The freezing level is now well above the summits of the mountains of Snowdonia, but before all the snow melts away, I nipped out this morning for a quick lap of Broad Gully in Cwm Lloer. As I had guessed, after walking up in a warm mist, with no trace of winter to be seen, the gully was still packed full of snow.
The snow was soft as expected but deep and firm enough to provide a pleasing, steep, passage to the top of Pen yr Ole Wen. The route was completely sheltered from the strong winds until the final section where I had to move carefully to avoid being blown about.
On the final section, there was a glimmer of sunlight and blue sky above. Once I topped out, I could take my crampons straight off as there was no snow for the walk back down to the car.
There were some spectacular breaks in the cloud as I descended.
I got a glimpse of a broken-spectre in Cwm Lloer and on the other side of the valley, the summit of Tryfan appeared out of the top of the clouds in a brief inversion.
It was two hour and ten minutes car to car and I didn't see a soul.
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