#36.CRIB LEM SPUR HORSESHOE.9-7-11.

Today's walk saw me revisit the Carneddau to take in Carnedd Dafydd (via the Crib Lem Spur),Carnedd Llewelyn and Yr Elen accompanied by Julie and Julian and Deb off the walking forum.We were to meet Julian and Deb at Ogwen Cottage and whilst we were waiting for them i had a chat with the warden in his office and asked him what the weather forecast was for the day.He proceeded to tell me that it was for light rain in the morning ,heavy rain for the afternoon and low cloud all day,exactly what the BBC had predicted.After meeting the other's we drove up to Gerlan to park and we all resigned ourselves to getting wet and not seeing much all day.We took the minor road out of Gerlan that lead's to the Afon Llafar and followed this river all the way to the impressive cliff face of Llech Ddu.
 First glimpse of Llech Ddu and the low cloud.

       The quartz band above Llech Ddu that herald's the start of the scrambling.                 

Although cloudy it was very warm as we were sheltered from the wind and i tried to get a drink of water from our new platypus but as hard as i sucked nothing was coming out,so on closer inspection we noticed there was no hole it the end of the spout.Deb came to the rescue and produced a knife so i could pierce the end of the spout and enable the water to flow out.As we neared Llech Ddu it started to rain so we all donned our waterproofs and we made our way steeply up to the left of the waterfall on our way to the quartz band,

Halfway up the waterfall the rain stopped and we got a break in the cloud and the sun started to shine so we took off our wet gear.Below is Foel Meirch and Mynydd Du.

Assembled at the quartz band the scrambling started so it was trekking poles away and all hand's on deck.

The weather was improving all the time with the cloud slowly dispersing giving us better view's as we gained height.Could the weather forecaster's have got it wrong?,surely not.

Crib Lem is a varied scramble ranging from very easy to some really tricky bit's that requires you to take great care or to even miss bit's out and find an alternative way up.

By now the cloud had lifted and we could see the top's of Yr Elen and Carnedd Llewelyn.Below,the cloud lifting over Ysgolion Duon.

No time to hang around,back to the scrambling.

Scrambling over all that is left is a short trudge up to the summit of Carnedd Dafydd where we had some food and drink to set us up for the rest of the day.Although now cloudless and very sunny the wind had a bite to it,me and Deb feeling it more than Julie and Julian who walked all day in their t-shirt's whilst me and Deb wore our fleece and gloves as we suffer from Reynauds.Summit photo.

In contrast to the solitude on the scramble where we never saw a sole there were alot of other walker's about enjoying the high Carneddau.We made our way above the Black Ladders on route to Carnedd Llewelyn giving us fine view's down to the Llafar Valley and our scramble.

      Ahead lies the steep climb up to Carnedd Llewelyn.                                   

                                                             
 Julie at the summit.

Ahead lies the shapely peak of Yr Elen,one of the quieter mountain's of Eryri.

From here you get a great view of Carnedd Dafydd and the Crib Lem Spur.

Leaving Llewelyn on route to Yr Elen.                                                 

                                                             
Summit photo.

Leaving Yr Elen via the scree we headed for the minor top of Foel Ganol,now out of the wind and very hot in the sunshine,what happened to the rain and mist,bloody forecaster's.

 Looking back to this fantastic walk.                                                       

Another fantastic day in the hill's with fantastic company and weather.We then drove to the Ty'n y Coed and met up with Howie,Julia,PistonPete and Sue where we had a meal and a few scoop's.Distance walked was 9.5 mile with 3,900 feet of ascent and 3 tops.


MILEAGE         268
ASCENT           63,000
TOPS                70.