Читать книгу Great Mountain Days in Snowdonia. 40 classic routes exploring Snowdonia онлайн

40 страница из 60

Just past the barracks, the path starts to climb steeply, casting about to ease the gradient as much as possible until it reaches Bwlch y Ciliau, from where there is an exceptional view of Crib Goch and Llyn Llydaw below. There is a large cairn at Bwlch y Ciliau, and from it a path ascends, right, up Y Lliwedd. The Watkin Path, however, bears left, passing first across Bwlch y Saethau, once itself adorned with a large cairn said to mark the site of the death of King Arthur. Indeed, the whole of the cwm below, Tregalan, is allegedly the scene of one of the king’s many battles. Even older than Arthur’s battles, the cwm displays fine lateral moraines – piles of grass-covered rocks and earth deposited by the retreating glaciers at the end of the last Ice Age. Yr Aran rises majestically on the other side, and beyond it Moel Hebog and the Glaslyn estuary.

From Bwlch y Saethau, the path starts to rise abruptly across the southern flank of Snowdon. The section between Bwlch y Saethau and the top of the climb, Bwlch Main, is very steep, unstable, dusty and worryingly loose when dry, and slippery when wet. In winter conditions, this route is the preserve only of experienced and well-equipped mountaineers. Not under any conditions should a deviation from the path be contemplated; it is far from the surest of routes, but it does head straight for a prominent finger of rock on Bwlch Main, an essential marker for anyone descending the Watkin Path.