Sentries Ridge - Scrambling on Mynydd Mawr

We found ourselves back on the south side of Mynydd Mawr again today! With a sunny forecast but cold northerly winds, it was a good venue that was both sunny and sheltered.

This time we chose the long ridge scramble of 'Sentries Ridge' and the continuation ridge above it.

I'm not sure why we'd always overlooked this route in the past as it was really great fun! It's a long rocky ridge with lots of pinnacle and gendarmes to climb (or negotiate) along the way. 

We roped up, but moved together for most of the route, stopping to swap kit at the various cols between the big pinnacles.

The final ridge to the summit was thin, but on good rock. At one point we passed over a natural rock arch underneath us that we had seen a few weeks ago when we'd climb a nearby route. 

Once again, we were the only people around for miles and miles...

On the summit, we lay out in the sun in the comfy heather and had a delicious lunch. From our vantage point, we could see the sea in three directions: the north and south coasts of the Lleyn and behind  us out past Anglesey. It was a shame to leave.

Once we got a little higher than our sunny lunch spot, we were no longer sheltered from the wind and it suddenly became unpleasantly cold, despite the sunshine! We didn't hang about, and soon dropped back down below the ridge for shelter where we enjoyed the walk back down the broard shoulder to the forest. 

Then to finish off a lovely day, met up with friends in Llanberis for coffee in the last of the sunshine.