Easter Holiday Round-Up!

Last week we asked you for a few words and pics from your Easter Weekend outings and here they are... Thanks to everyone who took the time to send stuff in.

A cracking shot of sunrise taken from the Pyg Track on Snowdon on Easter Monday from Hamish who after working on the Friday, spent the next three days in North Wales doing, well, lots really....

Easter Saturday

Drove up early to Snowdonia arriving about 7.30am. locked my mountain bike up at Pen-y-Pass, drove round to the Ogwen valley, parked at Gwern Gof Isaf campsite. I decided to take a slightly different route up on the the Glyders than i would normally and went up onto Gallt Yr Ogof.

Nice sunny morning, I think i upset a few couple of nesting birds of prey. continued on towards Glyder fach. At about 780m coming down Y Foel Goch I saw a large fox run out and away down the mountainside to my left (south). As reached the top of the miners track i passed the first people that I had seen so far that day.

On to Glyder Fach and Glyder Fawr I was suprised how few people there were up there, considering it was a sunny saturday there wasn't even people queuing for the diving board. short walk down Esgair Felen for a few photos then skirted back round the contours to join the path down to Pen-y-Pass. then cycled back to my car.

Easter Sunday,

Bit lazier today got out of bed, wandered round to Pete's Eats for some breakfast, then went upstairs and had a look at some maps in the library. eventually decide to go and do something, which was having a look at some extremely interesting wild camping spot/s not far from Snowdon and only saw two other people the whole afternoon / early evening. Sunday night bivvied at my current favorite bivvy spot thats not far from the car somwhere near Nantmor.

Easter Monday

Got up early, left the car at pen-y-pass just after 6am, walking up the pyg track, nice clear morning a few low clouds floating about but nothing really to worry about, walked up Crib Goch (first time in clear weather) fantastic morning far reaching views and i was wondering why there were so many mountains enveloped in low cloud yet apart from the odd little puffy bit I was in the bright clear sunshine.

Well the fine weather didn't last, as I approached the summit of Crib-y-ddysgl the cloud came right down and the wind speed picked up until it was about 25-30mph and gusting to 35-40mph, walked upto snowdon summit in the murk. I decided not to bother with the rest of the Horseshoe and retreated back down the Pyg track ( at the top of the pyg track it was 1degreesC) I pass lots of wet and miserable children wearing tracksuits being dragged up by their well equipt parents. cloud base was at 450m in the pass. had lunch in Pete's Eats.

This pic was taken comming down from Great Gable on Sunday and it's sod's law that the sky cleared after a cold bait waiting for the sky to clear on the summit. So after no pics' on the top i took this pano with Paul Langley (who won last months photo comp) in it. Click here for the full-sized version...

Icebreaker designer Gerard has the misfortune to be stuck in New Zealand, poor thing, so he 'decided to join the tourists on the Tongariro Crossing' - full description with some nice pics in his blog at southerntracks.blogspot.com but here's a shot to whet your appetite... Great big versions on Gerard's blog.

On Easter Sunday I completely escaped the holiday crowds and did a 16-mile walk around the watershed of the River Dunsop, near the Trough of Bowland - wild, pathless moorland throughout. I thought I knew what to expect from Bowland but this turned out tougher that I anticipated - the ground was just unrelenting knee-high heather, peat, tussock and bog throughout. I didn't see another soul all day - now there's a surprise!!

Matthew also asked us to plug the Bowland Challenge on 29/30 June, which is a fundraiser for the local MRT, so all in a great cause in a lovely area. More details at www.bowlandchallenge.co.uk. Plus read Matthew's account of the first Bowland Challenge last year on OM.

And just to whet your appetite, here are a couple of pics from the weekend.

Set off late on Wednesday as the weather was looking good, the weekend would be busy, I couldn't be bothered with work.

A brief stop in Pitlochry for munchies and a look in Escape Route then saw me head out the long dead-end road to Rannoch Station. It's a beautiful drive through forest. lochside and then moorland littered with glacial debris, and the village of Kinlochrannoch is lovely.

Arrived at the end of the track a mile or so from the end of the road at Rannoch Station, parked and headed off fully kitted with overnight gear including a winter sleeping bag (that sunshine wasn't fooling me for a minute).

The track skirts the west of the hills I was climbing and looks out over Rannoch Moor, the distance in view is incredible, it took a train on the WHL about 15 minutes to pass me from north to south.

The track goes to FT Bill eventually but I headed up to a cairn on Card Deargs ridge (not on the map), found the crest and headed along.

I got to the summit just before 2000, pitched the tent, got the mat, bag and cooking kit admined and then swanned about on the top watching the sunset. I was right about the temperature aswell, it was baltic.

I lost the light, so I had dinner and then a wander in the dark, the hillsides for miles around lit up by grass fires.

Anyway, went to bed and got to sleep. But I was woken up by a bright light that caused me some confusion, it's 0330. it can't be dawn yet says I. No indeed it was the moon, like a 100watt buld over the tent. At this point I noticed that my Titan kettle has frozen onto my cooking rock, so; back to bed.

Got up at 0600 to one of the most amazing sights I've had in the hills. The sun wasn't up but it was getting brighter all the time. From east to west was a sea of cloud, bubbling gently, soft waves lapping onto the hillside below me. The peaks stood sharply against the cloud most still flecked with a little snow.

The sun broke through in firey orange and turned the scene alive and took my breath away at the same time.The tops caught the sun first, Glen Coe, Ben Nevis, the Mamores and Black Mount glowing warm against the blue sky and thick blanket of cloud, a single shooting star drew a white streak cross the sky and faded in an instant.

Next the tops of the cloud waves caught the light, sharpening them into relief and as the sun rose higher it seemed to draw the cloud towards it, the mass of cloud started flowing east, trying to climb obstacles and failing, instead vapourising on the crests low ridges or tumbling under against them. Occasionally rooster tails of cloud would erupt and fall back down.

It was an amazing sight. I spent a couple of hours watching the scene, had my breakfast and reluctantly broke camp.

I climbed down to the coll and up onto Sgor Gaibhre, the same scene but the cloud was breaking up a little and a could see water sparlking through it from the lochs and river.

I headed down into the corrie and followed the river out, stopping for a brew at one point of course.

I drove to Rannoch Station, the tearoom is indeed closed and it's an odd if interesting spot.

After that I just headed home. Best Easter trip ever I think.

You can see the rest of Peter's shots from the trip in his OM Gallery album.

OM's assistant editor headed off to the south west for some epic Cornish cliff climbing, though she denies leading E3...

She did knock off a cracking three-pitch HS though: 'I climbed probably one of the top three multi-pitch routes I've ever done though &endash; that's top three for sheer stunningness, rather than difficulty (it joins Troutdale Pinnacle in Borrowdale in the list).  It's called Doorpost, on Bosigran, and apart from the fact that there was water pouring off the crux of the first pitch, which was a bit scary, I'd recommend it :-)

Jon's fear of Bank Holiday traffic meant that he stayed home and roamed around the Peak both on foot and two wheels in a desperate attempt to regain some form of fitness. A beautiful weekend for both and either walking and mountain biking.

THE END