this sleep over go here.

I am finally getting to posting these video clips I took on the climb.  Most Cadair Idris photos and video shots are taken in the summer so these show harsher winter scenes with their own unique beauty.  Plus it's simple proof I was there and slept on the mountain in the winter.  There are about 6 video clips I will post in two blog postings.  So here it is:








part two of the video series

Accomplished #1: Descending and Still Alive to Tell the Tale

Josh asked me if I had a death wish.  Sensible enough question I suppose given the circumstances of life.  Stephen was regularly posting lifesaving devices and weather reports from Cadair Idris, and even sent along some helpful items for the trip.  Jodi just wanted to make sure that I returned home alive.

It is winter and a cold one in Wales with more snow that usual.  Even this morning, 4 days after my sleepover on Cadair Idris I am in Caernarfon and it snowed here on the coast this morning.  Cadair on the other hand is known for wild and wicked weather.  Mountain Rescue spends a good amount of time pulling people off this deceptively dangerous mountain.  It's height of just under 3,000 ft. and it's danger factor are not equal comparisons.

I ascended with waterproof pants, Gortex hat (which got lost on the ascent), Gortex coat, heavy gloves, boots designed for subzero temperatures, under layers for warmth, and a subzero sleeping bag in my backpack.

Now, on the other hand it had turned out to be a decent day.  Ascending was not going to be the problem on that afternoon.  I still had to sleep over in a stone hut.  Hidden from the elements - except the dangerously low cold temps.

Sleeping bag did the job.  Although I was terribly uncomfortable, I was generally toasty through the night.

So, I arose just before dawn to these sights:  A rising sun, lights of the villages below snaking thruogh the valleys, and clouds to the south beneath the mountain top.

 

  

 

 Once i had packed my bags it was time to descend the mountain.  The sights on the way down were as breathtaking as those ascending the previous day.  My hip had not recovered fully from the pinched nerve feeling, and although going downhill was easier it was still a struggle to keep moving.  Stopping to take some of these photos helped.  There were alien snowscapes, beautiful views, and stream to drink from (hopefully not too much sheep poo in the stream, but then these are the waters at the famous Ty Nant.

 

Once I arrived at the car park I found my beloved Gortex hat by the car.  It had been returned there for me by descending hikers the previous day.  This is one of many reasons everyone should come to Wales - it is a friendly, helpful place in my experiences.  There were other people preparing to ascend as I returned.  Two guys from England, and two Welsh ladies.  One lady asked if I had already gone up and back down that day.  I replied that I only had come down, because I slept on the mountain.

She replied, "Are you pulling my leg?"

"No, I slept on the mountain last night."

"Are you pulling my leg?" she replied again.

"No, I slept on the top of the mountain last night."

The guys responded at this point, "Well, you have our respect."

I am hoping to get a little decent poetic prowess over this - that's all.  Or maybe, having a good story to tell my future grandkids, or spin in a pub someday will be good enough.

for information on climbing Cadair Idris, and it's various routes see my initial post on the mountain.

Accomplished #1: Climbing Cadair Idris

I pulled into Dolgellau later in the day than I had planned.  It was about noon, which meant that I would not begin my ascent of Cadair Idris until 1pm.  This would turn out to be perfect timing.  Since I was in Dolgellau I chose to take the longer, easier route up the mountain, which was also the closest to town.  This is called the Pony Path, and begins just outside Dolgellau at the car park for Ty Nant.  Above is the picture of the mountain looking over the farmhouse at Ty Nant.  Cadair Idris is an imposing sight despite it's smallness as a mountain.

The Pony Path is one of the easy routes up the mountain, but being out of shape and carrying a large pack with my sub-zero sleeping bag and other overnight needs I was definitely stretched even in some of the early parts of the walk.  Somewhere along the second half of the climb I was having some significant pain in my hip, which felt like a pinching nerve.  This caused me to have to stop every couple hundred yards as I neared the top, and slowed my progress sufficiently enough to wonder if I would be okay with this crazy plan to sleep on the mountain in the winter.

To make matters worse I had dropped my beloved black gortex hat somewhere along the path while rearranging my gear, and it was too late to go back for it by the time I realized what happened.  There were other hikers going up and down the mountain, and I asked them to leave it at the car if they found it on the way down, but I gave up seeing my old hat ever again.

I reached the summit as the last people descending were leaving.  Between stopping for the many photos I took and to sit down and rest my hip it was a long slow climb.  It was clear for most of the climb.  This is somewhat rare for Cadair Idris I am told, but as I reached Pen-y-Cadair (the summit) a bank of gray clouds rushed in from the west like a fast moving train, and enveloped me, and the top of Cadair.

Just below the peak was a stone hut, which is used by campers to spend the night.  Needless to say I was the only one there on this winter night.  So, I hunkered down in the hut, and set up my sleeping spot on a wooden bench which was frozen with an thin ice sheet across it's top.

This darn mountain had better make poets out of madmen, because I was sleeping on an ice sheet like a madman and the legend that sleeping on the mountain will make you mad or a poet was going to be at least half true by the time the night was over.

Below are some of my many photos of the climb:

a passage up the mountain between some craggy barren trees.  The land of Wales so often reminds me of the stories from J.R.R. Tolkien's stories The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.  It is such scenes as this which bring this to mind.

As I came to the top of the first section of the walk a couple was standing on the mountain.  People of all ages, couples, friends, runners, day hikers, and those on a daily regimen workout were coming and going.  This was not a large number on this winter day, but I can imagine that the numbers do grow large in the summer months.

In the second section of the climb this was the first real view of the summit.  If you click on the picture you will see the monument cairn which marks the Pen-y-Gadair (the top of the chair) Cadair Idris means The Chair of Idris - for more on the name see my post here

The Pony Path winds close along the edge of steep cliffs as it nears the top.  In the winter it is not recommended to stray to close to the edge as ice shelves, and snow banks can give way and go plunging down the face of the mountain.

The cairn at the peak as seen in winter from the Pony Path.

My humble abode for the evening.  Toasty and accommodating looking isn't it?  This is surely a five-star resort.  I'd better get some good poetry coming out of me after staying here!

This is my comfy little set up on a frozen bench in the Pen-y-Gadair hut.  Of course the flash on my camera is making look a lot more inviting than the reality of arriving just before sunset with a gray cloud bank chasing me up to the summit.

The dramatic rush of deep gray clouds which enveloped me can not be captured by still photography, but here you can see the front edge of the cloud bank as I near the summit.  The mountain went from bright and sunny to gray and dreary in moments.

The next post will cover waking and descending Cadair Idris.  The verdict is still out on my insanity or my poetic prowess.


part two of the photos and story

Update on #1 (Cadair Idris), and #9 - maybe

I have my ticket to Wales.  I will be headed there on February 5th on an American Airlines red-eye flight, and returning on February 22nd at a decent time of day.  I had enough points with a card to have to pay only the taxes, which were over $150, but that still beats any other price.

I will be south Wales for the first week, and then head north.  I will spend sometime with Paul Allen at The Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT) in Machynlleth, and my #1 thing to do before I die is very near CAT.  So I am planning on climbing Cadair Idris.  I suppose I might change my mind if the weather is too crazy for climbing and spending the night, but at this point I figure that climbing in the winter is a mad thing to do - that means according to the myth I should come down the next day a poet.  Go up mad, return a poet - not a bad exchange.  Of course, I could simply end up twice as crazy.

I will be lecturing at a castle on the 12th, and am looking forward to that experience.  Atlantic College meets in a castle.  Maybe I can find a way to stay there as well, and then I could fulfill #9 on my list as well.

#1 Cadair Idris: One Day to Becoming a Great Poet, or a Madman

There are great romantic adventures in this world, and among them is a mountain climb, and wild camping experience in the southern edge of the Snowdonia mountain range of Northwest Wales.

This is not an amazing adventure because of the great height of the mountain or the danger factor, though steep cliffs don the north side Cadair Idris. Rather, ancient legend says that the mountain was the armchair of a giant: Idris, who was a master of poetry, astronomy, and philosophy. It is said that today those who sleep on Pen y Gadair, the summit of the three mountains which comprise Cadair Idris, will descend the following day insane or as poets - if they live through the night.

The climbs range from easy to difficult. A steep scramble up the Fox Path moves among loose cliff scree, and can become dangerous in difficult weather. The Pony Path is the easiest, but longest climb beginning in nearby Ty Nant. The mountain affords some of the best rock climbing in Wales. When the days are clear you will be able see the Cambrian coast perhaps all the way to Ireland on one side, and on the other side down the sheer cliffs to the dark waters of Llyn Cau, which legend calls a bottomless lake. Of course, it is Wales, and this mountain near the Irish Sea is noted for radical and quickly changing weather, so dress appropriately and be prepared for anything.

There is a hut at the top of Pen y Gadair, which can be used to get away from the cold winds of the mountain top, and a cairn marking the summit. Camping on the mountain is allowed, but one should be considerate in the spring when lambing season is occurring. No permits are required to sleep on the mountain.

Although this is only the 18th highest peak in Wales, it has become the second most trekked mountain in the country. Perhaps this is why the Welsh are noted for their complex and beautiful poetry. It is believed that ancient bards stayed upon the mountain in search of inspiration. Today bards young and old scramble the sides of Cadair Idris in search of their own inspiration.

With four main paths ranging from expert to beginner levels, beautiful views, and most of all for the romance of the mythology Cadair Idris makes the top of my list of 1,000 things to do before I die.


Other information on Cadair Idris:

A great blog post with fabulous photography.
A list of the main Cadair Idris walks
Trekking Cadair Idris from Dolgellau

Where to stay in Dolgellau

Please note: There is a variant spelling to Cadair Idris --> Cader Idris