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

56 страница из 60

Sadly, the northern end of this compact range has been despoiled, mainly by the extraction of slate both at Llanberis and near Bethesda. More recently, but less intrusively, the mountains have been used for a hydroelectric scheme involving the low-lying Llyn Peris and a high glacial lake, Marchlyn Mawr, which fluctuate in their daily process of providing power.

The mountain massif is crossed by one long route, the Miners’ Track. It starts from behind Pen y Gwryd and slants up to a boggy plateau near Llyn Caseg-fraith. The route then slips in a north-westerly direction across the head of Cwm Tryfan to cross Bwlch Tryfan and skitter downwards, past Llyn Bochlwyd to Ogwen. The route is the product of the days when hardy miners crossed the mountains every week between their homes in Bethesda to the ill-fated mines of Snowdon.

The Glyders are not a huge group, in reality just one long ridge, kinked in the middle, and with bits stuck on the sides. You could walk from Capel Curig to Bethesda or Llanberis along the ridge in a full day, but in this instance the individual parts offer better walking than the whole, not least because then you have left yourself something for another day.