Cadair Idris with James

James is my brother-in-law, and had initially said he wanted to climb Scafell Pike with me for his hill, but when it came to the logistics of getting to Wasdale Head, up the mountain and back home again in a day, we had second thoughts! We then thought about Snowdon, and very nearly went for it, but at the last minute decided on Cadair Idris instead. It was a good choice. Neither of us had ever previously climbed it. The weather was perfect, with great views in all directions (Snowdon to the north seemed to be shrouded in cloud, confirming our 'correct' hill choice for the day!). We climbed up via the Minffordd path which takes in the spectacular Cwm Cau with it's lake (Llyn Cau). Cadair Idris translates as the 'Chair of Idris'. Legends tell that Idris was a giant, and the Cwm does look like a large chair for him to rest in! Our walk took us all the way around the Cwm, covering about 9 miles in all, and quite a bit of up and down!



From the top we had views down to Barmouth, north to the Snowdon hills, West across to the Llyn Peninsular, and South to hills that We were unable to name. Looking east were more hills, we suspected the Berwyns could be seen, as well as a small part of Lake Bala. We'd been told that cadair Idris has the best 360 degree view in the UK, and I can believe it!The whole day fantastic. They say Cadair Idris will change you. In fact, the stories say that if you sleep a night on the mountain, you will wake up either a poet or a madman, or not at all...! We made sure we got down in the daylight, just in case!

After leaving Minffordd you climb steeply up the valley with the tumbling river to your right. It takes a while to reach Cwm Cau (at least an hour), and although you've already gained a lot of height, you feel like you are still at the bottom of the mountain (the photo's of the lake show you what I mean!) We then climbed up onto the horseshoe ridge, and round to the summit. There is a large stone shelter on the top, which would be very inviting in bad weather, but when we were there it was shorts-and-tee shirts all round sitting outside for your lunch. Apparently the shelter is built on the site of a previous shelter initially erected over 100 years ago. The original shelter was served by a local woman who used to climb up each day in the morning, and then serve cups of tea to all who made the ascent during the day. There was no one there giving out drinks to us...

From the summit we headed East to Mynydd Moel, with spectacular views down to Dolgellau. We then turned South and headed down off the mountain to our start point. A good day out, great company and superb views.

Thanks James for this 34th hill! It was a cracker!