Following on from our adventures in the Glyderau on Saturday, Sunday morning came and we made our way by convoy down to Cadair Idris, arriving at a thoroughly civilised 11 O’Clock ish. After a leisurely walk up through the very pleasant woodland and waterfalls up from Dol-y-cae, we emerged into the valley below Llyn Cau.
After the gentle ascent to Llyn Cau we stopped at the small boulder on the eastern shore for some breezy and slightly chilly sandwiches. The wind having picked up slightly and in a westerly direction, we were grateful to be on our way once again, skirting the northern side of the lake to pick up the Fox Path to the west.
After negotiating the rocky north western shore of the lake, we picked up the path and made for the scrambley ascent to the ridge above Crag Cau, which is now firmly on our climbing ticklist on our return, whenever that turns out to be.
On reaching the ridge, the utterly sublime view was a terrific reward for what was a very brief, half hour slog up the hill.
We headed up to the summit, through the rock fields that litter the way up to it, to be rewarded once again buy the stunning views out across Llyn Gadair and on to Dolgellau, Barmouth and Fairbourn in the distance.
We took the Minffordd Path down from the summit, skirting the ridge around Llyn Cau to the west and south, picking up again the path that leads down to the forest from the eastern shore of the lake. This path, as well as being so well laid as to make the way no more a mountaineering feat than picking up bread from the shop, affords some awesome glimpses of the lake through the regular gullies along it’s northern side, catching the sun in the low south as we did, these made for some very nice pictures indeed, let down only by my abysmal abilities as a photographer.
All in all a grand and surprisingly easy day, excepting the Fox Path and some fairly enthusiastic wind on the ridge, ended by a fine mug of tea and the most substantial flapjack I have had in a long while, from the delightful tea room down by the car park.