Cwm Caseg horseshoe

Peaks: Gyrn Wigau, Foel Grach, Carnedd Llewellyn, Yr Elen

Area: Carneddau, Eryri

I have always called this the Cwm Caseg horseshoe, although it has never been popular. I probably first did a version of it in the late 1980s and thought it would be a good route to introduce M to Carnedd Llewellyn, which he's never done. Easterly winds have prevailed for a while now, and this was another day of stunning conditions: thick clag to the east, searing sunshine west. We parked at Gerlan and went up Ciltwllan to the sharp climb up Gyrn Wigau. I've only discovered this recently - a dry, simple and quick way to gain height. From the top, stunning views of our route, with fog banks spilling over the ridge and down into Cwm Caseg. We both wanted to sample the variety so contoured Drosgl and Bera Mawr on the ancient marked Carneddau highway to get views of the cloud bank: absolutely stunning, a thin layer of cloud descending into the remote cwm. Thick tendrils of hoar frost and iced streams made life a little tricky and we soon entered the freezing mist. This then took quite a while to get out of! A thin sun sometimes penetrated but for the most part we remained under it until finally emerging near the summit of Foel Grach. M had never experienced this before, and it is always magical. We also had a glory/brocken spectre to the north, another first for M. Thick banks of cloud east and north, but clear ahead to Llewellyn which looked Alpine under a thin layer of snow. We had lunch on the top of Llewellyn, watching the cloud rolling over the Dafydd ridge - quite a few people up here, almost all of whom had come up from Ogwen (we saw nobody on our route, only here on the summit). Yr Wyddfa and the top of the Glyder ridge were clear, along with peaks to the north and west, but everything else was under the blanket. Then came the wonderful ridge over to Yr Elen, one of my favourite hills, savouring the view back over Cwm Caseg, and then the trot down the ridge in beautiful light. The bog in Cwm Llafar always spoils things a little, but much of it was frozen today. Back in Gerlan with plenty of time left to have a nap then pick up K!