Dawn Patrol - Across the Glyderau

When an a voluntarily placed alarm clock goes off at 05:28am and you're dragged out from a deep sleep, it can be hard to get motivated. A glance through the skylight into the dark sky revealed no stars. What was I thinking!? Would it be worth the gamble?... Ninety minutes later and I was given this view as my reward.

I had a plan in place to get onto the mountain tops for sunrise and re-acquaint myself with the local hills. The forecast had indicated that conditions could be good for a spectacular one (and therefore worth getting up early). A prepacked bag was waiting for me by the door and I drove up the hill on autopilot to Dinorwic. Setting off into the night, I didn't need my head torch for long as the moon was lighting the way up my first peak of the day - Carnedd y Filliast. I arrived at the summit in fifty minutes - a quarter of an hour before sunrise. It was murky and grey, so I lay down and slept until 7am.

Nothing much was going on, so somewhat disappointed, I continued hiking along to the next summit (Mynydd Perfedd), as a glimmer of colour started to build in the distance.

Shortly before reaching Foel Goch, the colours suddenly intensified.

And then 'Boom' the whole valley glowed orange and yellow. The camera struggled to cope with the exposure, so I gave up trying to capture it and just stood and watched.

I continued my traverse towards Y Garn, watching the show as the day began.

Llyn Ogwen was reflecting light and clouds drew back to reveal the summit of Tryfan.

To my right, I could see all the way down the Lleyn Peninsular.

I reached Y Garn summit in the mist, but no sooner had I taken off my pack, when the sun burst through casting my shadow and forming a perfect Brocken Spectre Rainbow.

I waved at myself while tucking into a peanut butter sandwich breakfast on the summit rocks.

On a roll now, I continued down, then up and over Glyder Fach and Fawr, passing the cantilever stone in the gloom.

Dropping down to Bwlch Tryfan, the views returned and the south ridge invited me up to the summit, via some great scambling. 

I decided that the summit of Tryfan was far enough to go in one morning, as I had plenty to do still back at The Cottage. I descended the North Ridge, reaching the A5 at 11:20. 

It took ten minutes to thumb a lift back to Bethesda, then crossed the river, arrived back at The Cottage at about midday, happy and tired. A shower, a power nap, some food and I was re-charged and ready to bike back up the hill to retrieve the van, completing a very satisfying circuit from the house. A respectable morning outing, involving 1350m of ascent, 1450m of descent and seven major summits.