Sunday, April 22, 2007

If You Don't Know, Now You Know
Wales can be stunningly beautiful, and Snowdonia National Park certain qualifies as stunning. We spent the weekend in the Glyder Mountains and the lakes of Llyn Idwal and Llyn Ogwen. We left Swansea for North Wales on a 5-hour evening/night drive that was, to say the least, thrilling. The lanes were very tight and the drivers were intense. Angie did a phenomenal job getting us there and over the last 4 months has become a champion driver on the 'wrong' side of the road and on tight roadways.
Once we got to the Idwal Cottage hostel it was time for bed, and when we woke up we finally got to see the mountains and lakes in daylight. Our hike for the day was around Llyn Idwal and around the surrounding mountains: Devil's Kitchen, Cwm Cneifion (The Nameless Mountain) and Y'Garn. The trekking was difficult but the views were rewarding. From the top of our hike we could see the full extent of the glaciers that crept across the area long ago. Both Llyn Idwal, Llyn Ogwen and the Nant Ffrancon (the u-shaped valley left behind) were in full view. We ended our day a the Rhaeadr Ogwen waterfall, where we rested after the morning hike.

No comments: