Up above the Clouds

Having not been able to get up into the snowy mountains over the weekend and with a thaw forecast, I was itching to nip out first thing this morning, before everything melted. Heavy rain was due to move in after lunch, but before then, it was looking relatively mellow, if murky. From The Cottage window, the day looked a lot better than forecast, with some blue sky, a bit of mist swirling around, but the tops free of cloud. Feeling lucky, we set out from Ogwen Cottage into a think mist. We had hoped to go for the East Ridge Scramble, but decided against it in the current conditions.

As we'd driven up the valley, mist had been pouring in over the mountain tops and down the Nant Ffrancon. The question was, was it covering the summits or would we get above it? Setting off into the mists, it was hard to tell, until near the summit of Y Garn, where the sun started to show though, indicating that our gamble had paid off.

 

Then suddenly, we were out of the could and into the sunshine, where the summits were just standing proud. Always an amazing moment.

 

Especially, when other peaks are visible in the distance.

 

We were literally at the exact cloud level for a while and could see a faint broken-spectre projected onto the mist.

 

Up on the summit we watched cloud pouring over the Glyders like a slow motion waterfall. It was quite hypnotic.

In the other direction, the view was clear out towards Anglesey.

Once again, it was good conditions to be wearing the Rab, Vapour-Rise Guide Jacket as the mists were quite wet to walk through, but the summit required a nice warm layer. The hood is fleece lined, which gave a super comfy extra layer when we stopped. Nice bit of kit to be testing!

 

Eventually we made our way down the ridge and back into the clouds..

 

Before we lost visibility, we noticed these cool 'wavy' clouds up high.

Made it back to The Cottage for a fireside feast of soup and egg butties after hot showers. Brill.