Glyderau walk

Peaks: Carnedd y Filiast, Mynydd Perfedd, Elidir Fawr
Area: Glyderau, Eryri
A sharp contrast with Monday: the snow and clear skies gone, to be replaced by standard issue clag and drizzle. This was a shame, as M had been persuaded to join the scouts winter walking weekend for the third time. I joined in (also for the third time) and was therefore able to observe him outside his natural habitat again! The cloud base was just above sea level as I approached Deiniolen at first light around 8am: very dank and gloomy. As the scouts had breakfast, it began to lift a bit, and was much higher when we set out from the HQ at the old school house on the edge of the village. The long haul up to Llyn Marchlyn Bach gives an unusual start to a mountain day: tarmac the whole way, gently climbing for several miles. Two of the scouts dropped behind and eventually five of us continued upwards into the mist. The path up Carnedd y Filiast is steep but comfortable, and conditions weren't too bad apart from the poor visibility. A bearing across the plateau gained the shelter on Mynydd Perfedd, then the always enjoyable ridge towards Elidir Fawr which gave a very brief clearance at Bwlch y Brechan for views of Llyn Marchlyn below. M seemed to enjoy the occasional bits of scrambling leading to the summit of Elidir. Last time I was here was the very memorable Elidir Fawr race one evening last September. After lunch, steady rain and a brisk wind added to the fun. I took a bearing after deliberately continuing along the ridge for a bit. The lower slopes of Elidir are featureless, and the visibility was very poor, but the bearing landed us above the broken crags and by skirting west for a few minutes we picked up the faint path which leads down to the lower Marchlyn lake. At this point, just a few metres above the lake and tarmac road, we broke through the persistent clag for the first time on the entire circuit, which M admitted was 'very satisfying'. A long descent ensued, back down the road to Deiniolen.