The Route - Cadair Idris and a circuit of Cwm Cau.
The start of the steps on the Minffordd Path.
The route down is somewhere up there!
Time for a rest and a drink! On the path to Llyn Cau.
Cwm Cau, Craig Cau and Penygadair.
On the Minffordd Path with Penygadair in the background.
At Penygadair trig point.
Looking North west towards Barmouth from the summit plateau.
On grass at last.
The start of the descent towards Mynydd Moel.
The new path descent South of Mynydd Moel.
Tal-y-Llyn, taken from the path North of Moelfryn.
Cloud gathering on Penygadair. Glad we are not there now!
"Oh no, not more steps".
At the new slate bridge, replacing the ford over Nant Cadair.
Walk stats: Distance: 6.4 miles Climb: 2498'.
Time: 7 hours 21 minutes. On the move walking average: 1.2 m.p.h. Overall walk average: 0.9 m.p.h.
Group: Martyn, Mike and Ed.
This turned out to be a superb day for walk. Bright and sunny and the strong gusting winds failed to materialise.
I had forgotten how long and relentless and steep the climb up Penygadair was, but on a day like this frequent stops to admire the view was obligatory.
Snowdon is popular, but today this Cadair Idris circuit wasn't far behind, lots of people and many nationalities.
Lunch was taken at the col between Craig Cau and Penygadair, a leisurely 30 minute stop with good views over Cwm Cau to the East and towards the coast in the West.
It was only a short climb up to the summit, but I must have look as if I needed reviving, as I was presented with a tot of cherry schnapps by a member of a different group who said that they had learned of the tradition while in holiday where they celebrated arriving at the summit of a mountain with schnapps. I didn't object!
In our walk description we should have headed to Mynydd Moel before descending, but instead we decided to explore a new path that descended to the South of the original path.
This was in the main quite a clear path on the ground, although it doesn't appear on the OS Map and led to a stile in the fence coming South from Mynydd Moel.
As ever the steep stony uneven path that descends alongside the fence was not easy and can be described as "a knee killer", despite it being stepped in places.
Our only consolation was the good views and the clouds gathering on Craig Cau and Penygadair, making us feel so blessed at being on top in glorious sunshine with excellent views in every direction.
Another bonus for the day the friendliness of so many walkers that were happy to engage in conservation with perfect strangers.
We arrived back at the car, not feeling particularly tired, but glad to be able to sit down in the car and take the weight off our feet.
Birds seen or heard today included: Common blackbird, Meadow pipit, Carrion crow and Raven.
We ended up heading for Dolgellau, where even Bank's Amber gold went down well and we all enjoyed a good helping of Steak and mushroom PedigreeAle Pie and chips at the Stag Inn before heading home.
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