Country diary: Snowdonia: Icy allure of the national park

Snowdonia: Spray from the waterfall had thickly glazed the bushes to one side in brilliantly clear ice, with secondary icicles hanging from the twigs in a complex lattice

There was a thick layer of frost on the wooden sleepers of the railway crossing as I carefully made my way over the track. The long ridge above Pennal carried a crust of snow that drew into sharp relief rock outcrops – usually concealed by random vegetation but now looking skeletal and exposed. On the valley floor, mist rose gently from small groups of sheep that clustered together in the morning sunshine.

As I crossed the col above Corris, the main peak of Cadair Idris came into view, its striking snow cover outlined by deep blue sky and supported by the dark browns and greens of the Minffordd woodlands. The snow extended down the flanks of the mountain as far as the corrie lake of Llyn Cau, about 1,500ft above sea level, picking out the rock step over which the ice once poured into the valley glacier – a situation much easier to picture in these winter conditions. Steep, south-facing rock buttresses, having shed their snow cover, stood out against the frosted bands of scree that edge downwards towards the pass.

A few miles farther north on the shore of the Mawddach estuary, fractured sheets of ice stranded by the falling tide lay in angular shards on the mudflats. Drifts of wood smoke from the fires of isolated houses rose almost vertically into the still air, while the water surface was disturbed only by the hopeful foraging of gulls. The loudest nearby sound was that of a small stream falling over a steep stone bank. Spray from the waterfall had thickly glazed the bushes to one side in brilliantly clear ice, with secondary icicles hanging from the twigs to form a complex lattice.

Only a few days later, the snow and blue sky have gone, the temperature has risen by 10 degrees and a monochrome, drizzly murk covers a landscape suddenly almost devoid of features. To be honest, I preferred the frost.

Contributor

John Gilbey

The GuardianTramp

Related Content

Article image
What chimps can tell us about Brexit | Brief letters
Brief letters: Snowdon | Chris Grayling | Brexit | Sexism

Letters

11, Feb, 2019 @6:01 PM

Article image
Country diary: Dyfi estuary
John Gilbey is struck by the drama of a sudden burst of sunshine lighting up the dunes around Ynyslas, mid-Wales

John Gilbey

24, Nov, 2011 @8:59 PM

Article image
Country diary: Cambrian mountains
Jim Perrin ponders the changing philosophy of the Youth Hostel Association while taking tea in the beautiful Doethie valley

Jim Perrin

14, Oct, 2011 @8:00 PM

Article image
A Welsh wonderland of slate and feral goats
Country diary: Llanberis, Snowdonia In a clearing, a black-headed beast with horns as magnificent as any fairytale faun, is munching grass next to an old red-painted winding house

Carey Davies

05, Dec, 2016 @5:30 AM

Article image
Quarry town Blaenau Ffestiniog aims to join Snowdonia national park

Council hopes campaign to change boundary will bring tourism boost

Steven Morris

11, Feb, 2010 @7:00 PM

Article image
Country diary: Bala, Snowdonia
Jim Perrin tells how he found the source of the river Dee and a mysterious uncharted chapel

Jim Perrin

06, Jan, 2012 @11:36 AM

Article image
Country diary: Talsarnau, Gwynedd: Alarm call from the plover, as the wildfowling season approaches
Country diary: Talsarnau, Gwynedd: Soon these lovely birds will quit the hills and head to the estuary below, where so many species have been decimated

Jim Perrin

15, Aug, 2014 @8:00 PM

Article image
Country diary: South Uist: Conjuring up clouds in the mountains
Country diary: Souih Uist: Most beautiful of all are the graceful curves of white that sometimes lie like a mantle across all three summits and become more beautiful still when lit by moonlight

Christine Smith

23, Feb, 2012 @8:59 PM

Article image
Country diary: Trent, Dorset: A place abounding with tales of Camelot
Country diary: Trent, Dorset: This is not the only pool into which Excalibur is said to have been thrown, but its closeness to the majestic earthwork of Cadbury Castle lends support to the idea

John Vallins

03, Sep, 2012 @8:00 PM

Article image
Country diary: South Uist
Christine Smith enjoys one of the pleasures of winter birdwatching – the arrival of overwintering wigeon

Christine Smith

01, Dec, 2011 @9:00 PM